Health & Nutrition Guest Interview: Lynn Cameron

I can't wait for you to “meet” and learn from Lynn. I first connected with her through this informative site: WeWantOrganicFoods.com, where she is a contributing author. She's full of knowledge about anything related to health & nutrition! (Note: if you are a beginner to eating healthier, don't let the information here overwhelm you. Lynn has been on this path for many years and has much to teach us, but it begins with baby steps. I hope you'll keep reading and I'll try to help you along as I continue to learn, too! Also, check out this new “rookie tip of the week“ post for those of you who are beginners at eating and cooking healthier.)

KELLY’S INTERVIEW with
LYNN CAMERON

1. What is your #1 motivation for eating/feeding your family healthier meals?

My primary motivation is life extension in health and well-being. Since 1970, I’ve been down many nutritional paths with this same goal. One of the most important results of this abiding study and practice over the years has been the self-reliance acquired in matters of personal health maintenance. My family medical history was grim; I’ve learned that genetics are less important than the establishment would have one believe. My husband’s type 1 diabetic condition has responded positively over the years; better, I believe, than had we subscribed to orthodox medical protocol. A main factor of our continued good health has been avoidance of medical advice, laboratory tests, and pharmaceutical remedies. This was not an avowed goal at the outset; it just evolved as we lived in our small cabin isolated on our mountain lake and learned self-empowerment through many avenues. AND, I like to cook; he needed to eat!

2. What started you on your path to better nutrition?

I was not a breast-fed baby and was “allergic” before it became the prevalent buzz-word it is today. Consequently, I was a picky eater; food was of very little interest to me. For more, see my article about my grandmother online. When first married in 1970, I decided that I was missing all kinds of taste sensations by not eating vegetables and so became a vegetarian in an effort to grow my kitchen skills in a positive direction. I began my lifelong study of nutrition with Adele Davis’ book; Let’s Eat Right to Get Fit. The veggie diet lasted for a few years; in retrospect, I see that my reliance on cheese and eggs at that time was a craving for the rich bounty of nutrients available from animal products that my body craved. Organic food just isn’t what it used to be.

3. What is your biggest struggle in eating/feeding your family healthier meals?

Nowadays my biggest hurdle is to actually have time away from the kitchen to build the network of educated marketers I think this country needs if we are to combat the misinformation that agri-biz touts and to save the health of future generations – since 2000 the first generation of babies has been born who statistically are not likely to outlive their parents! I strive for patience when required to divert my attention from business back to food preparation because I have come to the realization that the heart and mood of the cook when making meals can be transferred unintentionally into what is served. This dilemma is a recent development that I attribute to some concern about retirement income and a need for an expanded platform after many years in the library and kitchen.

4. What is your favorite healthy recipe?

I’ve had many favorites over the years – haven’t we all? Lately I’m having a love affair with whole, unprocessed organic milk from a local farm. I’ve recently written about cholesterol and whole, real milk. Pasteurized milk products have always made my stomach ache, so I didn’t have milk in my organic kitchen for 30 years and never missed it. Now, it is amazing to me that I cannot cook the way I want with less than 2 quarts each day! I culture half of it into kefir and yogurt for smoothies, and the rest gets served as between meal snacks, made into cream soups, sauces and casseroles, and as a warm bedtime drink. I also use the culinary essential oils in recipes. Such pungent edgy therapy is a “match made in heaven” that I urge all cooks to explore.

5. What is your best kitchen/nutrition tip?

If I had just one point to make, it would be to learn about and nurture the lactobacillus bacteria (LAB) living within all organic life. These commensals – another name for LAB – make up the majority of our body tissue. It turns out that we are only about 10% human DNA. After hearing about lactic acid for many years, as most all of us with food passion have, lately the research has been proving how very astonishing their myriad species are to vibrant health. So, my advice is to choose foods that are whole and as field fresh (local) as possible and to ferment and culture as many varieties as your family will eat in order to keep gut flora working efficiently at their crucial functions. This may prove to be the ultimate anti-aging agenda. Culturing LAB within the fresh foods (preferably organic) that are their preferred growth medium requires pristine premises free of toxic residues from kitchen cleaners, as well as harmful bacteria that make us ill. It is important to “go green” if you will accomplish this in your kitchen. Doing this effectively would pose a real problem if it weren’t for the blessing of pure therapeutic grade essential oils. Because the oils (not real lipids) piggy-back oxygen, they perform a dual function. When eaten and breathed in, they assist the LAB in creating a hostile terrain for disease-causing pathogens (confer immunity) and they prevent harmful bacteria from colonizing when used as cleansers on environmental surfaces. You cannot find a more natural all-around support product for your kitchen and those in it than the Young Living Essential Oil Blend THIEVES and the household products that contain it.

6. What did you have for dinner last night?

Please keep in mind that it is deep winter here. We have to snow mobile to our car and then to the local grocery store. I am using my larder (winter storage cupboard/cellar) to pad out my meals. Last night I made some rice (combined wild, brown and Japanese germinated) using my homemade organic chicken stock as the liquid. I used it as the base layer in a casserole dish onto which I piled the chicken picked from the cooked carcass, some frozen peas, a can of water chestnuts and a can of drained asparagus. Over the top of this I poured a medium white sauce made with cultured butter and raw milk into which raw Colby cheese had been melted and added a few chopped capers. With it, we had a beautiful mixed green salad with grated carrot, homemade pickled beets, pumpkin seeds and vinaigrette (raw apple cider vinegar) dressing and homemade sourdough onion rye rolls w/cultured butter. I had a glass of milk to drink; my husband prefers kefir with his evening meal. Tonight we had the leftover casserole reheated into which I nested poached organic, free-range chicken eggs, salad of fermented veggies, etc. An evening meal of leftovers is like a little gift I give myself.

NOTE: As more attention is paid to eating quality food with life in it, the more dissatisfied one becomes with anything less.

Be warned – this is a path of no return!

LYNN CAMERON

website: https:

//aromavital.com/

e-mail: [email protected]

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