This post has been on my ‘to-write’ list for a long time. But now, pregnant, drinking about a quart of the stuff a day, it seems more pertinent than ever.

But isn’t that dangerous? you ask. What about all those dreaded pathogens? The e-coli? The listeria? Aren’t you putting you and your baby at unnecessary risk?

Not at all.

I drink raw milk even (especially) when I’m pregnant. Contrary to most of the pregnancy nutrition advice out there, I believe raw milk is a vital part of the pregnant woman’s diet. And if you like and can tolerate milk (ie, you don’t have an allergy), then I believe raw is the only way to go, pregnant or not.

Here’s why:

1) Full-fat raw milk is a perfect, whole, naked food

Raw milk is a complete source of amino acids, good carbohydrates, and important nutrients such as calcium and vitamins A, C and D. Your body needs the fats in it to properly use and absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A and D. And it has the phosphate your body needs to digest the calcium, something that’s completely destroyed by pasteurization. There’s nothing synthetic or fortified here. This is a truly naked, nutrient-dense food.

2) Raw milk is an enzyme-rich living food

You might not think of milk as ‘living’, but when it’s raw, it is. It’s rich with enzymes, the most notable of which is the enzyme lactase that helps your body digest the lactose so many people struggle with. Raw milk digests itself and for many, it doesn’t present the digestive problems associated with pasteurized milk.

3) Raw milk comes with its own defense system

One of the biggest criticisms and fears about raw milk is that it’s dangerous because we haven’t killed all the bad bacteria in there. Unfortunately, when we kill the bad stuff, we kill the good stuff – pasteurization doesn’t just target the things we don’t want.

This good stuff – beneficial bacteria (those great probiotics we’re all trying to get more of in our diet) – acts as a defense against any pathogenic bacteria introduced into the milk. Yes, that means raw milk comes with its own defense mechanism – a mechanism completely destroyed by pasteurization.

4) The only safe raw milk comes from healthy, grass-fed cows in sanitary conditions

If you’re going to drink raw milk, then knowing the diet and living conditions of the animals it came from is crucial. This is the reason the FDA and big dairy companies don’t want you to know that clean raw milk is actually safe – it requires healthy animals and sanitary dairies. I don’t know about you, but clean milk from healthy animals is the only milk I want to drink.

Hmm… so that means pasteurized milk comes from unhealthy animals and unsanitary dairies? Bingo! As one of my favorite raw-milk advocates, Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures, says, “Pasteurization does not create clean milk; it just kills filthy milk.[1]” Yummy.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not drink raw milk from conventional confinement dairies or dairies producing milk intended for pasteurization. This milk is definitely not fit for consumption unpasteurized and can easily make you sick.

[1] McAfee, M. 2010. The fifteen things that pasteurization kills. Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and the Healing Arts 11(2):82-86

5) When I’m pregnant, my body craves it

I’m a big believer in listening closely to what my body’s asking for, and listening “underneath the cravings” as I’ve described in other posts.

When it comes to being pregnant, as anyone who’s gone through this amazing experience can attest, your body gets very clear on what it does and doesn’t want. In my first trimester many of my favorite foods (healthy and not) were suddenly completely unacceptable to my body. One of the few exceptions was raw milk.

My body has asked for some weird things over these few months, but its one consistent desire has been for raw milk. Reading through pregnancy guidelines I know and trust from both the Weston A Price Foundation and Nina Planck in her book Real Food for Mother and Baby, raw milk is an excellent, nutrient-rich food for an expecting mother.

Want to learn more?

Here’s a link to an easy-to-understand chart comparing the difference between conventional milk, organic milk, and certified raw milk.

If you’d like to find raw milk in your area, start at The Campaign for Real Milk’s website. If you’re not able to find a reputable local source there, then contact your local Weston A Price Foundation chapter and ask for their recommendations.

Related posts:

• The Skinny on Saturated Fats: Six important roles for this maligned nutrient
• When an Egg is not an Egg: What’s on your dinner plate?
• Underneath Cravings: What’s your body telling you?

At the outset of 2011 I set the intention of being truly naked, authentic, real. Of walking my talk in all facets of my life. Transparency is a big part of this, and so, taking a big breath, here I share the inside scoop on what was going on behind the scenes of Eat Naked last year.

On New Years Eve, hubby Chef James Barry and I chronicled 2011 and realized that something life-changing and pivotal happened in all but two months of the year. I won’t bore you with all the gory details, but here are some of the most notable moments:

In 2011, I married the love of my life.

Three times.

The first time was (unintentionally) on Valentine’s Day in an LA courthouse. Unromantic and kind of funny in cowboy boots with a cupid cutout on the wall behind us, but poignant nonetheless.

The second time was in an intimate, family-only ceremony in my hometown Ottawa, so that my ailing mother could witness our vows. For many of the family members gathered, it was the last time they saw her alive. Powerful doesn’t begin to describe it.

And then a third time here in LA, with more family and our wider circle of friends, as a proper celebratory send-off to our new life together.

Ultimately, this wasn’t at all how we imagined our wedding to be (to begin with, we imagined it happening only once) but, as always with the unexpected, it was perfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.

In 2011, I launched my first book, Eat Naked

It’s hard to explain the amount of stretching and personal growth this endeavor asked of me.

From the moment I thought up the book until about two weeks before it launched, I felt with incredible (and uncharacteristic) certainty that this would be a huge success. Even though I had no experience in the publishing world, I had this deep knowing that it would give real value, maybe even change lives.

And then, two weeks before the book launched and I began my media tour, I panicked. I second-guessed every word I wrote, every moment of confidence, every strategy I’d devised. I felt (appropriately?) naked and exposed, with my face staring back at me on the book’s cover. I decided I’d been delusional to think I could do this. The shy little girl inside me balked at the TV cameras, the long list of radio interviews, all the attention. I just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

I think they call this the “terror barrier” and let me tell you, I hit it hard. I called many a friend in fits of gasping tears bemoaning the whole thing I’d set in motion, wishing I could somehow get off the train and make it all go away.

But of course getting off the train was not an option and all I could do was take a deep breath (or many) and put one foot in front of the other. I fumbled a few interviews, and nailed others. I learned little details the hard way (e.g.,  always bring your own water to the green room, even if it’s a big TV network). I even faced my biggest fears and did a few speaking engagements.

I grew a new patch of grey hair over those few weeks, but I survived and now am much better equipped as we head into the launch of the follow-up cookbook in a few months.

In 2011, I said goodbye to the woman who gave me life.

On July 1^st, after the exhilaration of sending off the final cookbook manuscript to the publisher’s editing team, I got the devastating phone-call that my ailing mother was heading into emergency surgery, for the second time in a week. The prognosis wasn’t good.

Within a day, I was on a flight home to Canada and at her bedside in the intensive care unit. The following 10 days were some of the most difficult, memorable, important days of my life. I read to her, I held her hand, I sang to her, I said all the things I’d ever wanted to say, and I got to say good-bye.

She left this world far too early on July 13^th, 2011. But now her pain is gone, and who can begrudge her that? It gives me great comfort to know she’s in a better place and her suffering is over.

In 2011, I discovered I am going to be a mother.

In October, my new hubby and I spent a month in Europe on our honeymoon, drinking wine, relaxing, and eating way too much pasta. It was blissful.

So blissful, in fact, that we came home pregnant.

Fitting in some ways, given the passing of my mother. Quite the cycle of life. It seems this is the year I move officially from daughter to mother, the passing of the torch. Serendipitously, my due date is a year almost to the day of my mother’s passing. Coincidence?

And so now, as we step into 2012, a whole new adventure begins:

- A new chapter in my life as I become a mother and bring this baby into the world. I’ve only been pregnant for 3+ months and already this little creature has taught me so much about surrender, slowing down, and listening to my body’s sometimes very confusing instincts. Lots and lots of fodder for future blog posts…

- A new book to launch that I co-authored with the amazing Chef James Barry.  You asked for recipes and you got ‘em! 170 gluten-free, properly-prepared, naked foods recipes from the simple and speedy to the complex and impressive. The Naked Foods Cookbook comes out in May 2012 – and is already available for pre-order on Amazon.

Looking forward into 2012 I can hardly imagine the adventures, the joys, and the challenges that await us. What I do know is that I am committed to stepping into this year with the same intention as the last: being truly naked, authentic, and real. With perhaps a little extra dose of self-care for good measure.

Thank you to all of you – friends, family, clients, supporters, readers, the whole Eat Naked family – for being part of my community and coming along for the ride. It’s my honor and privilege to share my thoughts on food, health, and life with you, and I look forward to an incredible 2012 for us all.

Related posts:

• Living 2010 fully
• Naked Living And Authenticity: A resolution for the rest of us
• Say hello to your most naked self: Lessons learned over 26.2 miles

Self-care and grounding has never been more important than it is right now. Those of us living in Los Angeles were recently humbled by the powerful Santa Ana winds. May we receive Mother Nature’s lesson of surrendering to that which is bigger than us by reflecting inwards and feeding our souls. How that may look depends on your individual needs, and below is my list of suggestions on things you can do to prepare for the New Year.

1) Spend Time With Loved Ones.

The biggest mistake any of us can make is isolating ourselves while we are on this planet. Don’t assume because you are in the same room with someone that you have to be “on”. Just being in the presence of others can be nurturing to the soul. Also, don’t assume the “others” need to be human. Animals are incredible companions, as long as they’re not trying to eat you.

2) Eat Good, Healthy Food.

Don’t eat processed foods. Don’t eat food with unpronounceable ingredients. Just eat real, naked foods. Processed food and sugar will affect your mood and not in a good way. Get meals through Wholesome2Go or your other favorite source of healthy, tasty meals.

3) Drink Water and be Merry

Drink lots of clean water. Water feeds your cells, provides clarity, and satiates cravings. Start by drinking a full glass of water upon waking. You’ll be amazed by the shift in your energy from drinking more water and less of the sugar drinks, including juice and alcohol.

4) Go For A Walk Outside

Not a run, but a walk. So many of us are always pushing, pushing, going and going. How long has it been since you gave yourself the permission to just slow down? Do you remember how to move your body without the agenda of a performance outcome? Simply enjoy the outdoors and get some sun. Maybe smell some flowers. Hold hands with a loved one as you walk in silence and feel the wind on your face.

5) Turn Off the TV

I’m a movie watcher. I love movies, particularly after a long day. In many ways it’s my go-to when I need to decompress. I’m making a different choice in the New Year, which I’m already starting to incorporate now. Instead of a movie or TV, I’ll play a board game, read a book, write, or sit and talk with my wife. I love having people over for dinner and a board game. The amount of laughter that comes forth from that type of evening is incredibly healing. Yet, I rarely do it.

If we aren’t doing the things we love, then what are we doing?

There are so many other self-care suggestions I could add to this list but I’m going to leave it at five. Why? Well that’s all part of my choosing self-care. There’s no need to over-do it or to put pressure on being perfect. If you can incorporate one suggestion from this list, then you’re doing just great in my book!

Happy New Year. May 2012 be filled with everything you love.

Related posts:

• Eat to Thrive: Fight the winter blues with these immune boosting strategies
• True Naked Living: Your permission slip from the Universe
• Living 2010 Fully

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On my intake forms one of the questions is, “Is there a food you are absolutely not willing to give up?” Chocolate, sweets and alcohol are just some of the obvious ones.  But by far the most frequent item is…yeah, you guessed it…coffee.

I always encourage my clients to minimize too much coffee in their diet. I could go on and on about its negative health effects. But I’ll never tell anyone they have to give up coffee. If I did, the majority of the people I see would never come back!

However, it never ceases to amaze me when people do go off the stuff. When they come back for a follow up and say they’ve given up coffee and feel great, I always feel like saying, “Umm…could you show me how to do that?”

Perhaps this is not the best way to start my venture into nutritional blogging, admitting that I’m a coffee drinker.

So this blog is for you, my fellow coffee drinkers out there that scoff, smirk, sneer and roll your eyes at the seemingly endless barrage of how- to- quit -coffee articles out there and think, ”Yeah right”. Because I’m right there with ya.

And God knows I’ve tried to give up coffee. I’ve tried switching to tea and I’ve tried the coffee substitutes. None of it has worked. I even gave it up for 30 days once. It made no difference. Zippo. I craved it as much on day 1 as I did on day 30. I’ll never forget that first sip of coffee on the morning of day 31. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

If you truly love coffee and there’s absolutely NO WAY you’re ever going to give it up, here are 6 tips that can turn a really addictive habit into a mild vice:

1. Choose organic

Conventional coffee is heavily sprayed with pesticides. There’s a plethora of organic choices out there. At the very least, do this. Better yet, support companies that promote fair trade practices. And stay away from the flavored coffees which are usually full of artificial flavorings.

2.  Get the sugar out!

OK, this I realize is a tough one for a lot of people. It was for me. Until I did this I never realized that what I was really craving in my coffee was the sugar more than the caffeine. And once I ditched the sugar, my palette became more attuned to the various types of roasts and regional variations. I actually started enjoying the taste of coffee instead of the taste of sugar. Try adding just cream (preferably raw if you can get it) in place of sugar. That helped me get the sugar out once and for all. The fat in cream will cut the bitterness of coffee. Cream also has a natural sweetness that can help you wean off the refined white stuff.  Lastly, please do NOT use those flavored cream/creamer concoctions!  They’re made with hydrogenated vegetable oils, corn syrup and a whole host of other chemicals. Now some of you might be saying, “Cream?!  What about low fat milk?  Isn’t that healthier?” No.  As Bill Cosby once said, “Show me the cow who makes skim milk and then I’ll drink it”. Low fat milk and all manner of low fat products are not health foods. But that’s another blog topic for another blog day.

3. Buy whole beans and grind them at home.

Coffee beans, like anything, will begin to breakdown and become rancid once the inner contents are exposed to oxygen and moisture. To see this process with the naked eye cut open an apple and see what happens. The white flesh starts turning brown pretty fast. This is due to its exposure to oxygen and moisture, the enemies of freshness. They’re also the enemies of anti-oxidants, those things you hear about that create stability and health in living systems and ward off disease. I’m skeptical about the anti-oxidant health benefits you hear about in coffee. But if it’s true, those anti-oxidants will start to oxidize immediately after grinding, which is OK if you drink the coffee soon after. After a few days however freshly ground coffee doesn’t taste so fresh anymore. And if you get the sugar out, you can start to taste this pretty easily.

4. Keep it to ONE cup per day.

For starters, one cup is not a Starbucks twenty plus ounce mega -grande french vanilla frappuccino with whip cream and chocolate syrup. Nor does it resemble a giant caramel coffee coolatta from Dunkin Donuts. It’s eight ounces. Your liver can handle that. I know more than a few people who drink coffee all day long – five, ten, fifteen cups. If you’re one of those, don’t even think about cutting down to one cup right away. Reduce it slowly. If you’re drinking ten cups, get it down to eight in a week. Then get it down to five, and so on and so forth. Other strategies for reducing the caffeine content include a second brewing from the same beans and including half decaf (Swiss mater method only) in each cup.

5. Drink coffee after a meal.

It’s definitely better to wait until you have some food in your system before downing that cup of coffee. Caffeine causes your body to release sugar into your bloodstream which in turn causes the pancreas to release insulin (another good reason to get sugar out!). On an empty stomach this can cause a sharp drop in blood sugar which can then set up more sugar cravings. Guess what will help spike that sugar besides sugar? Caffeine. Furthermore, the caffeine in coffee can suppress your appetite causing you to go longer without feeling hungry. This sets up further episodes of low blood sugar and further coffee and sugar cravings. Having food in your stomach will help modulate this blood sugar response and keep those cravings at bay.

6. Enjoy the heck out of it!

Yeah, that’s right. We live in a world where we’re made to feel guilty about food:  don’t eat this, don’t eat that, this food will kill you, that food will kill you. Of course, a lot of that is true, but you can take any food, create negative thoughts around it and actually make it unhealthier to consume with those stressful thoughts. After all, stress depletes nutrients from the body, too. So don’t feel guilty it, your one cup per day of organic, ground-at-home-with-cream-coffee. Enjoy it! I do every day.

Craig Fear, NTP, is the owner of Pioneer Valley Nutritional Therapy in Northampton, MA.   He chose the Pioneer Valley as an ideal place for his practice for both the wide and varied access to local farms and for the strong support in the community for local agriculture. He loves to hike, play guitar, travel and of course, drink coffee. http://www.pvnutritionaltherapy.com

I both love and hate this season. I love it when I find the perfect gift. I hate it when I find myself trolling the overcrowded stores, searching for something that isn’t trite or just a gift for the sake of a gift. I’m a big fan of gifts of service – you know, a day at the spa or a dinner out – but even those have their limitations.

To help you out this year, I’ve compiled my shortlist of some naked gift ideas. See what they inspire in you:

1. For the eco-kid (or the kid in you) – stylish, eco-lunch boxes.

I’m a big believer in preparing your own food, which means brown-bagging it when it comes time for lunch. Trouble is, all those brown bags had to come from somewhere and end up in a landfill. How about this super stylish planet box?  It comes with all sorts of cool compartments and designer bags. This one’s high on my wish list.

2. For the foodie – cultured veggies.

I bet most foodies haven’t had home-made lacto-fermented sauerkraut before. It’s naked – in fact, it’s better than naked! – and I’ll put my bets down that you’re the only one giving this gift this year. Make a big batch and pack them in small jam-jars for the newbies. Here’s a video and recipe to get you started. Or, if you’re feeling like home-made is too much work, Immunitrition ships their yummy cultured veg all over this great nation.

3. For the sweet tooth – raw chocolate.

Wanting to go the sweet treat route but not wanting to make the traditional sugar cookies with lots of refined sugar and white flour? Order some delicious raw chocolate from our friend Liz Marx at Sweet Nuit chocolates. This stuff is magical, and good for you too! They’re 100% raw, naked, and delicious.

4. For the physically active traveler – Felon Fitness.

Good friend and personal trainer Trey Teufel wrote a great book called Felon Fitness. It’s ideal for the frequent traveler because these are exercises you can do anywhere with little to no equipment. All you need are your gym shorts and shoes, and you’re set!

5. For the activist – a copy of Kristin Canty’s documentary, Farmageddon.

It’s a powerful and compelling call to arms to protect our right to choose the food we eat, and the rights of farmers to grow it. If you’re buying for someone who’s socially and environmentally conscious and likes to do something about it, this is a great gift.

5. For the conscious fashionista – a pair of Tom’s shoes.

You’ve probably heard of them: the really cool LA based company that gives one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair they sell. The concept is simple, and brilliant. Style for you, shoes for a shoe-less child. That’s what I call a win-win.

6. For the curious but uninitiated – their very own copy of Eat Naked.

Okay, I have to plug it. How about a copy of my book?  If you’ve been living the naked lifestyle for awhile and your friends and family are curious but not quite sure why you think butter is the healthy option, spread the word! I wrote this book as an easy, accessible introduction to eating real foods, so it’s a great place to start. Email me directly if you’d like a special signed copy.

What’s on your holiday gift list?

Photo taken from our kitchen! (What can I say, we're food people, not camera people. . . )

This holiday recipe is a little variation on the traditional pumpkin pie. For one, it’s made with sweet potatoes (well, officially they’re yams but many stores mistakenly label them as sweet potatoes and most of us think of them as such). For another, we’ve made this with a nut crust, rather than your typical pie crust. This solves the gluten problem and also makes the recipe a synch to make. It’s also got far less sugar than your average pie, and we’ve used maple syrup as our sweetener.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Ingredients

• 2 cups raw almonds (even better, soak and dehydrate them first)
• 2 cups raw pecans (again, even better: soak and dehydrate them first)
• 1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon butter
• 3 dates, pitted
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups pre-cooked and peeled sweet potatoes/yams (we bake them in an oven at 375° for 30-35 minutes – this is something you can do a few days before while you’re making another meal that uses the oven)
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons grade B or C maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°

Nut Pie Crust

2. Combine almonds, pecans, 1 tablespoon of the butter, dates, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract in the food processor. Pulse several times until well combined.

3. Rub remaining ½ teaspoon of butter onto the pie pan to grease well. Spoon the dough into the pie pan (it will be crumbly – this is very different from working with your normal pie dough) and press into the bottom and sides of the pan using your hands. Cover the pan evenly with dough, keeping the thickness as even as possible. Wetting your fingers makes this much easier.

4. Combine the sweet potato, egg, maple syrup, remaining vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and sea salt into the food processor. Pulse until well blended. You may need to pause and scrape down the sides occasionally.

5. When nicely blended, spoon the sweet potato mixture into the pie crust, smoothing out the top with a spatula. Bake in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

It’s absolutely delicious served with some real whipped cream made from raw cream.

Related posts:

• Surviving the holidays, Naked Style
• Get some culture in your veggies: How to make raw fermented veggies video
• Tasty Brussels Sprouts even the kids will love

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I just finished reading The Vegetarian Myth, by Lierre Keith (Flashpoint Press, 2009) and I can tell you it was not an easy book to read, forcing me to face some pretty grim facts about the direction civilization has been traveling since the dawn of agriculture, about 12,000 years ago. Having said that, I highly recommend it to anyone serious about understanding the depth and breadth of the challenges agriculture has posed on the global, national, community, individual and gut (yes, I mean “tummy”) levels.

Lierre Keith was a vegan for 20 years. At 16 she ached, like so many conscientious young people, to save the world, so she stopped eating animal products and lived, or barely survived as it turns out, on vegetables, grains and the vegetarian diet staple, soy and its many byproducts. She almost died.

Keith chronicles the story of her descent into depression, emaciation, chronic pain and compromised fertility as she systematically disassembles the three major platforms from which vegetarians and vegans decry the killing of animals: moral, political and nutritional vegetarianism.

Says Keith:

The moral vegetarians believe – and they believe it with all their hearts and with all their good reasons – that the question is life or death. But that is not the choice that nature offers any of us. We are all – apple trees and coho salmon, earthworms and black terns – predators, and then prey. Life or death? is not the question that will save us.

But this could be: What grows where you live?…What grows where you live becomes Why are there so many of us? This leads to the question of who controls women’s bodies…

It appears at first glance that Keith is making some giant leaps – from the taking of the life of a worm to overpopulation to the subjugation of women – but she does it thoughtfully and it makes sense.

Addressing political vegetarianism is a little more complicated, at least to me who struggles with the labyrinth that is politics (although I can take you through the labyrinth of the human digestive system with aplomb, so maybe it’s just a question of aptitude.) Keith writes:

Refraining from factory farm animal products is a righteous act, for animals and the earth, but it will not feed a single hungry person. The hungry don’t have money to buy North American grain; getting the money means further dependence on the masters of globalization; and cheap commodities from afar only further destroy local food production, the only real food security that can exist. This is why there are no international aid agencies that suggest vegetarianism as a solution to world hunger: it isn’t one. I understand how the desperate longing for a just and fed world can lead us to cling to simple answers, especially answers that are easy to institute in our personal lives. But buying a soy burger is an emotional quick fix that does not address the tenacious and terrible roots of power and inequality.

Most importantly:

Check the label: you’re probably giving money to the very corporations that are creating the problem.

Can you say “Monsanto?” “Archer Daniels Midland?” “Cargill?”

It is when Keith addresses nutritional vegetarianism that she strikes the loudest chord with me. She and I have great respect for those whose moral, ethical and political convictions lead them to wrestle with these issues, but I think the majority of people will be swayed mostly by the personal. We have to save our own health before we can save the world. If you only read the chapter entitled “Nutritional Vegetarians” it will be an education in itself.

Keith shows us the archeological evidence that we are an omnivorous animal evolved to eat “meat, fowl, fish and leaves, roots and fruits of many plants.” Today:

We are eating foods that didn’t even exist until a few thousand years ago: domesticated annuals, especially grains, and even more their industrial endpoint of refined flours, sugars, and oils…Our own bodies, with their degenerative diseases and overgrowth of cells, are all the evidence we need that this diet is unnatural.

She leads the reader through a short course on the human digestive system and metabolism, including the story of insulin, one of the major culprits in the crime that is the USDA food pyramid (now My Plate) and its recommendation that we eat a diet that is 60% carbohydrate.

Your body will turn that carbohydrate into almost two cups of glucose, and each and every molecule has to be reckoned with.

It’s insulin that does the reckoning – and the wrecking. An overabundance of this essential hormone leads to fat accumulation, high blood pressure, heart disease, arteriosclerosis, oxidation of LDL cholesterol, diabetes and more, much more.

Don’t just consider reading this book if you are a vegetarian, or know one. Even for those of us committed to supporting locally grown, grass-fed and pastured animals and their products for our own health and the health of the environment, there is much here to be gained. I challenge you to read this book and not look differently at food in the fields and pastures and forests, food on your plate, and what it takes to get it from one to the other while still leaving a world for your grandchildren.

Debra Meadow is a Certified Nutritional Therapist in Portland, Oregon. She helps clients get healthy and stay healthy using a nutritionally dense, whole food diet. Her passion for cooking and eating real food comes through in individual consultations, group classes and one-on-one cooking and shopping tutorials. Debra blogs at Blue Raven Wellness and you can find her on Facebook.

Related Posts:

• Confessions of a Recovering Vegetarian
• Gather Naked
• Sweet Misery: How our sweet tooth is killing us

The prevailing belief when it comes to our food and health is that the fewer animal products we eat, the better. It’s perceived to be the healthier, the more ethical, the more environmental option.

I was a vegetarian of some shade or another for the better part of 12 years. I started in University for the politics of it, loving how radical it felt, and continued on and off until, ironically, I studied nutrition. I’ll confess right up front that for much of this time I wasn’t particularly good at it – I was the classic junk food vegetarian. I didn’t eat meat, but what I was eating wasn’t all that fabulous. I was more of a carbivore than anything – pasta, bread, cereals – mostly because I could never fill myself up.

During my years as a vegetarian, I had loads of digestive issues and was constantly hungry. Several times I figured this was because I wasn’t being “pure” or radical enough, so I tried my hand at a strictly vegan diet (no eggs, dairy, or anything that came from an animal). All the issues got worse, not better. The “healthier” I ate, the worse I felt. Occasionally I’d cheat and eat a little meat. To my great dismay, I would feel much better: my digestive issues resolved and I was completely satiated after even a small meal. What a predicament.

I see clients in my practice all the time in this same quandary: well-intentioned, following what they’ve been taught is a healthy, plant-based diet, trying to live their values of environmental sustainability and animal welfare through their food choices, and yet their body rebelling. What a horrible choice: feel good in your body but guilty about the impacts of your choices; or feel good ethically and miserable physically.

When I started studying nutrition, one of the concepts that compelled me the most was bio-individuality. Basically it means that what works for you might not work for me, and vice versa. One man’s food is another man’s poison. Bio-individuality is based on everything from physiology, family background, geography, ethnicity, season, blood type, stress levels, personal preferences… it’s a veritable jigsaw puzzle of factors that determine how our body will react to something.

This means that there’s no one diet that works for everyone. In fact, the diet that works for you today might be completely inappropriate five or ten years down the road. This concept of bio-individuality explains why some people thrive on a vegetarian diet while others, like me, really struggle with it.

But explaining why I did well with meat didn’t make me feel better about eating it. In fact, initially it made me feel worse. My biological wiring wasn’t making it easy to live according to the values I set for myself.

With a little more investigation, I learned that there was indeed a way to eat meat and feel good about it on an environmental and ethical level. Perhaps my innate instincts were turning me on to an important lesson in broadening my understanding of the issues at stake.

I, like many people, lumped “animal foods” into one big category. I’d seen the horrifying images from inside feedlots. I’d seen the stomach-turning videos of abusive treatment to animals. I was well aware of the major contribution ruminants make to water pollution and climate change, not to mention the energy intensity of raising them. What I wasn’t aware of was a whole other source of meat, eggs, and dairy, grown by a small but growing group of independent farmers.

Farmer Joe Salatin of Polyface Farms and his grass-fed herd

These farmers are using traditional farming techniques that not only preserve but enhance their environments by increasing biomass and using minimal, if any, external inputs. They treat the animals humanely, allowing them to engage in their natural behaviors and eat the food they’re biologically designed to eat. One such farmer, Joel Salatin, has become quite famous for the methods he uses on his farm Polyface Farm. Many others are working with similar models throughout the country. Now this is meat you can feel good about!

As a wonderful bonus, not only is this an environmentally responsible choice and makes the health and welfare of its animals a top priority, it also provides meat, dairy and eggs that are far more nutritious. As one example: beef that comes from grass-fed versus feedlot cows is higher in the all-important Omega 3s, lower in fat overall, and contains CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) that promotes healthy weight, lowers triglycerides, and has been linked to cancer prevention. You’ll find similar differences in the nutritional profiles of wild versus farmed fish, eggs from pastured chickens versus those raised conventionally in battery cages, and so on.

I immediately became very selective about what meat we bring into our home. You won’t find standard supermarket fare in our house. Yes, it’s more expensive, so we eat less of it to compensate.

The great news is that when I’m eating this way, I feel fabulous. My energy levels even out, my digestion ticks along like a well-oiled machine, and I feel lean and strong.

And then, every once in a while, hearing the vegetarian model aggressively promoted yet again, I start to question myself. I start weaning out the meat, I eat a few more grains (whole grains now – I’ve moved away from my junk food days) and a few more beans; I increase the veggie content even more than normal (50-70% of all my meals are vegetables regardless), and whaddaya know… the digestive complaints come back, I’m overstuffed but still not satiated after meals, and I start to bloat. Turns out that a plant-based diet really doesn’t work for me after all.

Digestive issues and constant hunger aside, I kind of miss the simplicity of my vegetarian days. It was so easy to just label anything that came from an animal as “bad” and end the conversation there. Unfortunately, the reality is a lot more complicated, and not nearly so black and white. Ultimately it depends on your individual biology and it depends on the source of your meat.

Here are three ways your body could be telling you it needs animal protein:

1)   After a plant-based meal you experience great digestive distress.

2)   After a plant-based meal you feel excessively full but still hungry and not satiated.

3)   You experience powerful sugar cravings in the afternoons and evenings.

What’s your body telling you?

If you’re body is like mine and does better on an omnivorous diet, here’s a starting point for finding quality, pastured meat, dairy and eggs: www.eatwild.com

Related posts:

• When an egg is not an egg: What’s on your breakfast plate?.
• Underneath cravings: What’s your body telling you?
• The skinny on saturated fat: Six important roles for this maligned nutrient

Two days into said honeymoon, the toenail on my left foot had an unfortunate and extremely painful encounter with a restaurant door (I’ll save you the gory details). This little incident ultimately landed me in the ER, in a whole lot of pain, and on crutches. What a way to start a honeymoon.

I like to think of myself as someone who handles life’s ups and downs with grace and poise. That image was shattered as I bitched, moaned, and threw one too many hissy fits. All because of a toenail. Sigh.

Hidden in my despair, however, were some very important lessons:

• A renewed appreciation of the little things.  Aside from the occasional pedicure, toenails aren’t something I think about much. What a surprise to learn that such a little thing can quite literally stop me in my tracks. Never again will I take my toenails, for granted, and my bedtime ritual body sweep has been transformed into a million thank you’s for all the seemingly insignificant parts of me that are working properly.

• A newfound respect for those operating with physical constraints. It’s such a cliché how we take our ease of movement and physicality for granted. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone, right? Up until this point, as much as I tried to imagine life with physical challenges, I’ve never been able to empathize. I now have a small window of insight into that experience and my respect for the strength, tenacity, and endurance of those living immobilized and in pain has skyrocketed.

• The humility required to ask for and receive help. As someone who prides herself on her independence in all realms, physical and otherwise, I found this one the hardest to learn. What a complicated emotional exercise. The different layers of guilt, frustration, unworthiness, and fear of being perceived as weak were so thick and intertwined, I still haven’t untangled them all. Did I learn this fine art of receiving help? Not really. I tried, but mostly I learned how difficult it is.

• You get what you ask for, like it or not. I tend to move through life at lightning speed, with barely a moment to digest my present before dashing off to the next experience. I had declared this holiday a time to slow down, sleep, and spend endless hours reading and taking in the world. Of course our first two days into it had none of this quality as we rushed around Florence, trying to absorb the city over our brief three-day visit. It was this toe accident that brought us to a grinding halt, forcing me to sit for hours on end and to move at the slowest of paces. At first I fought it, mourning the long runs we’d planned for exploring the Tuscan countryside and the sexy Italian footwear I’d been wanting. But eventually I relaxed into it and have settled into a much, much slower pace. Despite myself, all thanks to my toe.

And so the biggest lessons were found in the littlest of things. What little things have taught you the most?

An aside: during a short visit to the Museum of Torture in San Gimignano I learned that the removal of nails is one of the fastest ways to extract a confession and a preferred form of torture still used to this day. Perhaps my whining wasn’t all undue.

Related posts:

• Say Hello to Your Most Naked Self: Lessons learned over 26.2 miles
• Move Naked: A back-to-basics workout by guest blogger Trey Teufel
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Cravings. The word alone elicits feelings of guilt, powerlessness, and uncontrolled urges that need to be mastered.

But what are cravings? Could our bodies actually be telling us something?

If you’ve read my book, you’ll know that I have a tortured (and no longer secret) love affair with a very un-naked food: boxed macaroni and cheese. Yes, the stuff with white pasta and fluorescent orange dye. Sometimes I don’t think about it at all. At other times, I can hardly stand it I crave it so badly. What’s up with that?

Our bodies are communicating with us all the time. Trouble is, most of the time we’re not listening. Or if we hear it, we ignore it or try to shut it up.

Cravings are our bodies speaking to us, loudly. Perhaps we’ve missed some subtler cues, so we get an uncontrollable urge. Uncontrollable gets our attention. Uncontrollable is hard to ignore.

When your body craves something, instead of trying to muscle through it or just giving in immediately, take a few moments to listen to the craving. What’s it telling you? What’s it asking for really?

Maybe your body’s asking for something that’s got nothing to do with food. Love, distraction, comfort, ritual, acceptance. These are all vitally important things, and if these needs aren’t being satisfied, food is one way to fill the void.

Maybe your body’s asking for a nutrient. Craving chocolate? Your body could be low in magnesium. Craving fat? This is a typical sign of essential fatty acid deficiency. Craving sugar? Maybe you need more protein or fat in your diet.

Maybe your body’s asking for a change of pace. If you’ve been too strict with yourself, maybe you need to chill out a little. If you’ve been excessively debaucherous, maybe it’s time to settle down and find your healthy groove again.

But here’s the thing: you’ll never know what your body’s asking for until you take the time to listen.

Here are some of my favorite tools for listening:

• Glass of water –  if you find yourself craving something, instead of just automatically indulging, stop and have a glass of water first. Take the time of drinking the water to check in with yourself. At the very least you’ll have snuck in an extra glass of water, and often we mistake thirst for hunger.

• Journaling – If you have the time, take out your journal and write “What are you really wanting?” at the top. Take a few deep breaths, don’t overthink, and just write what comes to you. This is a great tool for allowing your body’s inner wisdom to come through.

• Compassion – Most of all, you want to be compassionate with yourself. Judgment clouds our listening and confuses the message. Be easy with it. Remember, this isn’t about willpower. This is about listening and learning.

Next time you crave something, take a moment to look underneath it. What’s your body really asking for?

Related posts:

• The Naked Truth: when food is comfort
• Taming Temptation: setting yourself up for food success
• Naked Chocolate? Get some raw goodness from Lix Marx at Sweet Nuit