What is Real Food for YOU??

My definition of real food is changing. Hopefully, from good to great!

For the past few years, I was eating a mostly paleo/primal diet: food hunter-gathers ate waaaay back when. That would include meats, poultry, fish, nuts, berries, and greens. Somewhere mid-way, I started focusing on organic, grassfed animal protein and fat sources (to avoid the estrogenic effects of pesticides and herbicides in the conventional animal feed plus antibiotics routinely given to "healthy," conventionally-grown animals), coconut oil (antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal goodness in a jar!), and organic vegetables. You can say my diet is pretty extreme so far, right? At least compared to the average SAD (Standard American Diet) eater, it is!

Well, I found out recently that I may not be eating right... for me. I believe healing foods are customized to the person. What works for me may not work for you. This is that little lovely concept called Biochemical Individuality (one of my upcoming courses for my masters!). What I have been trying to do for some time is follow what works for alot of other people. And unfortunately, it may not be working so well for me. With my fairly clean diet, I found out that I have some serious dietary changes to make.

I took a special 24-hour urine test last week. I hate doing these kinds of tests, especially since you get locked down at home! But, I did it anyways because 1) I was curious to see what was involved in the process and 2) I wanted to understand why I was so tired all the time (4 or 5 hour naps is not normal!). I found this test through Lita Lee - a wonderful human being AND enzyme therapist/chemist. When a health practitioner tells you to visualize good health and use the Law of Attraction, you have to believe in that person! She and I are in sync!

The results are in, and my body is really out of balance (no duh). On Monday, I found out that I am deficient in electrolytes, my body fights for every little bit of calcium that I eat, and my thyroid is seriously underactive (among other things). And, an underactive thyroid explains ALOT of my health issues. And, this is all with my gluten-free, mostly casein-free, soy-free, and mostly sugar-free diet.

So, for the next two months, I will be eating a pro-thyroid diet, which will take me away from my low-carb hunter-gatherer diet. Some foods that I thought were healing apparently are not healing for me. I will go over the details of my diet in the next few blog entries. I plan on getting retested at the end of a month or two, after being placed on some enzymes and eating my healing foods. So, this is a great experiment for me!

My questions to you are:
1) Are you eating real food? If not, why not?
2) Are you eating foods that help you maintain fantastic health? If "no", can you figure out what foods are healing and what foods aren't?

Sometimes all it takes is a food log where you write down what you eat and how you react. Sometimes, like in my case, it takes a little help from someone else to figure it out.

My belief is that eating real food does heal the body. And, if you aren't healed (like me), you may not be eating the right foods!