Diet Myths Revealed! Simple Guidelines for Healthy Food Choices

With a little experimentation and planning, following the Body Ecology principles can be easy.

We have all been there. Unsure about what to eat, standing in front of shelves at the grocery store or in front of the refrigerator at home, mentally running through a list of dos and don’ts.  Food choices present themselves several times a day, every day. With this in mind, we have pulled together a few Body Ecology guidelines and some food ideas that may inspire your next trip to the market or help get you started if you are new to the Body Ecology Diet.

More accurately, Body Ecology is a System of Health and Healing. An anti-inflammatory way of eating and living, the Body Ecology program has gained recognition for being a premier method for supporting recovery from candida and other immune dysfunctions. For years, we’ve observed that these anti-inflammatory foods help not only to nourish the body but to strengthen the gut and build the immune system.

Examples of Body Ecology Friendly Foods:

Fats

Healthy fats are satisfying and help to build energy. They are also essential to maintain the integrity and fluidity of cell walls, enhance cell-to-cell communication, reduce inflammation, build hormones, and even stabilize high levels of LDL, or “bad cholesterol.”

Coconut oil (and other animal fats like raw butter) is the best oil to cook with. It is a saturated fatty acid and therefore stable. Because it is a medium chain triglyceride, it is easily transported and metabolized. This means it gives you energy and does not get deposited as fat! In addition, it contains lauric acid, which is antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and antiviral.

If you eat fish, try sardines, mackerel, and salmon. Fish are Body Ecology friendly sources of animal protein. They are an excellent source of a polyunsaturated fatty acid that our bodies cannot make, called omega 3 or alpha-linolenic fatty acid.

Vegan sources of omega 3: Fermented Spirulina is an excellent source of essential fatty acids. Body Ecology Super Spirulina Plus is a fermented microalgae blend that is a great source of unsaturated fatty acids and protein, including all 8 essential amino acids.

Avocado season, March through September, is the perfect time to enjoy this rich and wonderful fruit.  Like olive oil, avocado is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, which are non-essential but associated with lower cardiovascular risk.

–At home, you can squeeze a little lime on slices of avocado and sprinkle with Celtic sea salt. Also, add to salads. Avocado blended into a smoothie – with Vitality SuperGreen – gives the smoothie a pudding-like texture.  Try out one of our favorite smoothie recipes below!

Almonds are one of the only nuts that Body Ecology recommends. Almonds are alkaline, and if you’re going to eat them, it’s essential that you soak and sprout truly raw almonds.

–If you have access to organic, soaked, and sprouted almond butter, try fermenting it! Fermented almond butter is a wonderful alternative to sour cream and can be used as a creamy element to many savory dips and dressings. Fermented almond butter can also be added to smoothies.

–To make fermented almond butter: add a small amount of coconut water kefir to organic, soaked, and sprouted almond butter, about 1 oz. to 4 oz. respectively and allow to culture. When it is ready, similar to fermented coconut meat, you will notice that the almond butter has expanded with air bubbles and tastes slightly sour.

Grains

Sometimes, even the Body Ecology grains quinoa, amaranth, millet, and buckwheat are difficult to digest for a compromised gut. If you are unsure about your sensitivity to grains, eliminate all grains from your diet. Then slowly, one by one, add each of the Body Ecology grains to your diet, noticing any signs of inflammation. The inflammatory response is not limited to your digestive tract. Sometimes food-related inflammation can show up in the joints and the skin, as brain fog, or as any other weakened system in your body.

When eating Body Ecology grains, it is essential to properly prepare them.This means soaking grains anywhere from 8-24 hours before preparation. Adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per 1 cup of grains furthers the process. This important step requires little time, but it does take some planning.

Eggs

Eat raw egg yolks or lightly cooked eggs. Egg whites contain a protein called avidin, which binds to the nutrient biotin that is present in raw egg yolk. Cooking actually deactivates avidin. So eggs that are cooked to the point where the yolk is still runny preserves some of the biotin while eliminating the biotin-binding effects of avidin in raw egg whites.

Eggs are sometimes a source of inflammation to those who are sensitive to them. If you think that you may be sensitive to eggs, eliminate them from your diet for several weeks. Then add them back into your diet and watch for any inflammatory response that may or may not be in the gut.

Vegetables

Vegetables are an important component of the 80/20 food combining principle of the Body Ecology Diet. The rule is this: 80% of each meal contains non-starchy land and ocean vegetables while the remaining 20% are animal proteins, starchy vegetables, or Body Ecology grains.

Most vegetables are your friends! Get to know them. Experiment with fermenting as much as possible, especially the sugary or starchy ones like beets, carrots, and yams.

Roast and steam. Changing the texture of a vegetable can greatly influence how much you enjoy eating it.

–Try roasting broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, onions, zucchini, and summer squash. Simply toss in coconut oil, the most stable fat to cook with, and sprinkle with Celtic sea salt or your favorite toasted spice blend.

–For a healthy potato chip alternative, bake kale in a 350 degree oven for 5-12 minutes. Chop kale into thin slices and massage coconut oil and lemon juice onto the leaves before baking. If the coconut oil is solid when you spoon it onto the kale, you will find that it liquefies with the heat from your hands. Add thinly sliced onion or shallots to the kale mixture for variety. Sprinkle with Celtic sea salt to season.

Ocean vegetables are a healthy and fun way to introduce a wide spectrum of minerals into the diet.

–Arame, hijiki, and wakame are all seaweeds that require soaking before use. They are wonderful when mixed into a salad or cultured with your fermenting vegetables.

–Dulse and nori can be finely chopped as is and sprinkled onto a salad.

–Kombu is an excellent addition to soups or when added to water before cooking soaked grains.

Veggies to Avoid: Nightshades, like tomato, peppers, and eggplant (all are actually fruits), contain lectins and can exacerbate inflammatory conditions.

Fruits

Most fruits are too sugary when healing the inner lining of the intestinal tract. What fruits are available for you to enjoy? Lemon, lime, black currants, and cranberries. You will find that a squeeze of lemon enlivens almost any dish and is a refreshing accompaniment to water first thing in the morning.

Watch out for dried forms of black currents and cranberries! Manufacturers often add sugar and unhealthy oils, like canola or vegetable oils that will easily go rancid. These oils keep the berries from sticking together.

When the inner ecology of your gut is beginning to harmonize, experiment by slowly adding low glycemic fruits like grapefruit and kiwi to your diet.

Meats

Meats are Body Ecology friendly when eaten with mostly vegetables.Follow the 80/20 principle of eating only 20% of your meal as animal protein, while choosing non-starchy vegetables and sea vegetables for the remaining 80%.

Choose organic and grass-fed meats or wild game. When eating organic meats, experiment with incorporating organ meats and bone marrow into your dishes and soups, as they are fortifying and nutrient-dense.

If you find meats difficult to digest or if you know that foods move slowly through your digestive tract, help your gut along with a cup of fermented veggies and Body Ecology Assist Dairy and Protein.