By Mary Lynch, Kindergarten Teacher
I am writing to share with you a few of the amazing improvements we have seen in our family since we started changing our diets and learning the truth about fat and what is and is not healthy.
We made little changes at first; adding coconut oil, fermented cod liver oil, and butter to our diets. Within a week and after many hours of research, we decided to eliminate refined sugar and processed foods and to reduce grain consumption as well.
We noticed immediate and dramatic changes in our daughter’s childhood anxiety, mood and behavior!
My eldest has always struggled with fear and childhood anxiety issues. For years we have worked with prayer and behavior modification and we have certainly seen improvement. But one week into our diet changes we saw the largest jump in confidence that we have ever seen. All of a sudden, she approaches challenges calmly and logically, rather than immediately shutting down or freaking out. She has attempted — and enjoyed — activities she would not even consider in the past. She is embracing life rather than hiding from it!
My youngest daughter is not afraid of anything. We call her our “adventure girl.” However, this passion for life sometimes leads to what I like to call an “excess of emotion.” She’s nine years-old and was having all-out temper tantrums at least once a month. Small discouragements became huge problems. Her emotions were controlling her, rather than her controlling her emotions. Sarah, as soon as we changed our diet she became a calm, content child. She now takes disappointments in stride and can control her emotions, actions and words easily. Yes, she cries sometimes. But she no longer screams and throws things while she does it. She even noticed right away, saying, “If I don’t want to be angry I can just take a deep breath!” She even surprised herself!
It was my husband who noticed the change and improvement first. He came home from work at 5:30, as usual, but was not met with the usual homecoming chaos. He expected me to be stressed about preparing dinner, tidying the dining room and overseeing homework. He expected the girls to be whining about homework and dinner and chores. (I’m embarrassed to admit this was typical at our house.) Instead, he found silence. We were still getting things done — cooking and chores and homework — but instead of coming into an atmosphere of tension, he came home to a house filled with peace.
Thank you, Sarah, for your passion for healthful eating and for sharing what you have learned on your blog. I just had to let you know how it has changed not just our diets, but our attitudes and relationships, too.
More Information
Natural Remedies for Panic Attacks
Depression: Your Brain on Sugar
About the Author
Mary Lynch is a Kindergarten teacher in Tampa, FL.
She has been following the principles of Traditional Cooking and Eating for only a couple of months and has already experienced life changing results in her home.
She is one of the few teachers I have met who knows how to throw a truly healthy party that is still fun and delicious for the children in her class.
Love this. We’ve noticed a change the opposite direction unfortunately with a little bit of holiday indulgence (still learning this traditional eating thing). I was a little taken back by it, but now I understand.
A number of places have it so shop it here for best price: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/resources/#supplements
So where do you get fermented cod liver oil anyway?
Does anyone know if sprouting your wheat before it is ground makes it better for your gut? I have tried to go gluten caisen free for my sons behavior and it has been hard. I have read that wheat is hard to digest because of enzyme inhibitors but if you sprout your grains it kills the inhibitors. Also it seems many of you have been able to eat cheese and still seen if affect behavior. Does anyone have a problem with cheese or is it okay to eat?
What a timely post! I was just thinking today that my kids are always hungry and begs for crackers (saltines, graham) after school. Even after a PB sandwich (on home made bread with fresh ground flour) and an apple, they are still hungry! My one boy in particular loves the carbs.
I need ideas on what to give him/them for healthy after school snacks that are not heavy on carbs and are filling. Help!
Homemade ice cream! 🙂
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2010/10/video-healthy-homemade-ice-cream/
Everyday?? Or should it still be treated as an occasional treat?
I have some raw cream that has been sitting in my fridge for MONTHS (yikes!!!). I’m sure they’re sour by now! Can I still use those to make ice cream? Or should I throw them out?
Thanks Sarah!
I only have a couple of suggestions to add to Lauren’s (which are awesome). Pre-cook a batch of bacon and keep it in the fridge. You can reheat it in a frying pan in 2-3 minutes (2-3 slices is about all they should need as it’s very satiating). Also, a coconut milk smoothie is great! Half a can of coconut milk blended with half a banana (I freeze over-ripe bananas and just break off what I need when I need it) and either a tablespoon or two of frozen berries or a little cocoa powder and peanut butter. If it’s too thick, I thin it out with milk. Or my quickie pudding- beat coconut milk with cocoa powder and a little maple syrup until it’s about twice its original volume and stick it in the fridge. 1/2 a cup should have them settled for quite a while.
Full fat cheese and not-full-of-junk jerky make a great snack too.
The only problem with these is that they may not be hungry for dinner! (BTW, fermented veggies such as sauerkraut are ideal with the bacon)
ripe banana slices fried in coconut oil (yum!), cheese cubes (for a fancy treat try a cheese cube/rolled-up ham slice/pickle “snowman” stacked on a toothpick), my kid eats liverwurst off the spoon but I recognise that’s atypical, bacon-wrapped dates, walnut-stuffed figs, yogurt with cinnamon (I swirl it with warmed applesauce to avoid blue lips), scrambled or devilled eggs… any protein/fat combo that’s fast for you and tasty for them – mothering.com has a thread on “TF-stle toddler foods” that might give you some ideas.
Is there a book you would recommend to read for more information?
Hi Lauren, the book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” by Dr. Campbell-McBride MD discusses the intimate connection between a child’s diet/gut/and behavior and mental health. Her book discusses primarily extreme examples, but of course, milder cases can be attributed to diet as well.
I would also highly recommend the “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” book GAPS for short. We started our whole family on this diet last March 1st. I have 3 children with Autism. We had tried other things with them and gotten some good results, but not like when we did this diet. The other treatments I had just done with the 3 of them, but this one we started the whole family. The difference was amazing. We all felt better. My oldest, 8 at the time, did not want to do this. She said it was not for her but for her brothers and sister. She did it anyway. 🙂 About 2 weeks into the diet she looked at me, while we were shopping in Costco, and said “Mom, thanks for this diet. I feel so much better.” The moodiness was gone and she was a very happy sweet child.
Over the last month or 2 I have been introducing Spelt products. I make my own bread and other baked goods. I have not seen any behavioural changes so we are going to keep it in the diet. VitaSpelt has many products that you might be interested in for starting to substitue out things your kids eat. I could never take anything away from them without having a replacement. We use raw honey as out sweetener, and as much other raw products as we can. They do get an occasional treat because I want us to continue this diet for life and I want them to know that there are times such as parties and weddings that it is ok to have a little. (stress the little).
I am trying out a new sugar, Coconut Palm Sugar. If anyone has tried this or knows a bit more about it I would love some feedback. What I have found so far has been encourageing, but I am still cautious.
Hi Jennifer, I wrote a post about coconut sugar a couple weeks back:
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/01/a-healthy-alternative-to-agave/
Hope this helps you as you research about it!
I know this is a terrible thing to think about, but you have to wonder how many of these kids doing violent things with guns and whatnot are eating msg/sugar/high grain carb diet that is greatly contributing to dark moods and extreme behavior. They sure aren’t eating raw butter, homemade soups and grassfed beef, that’s for sure!
Very wonderful story. When I got the junkfood out of my diet last year I noticed major mood changes and a lot of my depression went away.