The Poor State of Our Children's Health and 3 Steps to Reverse the Trend

Dr. Zach Bush, and other doctors like Dr. Daphne Miller, have been loud advocates about the healing quality of  nutrient dense foods.

Dr. Zach Bush has produced a short film, Farmer’s Footprint, highlighting the need for a change at how we’re producing our food.

Dr. Daphne Miller has written a fabulous book, Farmacology, telling her story about how she discovered how food can heal.

Why is this so important?

According to Dr. Zach Bush, 46% of our children have a chronic disease today, compared to 4% in the 1960’s, here in the US.

I don’t know about you, but knowing that just under 50% of our children are sick, and these are our future leaders, parents, and workers, motivates me to keep producing cleaner, more nutrient dense food so that you can feed your children and grandchildren food that is medicine!

We can reverse this trend!

The food that you put on the dining room table (and yes, we should spend more time around the dining room table rather than eating on the run or in front of the TV- its quality time to be together as a family and to have a conversation) can reverse many of the chronic illnesses our children are experiencing.

Why is the food we eat important?

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that without food, our bodies cannot function properly. Our bodies receive the minerals, micro and macro nutrients from the food we eat.

“Over the last 40 years, the trends of farming practices, together with the increase in processed foods (anything from a box or ready made), has produced for the first time in history, a nutrient-deprived, calorie rich food system that has been scaled to feed the majority of the developed world. Production of staple crops that lack the fundamental building blocks of biological life, and are devoid of the medicinal components of those plants that have been the basis for healthy plants and animal/human consumers.”

When our body isn’t receiving the minerals and nutrients it needs to function properly, then the resulting dysfunctions will become visible in the form of chronic diseases.

The food we’re eating today from the fast food chains and from the center aisles in the grocery stores, do not have the minerals and nutrients that our grandparents ate. Additionally, many of the foods we’re eating are laden with chemicals, whether from how they were grown or how they are being preserved.

If you’ve ever made a loaf of bread from scratch and left it on the counter for a week, you’d have noticed that it quickly became a science experiment of how to grow bacteria. How come the bread in the grocery store can stay out on the shelf and/or counter and never grow bacteria?

Recent data shows the correlation between the deterioration in the health of our soils and crops, which produces our food, and the rise in chronic disease.

So changing the food that we’re ingesting into our body to food that is nutrient dense and free of any chemicals will provide our bodies with the minerals and nutrients it has been deprived of, and thereby allowing our bodies to function as they it was designed to do, and reducing the chronic illnesses.

Change is always hard. I’ve tried to change many things throughout my life, and have failed at many of these attempts.

The ONLY TIME I’ve changed something was when I was CONVICTED to change. So start with Step One!

• Educate yourself on the relationship between food and health. My recommendations are:

  • Read Dr. Miller’s, Farmacology

  • Check out Dr. Axe’s website, www.draxe.com

  • Check out Dr. Joseph Mercola’s website, www.mercola.com

  • Read Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions, a traditional foods cookbook

  • Check out Weston A Price Foundation’s website, www.westonaprice.org

  • Find your local naturopath and discuss current medications and their side effects, and ask for recommendations on other treatments

We’ve all started the New Year with lofty resolutions to accomplish/change/implement a goal only to see our progress wane by Valentine’s Day or by Memorial Day! Personally, the only goals I’ve successfully met are those that required small changes to start with.

• If most of your meals are from a fast food chain, make it a goal to eat a homemade meal once a week. A weekend meal will give you more time at home to prepare it.

• If you’re eating out because you don’t know how to cook from scratch, pick an easy meal to learn how to make and make it a goal to learn and prepare it once a week.

  • Scrambled eggs and bacon are easy

  • Grilled steaks with a salad is easy to put together

  • Grilled chicken breasts and mashed potatoes is a simple and easy meal

• If you’re already cooking from scratch, instead of purchasing your items from a grocery store, find a local farmers market or farmer to purchase your items.

  • A community supported agriculture (CSA) farm will provide you with seasonal, local vegetables

  • Find a local rancher to purchase your meats from.

• Find a nutritionist to work with you on what a balanced diet looks like

• Eliminate one item from the diet for a month

  • Eliminate candy and instead provide healthy snacks (nuts, fruits, vegetables)

  • Eliminate sodas. Try carbonated water instead

  • Eliminate carbohydrates (bread, pasta, chips)

• Cut portion size by half

• Don’t eat anything after 7-8 pm. Let the body ‘fast’ for the night

• Only eat if when its hunger. Learn to decipher if it’s hunger versus craving/filling in a void (ie. need vs want)

We’re not going to stick with a change if we don’t notice the results! Nobody likes to diet to get on a scale to see that the needle hasn’t moved.

After you implement the change:

• Do you or family members have more or less energy?

• Do you or family members sleep better or worse?

• Do you or family members still feel hungry an hour after the meal?

• Do you or family members have brain fog after the meal?

• Do you or family members have digestive issues and did they improve or get worse?

• Do you or family members notice any change in your illness’ symptoms?

From personal experience, once I realized how my body was supposed to function versus its dysfunction, I could tell immediately when I ate something that I shouldn’t!

The same thing happened with my daughter with her asthma! When she ate something that had soy in it, she would start wheezing within hours. It made her think twice before she ate it again!

Once we start to see and feel our bodies work as they were designed to, eating the healthier, nutrient dense food becomes a priority, and a need! It feels so great to feel good!

Summarizing, the nutrient deficient food we’re eating is causing our bodies to work dysfunctionally triggering chronic illness symptoms. When we eat nutrient dense, chemical free food, our bodies are able to absorb the minerals and micro and macro nutrients it needs to function as it should.

Is Soy Really Good For Our Health?

I've had several customers approach me about why I don't use soy on the ranch, and why I try to stay away from any soy product in my meals.

So I thought I'd write about the effects of soy on our health and share it with you so that you can do your own research.

Once you start your research, you'll see MUCH conflicting information. So much so, that you'll likely end up more confused than before your research!

So my advice is to find:

• a source of information/research that will represent the best/truest/unbiased/supported information.

• a source that will have a holistic (whole) approach to looking at the issue/concern. Our bodies are integrated/symbiotic systems and we have to take a look at all of it, not just a part of it.

For me, Weston Price Foundation has the most comprehensive source of information, so I have copied their summary below about the dangers of soy in our bodies.

An additional point to address is the quantity of soy we are ingesting. Start looking at the labels to see how many products contain a soy product in them. 

As an extreme example, if you ate the same food item for every meal, your body would eventually react because it's not receiving the diverse nutrients and minerals it needs. Our consumption of soy products in our processed food (including eggs and meats) is out of proportion with respect to our bodies' needs.

Soy Dangers Summarized

• High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children.

• Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth.

• Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women.

• Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease.

• Vitamin B12 analogs in soy are not absorbed and actually increase the body’s requirement for B12.

• Soy foods increase the body’s requirement for vitamin D.

• Fragile proteins are denatured during high temperature processing to make soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein.

• Processing of soy protein results in the formation of toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.

• Free glutamic acid or MSG, a potent neurotoxin, is formed during soy food processing and additional amounts are added to many soy foods.

• Soy foods contain high levels of aluminum which is toxic to the nervous system and the kidneys.

Consider that 46% of our children have a chronic disease today compared to 4% of our total population in 1965. 

Could the increase in disease be caused by the quantity of soy we are consuming?

I believe it is. 

Which is why we don't use soy on the ranch, and are raising nutrient dense food for you and your family.

Alarming Levels of Round Up In Our Food!

The widespread use of Roundup in our agricultural practices has infiltrated into our food.

The study was conducted in 2016, so it’s a few years old, but Roundup, or specifically glyphosate (the ingredient that kills weeds) is still being used.

Just because the label says Organic or Gluten Free it doesn’t mean that its free of glyphosate!

The two groups that did this study, Food Democracy Now and The Detox Project, called out the respective corporations and regulatory agencies to take action to address consumer safety.

I know that General Mills’ new Sustainability Officer has started an initiative to “advance regenerative agricultural practices on 1 million acres of farmland by 2030”,  and is contracting with farmers who are using regenerative agricultural practices. So that’s a positive step!

This concern, as well as others, are part of the reason that we use regenerative agricultural principles on the ranch to raise our products!

Take away: it’s so important to know where your food came from and how it was raised!

Your health depends on it!

Traditional Food Is Medicine

If you've come to any of our ranch classes, you've been introduced to Weston P. Price Foundation (WPF). This organization  provides :

“accurate information on nutrition and health, always aiming to provide the scientific validation of traditional foodways. People seeking health today often condemn certain food groups — such as grains, dairy foods, meat, salt, fat, sauces, sweets and nightshade vegetables — but the Wise Traditions Diet is inclusive, not exclusive. “

WPF advocates a diet consisting of traditional foods.

WPF shows you how to include all these nourishing traditional foods in your diet through wise choices and proper preparation techniques.

What is traditional foods?

So what do they mean by saying traditional foods?

In essence, traditional foods are those whole and ancient foods that have been eaten for centuries and even millenia. They are the foods that your ancestors (think a handful of generations ago when all cooking was from scratch) would have eaten. They are simple, naturally grown or raised, nutrient-dense, thoughtfully prepared. They are not fads (in fact, they tend to go in direct opposition to most conventional nutritional advice these days).

Traditional foods are:

• Foods in their original form, as they were created— not processed, not packaged.

• Foods that have a long history of supporting good health.

• Foods that are whole and nutrient-dense.

• Foods that are simple and basic: meat and poultry, eggs, whole grains, fish, beans and legumes, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, dairy, fats.

Traditional Foods Aren’t:

• Low-fat, low-cholesterol, vegetarian or vegan

• A one-size fits all diet (rather it has to do with a healthful variety of foods that are local to you, so if you live on the coast you may eat more fish, but if you live in a fertile valley you may eat plenty of raw dairy and vegetables).

• The so-called “health foods” that you’ll find with bold labels on the store shelves.

"In the simplest explanation, traditional foods focused on four basic principles: 1) avoidance of modern, refined foods; 2) celebration of unrefined, whole and natural foods; 3) respecting the importance of nutrient-density in our food and 4) preparing and eating foods in the same manner that nourished our ancestors and kept them well. In essence, if your great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize it, don’t put it in your mouth."

From Nourished Kitchen

Which Foods are Traditional?

• Pastured, grass-fed and free range meats (cow, goat, lamb as well as wild meats like deer, moose, elk, etc.) and poultry. Also included are organ meats from any of these animals, which were highly prized by traditional cultures.

• Fish that are wild, and preferably from less polluted waters (like Pacific/Alaskan salmon, for example). Cod liver oil is also a historically-valued natural food supplement and an important source of nutrients.

• Eggs from pastured hens.

• Raw (unpasteurized, un-homogenized) dairy products from cows and goats that are grass-fed (not grain-fed). This especially includes cultured dairy products like yogurt, kefir, creme fraiche or sour cream, and cheeses.

• Whole grains that are soaked, sprouted or made using sourdough fermentation methods.

• Organic or ecologically grown vegetables and fruits.

• Bone broths made from the bones of the above-mentioned animals and fish.

• Lacto-fermented vegetable and fruit condiments, such as sauerkraut, chutneys, pickles, ketchup, various dressings and sauces, etc. Also, fermented beverages, such as kombucha, water kefir, beet kvass and others.

• Fats such as butter, beef tallow and other animal fats, unrefined coconut oil, palm oil, extra virgin olive oil.

• Raw nuts and seeds, that have been soaked for improved digestion.

• Wholesome sweeteners like raw honey, maple syrup, dried fruits, small amounts of unrefined sugars like Sucanat or Rapadura.

• Unrefined sea salt, which is full of minerals. Also, fresh or dried herbs and spices.

How many traditional foods are you currently including in your diet?

6 Benefits of Healthy Sodas (AKA Fermented Drinks)

When I eliminated store bought sodas from my diet because of all the unhealthy ingredients, I missed having flavored fizzy drinks.

Until I discovered fermented drinks!

They are now referred to as our healthy sodas!

What are fermented drinks?

Fermented drinks have been a staple of the human diet for centuries. Without modern refrigeration techniques, people sought other methods to preserve food and mitigate spoilage. Fermentation is one of the methods of preservation utilized by all cultures.

During fermentation, live bacteria break down food components such as sugar, making it easier for you to digest and absorb its nutrients. You can ferment cabbage into sauerkraut, and you can also ferment a sweet tea into kombucha or jun.

There are several fermented drinks you can incorporate into your diet:

• kombucha- a black tea with sugar fermented using a SCOBY

• jun- a green tea with honey fermented using a SCOBY

• water kefir- a sugar water fermented using grains

• milk kefir- milk fermented using grains

• ginger beer- using a ginger bug which is fermented

• mead- a honey and yeast drink brewed similarly to beer

• sima - a Finnish drink with lemons, sugar and yeast

• boza or bouza - a middle eastern drink make from hulled millet and sugar

• kvass -a Russian beverage from fermenting rye bread, and can also be made from beets

• lacto-fermented orange juice or lemonade- fermented using a culture

• hard apple cider - fermenting fresh apple cider

Why should I drink fermented drinks?

1. When you consume fermented food and drinks, you’re essentially bathing your GI tract in healthy, food-related organisms and bacteria. If the good bugs in the gut outnumber the bad bugs, you’re less likely to experience sickness, and you may reverse some chronic illnesses.

2. Fermented, or cultured, drinks are another way to incorporate more fermented foods into your family’s diet.

3. You can replace Coca-Cola, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, etc with what we refer to in our house as healthy sodas.

   1. You can change the flavors on kombucha, jun and kefir during the second fermentation giving you ample options for your healthy sodas

4. May replace probiotic supplements, as fermented drinks will introduce beneficial bacteria into your digestive system.

5. Fermented foods and drinks are essential for good digestion and nutrient absorption. Having the proper balance of gut bacteria and enough digestive enzymes helps you absorb many more nutrients from the foods you eat.

6. Fermented drinks are budget friendly, especially if you make them at home as they cost only pennies per serving versus $2.00 per bottle at the store. You may also cut down on the number of supplements and vitamins you need, helping your budget further.

Kombucha gallon

Water kefir 1/2 gallon

Want some healthy sodas for yourself or the kiddos?

Try making these at home!

Don’t feel comfortable making them at home?

Check out our Events page and sign up for a class!

what do cognac, cast iron, garlic and lamb have in common?

Since I've started eating more lamb, I've found a good use for all my cast iron skillets! (Does anyone else have way too many cast iron skillets of different sizes, together with cast iron dutch ovens?)

Anyway, back to the title- What do cognac, cast iron, garlic and lamb have in common? The answer is- in less than 20 minutes you can bring all of these items/ingredients together and serve a melt-in-your-mouth meal to your family or friends! 

Lamb loin chops are the filet mignon of lamb (which has always been my favorite). The loin chop looks like miniature T-bone steaks, and is the leanest and most tender cut of lamb and best cooked at high temperatures in a cast iron skillet or grill.

For those on a paleo diet, you can replace the butter with ghee.

And, don't forget, that to make sure you are providing a healthy meal, source your lamb from your favorite grass fed sheep rancher!

Click here to print the recipe

6 Wonderful Health Benefits of Fermented Foods

What do wine, yogurt, beer, pickles, cheese and bread have in common? (Aside from making a delicious meal :D)

They have all been made through FERMENTATION!

Fermentation has been around for ages, and happening every day and everywhere. Cultures around the world have been fermenting longer than when we first started writing down recipes.

Kimchi is Korean. Sauerkraut is German. The French perfected cheese, bread and wine. The best yogurt I ever tasted was one I purchased at a farmers market in France.

Very simplistically, fermentation is the process of lactofermentation in which natural bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in the food creating lactic acid. This process preserves the food, and creates beneficial enzymes, B-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids and various strains of probiotics. In short, it adds all sorts of healthy goodness and nutrition to your meal!

When I was starting to use food to heal my body, and nourish my children, doing any fermentation felt overwhelming. But when I learned that cheese, bread and wine were fermented (my staple comfort foods), I convinced myself that if I could make healthy cheese and bread from scratch, I could eat my comfort foods without guilt!

So I taught myself to make cheese (a great reason to have your own dairy cow right?) and bread. Then yogurt (and yes I got close to making an identical yogurt to the French yogurt I had tasted), milk kefir and kombucha quickly followed. Then I made pickles as lovey loves them (not a favorite of mine). I tried making sauerkraut, and eventually made one I liked!

And then I found fermented ketchup! If there's a heaven on earth, I've found it in fermented ketchup! You should really try it.

The BEST part of fermented foods, aside from being delicious, is that they are beneficial to your body. So every bite is a step towards a healthier you!

Another benefit of fermented foods is that it is budget friendly!

If you've started adding healthy foods into your diet and menus, you know that it can get expensive really quickly. Fermented foods (and drinks) will cost you only pennies per serving. You can turn a cabbage into several jars of sauerkraut to be used on burgers or with sausage. A half gallon of raw milk will not only give you cheese, but you'll also have the whey to use in further ferments.

So fermented foods are not only good for your body, but good for your budget too!

If you don't know where to start with adding fermented foods, or don't know how to make fermented foods, check out our list of events to see our class schedule.

Don't throw your turkey carcass away!

I know! I know! The last thing you want to do is spend more time in the kitchen after you've slaved away roasting your delicious turkey, making the mashed potatoes, green beans, creamed spinach, gravy, pumpkin and pecan pies! But making turkey stock is so easy, you'll soon realize it took longer to prepare the main meal than it took to make the stock!

You can make this on your stove top, or your crock pot, or if you have one, your insta-pot (It's on my Christmas wish list!)

Once you taste your homemade turkey stock, you'll make it part of your annual Thanksgiving tradition! Not only is the flavor deep and rich, it's also good for your body and will help keep that winter crud away if you take a daily drink of it. Or use in soups or rice.

Click here to print

how i got rid of my acid reflux!

When I was pregnant with both of my kiddos, and wasn't on the all natural bandwagon yet, I had terrible acid reflux the last trimester. Anything I ate caused it. I ate pounds of Tums to no avail. I was so thankful when I birthed them, as the reflux went away!

In my late 30's, I started getting acid reflux again. Every time I ate, I experienced from light to strong acid reflux. I hated it! It seemed that anything I ate caused it. And I love eating!

By this time, I was on my natural, preventative methods mindset, so I started researching what I could do to keep from getting that terrible heartburn after every meal.

I found that a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water will quickly get rid of the heartburn, but I really wanted to find something to keep the acid reflux from happening. I wanted it GONE!

I remember precisely how I learned how to prevent it. I was at church having our fellowship meal after Sunday service and the women were at the table discussing homeschooling, children's discipline, female problems, etc... and I mentioned I was having terrible acid reflux at every meal. One of the ladies at the table promptly said, "Do you make and drink bone broth?".

I was like, "Huh? Bone broth? What's that?". After she explained what it was, I realized she was referring to what I knew as "Caldo" (Portuguese for broth). When I was growing up in Argentina and Brasil, my mother used to 'stew' leftover bones to make a broth, and we'd use that for soups.

But I hadn't been making broth since I moved to the US for college. And I was suffering for it!

My church friend volunteered to come over to coach me on how to make broth (it's super easy) and when it was done, I took a sip of it. It was delicious!

I had a cup of broth every day for a week.

And by the end of the week, I didn't experience any acid reflux!

The collagen in the broth regulates stomach acid production. One of the key components to acid reflux is actually a lack of adequate stomach acid, not an excess of it. If there isn’t enough stomach acid, your food can’t be properly digested, and results in all kinds of issues including acid reflux.

I was SO HAPPY not to feel the acid reflux, I think I told everyone I came into contact about this life changing drink for an entire month! Whenever I hear of anyone complaining about heartburn or acid reflux, I'm quick to ask if they use bone broth in their diet.

I'm so thankful to my church friend who reintroduced me to broth, and now it's my mission to pass this tried and true healer onto as many people as I come into contact with.

how to grill a lamb loin chop

We're all busy! How does summer get so busy? Aren't you supposed to be laying on the beach or by the pool, reading a good book and chilling? We've been spending our time on ranch projects and chasing escaping sheep back inside the fence!

But, we all need to eat despite all the demands on our time.

Lamb loin chops are incredibly versatile, as you can bake, broil, pan-fry or deep-fry them. One of the best ways to get the most out of the lamb loin chop is by cooking them on a grill. The meat will sear quickly without cooking the center too well, while adding flavor to the lamb.

When you're hard pressed for time, or life is hectic, grilling up a lamb loin chop with some vegetables or a salad will put a healthy, nutritious meal on the table in less than 20 minutes (it'll take longer to fire up the grill than it will take to grill the chop!).

Click here to print the recipe

6 Reasons Why I Drink Broth & Stock

My birthday is coming up next month. Another year older! The other day I was walking by the mirror and glanced at myself, and I noticed I looked older! In my mind, I still look 16 years old!

Another year older! I have to confess that I enjoy being this old and having more wisdom than I did at 16 but every once in a while I feel the stiff joints and dry skin, and experience nights where I can't sleep through the night and forget something because I didn't write it down, and I recriminate myself for not having introduced bone stock and broth sooner in my adult life.

Over a year ago, I started trying to drink a cup of broth/stock a day and almost immediately, I started seeing changes in my body. I felt better. Slept better. And some say I looked better too :D

Here are six reasons why I drink broth and stock:

1. Heal and seal your gut

According to many holistic nutritionists, a cup of day works miracles for leaky gut syndrome and also good for non-leaky guts. The gelatin in the bone broth/stock helps seal up the holes in intestines, which helps cure chronic diarrhea, constipation, and even some food intolerances.

2. Gelatin for joint health

Bone broth/stock contains glucosamine and other goodies which helps with joint pain, and helps prevent osteoarthritis.

3. Aids digestion

Another benefit of gelatin is that it'll help your system digest more efficiently, especially milk. Who doesn't need a little help digesting everything these days?

4. Look younger & stronger nails and hair

Bone broth/stock is rich source of collagen, which will improve the elasticity of your skin. Collagen will make you look younger, as well as make your nails stronger and your hair look radiant.

5. Immune support

With the high concentration of minerals, added with the bone marrow, broth/stock can help strengthen your immune system. Remember how your grandmother always made you chicken soup with you got sick?

 6. Stress & cancer fighter, memory and sleep

The gelatin in the bone broth/stock can promote sleep, improves memory and learning behavior, and can help your body battle the effect of stress and cancerous tumor growth.

Now, I always have stock/broth available to drink and add into my cooking. It's become a fixed stock item in our fridge.

On June 3rd, we'll holding another stock and broth class at the ranch. Come see how to make it, taste it, and take home a few jars for your use. Incorporate it into your daily food intake and see how your body will appreciate this liquid gold!

If you have any questions, please email me or text me. You can register for the class by clicking here.

We would love to have you at the ranch and spend the afternoon learning how to cook and use stocks and broths!

NOTE: The photo of me above was taken at my old ranch, with the old logo!