A diet with sticking power
Picture the healthiest person you can imagine: strong, lean, tan, attractive. This person is overflowing with vitality and vigor. If you suggested climbing a mountain, they wouldn’t think twice. They’d be ready. They are playful, optimistic, happy. There’s no sense of hurry or stress when you’re with them. They are calm and calming.
Now, picture yourself as that person. It is possible for you to be that person. Your best self is happy, healthy, brimming with good will and energy. I want to help you get there. This is my “why”: helping you live your best life, at 100%, whether you are actually 100 years old or considerably younger.
The secret for getting there is not found in a fad diet, some special kind of protein smoothie (w/ added vitamins and minerals!) or a trendy weight loss program. Some of these approaches help you achieve short-term results, but leave you nutritionally wanting. Not to mention the fact that any initial weight loss is often temporary.
What I am going to offer you is more lasting and profound. It’s a diet, yes, but more of a lifestyle that has a proven track record and does not leave you wanting more, on any level. It has sticking power, because it’s worked for millennia. And it’s free!
The diet is based on a set of guidelines, from the Weston A. Price Foundation, for how to eat in a way that has served humankind well, all over the planet. The principles for the wise traditions diet are based on the work of Dr. Weston A. Price. He is the researcher/dentist who travelled the world in the 1930s to connect with the most robust, vibrant, healthy and optimistic people on the planet. He went all over: from Switzerland to Kenya to Alaska to Australia and more. He noted that the diets varied, depending on where the people lived and what was most available to them, but that they also had commonalities. What the diets had in common is what we can emulate today.
The healthiest people ate:
real food - no de-natured, refined, or overly processed foods
animal products - fish, shellfish, organ meats, reptiles, eggs, etc.
nutrient-dense foods - 4x the minerals & water-soluble vitamins and 10x the fat-soluble vitamins
a mix of cooked and raw foods
plentiful food enzymes & beneficial bacteria from lacto-fermented foods
properly prepared (soaked, sprouted, fermented, or naturally leavened) nuts, seeds, and grains
plenty of fat
a healthy balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids
salt (an essential, often maligned nutrient)
bone broth and related dishes (because they make good use of animal bones)
“sacred” foods and made special efforts to give them to pregnant women and those in the childbearing years
As you can imagine. for those living close to the land and their traditions, eating this way was not a stretch. Not complicated. Not expensive. And, yes, delicious!!!
For many of us, today, it may take a paradigm shift for us to avoid modern convenience food-like products, and return to ancient nourishing foods. We must reject the thinking that what is “new and improved” trumps the “tried and true.” Our ancestors have insights that helped them thrive and, if we pay attention, we can learn from their wisdom on diet and lifestyle for a healthier life today.
We must reject the thinking that what is “new and improved” trumps the “tried and true.”
And are you interested in making the shift, but unsure how to start? I personally started with butter. I got rid of the fake “heart healthy” margarines and went with the real deal. And I’ve never looked back. No regrets!
If you’re just starting out, make the switch to butter, too! And give a listen to Wise Traditions podcast episode #162 “A Wise Diet.” for the big picture on this wise lifestyle!
I am personally so excited about this way of living that I am going on a tour in Australia this fall, to retrace the footsteps of Dr. Price and to learn from those who remember their dietary traditions and ancestral health practices. Follow me on the journey to learn more about how to live your best life. You can simply subscribe to this blog or follow me on Instagram @holistichilda. And you can support this initiative by visiting my Indiegogo campaign page HERE.
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Hilda Labrada Gore is a certified health coach and fitness professional. She is the host and producer of the Wise Traditions podcast, on behalf of the Weston A. Price Foundation. She is a podcast coach, as well, and the author of “Podcasting Made Simple.” She is also the DC Metro Regional Director for Body & Soul Fitness. She and her husband live in DC with their children and cat and dog. Hilda has energy to spare thanks to her ancestral health practices and her love for sunshine and liverwurst.