Going Against the Grain by Melissa Smith

Well, I finally finished this book. It took me a while, I don't have much down time as you can imagine. Anyway, I recommend this book for anyone who is considering changing their diet to boost your and /or your children's health. While I don't agree 100 % with everything she said in the book, such as cooking with olive oil or her processed meal suggestions, I do think she did an excellent job explaining what eating grains does to our health in the short and long term.

I do think that there is a lot more to being healthy than just cutting out grains but it is definitely a huge step in the right direction. I have recently found that it was the grains in my diet that was causing my irritable bowel symptoms, my depression (who would have thought!!), and my lack of nutrient absorption! Gosh!

With my two lils having Trisomy 21 aka an abundance of free radicals, I feel that one of my main objectives when feeding my family is to keep the food that cause free radicals to a minimum. This is an excerpt in her book that was a light bulb for me.

"Is there anything wrong with eating foods that elevate blood sugar? [talking about grains] In a word, yes. ... elevated glucose generates hazardous molecules called free radicals in the body, which accelerate aging. Also, excess glucose reacts with and damages proteins in the body, which also ages tissues." page 26

She explains how nixing grains can put the brakes on many of the diseases that we think are the norm in this country. I'm finding the further I delve into this new fangled way of eating that many things I thought were just byproducts of getting old are actually byproducts of eating grains and processed food. Things that make you go hmmm..

"Although it seems hard to believe that eating a lot of refined grains sets the stage for such a myriad of health problems, research now shows us that it does. To prevent serious degenerative diseases and minor health aggravations, the healthiest thing you can do both for yourself and your children is to avoid refined grains and sugars that promote elevated insulin levels."  page 44

I have been grain free since the middle of October and I wish I could tell you that I don't miss them or that it is easy but I do and it's not, especially when we leave the house or even watch TV. But I can tell you that I feel great! My stomach issues have cleared up completely and my depression is gone plus I'm off my happy pills that I felt I would be on till my dying day. Good news is though that the longer I am grain free the easier it is. Plus if mess up and eat grains my body reacts terribly and I wish to heaven I hadn't eaten that!