What the heck is ghee? (And why you should try it.)

A friend of mine eats ghee with every meal. I used to feel sorry for her, considering ghee to be nothing more than a poor substitute for butter. I knew next to nothing about it, truth be told, but was somehow under the impression that she had been simply swept up in some new foodie trend.

Little did I know that ghee is simply the fat part of butter (i.e., clarified butter) and that it has been made and consumed for thousands of years, particularly in India and Asia! Its health benefits are well-documented in ancient Sanskrit textbooks, and more and more people are rediscovering its benefits today. It is replete with vitamin A which benefits, among other things, our eyesight, and it has other properties that are rejuvenating, increase our longevity, and strength and immunity. Not only is it beneficial but it also is a vehicle, helping other nutrients get assimilated more easily into our body.

Gee, it’s ghee!

Sandeep Agarwal is from India, where ghee is used liberally. He is an expert on the subject. His great-great-grandfather even started a ghee business in 1889. But living in the U.S., he had bought into the U.S. public health recommendations that saturated fat was to be avoided, so he shunned ghee and other fatty foods. But when his young son began to struggle with a health crisis, Sandeep began searching for an answer to resolve his health. This is when he came upon the Weston A. Price Foundation. And when he began applying the Wise Traditions principles to his family’s diet, he saw his son’s health improve and that’s when he began to realize that he needed to get back to his own roots.

Today he embraces ghee…and fat…and raw milk, along with other organic, natural foods and spices. He is a graduate of David Winston’s Center for Herbal Studies’ two-year herbalist training program and one-year graduate program. He has spoken at Ayurvedic conferences in the USA and India. He is passionate about helping everyone to learn about the benefits of eating organic, healing, natural, traditional foods.

Listen to our conversation “On fat, raw milk, & ghee,” and you will learn:

• the changes he made to his family’s diet that improved his son’s health
• the process for making ghee
• the benefits of ghee
• the chemical composition of butter and of ghee, and how they compare
• why ghee is a good choice for people with dairy sensitivities and for those on the GAPS diet
• what the ancient texts say about raw milk and other healing practices
• about Ayurveda, the ancient Indian healing science which is 5000 years old and about its textbooks (written in Sanskrit)
• the concept of ojaf (immunity) in ayurvedic tradition
• how and why he and his wife started their PureIndianFoods business
• how ghee is a top food recommended for immunity-boosting
• why he believes ghee is growing in popularity as a “fat of choice”

If none of this convinces you to try ghee, you just need to give your tastebuds the treat! I’ve bought this huge tub and started cooking with it like there’s no tomorrow. (But, of course, there will be a tomorrow, thanks to ghee’s longevity-enhancing properties.)

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Hilda Labrada Gore is a health coach and the host of the Wise Traditions podcast (found on iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and at westonaprice.org). She is also the DC chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation. Get to know Hilda and her approach to health by visiting her website chispainc.com.

 

From bone-tired to robust

Razi Berry was extremely fatigued in her twenties. I don’t mean she was just run-down or exhausted from stress or work. (We all get there sometimes.) Razi was tired at the cellular level, or what some of us call “bone-tired.” In her own words, she says she was like “a wind-up doll that constantly needed winding.”

She was struggling with fatigue, pain, hair loss, infertility, and more. At one point the doctors diagnosed her with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and they suggested she go on disability. At age 25, this was akin to a “life sentence” which Razi simply could not accept. She decided, instead, to became her own “health detective” and look for solutions to restore her health. This is when she took two steps that made all the difference.

1. She made lifestyle changes that drastically improved her health. These included eating more animal products (including organ meats), breathing more deeply, and getting sufficient sleep.
2. She found naturopathic medicine that turned her health trajectory around. The naturopathic approach deals with the whole person (not just certain ailments or body parts). There is a focus on the healing power of nature and finding and treating the cause of sickness, not the symptoms.

Listen to her full story on #34 “Tired of being tired” and you’ll hear:

• just how sick Razi was
• the improvements she saw with these two steps
• the principles of naturopathic medicine
• specific naturopathic therapies, including hot/cold showers, and wet socks
• the myth of “side” effects
• how the skin is a mirror of your health
• how Razi continues to maintain her health today
• her most important advice on how to approach your own wellness

Razi with her daughters

Today, Razi is the publisher of “Naturopathic Doctor News & Review” and she maintains the Naturopathic health site, while also homeschooling her daughters. She obviously has energy and health to spare. Razi will inspire you to take your own steps to move from bone-tired to robust, and brimming with health! The first step for you may just be listening to this episode!

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Hilda Labrada Gore is a health coach and the host of the Wise Traditions podcast (found on iTunes, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and at westonaprice.org). She is also the DC chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation.

 

Learning from the traditional Maasai

In the 1930s, researcher and dentist Dr. Weston A. Price traveled around the world to find the healthiest people with the best teeth. He had seen images of such people in “National Geographic” magazine but he wondered if they actually existed. So he took a voyage, determined to find out for himself. Everywhere he went, Dr. Price noticed that those who ate their traditional diets (cheese and milk in Switzerland, seal oil in Alaska, and so on) were healthy, fertile and vibrant. And, yes, they resembled those traditional people groups featured in “National Geographic!” They had beautiful straight teeth, with very little incidence of decay. But he also found that those who had access to so-called “modern” western foods (including refined flours and sugars) suffered tooth decay and health issues. There was a clear pattern that tied wellness to diet.

When Dr. Price came to Kenya, he noted that it was no exception. He met tribal people who were extremely healthy and who had broad faces with straight teeth with little evidence of cavities or infections. But among those whose diets had changed, he saw compromised health and teeth that were cavity-filled.

Dickson in his traditional clothing, in Matapato

When I traveled to Kenya last year (and just last month), I wondered myself what I would find. I’m not a dentist or a researcher, but I had the next best thing going for me. I connected with Maasai community leader Dickson Ole Gisa and got to speak with him first-hand. I wondered what changes he had noted over the years and if Dr. Price’s findings were playing out in his community. Indeed, Dickson had witnessed some of the very things Dr. Price recorded so many years ago. I take it back. He had not only witnessed the dietary changes and the corresponding health repercussions for his people, he had actually lived through them!

Dickson lives in Oiti, a Maasai village in Kenya, near the border of Tanzania. It is rather remote and yet he admits “The diet is changing tremendously.” When he first heard of the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) and its Wise Traditions principles based on Dr. Price’s findings, it made perfect sense to him. He immediately contacted WAPF, saying, “Please send someone over. We are all getting sick. I have diabetes. My wife has asthma….” So this is how I came to connect with him, as an envoy of WAPF, as a friend, and as the Wise Traditions podcast host. In this capacity, I am now able to share with you one conversation with Dickson from my visit this past month. You will certainly be fascinated by Dickson’s stories, as I was.

In “A Maasai story,” you will learn:

• what Dickson ate as a child (including the game his father hunted to feed his family)
• the Maasai traditional diet
• the allure of “foreign foods” like soda, juice, oils
• how the changing diet is impacting the Maasai’s health
• how pregnant women are “selective” in terms of the food they eat
• traditions related to childbirth
• about a special book written by the first Maasai scholar which records all of the cultural traditions of the people
• how “civilization” and “education” are shaping Maasai dietary choices
• the very changes Dickson’s own family have made to return to traditional foods
• how Dickson is spreading the news of Wise Traditions
• the community’s response to WAPF principles and ideas

I have learned from Dickson, among other things, that one person can make a difference in their community. It starts in our own backyards. I want to continue to take steps to “practically apply” (as Dickson says) what I believe—in terms of food, faith, and life. If I do this, or rather, if we do this, we will certainly impact our villages, communities, and the whole world for the better! Don’t you agree?

P.S. If you enjoy this episode, please share it with others. And if you want to support Dickson’s outreach and efforts to help his people regain their health through a return to nourishing traditional foods, go to westonaprice.org and click on “Get involved.” Then click on the “donate” button and give the amount of your choice to the “overseas outreach” initiative.

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Hilda Labrada Gore is a health coach and the host of the Wise Traditions podcast (found on iTunes, Stitcher and at westonaprice.org). She is also the DC chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Chewing the fat with Chris Masterjohn

In the movie, “Little Miss Sunshine” Steve Carrell’s character, Frank, pointedly yells at his niece, “Fat makes you fat.” He was trying to shame the young girl into changing her order at a diner. For decades, the U.S. government was sending Americans the same message–warning us to steer clear of fat, and practically shaming us for craving it. They said it was linked to heart disease. So the public heeded the warning, but health issues–obesity, chronic conditions, and, yes, heart disease–continued to rise despite compliance with the recommendations.

In recent years, the government and even the conventional medical community has begun to pivot, actually recommending that we eat fats for our well-being. But which are the best fats? And how much should we be eating?

Enter Chris Masterjohn, assistant professor of Health and Nutrition Sciences at Brooklyn College in New York. Chris has a  PhD in Nutritional Sciences and is a brilliant person to discuss such a topic. And so we did, on the Wise Traditions podcast. Yes, we chewed the fat…about fat! Give a listen to episode #28: Fat does a body good.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn.

• how fat helps your body run
• moving from fear of fat toward freedom
• how to eat to fuel your body’s needs
• how to figure out what diet (and percentage of fat) will work best for your particular body
• what sources of fats have been eaten over the course of human history
• how our diet has shifted away from animal fats to oils like soybean, canola, sunflower, safflower, corn, and cottonseed
• how this shift may be the cause of many of modern diseases
• the difference between saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats
• the definition of essential fatty acids
• the role of cholesterol (and what numbers could be a red flag)
• a recommendation for a certain type of health care practitioner

Chris concluded our conversation with a surprising suggestion for what to do to achieve optimal health. (To learn more from Chris, check out “The Daily Lipid”  or follow him on social media @chrismasterjohn.)

As we wrapped up our talk, I walked away with some new insights and with a conviction that was stronger than ever:  fat does many things for us, but it most certainly does NOT make us fat, no matter what the movies (or other media) may tell us!

***
Hilda Labrada Gore is a health coach and the host of the Wise Traditions podcast (found on iTunes, Stitcher and at westonaprice.org). She is also the DC chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation.

The Biggest Loser…but in real life!

On the t.v. show “The Biggest Loser,” people lose drastic amounts of weight in dramatic fashion, only to gain it back when they are off the air and the cameras are gone. Dramatic is the right word for it. It is a t.v. show, made to entertain. Those who produce it are interested in ratings, certainly not in the health of the participants. They “help” them lose weight, all right, but in all the wrong ways for all of the wrong reasons. But contestants sign up to be on the show, nonetheless, grasping at the slim hope that they might become slim, in actuality.

It’s easy to understand their desperation. Richard Morris could certainly relate. For him, walking to work was akin to hiking Mount Everest. He would huff and puff and sweat up a storm and it was only a few blocks away from his place in New York City! He was in terrible shape. No surprise. The man weighed over 400 lbs. Dieting? Hed been there, done that….in his own words, “a million and one” times. The only thing they were good for was packing on the pounds (after some initial unsustainable weight loss).

Richard was pre-diabetic and struggling with asthma and high blood pressure. Every day he woke up asking himself, “Is today the day I die?”

This is Richard today. Yes, as you can ascertain, he has undergone a complete transformation! He is in excellent shape, as are his wife and two daughters. He works a job and runs a family farm. And in his spare time, he runs spartan races!

Be inspired by his story in this half-hour episode entitled A life unburdened.

What You’ll Learn

• How Richard gained so much weight in the first place
• The role his family’s poverty played in their food choices when he was growing up
• What diets he tried and why they failed him
• Richard’s a-ha moment that led him to leave dieting behind
• What first steps he took to rid his home of processed foods
• What foods they bought (and where they bought them) as they switched to eating real food
• What happened when he flirted (briefly) with the idea of eating the old way
• How the Weston A. Price Foundation resources played a part in his transformation
• The role of cooking in his life
• How his daughter’s early puberty was reversed through real food
•  How he got into obstacle course racing

Links & Resources

• Weston A. Price Foundation
• A life unburdened (book by Richard Morris)

About Richard Morris

Richard Morris worked in IT, but now lives a life that is drastically different. Richard lives in Virginia, running his farm, running spartan races and running in the human race, in brave and new ways!

If you enjoy the podcast episode, please share it on FB or Twitter. And leave Wise Traditions a review on iTunes which gives important stories like Richard’s a broader platform!

When it comes to your health, it’s smart to ask questions

This is a blog post full of questions. Which is funny because so far I have only made a statement. Or two. Or three. But, just wait, they’re coming….

I recently interviewed Leslie Manookian, the writer and producer of the award-winning documentary “The Greater Good.” Leslie was at the peak of her career as a business executive on Wall Street when she began asking herself some serious questions about the direction of her life, and about conventional medicine. You see, her health began to fail, and it led to her to start questioning her assumptions about all of the above and eventually led her to start questioning vaccines.

In today’s group-think mindset, this is anathema. But I promise you, this woman is no fringe, anti-science loony. She’s smart. She has an MBA from the University of Chicago, a BA from Middlebury College, and M.L.C.Hom from Lakeland College of Homeopathy. She began investigating homeopathy when conventional medicine could no longer help her. It benefited her so much that she decided to study it. In so doing, she began learning about the risks and unintended consequences of vaccines.

Our conversation got me asking some questions of my own.

Why is the vaccine schedule so intense for infants (25 doses by 15 months of age)? 

Could this schedule have anything to do with the rise of ADD, allergies, autism and other chronic conditions?

Why do vaccines include metals (mercury, aluminum) and adjuncts that disrupt our body and brain functions?

If vaccines are as safe as they are purported to be, why do the vaccine manufacturers need blanket immunity from any prosecution or economic liability?

Didn’t a CDC whistleblower confess that he (and others) scrubbed the data, to make it appear that there was not a link between vaccines and autism? If so, why the cover-up? And where is the public outcry in response?

What other options do we have to protect people from life-threatening or crippling diseases?

And, finally, why are all people who ask questions about vaccines labeled as lunatics?

It seems to me that when it comes to your health (or your children’s health), it is smart to ask questions.

Listen to Leslie’s story on this podcast episode, Vaccines: what’s all the fuss about? and see if it doesn’t prompt you to formulate questions of your own. And if you’re not willing to listen to it, I challenge you to ask yourself why.

 

 

 

 

Sustainability is no joke

 

April Fool’s Day is a great day to talk about the word “sustainable.” I see it everywhere I turn these days; it’s laughable. I fully expect the gas station tomorrow to have a sign up saying “Fill up here: sustainable gas from organic oil wells!” It has been overused to the point where it’s unclear what it’s even referring to anymore. (This is ironic since the definition includes “allowing for continual reuse.”)

But sustainability is no joke. The idea is to live in such a way that you can keep at it. To treat this earth in such a way that it can last a long time. To care for your belongings in such a way that you get the most out of them. In effect, to tread lightly so that you can keep treading.

I interviewed farmer Jesse Straight from Whiffletree Farm (in Warrenton Virginia) about his take on the term. I loved his answer!

“Sustainable farming is beneficial to all of the parties involved. It’s beneficial to the animals’ health, the land’s health, the eaters’ health. It’s beneficial to the farmer in terms of giving them a noble and sustainable way to live and to support their family and it’s beneficial to the community.”

Jesse, caring (sustainably) for his chickens

I don’t have a farm but Jesse inspired me with his response. (To be further inspired, listen to his podcast interview: Straight talk from a farmer.)

I want to live sustainably, according to his definition, don’t you? I want to live so as to benefit everyone around me (including me)! I want to be ready for continual re-use! How can I be an asset at home, at work, at church, in the neighborhood, the city, and the world? It’s a big list, a tall order. The only way to be of any use, anywhere, is to find balance in my own life first. A hectic pace, a frantic lifestyle will lead to my being worn out and unable to live a life in the plus column, that much I know.

So like a runner in a marathon, I try to pace myself so that I can best meet the day’s demands. I eat well and exercise often. I pray, sing, and connect frequently with friends and family. I keep my house clean (more or less) and make decent meals for us and our guests. These activities keep me afloat and are generally a part of what sustains me. But there are other areas of my life that threaten to drag me down and wear me out. I tend to work at a rather constant pace, so I have to discipline myself to turn off the computer an hour before bed. I struggle to hit the hay before the clock strikes midnight. And I know I need more time outside to get refreshed and re-energized.

My short-term sustainability goals almost certainly looks different than Jesse’s (and probably yours) but our long-term goal is the same. We want to be well, balancing our work and play, rest and service, so that we can benefit the lives we touch. Instead of being labeled “good for nothing,” we are all aiming to be good for something!

What does a sustainable life look like for you? And what do you need to work on, to get there?

 

Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die

 

This truism applies to our relationship with food and health, as well. Everybody wants to be healthy, but nobody wants to change what they’re eating. So, yes, it’s true: people want to have their cake and eat it too.

I get it. Habits are hard to break. Certain treats feel like rewards after a long week at the office or at home! But everything worthwhile requires some effort and sacrifice. I see the same students in my Body & Soul exercise classes week after week. They could be doing anything else: sleeping in, gardening, taking care of errands, you name it. But they show up time and again, sacrificing other things to commit themselves to movement.  And their bodies are the better for it.

Maybe it seems easier with exercise because everyone knows it is good for you. There is agreement. But with food, how do you decide which diet is best?

Here’s something most every diet agrees on (at least those that are not trying to sell you special powders or products).  Ultra-processed foods are to be avoided. What do I mean by ultra-processed? These are foods that are de-natured and refined, foods whose nutritional content has been stripped or changed so that it no longer nourishes us as it would have in its original form. Just this past week, the University of Sao Paolo and Tufts University released a study that indicated that 50% of the American diet is made up of such foods. And these processed foods make up 90% of the sugar intake of Americans. No wonder we are sick and tired!

Some people call this “clean eating” because you are getting away from the junk that is sold as food. To step away from these processed foods, we’ve got to shop the perimeter of the supermarket. Let’s fill our carts with food without labels. We can find this kind of food at farmer’s markets, too. Or we can get farm deliveries or join a buying club. Maybe it’s time to garden. For our health, though, we must begin to do whatever we can to avoid these overly manipulated foods and oils with extra additives, preservatives, colorings, flavorings, and sugar.

It will take effort, so in a sense it may feel like you are dying at first. But soon you will reap the reward of “health heaven.” Trust me. Heaven is for real.

P.S. If you’re ready to take the plunge but need more inspiration and how-to’s, listen to this podcast episode “No refined or denatured foods” with Sally Fallon Morell, the head of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Sally and me at her farm in Maryland

Dieting is like dating bad boys

“Every diet that has been marketed to us since the beginning is just the same nasty betraying boyfriend with a different face. And when it fails, the boyfriend (a/k/a diet) looks at you and says ‘Oh, it’s your fault. There’s something wrong with you!’”

I have been a foodie and a health coach for years, but this is the first time I have ever heard anyone liken dieting to dating bad boys. Adrienne Hew is like that, though. She is a nutritionist who speaks her mind and what comes out is often outlandish and provocative. Not surprisingly, she is known as the “nutrition heretic.” She is not a bespectacled preach-y uptight kind of nutritionist who wags her finger at you when you eat a morsel of some forbidden food. Nope, Adrienne is the exact opposite. She has an easy laugh, a non-judgmental spirit, and she makes you think, rather than feel like you need to slink away.

A diet like a bad boyfriend? When that idea came up during our recent podcast discussion, it got me thinking. And the more I thought about it, the more I could see the parallels between dieting and dating.

Stage 1: Infatuation. The flirting commences. You hear about him. You google him. Butterflies are starting to take flight. You consider the possibilities. You’re excited, enticed. This one has potential to be THE one.

Stage 2: Dating. You’re holding hands. You are willing to put up with his “quirks” in the hope that it all pan out. You are telling people about him, as you pass on the bread basket at the restaurant. You are trying to convince yourself that your fatigue has to do with work and not with the relationship wearing thin (no pun intended).

Stage 3: Going steady. Reality hits like a splash of (zero-calorie!) cold water. You’re giving it a try, but this is trying you. It’s not half as fun as it seemed at the start. You feel like you’re dying. This is the opposite of what you imagined. Straight up, it is a pain, and is very unrewarding.

Stage 4: The breakup. You hate to admit it, but the time has come. It’s over. This relationship is going nowhere. It was super promising at first, but the end result was that every. single. promise. was broken and now you’re left holding the bag (of low-fat “natural” chips). You’re embarrassed that it didn’t work out and secretly wonder if it was your own fault (as he said, when he walked out the door). You’re feel like if you had only tried harder, or a bit longer, maybe things would have ended differently.

Can you identify with any of this? If so, click here to listen to A fresh take on real food. Adrienne has simple, practical ideas for checking out of diet “heartbreak hotel.” It’s time to have a steady, wonderful relationship with food, leaving the bad boys in the dust (under the refrigerator).

One more present for you…

Just when you thought you had everything unwrapped, there’s one more present for you: the Wise Traditions podcast!

The podcast is wrapped up in brown paper (and tied up with string) on its way to us all in just a few days! If we could track it with an app, it would appear as saying “shipped.” Now we’re awaiting delivery from the iTunes truck!

This podcast is going to be a wonderful topper to all the gifts you received this past holiday season. And it’s going to be one that you will come back to again and again. You are simply, absolutely,  unequivocally going to LOVE it!

You’ll get three episodes right off the bat—an interview with the President of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Sally Fallon Morell. She talks about the foundation’s core principles and why they are so committed to educating the public about the healthy traditions of our ancestors.  We also talk to farmer and veterinarian Will Winter. He has a brilliant mind, and a straight-forward way of talking that makes the most complicated matters related to life and health (and climate change) sound simple! And finally, we talk to Dr. Tom Cowan, a holistic doctor who wraps up the interview by saying “Don’t believe me. Don’t believe anybody!” Talk about unconventional!

All three of these episodes will be available as soon as the podcast arrives and, thereafter, 30-minute podcast episodes will be released once a week. You will be able to find them on iTunes (search for “Wise Traditions” under “Podcasts”) and on the westonaprice.org website (click on “New! Podcast” on the side bar). Each episode will be entertaining, informative, and helpful. And, of course, you will be able to share them at the click of a mouse.

I simply can’t WAIT for you to check out these episodes and all those that follow. The minute they go “live” you will know. I will post about it here and you will see social media light up with excerpts, pictures, and more!

Hooray for an extra little present that is one-size-fits-all!
And here’s to a happy and healthy 2016 for all of us!