Seven Ways to Improve Nutrition for People with CTDs

The conventional medical medical dogma these days is to eat a low fat, high fiber diet filled with whole grains. That may be a good diet for some people to go on, but for me and many people who read my web site that kind of diet can be a complete nutritional disaster.

1. Vitamins, and minerals are more easily absorbed when mixed with water. As such, I think it helps to consume a lot of soups, broths and pureed foods made with vegetables, beans and meat if you need to improve your nutrition. It is easier to absorb more calories this way, too, so if you are watching your diet make sure the foods you are consuming are relatively low in calories.

2. Make broth for soups and gravies the old fashioned way from organic meat bones and vegetables. Canned stock is often made from chemicals such as monosodium glutamate, is of limited nutritional value, and often is very high in salt. It is easy to make your own broth in a crock pot. The way I do it is to:

• Add water to the pot and then turn the temperature to the highest setting. When the water is as hot as it can get, then add the meat and bones, cut into small of pieces. (I think it helps reduce the growth of bacteria to wait until the water is already hot before adding any animal products.)
  
  
• Add a little vinegar or other acid to get the calcium to leach out of the bones.
  
  
• Next let the bones and meat cook all day long on low heat.
  
  
• Add the vegetables and maybe some herbs the last hour only to preserve their nutrients the best. Traditional stock vegetables include carrots, celery, onions and parsley. However you can use whatever tastes good to you. If I am short on time I use frozen vegetables.
  
  
• Strain the crock pot mixture and use the broth as a nutritious base for soups, stews, gravies, etc. If you can't use all of the broth up within a few days you can freeze some for later use.

3. Eat organ meats occasionally. They are nutritional jack pots of vitamins and minerals. If you don't like the taste of organ meat, then consume just a little bit each day and experiment with different recipes. If you look at cookbooks from any time periods before around 1980, organ meats were commonly served at the dinner table. (Liver should only be consumed infrequently due to its high vitamin A content and some health experts recommend that pregnant women avoid it entirely. If you do eat liver make sure it is organic.)

4. Cook your foods, especially meats, using traditional methods when possible instead of using the microwave. Microwave cooking can destroy important nutrients such as vitamin B12.

6. Limit the amount of grains in your diet. Whole grains have phytates can prevent absorption of minerals. Refined grains are generally devoid of minerals unless supplemented, can cause weight gain because they are so easily absorbed and have high glycemic levels. You can get a lot more nutrients by eating 100 calories of vegetables such as cooked spinach or kale than you can by eating a 100 calories of bread. I still do eat some grains in part because my family likes them and in part because of the convenience, but I try to limit the amounts. I do think if I eliminated grains I would have a healthier diet and weigh less. In the book The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, he compares the nutrient content of standard American fare for a day (pizza soda, ice berg lettuce salad, etc.) compared to one of his paleo diet menus (organic meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts). The standard diet really pales in comparison to the paleo diet as far as RDAs for vitamins and minerals is concerned. I don't necessarily agree with everything in the paleo book, as I personally think beans and root vegetables are fine to eat, but over all I suspect most people with CTDs would be healthier eating more paleo rather than modern, processed foods.

7. Contrary to the views of some health experts, I believe that It is easier to digest cooked foods than raw foods. That is why babies with immature digestive systems are given cooked and pureed foods. I am aware that there are many advocates of raw foods diets, but to each his own. If some people feel better eating raw foods then they should continue doing what works best for them. I do not believe there is one diet that works well for everyone. I often get irritable bowel syndrome symptoms from eating raw fruits and vegetables. Ayurvedic medicine advocates eating mainly hot cooked foods for certain body types and that advice has worked out well for my family and me.

Related pages -

Cellular nutrition testing

How to find a holistic doctor

Deficiency symptoms of magnesium

Deficiency symptoms of zinc

Deficiency symptoms of vitamin K

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