Last night, when our toddler cried out at 11:30pm when I was dead asleep, I sat up with a start and my head started to spin. I lay back down, but the spinning didn't stop. It took probably five minutes before I could get out of bed to comfort my little boy. It was a lightheadedness I used to experience regularly if I sat up too fast — before I switched to real foods.
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This past month has been chaotic for us. Our in-laws took us on a week-long vacation with no kids, then a week and a half later we flew with our kids to the west coast to drive along the ocean for research I needed, then four days later we flew to Arizona for my brother's wedding, getting home last night at 9:30pm. And although while away from home I've done my best to eat lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains when available, and no meat except seafood, I had no access at all to 100% whole wheat soured bread products (which I make regularly at home),
raw milk, pastured eggs, or organic produce. Plus, I've eaten wedding cake and other sugary foods.
And I can absolutely tell the difference.
In the four days between the two latest trips, I had no energy at all. I slunk around the house in a fog. It took me until the last day to actually deal with the mountains of laundry. I felt like I was in total recovery mode. And at my brother's wedding, I crashed in between events, sleeping in the car and on the couch, etc, and having to sit the whole time at the reception (luckily it was super casual).
It was such a crucial reminder to me that my health is still very dependent on the strictness of my diet. While on a regular basis at home I feel great, only a few days of a Standard American Diet (SAD) can deplete my reserves.
Some of my health issues, I've come to realize, stem from emotional toxins. On my dad's side of the family, for example, we are the first generation free of abuse for who-knows-how-far back. And while that's miraculous and wonderful, we still have to overcome the scars of our ancestors. Emotional issues are passed down from one generation to the next and affect our bodies at the cellular level. (For an awesome scientific explanation of how that works, I highly recommend
The Biology of Belief, written by cellular biologist Bruce H. Lipton.) Because those issues have affected the way my body absorbs or fails to absorb nutrients, I know that I am more sensitive to a lack of real food than other people might be. I am still discovering ways to heal those emotional wounds.
But at the same time, I look around and see so many people struggling to have enough energy and struggling with other health problems as well that I believe real food is a message that needs to be spread. Our family diet isn't perfect yet, but we are baby-stepping our way toward getting more enzymes, etc, in our diets. And every change makes a difference. Raw milk makes a huge difference. A sourdough starter makes a huge difference. Soaking your whole grains makes a huge difference.
As I recover from our vacations, unable to even get out of bed quickly to rock my crying twenty-one-month-old back to sleep, take it from me. Lacking real food means lacking real energy.
