Discover the goodness of Wholefoods! For happy digestion
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Are you constantly confused about what to eat and what is what? What is good for you and what is not. Depending on who you might be listening to, everyone says something different. Most will agree though that wholefoods are a large part of the good foods to eat. I know they have helped me tremendously when it came to my health. So let’s get right into it.
What are wholefoods
Wholefoods are foods that are found in nature, grown by farmers, in your garden, out in the wild. These foods have no ingredients added to them, they are just as they come. Wholefoods are highly nutritious from vitamins, minerals, fibers, polyphenols, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, which means they are good for your digestion, physical, and psychological wellbeing.
Not wholefoods
Growing up in Germany my mom was always in her garden harvesting her homegrown vegetables and berries. I remember sitting underneath the current berry bush eating these little tart berries right of the tiny twigs. Gooseberries were a big hit as well. Their prickly branches made me cautious to not get my fingers pricked.
These are some of my fondest memories from childhood. These were peaceful times as my mom was always so relaxed while working in her garden. My mom was the kind of mother and housewife that would cook and bake everything herself. For that I must say I was very fortunate, growing up.
I believe this is where I got my foundation for good, delicious home-cooked meals. I liked watching her cook and bake and then lick the spoon or bowl after she finished. I remember very distinctively my favorite spoon to lick was the one she used for her sour cream. Still to this day I have to clean my sour cream spoon
Needless to say, conveniently wrapped foods such as cereal, granola bars, power bars, fruit snacks, pop tarts, toaster strudels, or anything close to any of these foods I was never exposed to, until my late teenage years. Yes, I did get to have my candy and chocolates and such, which of course were my favorite things. I remember buying these penny candies as a young child, and for 50 cents, I could get a lot. Being a child growing up the way I did has definitely been something I have cherished over my grown-up years. Even though there were many bad times in my life the good ones keep coming back to mind.
I came to the United States as an Au-Pair in 1990 and ended up meeting and marrying the pickiest eater I have ever known, so wholefoods got pushed a bit more to the sidelines. In 2008 after my divorce and being diagnosed with gluten-sensitivity I discovered a few years later that I needed to eat for the happiness of my digestion, not just gluten-free.
With that, I needed to bring whole foods back into my diet and keep the convenience of many processed foods out. It was not until I understood that I needed natural sources on my plate that provide me with prebiotics that can feed my probiotic gut bacteria to get my digestive system back on track.
Read my blog eat for a happy gut with herbs and spices https://www.healthyforfood.com/eat-for-a-happy-gut-with-herbs-and-spices/
The loss of my wholefoods
Convenience and a busy lifestyle have taken me away from appreciating these foods. As I was eating on the go, a picky ex-husband, and raising 4 kids on top of running our a small business, time was extremely precious. With that many shortcuts came into play, replacing the goodness of wholefood.
I have come to regret these times because added stress and bad nutrition contributed to the development of my gluten-sensitivity. With that, my digestion became a mess, and many other health issues arose. My digestive system was the unhappiest it had ever been.
My Wholefoods today
I believe in having whole foods come from trusted sources such as local farms and farmer’s markets where I know that GMO’s and pesticides weren’t part of the planting process. This includes humanely raised meats without antibiotics or hormones including grass-fed, free-range, or free-running products such as eggs and other meats and dairy products.
Knowing that the animal had a stress-free and good life makes a huge difference in the quality of the meat as well as much as the well-being of the animal in my opinion. Grass-fed over grain-fed has provided me with much better nutrition for my digestive health. These foods have helped so much with how I and my digestive system feel today.
How I discovered the goodness of my wholefoods;
- Go with the “quiet” foods in the stores. The ones that have no loud labels and don’t claim some kind of incredible goodness for you, such as low on sodium, fat-free, high in fiber….
- When buying processed foods stick to 5 ingredients, and you have to be able to read and know what the ingredients are.
- Support your Farmers Market, local Farm Stand.
- Buy local as much as possible, as travel time also plays a big role in the production of your food and the nutritional values.
- Seasonal; eat what’s in season. Supporting your farmer helps you with this, as he only can sell and grow what’s in season. It can be difficult to figure out what’s in the season for the time of year when you stand in the produce aisle at your store.
- Also, when you buy your meats from a farm you can see how the animal was brought up and you know that it was humanely raised and well taken care of. Stress plays a big role in our wellbeing. I believe the same goes for an animal.
Once integrating these wholefoods bringing a clean and toxin-free diet back into my life, things changed dramatically for the better of my digestion and overall health. Never realizing or paying attention before to how my food was produced and just taking it all for granted sitting in the store.
I never knew about GMO’s, pesticides, travel time from warehouse/farm to store, how much it all played a role in the nutritional values of my daily food. Having made this connection brought great awareness and positive changes in my life and the happiness of my digestive tract.
I am here to spread awareness, teach, support, and guide my clients when it comes to their new nutritional ways as well as their necessary lifestyle changes in order to gain freedom from their gluten-sensitivity and digestive issues. I hope that this blog helps you understand the importance of adding whole foods to your diet so you can as well have a happy digestive system.
Interested in us working together, I would love to get to know you better, so let’s have a FREE 30 Minute Breakthrough session, just click the link and book yourself in, to claim your spot;
Thanks so much for checking in, I am super excited about our connection and can not wait to meet you and figure out how we can work together in achieving your Health and Lifestyle goals.
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Thanks to my happy digestive system I am able to live my life to the fullest again. With that my husband and I are currently moving across the country with our first camper and our two puppies Little Bear and Diesel, over a period of 10 weeks, seeing some great sights on the way. Interested in getting to know how we did it? Catch my blog about the beginnings of our Journey moving cross country in the midst of a pandemic with a gluten- sensitivity and our two dogs, Little Bear and Diesel as first-time RV’ers. Living our dream.
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For my YouTube option hit the link and you can watch me talk about this subject as well.
Thanks so much for reading, until next time; 
Xx Andi 🙂
