Today I’m giving you a sneak peak at my friend, Anne Sergeant’s, talk for the upcoming Weston A. Price / Wise Traditions Conference in November. She’ll be speaking about budgeting for nutrient-dense meals, and today specifically you’ll learn about what she calls the “3 legged stool” of good nutrition.
You may remember Anne’s popular article in the Weston A. Price Foundation's quarterly journal, Wise Traditions, on how to feed your family nourishing foods on a budget, which I posted here not long ago: “Eating Healthy Shouldn’t Cost an Arm & a Leg”.
The 3-legged stool of Good Nutrition
When Anne and I spoke recently, she shared her concern that many in the Nourishing Traditions/Real Food movement seem to be focused on organic foods and getting the junk out of the meals we feed our families, but they may be missing other important parts of what she calls, the “3-legged stool” of good nutrition:
- Keeping the bad stuff out of our diets. (Eating more organics to avoid things like HFCS, trans fats, MSG, GMOs, additives and preservatives, avoiding grocery store meats or reduced fat foods, etc. – but “organic” doesn’t mean you’re providing necessary nutrients…)
- Putting the good stuff into our diets. (Healthy fats full of fat soluble vitamins, raw milk, cod liver oil, bone broths full of minerals, coconut oil, grass-fed meats/organ meats, pastured eggs and poultry, etc. – all of these are very nutrient-dense.)
- Properly preparing our meals to get the most nutrients from our foods as possible. (Properly preparing grains, cultured/fermented foods, crispy nuts, condiments, etc. – some foods need their nutrients unlocked before our bodies can use them correctly.)
Just like a stool with one (or two) bad legs cannot support us, a diet weak in one of these elements cannot provide good overall nutrition.
Let us know what you think!
Have you been “guilty”, like I have at times, of focusing more on #1 than on #2 or #3?
Mary P. says
Very good, common sense, thanks for posting!
Rebecca in Michigan says
I must be doing something right when my 13 year old says, “What are we a health food store?” :o)
Still working on #3. I think that will take me awhile to get under my belt, but I can tell you that I am more aware of what I need to do and what others (friends and family) should be doing.
Catherine @ Healthy Fit Mom says
We do all three but that does not mean that the kids and hubby will eat all three. But it has been a long journey and I have been cooking traditional and foods for almost six years. I started out soaking grains, then cooking organ meats, making stock came next, then lastly home made ferments. Right now I am mastering sourdough bread making.
It takes time and experience in the kitchen and being comfortable eating your own concoctions!
Hubby won’t eat MY ferments but he made his OWN kraut and said since he knew what went in it he will eat it. It is still fermenting and bubbling and will be another couple weeks till it is ready. I can’t wait to taste it.
Getting the whole family in the kitchen and experimenting can be fun and a great learning experience.
Lisa says
My hubby helped with the last batch. I use a baseball bat to pound down each layer and wasn’t feeling too great that night. He took over this duty. He already loved sauerkraut but just said we should have some for supper. It’s the same principle as having kids involved in their food choices and prep. The more they are involved, the more they want to eat it. I was so delighted when my first batch came out so well a couple of years ago. I even got compliments from my Opa. He is considered the kraut master in our family, but at 91 and in an apartment can’t make it anymore. So his praise meant so much. We are part German , Ukrainian and Mennonite, so everyone fights over my sauerkraut. I add caraway seed to mine, as that is how my German grandmother did it. It is so easy to make, and so delicious. I love to add it to my soup when it’s warm, so as not to kill the living probiotics, and to sandwiches and hot dogs. We also make a Mennonite dish with fried onions, bacon, garlic and sauerkraut that is a family favorite.
KitchenKop says
YUM! My brother-in-law makes it for us. 🙂
Missed you at the conference this year!!!
Kel
Jen says
I actually do pretty well with all of these. I lack the most in cultured/fermented foods. However, I’m brewing kombucha for the first time right now, and made milk kefir as well. I’d like to do more with veggies though.
Lisa says
Kefir is so versatile. I haven’t bought sour cream or buttermilk since I started making kefir. It makes heavenly mashed potatoes and banana bread, biscuits and pancakes. My picky grandson, who hates kefir doesn’t know that’s what’s in his favorite pancakes. For sour cream, I just pull some grains and culture with heavy cream to get sour cream.
KitchenKop says
I love those ideas for Kefir Lisa!!! At the conference over the weekend they had the BEST sour cream, it was so thick and yummy!
Kel
Kara says
I’m very focused on 1 and 2 right now and not so much on 3. It’s one of those things I’ve had to let go of early in my pregnancy when food and cooking repulsed me, and for lack of time when all I want to do is sleep 🙂 I had not been into soaking our grains for long before getting pregnant, and I know my body could especially use the extra nutrients now, but I have to be okay with doing what I can do and knowing my limits. There’s always next year right? 🙂
Local Nourishment says
I’ve been pretty focused on putting in and hoping that would push a lot of the bad stuff out. It’s been easy for the most part to do it that way. I had some resistance from my teen at first because he didn’t want his bad stuff replaced. But it’s becoming easier for us because we are seeing such drastic improvements in our health.
It has also been pretty easy for me to concentrate on cooking methods since I never really learned how to cook. If I have a recipe for something, I can pretty much figure it out. But being so reliant on recipes I’m not able to take as great advantage of the inexpensive, in-season foods as I’d like. But I’m learning!
I do feel very, very strongly about avoiding GMOs, and unfortunately, organic is the only way to avoid those right now.