We have been on a quest to eat a more whole foods diet and I can’t tell you how much better we all act and feel. I have praying for a long time for my four year old. He went from being a fun, outgoing boy to someone who was easily frightened and introverted over the course of his 3rd year of life. I spent countless hours in prayer fearful of what might be going on. Has something happened to him? Have I done something wrong as a parent? Then, after one of my prayer times, I came across an article about food dye and how it affected this lady’s child. I began searching further, reading more and was astonished at the findings. More and more people reported the same symptoms my child was having that were almost instantly healed by dietary changes.
At the beginning of May we decided to make our own changes and the results were almost instant. Slowly but surely I got my child back. We have cut out all food dyes, preservatives and additives, trying to adhere to a real food diet. If God made it, we eat it in its purest forms. Now, we are still learning and aren’t where we need to be but I am so thankful for the changes I’ve seen over the past few months.
So, what did we do? We have followed many of the “real food” rules laid out by Lesa over at 100 Days of Real Food – real milk, real cream, real butter, tons of fresh fruit and vegetables, grass fed organic beef, etc. We buy organic when we can afford it and stay away from over processed foods. If it has food dyes, preservatives or additives we avoid it. It makes for a lot more time in the kitchen but for me it is so worth it.
You would think that we would have all gained a ton of weight eating these full fat version of milk, cream and butter but on the contrary, everyone has lost weight – my husband almost 10 lbs! We have higher energy, better moods and are enjoying the new adventures our current lifestyle is bringing. My boys eczema has completely cleared, we have not been sick (allergy or otherwise) in over two months, I’ve even stopped giving the boys allegra because there has been no need. One major change in my life has been my battle with over eating. Yep, I said it, I struggle with food and always have. I will elaborate on this more later, but after eliminating these artificial ingredients I am finally free and that was an unexpected blessing.
How can food have such a big affect on our health and behavior? Here is an article I encourage you to read on ADHD and how diet has a greater affect on symptoms than drugs. The most powerful sentences of the article are these:
Teachers and doctors who worked with children in the study reported marked changes in behavior. “In fact, they were flabbergasted,” Pelsser says. ”After the diet, they were just normal children with normal behavior,” she says. No longer were they easily distracted or forgetful, and the temper tantrums subsided.
Now, if this isn’t for you, I understand. If there is one thing I believe, it is that it is your choice what you feed yourself and your family, I simply wanted to share something that has been profound in our lives recently. If you are searching for answers to health and behavior problems, try your diet, see what your family is eating that you can possibly do without or change.
Thank you for following along our journey on this blog. I hope you will stay even though there will no longer be any cake mix or fake food recipes and if you do, I promise to post lots of new recipes that are good for your body and your tastebuds.
Want to look into this further? Here are some great resources:
Michael Pollen’s In Defense of Food
Feingold Food Dye Symptoms/Diet
