Does Your Family Need a Healing Diet?

Right now, we’re in the middle of our 31 Day Healthy Habit Challenge.

I’ve been off of sugar for more than two weeks — I started a little early.  I’m the only one doing it right now, I haven’t been making the rest of the family do it with me.  So, I’ve noticed every time I pass on sugar or less-than-healthy food, while my family partakes.  It’s made me realize that they’re really eating a lot more junk than I’d prefer, and I think it’s time for a reset.

Don’t get me wrong — they beg for freshly pressed juices, and they snack on carrots and celery, and they enjoy a good baked salmon filet with salad.  They don’t eat “kid food” or a lot of processed options.  But the candy when they’re with friends….

Plus, I don’t think we’ve healed properly from mold exposure.  It’s just time to make the leap and get started with a healing diet.  We’ll be choosing GAPS, which is the diet we used to make great progress with my daughter and husband’s health issues back in 2010 – 2011.

Does Your Family Need a Healing Diet?

A healing diet is one that is aimed at cleansing the body of any build-up of processed foods, medications, bad bacteria, and other things that shouldn’t be there.  Those things slow the body down, because the body is dealing with correcting those issues, instead of maintaining normal health (fighting off bad bacteria you run across day to day, digestion, etc.).

Most everyone could use a healing diet now and then.  Some people could use one for an extended time, if they are struggling with more serious health issues.  In our case, we’re looking for a bit of a reset; we’re not having major issues day-to-day.

Some signs you may benefit from a healing diet:

• Frequent constipation or diarrhea (or both)
• Stomachaches
• Headaches/migraines
• Heartburn that is severe/frequent
• Lack of energy
• Frequent sugar cravings
• Lots of tantrums/difficult behavior
• Insomnia/night wakings/early waking often
• Eczema
• Acne/rosacea in adults or teens that is moderate to severe
• Frequent illnesses

It’s pretty normal to experience any of these things on occasion — we all have a bad night of sleep or a headache here and there.  It’s when any of these things become a pattern, occurring fairly often, and especially if you have multiple symptoms together.

Why a Healing Diet?

Healing diets are used to give the body a break from all the junk that’s in our environment, and then give the body the tools it needs to heal itself.  Certain foods (and herbs) target certain body systems, helping to reduce inflammation, flush out toxins, and improve health.

Our modern environment is filled with junk, some of which we can’t control, and some of which we can.  It includes:

• GMOs in foods
• Artificial colors and flavors
• Rancid vegetable oils
• MSG
• Other food additives
• Pollution
• Mold
• Commercial laundry detergents
• Shampoos
• Soaps and lotions
• Antibiotics
• Vaccines

Basically, everything we commonly use is pretty toxic.  (And yes, there are times when choosing something on that list might outweigh the drawbacks.  But we must choose carefully.)

It’s overwhelming — I know.  I’ve been on this journey for almost 7 years now, so to me it’s pretty second-nature.  But it wasn’t always.

I’ll detail our preparations and progress, and share my favorite GAPS-legal recipes over the next several weeks.  I like to focus on what’s working and what’s good, rather than focusing on all the things we can’t have or do.  Sharing it with you will help me to stay on track, and will hopefully help you, too!

Components of a Healing Diet

There are many different healing diets out there.  Some involve mostly or entirely juicing.  Others are raw milk only.  Some are raw vegan.  Others are mostly animal foods and fat.

The overarching goal in all cases is to make food easy to digest, so the body doesn’t have to work so hard.  Many also help to cleanse the digestive tract and remove any caked-on stool left in the colon.  Many seek to add probiotics in order to restore a healthy gut.

There is no one “best” diet; it depends on your body and your needs.

A general healing diet will have:

• No processed foods at all
• No sugar of any kind (except possibly raw honey)
• Few to no grains (some allow brown rice; many don’t do any)
• Some do no dairy; others do limited, raw/grass-fed dairy
• No fruits, or no sweet fruits
• Some do high fat; some do low-fat
• Detox baths
• Sauna/sweating
• Probiotics
• Herbs and other plant-based supplements

In the coming weeks, I will share our preparation for this diet, including all of the supplements we’ll be taking.

It might be necessary to start out slowly.  You will likely be tired, and hungry when starting.  Preparing in advance is a good idea.

I’m excited!  Maybe that’s silly, but I like to embark on something new.

Have you ever done a healing diet for your family?  If so, which did you choose and how did it go?

SaveSave