Eating Paleo

Our family already does a lot of things differently. So adding one more thing won’t really make much of a difference, will it? Well, we are about to embark on a big lifestyle change. When I went to the MS doctor on Tuesday I asked if there were certain foods that I should avoid due to having MS because I read lots of varying opinions on the subject. He said there is not a whole lot of research yet about specific foods, but those people with autoimmune diseases that follow a hunter-gatherer diet or a Paleolithic diet have had wonderful results. Sometimes their symptoms go away completely. He mentioned the results of Terry Wahls and said I could watch her Ted Talk. He said that I didn’t have to do it, but if I wanted to it was worth a try. He recommended that I buy grass-fed, organic meats, eggs, and dairy even if I choose not to do the Paleo diet.
After we got home from the wonderful mosaic park, we anxiously started researching. We watched the Ted Talk by Terry Wahls. We read a lot of information about the Paleo diet. We learned that the Paleo diet consists mainly of fish (wild, not farm-raised), grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts. You are not supposed to eat grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.
For my meat-loving and vegetable-hating husband, this is extreme. But as soon as we watched Terry Wahls speak, he said it made sense and that he was willing to try. I never imagined he would be willing to make such an extreme lifestyle change. After reading more about it yesterday, Bryan and the boys might include moderate dairy in their diets and we will all be keeping green beans, peas, and limited potatoes (roasted only) for now. Not wanting to be wasteful and because we still have a little bit of pasta and a few non-Paleo items in the house, we are going to use those up before going full on Paleo but within a couple of weeks we should be eating like the cavemen. Today we went to the store and we bought lots of veggies, some almond butter because peanuts are a legume, lots of nuts excluding peanuts, and a few other Paleo items. Tomorrow and Saturday we are picking up more veggies and some grass-fed, organic meats from a local farm and the Farmer's Market. As time goes on I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about when it comes to incorporating this new diet into our everyday lives, so stay tuned. We’re just getting started.