Don't Fear the Fat

One thing I've been learning over the last several years is to get over my fear of fat. Fat gets a bad wrap since it also is what is often found in our spare tires and saddle bags. Fortunately, Time and other media outlets are finally getting the word out that fat is an important nutrient to our bodies, vital in fact. It helps create our hormones, line our myelin and serves as fuel. It also carries essential fat soluble nutrients - like vitamins A, D and K - that are especially important for our bodies to be able to build healthy ova, sperm and, of course, babies. In fact, both protein and fat are essential to human function. We can live completely without carbs. Not that I would, but I could and so could you! I now see the enemy to my health and fertility as refined carbs. Nutrient dense carbohydrate sources like fruit and especially vegetables are great. Added sugar, grains and their refined flours are not good for us. Yes, I still eat grains in small amounts (and always gluten free), but now when I add a cup of rice flour to a recipe I see it as adding a cup of sugar, because that's how it will react in my body.

The documentary Fat Head (embedded below) does a great job of explaining why sugar (and insulin resistance) is pro-inflammatory and the enemy of weight loss and maintenance, not fat.

One caveat on fats though, trans fats and rancid fats are good for no one. So avoid hydrogenated oils and cooking with vegetable and seed oils. Olive oil is great as a dressing, but when cooked the healthfulness of the oil breaks down due to oxidation. So keep that in mind when choosing which oils to cook with. My personal favorites include coconut oil, butter, ghee, tallow and lard.

For more information on the science behind this I would encourage anyone to check out the Weston A. Price Foundation. I would also recommend the book Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck. It was this book more than any other that started me down the path to whole foods and clean eating. It's a great resource for moms, moms-to-be, and single girls like me who want to maintain and protect our fertility until we are able to have families of our own.

Foods for Fertility

As a single woman that just just turned 30 and who dreams of being a wife and mother, one thing is abundantly clear - I must protect my fertility now. If I want to be able to, God willing, naturally conceive, carry, birth and nurse my own children in my 30s, I have to be guarding my fertility. Appropriate exercise is helpful, but a nutritious diet is probably more key than anything else. So, being an librarian, of course I read a lot on the subject of fertility diets, especially the books mentioned at the end of this post. Here is what I've learned, so far.

What is Real Food?

The first item listed on my Crunchy To Do List was to "Just Eat Real Food", and I put it first for a reason. I know if I go crunchy in no other area of my life, just eating real food will make a tremendous difference in my well-being.

A couple years ago I had some attacks of abdominal pain that put me in the emergency room. Subsequent testing never gave me a firm answer on the source of the pain, but I was ultimately diagnosed with IBS-D. Since then I have researched several differing, but often overlapping, views on what foods would improve my health and well-being. All of the diets listed below are what I would consider to be "real food" - that is, based on whole ingredients (not processed and packaged junk) and traditional foods.

The one that ended up working best for me has been paleo, which is why paleo is included in the website address for this blog. Though I've not always been on the paleo wagon (and that's one of the reasons this blog exists - is to help keep me accountable by giving myself an audience) - the stricter I have been the better I have felt overall.

Depending on your situation one of these "real food" diets might work better for you than another  - but the common ground is clear - make pastured meat, wild caught fish, natural fats, and whole fruits and vegetables the cornerstones of your diet for better digestion, reduced inflammation, clearer skin, good energy levels, reduced disease risk and better holistic health for life. I like how Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Liz Wolfe of Real Food Liz puts it as well.

Here is more information on all of these diets so that you can find the best option for you and your family.