The most of the foods your immune system requires to be healthy and strong are of animal origin: meat, animal fat, organ meats, fish, eggs and high-fat dairy (particularly fermented). These foods will provide protein, fats and fat-soluble vitamins, so necessary for your immune system to be healthy.
Vegetables combine with all of these foods very well and will provide some extra nutrients and cleansing substances. Homemade sour cream, butter and ghee should be on the menu every day (unless dairy is not tolerated).
We all have different heredity and constitution. If your predecessors were Vikings or Eskimos, then chances are that you will generally need to eat lots of fish, meat and fat. But if your predecessors came from a Mediterranean culture or some tropical area of the world, then you will probably need more carbohydrates in your diet. As a result, anyone of the popular diets suits some people and does not suit others.
Also, throughout our lives our bodies go through cycles of building itself up and cleansing itself. For building itself your body needs very different nutrients from those it uses for cleansing itself (animal foods are generally building, while plant foods are generally cleansing).
We all have an autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for your heart beating, for your digestive system feeding you, etc. The autonomic nervous system is made out of two branches: a sympathetic nervous system and a parasympathetic nervous system. These two systems generally work in opposition to each other providing a very complex balance in every function of the body.
Depending on an infinite number of factors (daily cycle of activity and sleep, season, weather, stress, infection, feeding / cleansing, your occupation at the time, etc.) you will shift from being ‘sympathetic dominant’ to ‘parasympathetic dominant’.
These two branches of our nervous system require very different sets of nutrients to be fed: one likes meat and fat, while the other needs more plant foods. Only your body knows what proportions of protein/fat/carbohydrate it needs at any given moment of your life.
How do we feed ourselves properly? The answer is: get back in touch with your body’s inner intelligence.
Mother Nature gave us senses of SMELL, TASTE, DESIRE for a particular food and a sense of SATISFACTION after eating it. So, when your body needs a particular mix of nutrients, it will give you a desire for a particular food, which contains just that right mix; this particular food will smell divine to you and taste wonderful, and you will feel satisfied after eating it.
So, the only way for us to serve our bodies properly with the right food is to be in touch with our senses!
The DESIRE for a particular food is the main way your body tells you what it needs at any particular moment nutritionally. So, when you get hungry, stop and think: ” What is the most appealing food for me right now?” The answer will come immediately, and just the thought of that particular food will fill your mouth with saliva. Desire is your inner body intelligence talking to you, letting you know what it needs to keep you healthy, energetic and happy. If you listen to your desire every time you eat, you will be able to digest that food well and it will do you only good, because you have eaten it at the right time, just when your body asked for it.
TROUBLE is that in our modern commercial world people’s desires for food has been manipulated through the use of addictive and taste-altering chemicals in processed foods. Listening to your desire only applies to natural foods – foods that Mother Nature has designed. Stop eating processed foods and your normal sense of desire for food will return.
The sense of SMELL gives your body a lot of information about the food: is it safe to eat, has it been contaminated by chemicals or microbes, is it fresh, and most importantly, is it appropriate for your bodily needs at the moment? So, before putting anything into your mouth smell it: if it is the right food for you at the moment, it will smell very appealing. If it is not the right food, it will smell repulsive. Respect your sense of smell and listen to it.
TROUBLE is, that many people in our modern world have a damaged sense of smell due to use of manmade chemicals, such as laundry detergents, domestic cleaning chemicals, so called air fresheners and perfumes block the limited number of smell olfactory receptors in your nose. Once the receptors are blocked by a chemical, any new molecules of that chemical coming in have nothing to attach to, so you cannot smell it anymore.
To restore your sense of smell, remove all smelly/perfumed chemicals from your environment. In a few weeks time your olfactory receptors will clean themselves up and your sense of smell will return.
The sense of TASTE is one of the channels of communication between your body’s inner intelligence and your conscious mind. This the way your body tells you it needs a particular mix of nutrients, by giving you great pleasure from consuming them in the form of food.
The TROUBLE is that many people have an altered or dulled sense of taste due to regular consumption of processed foods. Many processed foods contain taste-altering chemicals, which are deliberately added to the ‘food’. These chemicals are not only toxic, but can alter your perception of taste for a long time, so it is essential to stop consuming processed foods in order to restore your normal sense of taste.
Working with a holistic dentist is very important, as many dental materials in the mouth can make it toxic and alter your sense of taste.
The sense of SATISFACTION after eating. If you have eaten a meal appropriate for your body’s nutritional needs at the time, you will feel fully satisfied.
It is important not to overeat, so you don’t feel ‘stuffed’. However, if you listen to your sense of pleasure from food, then you will not overeat because you would stop eating as soon as the food stops being pleasurable.
Cravings for sweet foods are common due to unstable blood sugar level. It takes time to normalize blood sugar and the most effective way to deal with it is to increase your fat consumption, particularly animal fats. So, consume plenty of animal fats with your meals.
The GAPS Diet is not set in stone; you have to adapt it for your unique body, for its unique daily needs. The GAPS diet gives you the list of foods to work with. When you eat these different foods and in what proportions is up to you. Listen to your body’s needs, communicated to you through the senses of desire, smell, taste and satisfaction. Your body will let you know what proportions of protein, fat and carbohydrate to have at every meal.
Use your senses of smell, taste, desire for food and satisfaction from eating it to guide you in your decisions: when to eat, what foods to eat and in what combinations. And remember: you are unique, so what suits your neighbour may not suite you at all.
For more information on GAPS please refer to her book
Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia, 2nd Edition Paperback – Nov 15 2010
Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
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Dr. Natasha McBride: GAPS was created by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD, MMedSci (neurology), MMedSci (human nutrition) in 2004 after working with hundreds of children and adults with neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
There are various ways to keep up-to-date on my Posts.
My focus is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity and most importantly overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
I will bring you compelling articles on Ketogenic and GAPS diets, the Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program and supplements.
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What is the relationship between your microbiome (friendly gut bacteria) and your immune system?
Seventy per cent of your immune system is this microbiome, your gut bacteria. You have trillions and trillions of microbes living in and around your body that are a constantly exchanging with you.
GAPS Diet has become known all over the world, helping children and adults to recover from very serious health problems.
Some people do well with following the Full GAPS Diet, which is the easiest to implement and is very suitable for following as a permanent lifestyle. Many people have to go through the GAPS Introduction Diet, which is more difficult to follow, but it achieves deeper healing of the gut and the rest of the body.
“You can’t go sailing” the irritated dermatologist exclaimed, “you have stage four cancer, you are dying! Do you not understand!” This was the start of a journey, which resulted in being tumour free. This is our story and how we did it.
This journey was the basis of Meme Grant’s book. How We Beat Cancer: The Natural Way
The Top 10 Posts of 2021 are ranked by the number of times you viewed a Post.
Before we dive into the top 10, I would like to review the focus of this Blog.
I believe the best way to predict my future is to create it. To do that, I make it a habit to improve my health.
My goal is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity, body composition, and most importantly my overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
Why am I so concerned, you may ask. My motivation came from watching my mother suffer from numerous illnesses. Her life was regulated by when she had to take her drugs.
I have been retired for a while and I have yet to experience any of her illnesses. I attribute that to eating a wholesome diet and exercise.
I supplement my diet with high-quality natural vitamins, mineral and supplements.
In my posts, I focus on two diets: the Ketogenic (Low-Carb) and GAPS (Gut and Psychology / Physiology Syndrome) diets.
My exercise of choice is Dr. Doug McGuff’s Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program that I do for 15 minutes, once a week. If you would like a PDF of the book please email me for copy.
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Vegetarianism is becoming more and more popular. The word of mouth is animal foods are bad for us. But is a vegetarian diet really a good idea? What are its strengths and drawbacks? Is vegetarianism better for the planet? What does science have to say about all of this? And, more importantly, what does nature have to say about it?
Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride is a medical doctor with two postgraduate degrees: Master of Medical Sciences in Neurology and Master of Medical Sciences in Human Nutrition.
She graduated as a medical doctor in Russia. After practicing for five years as a Neurologist and three years as a Neurosurgeon she started a family and moved to the UK, where she got her second postgraduate degree in Human Nutrition. She practices in the UK as a nutritionist and not as a medical doctor.
Thousands of people around the world follow the highly successful GAPS Nutritional Protocol to help themselves and their families. You can learn about GAPS on www.gaps.me
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of “Gut and Psychology Syndrome,” offers a fresh look at vegetarianism. She provides up-to-date scientific information about how plant and animal foods work in the human body and how we can eat to thrive. She dives into a variety of topics including agriculture, soil degradation, the power of plants to detox our bodies, and how to be a healthy vegetarian!
I would like to take a moment to thank each of you for your views, likes, shares and comments. Your participation in liking posts and the insight you share in your comments means a lot to me.
In my Blog, Facebook and email Posts my goal is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity, body composition, and most importantly my overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
Please join me as I continue to explore the latest and compelling studies on Ketogenic and GAPS diets and the Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program. Thank you for being a part of my journey to better health.
We have had a very challenging year this year. My most sincere wishes for a Happy Holiday and a healthy, safe and blessed 2021. May you Live Long Healthy.
2HealthyHabits 