The other night, I was watching a documentary about children with severe food allergies.
FIRST, I want to make it perfectly clear that I don't point the finger at any one parent or family... I fully trust that each family makes the best choices they can with the information they currently have at their disposal. I completely understand that if you knew your child could die within minutes of coming into contact with a certain food, you'd make whatever nutritional choices you were forced to make in the moment.
That being said, I sat there shaking my head in disbelief once again.
What this program demonstrated was that the nutritional decision making became heavily focused on the short term survival of these kids, rather than long term health and wellness.
I know full well that television edits the heck out of shows... but what I failed to see was any attempt to focus on BOTH short term survival AND lifetime health and wellness.
A large part of the program focused on how parents of these kids have to make an incredibly difficult decision about whether or not to even send their children with severe food allergies to school. Coming into contact with an offending allergen could be deadly. The parents have to basically inform every person dealing with their child, and sweeping changes must be made in order to insure the child's safety.
One clip showed parents in the school cafeteria with their children who have these severe allergies. It showed them walking down the line of available lunch options for the day. If the food had nuts (or been exposed to nuts) or had milk in it, the food was off-limits.
Point #1
Our innate nutritional requirements do not include peanuts or dairy anyway. Our hunter/gatherer ancestors did not consume these foods. Essentially, our genes haven't changed in 40,000 years... therefore, neither have our nutritional requirements. We still don't need these foods in order to be healthy. Perhaps that's why so many people have "allergies" to dairy and grains (gluten, wheat, etc.)... we're not genetically designed to require them in the first place. Peanuts, even the organic ones, are loaded with toxic molds and known carcinogens. No wonder so many bodies out there reject them so obviously.
OK, now this is where my head really started to shake...
When they showed what these kids finally ended up choosing in the cafeteria, with the direct assistance of their parents, the plates were filled with CRAP! At least on this program, they didn't show one, single child with any vegetables on their plate! The plates had spaghetti, french fries, pizza, potato 'tots', bread...
What on earth???
Point #2
Just because someone is labelled with a certain affliction, no matter how serious, we simply can't overlook the bigger picture. There are certain irrefutable requirements for health and wellness. We innately require Purity and Sufficiency in our nutritional choices. Toxicity and Deficiency moves us away from optimal health.
On this show, I saw "sick" children with plates full of processed foods that were toxic and deficient of nutritional value.
This is what burns my buttocks about all the labels placed on people. It seems like we end up focusing on the label at the expense of overall wellness. Can't see the forest for the trees...
At the very least, if a person's body is loudly expressing the rejection of certain foods, that individual needs to adhere to the common sense of wellness-based nutrition more than anyone - their body is already telling them it's in crisis. Ideally, we should ALL be eating this way... but that's not how our society seems to work, unfortunately.
I can't tell you how many individuals (or their parents) I've counselled that have a challenge with this. I see 'gluten-sensitive' kids munching down M&M's, Pez candies, candy canes, ice cream and cake because "it's gluten-free". I've heard more than enough folks tell me they can't eat vegetables because their doctor told them they have a digestive disorder. They'll eat a loaf of bread a day, cookies, chips, fast food and drink gallons of milk... but no veggies., "'cuz it's bad for their digestive system".
I could give you many more examples, but I'd start to cry... out of sadness AND sheer frustration!
We absolutely must remember to give the body what it needs in order to create health. Without these essentials, the body can't possibly ever fully heal and function at its optimal levels. Then you're stuck taking drugs that alter your function - but DON'T produce health.
... oh, but wait. That's a whole lot more profitable than teaching people how to make healthy choices for life, isn't it? Don't get me started!
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