I have been studying nutrition and diets for year. I do not mean necessarily weight loss diets, but diets that are meant to help keep the body well nourished.
What I have learned is rather amazing and although it should be common knowledge, people do not want to hear about it, nor do they want to change what they are eating. That amazes me.
Part of my journey to The Fat Ewe Farm was to be able to provide my own healthy food. I am not a meat farmer, but meat is a byproduct of the wool industry and milk industry, whether I like that fact or not. Not having set out to raise animals to slaughter them, I find that it is part of farming and even if it is not me doing the eating of the flesh, someone else will be. Since I strictly grass feed the ruminants, which include the cows, sheep and goats, they are already healthier than most others one can buy. There is no routine deworming or vaccinations. Animals are vaccinated if they are being ported off the farm to be in a public place, otherwise not. And they are dewormed when they show signs of stress by not being able to manage their own parasite loads. Not routines. That is what causes medicine resistance. Another whole topic.
So, I take my ram lambs and buck goats to the butcher at about six or seven months of age. They are not large meat animals, but they are 100% healthy. A little fat is present, though not overly much. In a very good year, when the grass is lush, they may gain a bit more fat, but the pasture here is marginal and the breeds that thrive are able to do so by converting poor quality grass to fatty acids in their stomachs. Which means they are actually living on fat, not protein, and for some reason everyone seems to get that wrong. They believe what they are told only.
So, I want to live on fat too. I have tried the Specific Carbohydrate diet, which limits the types of carbohydrates to slow acting, high fibre ones and restricts intakes of sugar and dairy. It is a very good diet. Not enough though, for me. I went on the Ketogenic diet and got leg cramps, because there is little regard for healthy food and many pseudo foods and processed foods are permitted provided they are low carb. Not adequate for me. Whole 30 was better, concentrating on just real food, nothing packaged, bottled, or processed. 30 days of eating real food with no dairy, grain or sugar. That was almost perfect, but there were still foods that my body did not like, so I switched to Auto Immune Paleo. Ah ha! That one is like the Whole 30, only also restricts seeds and anything made from seeds, which includes black pepper and coffee, and dairy. Nightshade vegetables are a "watch" as well as some other food groups.
Why am I so concerned. Well, my mother has dementia, arthritis and had IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, which we thought was bowel incontinence due to her age. Who knew about IBS even 10 years ago? But it all makes sense now. Irritable bowel syndrome is leaky gut. The gut and brain are connected by a huge lymphatic system, hence her dementia. And arthritis is an autoimmune disease caused by leaky gut as well, and is triggered by different foods for different individuals. As a matter of fact, EVERY illness, from schizophrenia to Multiple Sclerosis is related to diet.
I have/had IBS. I have arthritis and I will be darned if I will get dementia. I also have hypothyroidism. I will bet my mother did too, but she was likely never checked. I do remember her complaints of the symptoms of the disease though. We knew so little ten years ago.
People, when eating their indigenous diets worldwide, do not have those diseases. They do not have dental cavities. Then when they adopt the western diet, which is grain and sugar based, poof! Diabetes, heart problems, mental illness, and every other western disease possible becomes rampant. I was researching diabetes in South America and is is critical there. People are embracing soda pop, chocolate bars, boxed sugar cereals, processed milk products and junk food. And they are very sick because of it, just like North Americans.
The Fat Ewe Farm has good food. I planted a big garden. Hopefully it will provide vegetables to freeze and can and ferment. And in the late fall, there will be more lambs and goats and ducks and chickens to butcher. I bought a dairy cow, but she has milk that has a digestible protein. Raw milk can be fermented into kefir and yogurt and real buttermilk, clotted cream and sour cream. Those real food products once were part of the North American diets too. No longer.
So, the diet journey has been long. It has not been easy. Basically I have had to adapt to eating differently with lots of meat, butter, coconut oil, avocados (I always ate those) and non starchy vegetables. That is the entire diet. It is tasty, healthy and I sincerely believe will keep me healthy in mind and body until I pass away.
There is one more component. That is light and Earth. I turn off my computer and Wifi at bedtime. Currently I am still on the computer more hours a day than I want to be. I am working on that. I am outside every single day. i have to be to take care of the animals and that was part of my plan to stay/become healthy.I do not get Facebook, email or internet on my cell phone and the location is turned off to avoid excessive Wifi. I walk on the Earth, but not barefoot. If I find my moosehide moccasins, it is almost like being barefoot. I do not have a TV, so no media is in my life. And I try to sleep enough. There is exercise daily in the chores, fresh air, being with and part of nature, and a peaceful, Wifi, computer, phone free night. This also is important for health.
There are so many ways I am entirely grateful for my life and my farm, for my animals and for my ability to learn new facts. I am thankful for my curiosity and my need to know. Just in really a few years, mankind has learned an incredible amount about diet and that old adage, we are what we eat, is truer than ever. Everything from depression and paranoia to sincere tranquility and joy are all diet related. Please learn this for yourself.
Namaste.
What I have learned is rather amazing and although it should be common knowledge, people do not want to hear about it, nor do they want to change what they are eating. That amazes me.
Part of my journey to The Fat Ewe Farm was to be able to provide my own healthy food. I am not a meat farmer, but meat is a byproduct of the wool industry and milk industry, whether I like that fact or not. Not having set out to raise animals to slaughter them, I find that it is part of farming and even if it is not me doing the eating of the flesh, someone else will be. Since I strictly grass feed the ruminants, which include the cows, sheep and goats, they are already healthier than most others one can buy. There is no routine deworming or vaccinations. Animals are vaccinated if they are being ported off the farm to be in a public place, otherwise not. And they are dewormed when they show signs of stress by not being able to manage their own parasite loads. Not routines. That is what causes medicine resistance. Another whole topic.
So, I take my ram lambs and buck goats to the butcher at about six or seven months of age. They are not large meat animals, but they are 100% healthy. A little fat is present, though not overly much. In a very good year, when the grass is lush, they may gain a bit more fat, but the pasture here is marginal and the breeds that thrive are able to do so by converting poor quality grass to fatty acids in their stomachs. Which means they are actually living on fat, not protein, and for some reason everyone seems to get that wrong. They believe what they are told only.
So, I want to live on fat too. I have tried the Specific Carbohydrate diet, which limits the types of carbohydrates to slow acting, high fibre ones and restricts intakes of sugar and dairy. It is a very good diet. Not enough though, for me. I went on the Ketogenic diet and got leg cramps, because there is little regard for healthy food and many pseudo foods and processed foods are permitted provided they are low carb. Not adequate for me. Whole 30 was better, concentrating on just real food, nothing packaged, bottled, or processed. 30 days of eating real food with no dairy, grain or sugar. That was almost perfect, but there were still foods that my body did not like, so I switched to Auto Immune Paleo. Ah ha! That one is like the Whole 30, only also restricts seeds and anything made from seeds, which includes black pepper and coffee, and dairy. Nightshade vegetables are a "watch" as well as some other food groups.
Why am I so concerned. Well, my mother has dementia, arthritis and had IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, which we thought was bowel incontinence due to her age. Who knew about IBS even 10 years ago? But it all makes sense now. Irritable bowel syndrome is leaky gut. The gut and brain are connected by a huge lymphatic system, hence her dementia. And arthritis is an autoimmune disease caused by leaky gut as well, and is triggered by different foods for different individuals. As a matter of fact, EVERY illness, from schizophrenia to Multiple Sclerosis is related to diet.
I have/had IBS. I have arthritis and I will be darned if I will get dementia. I also have hypothyroidism. I will bet my mother did too, but she was likely never checked. I do remember her complaints of the symptoms of the disease though. We knew so little ten years ago.
People, when eating their indigenous diets worldwide, do not have those diseases. They do not have dental cavities. Then when they adopt the western diet, which is grain and sugar based, poof! Diabetes, heart problems, mental illness, and every other western disease possible becomes rampant. I was researching diabetes in South America and is is critical there. People are embracing soda pop, chocolate bars, boxed sugar cereals, processed milk products and junk food. And they are very sick because of it, just like North Americans.
The Fat Ewe Farm has good food. I planted a big garden. Hopefully it will provide vegetables to freeze and can and ferment. And in the late fall, there will be more lambs and goats and ducks and chickens to butcher. I bought a dairy cow, but she has milk that has a digestible protein. Raw milk can be fermented into kefir and yogurt and real buttermilk, clotted cream and sour cream. Those real food products once were part of the North American diets too. No longer.
So, the diet journey has been long. It has not been easy. Basically I have had to adapt to eating differently with lots of meat, butter, coconut oil, avocados (I always ate those) and non starchy vegetables. That is the entire diet. It is tasty, healthy and I sincerely believe will keep me healthy in mind and body until I pass away.
There is one more component. That is light and Earth. I turn off my computer and Wifi at bedtime. Currently I am still on the computer more hours a day than I want to be. I am working on that. I am outside every single day. i have to be to take care of the animals and that was part of my plan to stay/become healthy.I do not get Facebook, email or internet on my cell phone and the location is turned off to avoid excessive Wifi. I walk on the Earth, but not barefoot. If I find my moosehide moccasins, it is almost like being barefoot. I do not have a TV, so no media is in my life. And I try to sleep enough. There is exercise daily in the chores, fresh air, being with and part of nature, and a peaceful, Wifi, computer, phone free night. This also is important for health.
There are so many ways I am entirely grateful for my life and my farm, for my animals and for my ability to learn new facts. I am thankful for my curiosity and my need to know. Just in really a few years, mankind has learned an incredible amount about diet and that old adage, we are what we eat, is truer than ever. Everything from depression and paranoia to sincere tranquility and joy are all diet related. Please learn this for yourself.
Namaste.
My dear mother ten years ago. Already very arthritic and severe dementia had claimed her. She had just been moved to a full care facility, after 10 years of my care.
RSS Feed