Frequently Asked Questions- Traditional Foods

[WuWei]

Hey, I had an idea. What if we identify the 10 (or 25) most common newbie questions. And create a thread for each, to answer them from many perspectives. Then we could see about stickying them at the top of the forum.

I'll link them here as we go along.


Pat

[Holiztic]

Great idea!!! How do we start? Do you want us to suggest questions here or just start a thread with the question? Are you thinking about the "why" of TF or the "how"?

i.e.

"why" questions to 'convince' people not yet decided on tf: "Why is raw milk better than pasteurized milk?" or "what's wrong with soy?"

"how" questions to help already convinced people how to start: "how do I sprout?" or "where do I get kefir grains?"

Or both?

[WuWei]

Yeah both, why and how! of Traditional Foods. What do you hear asked again and again that everyone wants to know?

And I just realized I could probably just search the forum for the FAQ we identify. They've already been answered a bunch.

Pat

[Magelet]

How about a why of why TF? I heard a great description today of instead of it being a heads down diet, its a success up diet. That is, instead of thinking about what will make us healthy, we rely on research on what people have eaten for a long time to keep healthy.


I think it should probably just be 1 sticky, which can either have answers we talk about in separate posts per question, or a sticky with links to different threads. (or both. for instance, a fermented veggie thread can have a brief response, and links to other threads about fermenting veggies)

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Things that I started looking into when I researched eating this way...

What kind of meat should I eat?
What oils/fats should I cook with?
How do I modify recipes to use more TF foods? (i.e. subbing honey or maple syrup into a recipe with sugar)
What should be my first step toward a more TF diet?
What are the most important foods in a TF diet?
How do I find farmers to provide grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, raw milk, etc.
Which books should I read and why?

My favorite question I've ever been asked though was from a friend after she found out that we had cut sugar, processed grains, processed foods, prepackaged foods and such from our diet..."So what do you eat?"

[Magelet]

I do think that while it could be very helpful to have a faq, its important to acknowledge that many people have different paths into TF and different ways of eating TF.

I think THE most often question I'm asked is "Aren't you afraid your going to kill yourself with all that fat?" People can't get past the fat thing to other things.

For other questions...I might go off of some of the things the WAPF "characteristics of traditional diets" raises.

1. might raise something like "Help! thats everything I eat!"
4. might raise "What sort of raw animal protein?" The idea is pretty alien to SAD eaters. it might discuss freezing meat for eating raw, ceviche, raw dairy, raw fish, raw organ meat
5. might be questions about lacto-fermentation and fermented veggies dairy and meat? (I want to know more about that last one)
6.Definitely a confusing one, soaking grains. Definitely a why (using the explaination about a seeds mission in life being to get intact through the digestive system of an animal and plant and grow in a new place, and having little toxins to help that, and why sprouting or soaking helps.). Also perhaps a how, as in how to soak different things (acid for grains, salt for nuts and seeds, baking soda for beans), and maybe even a second how, as in, how to get started with this.
7. Something about the good types of fat, and why fat is good for you. I feel like people don't have that many questions about how to eat fat, only why, am I right?
8. what's the usual ratio in a SAD of omega-6's to 3's, and how to get a better one/
9. "What is the nutritional difference between refined table salt and unrefined sea salt.?"
10. one on how to make stocks and one on good ways to use them? I find it harder to eat them since I'm not a huge soup fan than it is to make them
11. what is a good pre-conception diet? (this info is so hard to find. the WAPF website has a pregnancy diet but not a pre-conception diet. SF barely touches on it in NT.)

Definitely how to find pastured animal products, raw dairy, etc.
There already is a how to start sticky, and a books sticky.

[WuWei]

Something about the good types of fat, and why fat is good for you. I feel like people don't have that many questions about how to eat fat, only why, am I right?

I had to laugh at this.

Thanks for all your detailed input! I'm going to bump some popular threads too, which will help with some of those questions.


Pat

[WuWei]

Here are most frequently viewed/popular Traditional Foods threads:

Got Kefir?

Growing My Own Kombucha Scoby

sourdough recipes & wild starters!

How about a fermented veggies thread?

The Hibernation Diet

Have you lost weight with the coconut oil?

Have you all seen this innovation in bread making??!!



Please comment on Susun Weed letter titled "Candida is a helper. It is keeping you healthy!"

kefir - looking for a good water recipe - lactose issues

Any mama's looking to TTC in the next 6-12 months and eating NT/TF???

Iodine, it's role, and why it's important.

B vitamin challenge: Brewer's Yeast and Liver products

1/4 Cow - is it worth it?

Blue Ice CLO is actually synthetic!!!


$150 for a month of TF groceries

Food-grade diatomaceous earth

GAPS/SCD mamas

Kombucha

Is there a current pregnant WAPF mamas thread?

Just have to say THUMBS UP to No Knead Bread

Omnivore's Dilemma


Paleo/NT, Is Eating Dairy Natural?

All things kefir and yogurt

Do you believe that eating fat won't make you fat?

Soy lecithin - What the ?


What's the difference between rapadura and sucanat?

Vitamin K2 dosage?

traditional foods or 100% raw food diet - whats best?

Mounting a Letter writing campaign to Sally Fallon about breastfeeding

Side effects from drinking too much kefir? Is there such a thing

What TV CHef is the Most TF??

Making the Transition to TF


NT-style doughnut recipe from my grandmother

reversing elusive deficiencies


The China Study vs. Weston Price

31 Foods




Pat

[e&tsmom]

Thank you thank you thank you for this thread!!!

I have been reading for almost 2 hours trying to figure everything out!

I'll be back with questions...

[WuWei]

Bump.


Pat

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by WuWei

Bump.


Pat

Thank you, Pat, for bumping this and for including all the wonderful links. So much great info!

I am learning a lot.

[Greenmama2]

A "why fat" answer is definitely needed. My DH totally gets soaking grains, whole foods, raw milk, organ meats (more so than me ) but he's shocked that I would want to include more fat in our diet.

[phroggies]

I'm not sure exactly how to articulate this, but one concern I've seen pop up repeatedly is a kind of guilt for not having done things "right" before discovering NT, especially where one's kids are concerned. Something reassuring from folks who have been there/done that might be helpful, if not exactly an answer to a question.

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by Greenmama2

A "why fat" answer is definitely needed. My DH totally gets soaking grains, whole foods, raw milk, organ meats (more so than me ) but he's shocked that I would want to include more fat in our diet.

Did you get a chance to read through the Do you think eating fat makes you fat? thread that Pat linked with a bunch of others? There is a lot of good info there, plus you could search good fats or similar here on MDC b/c I know I've read similar threads in the past that were enlightening. Maybe you will find some resources or websites to share with your DH.

[Evolvamama]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Me eyes are watering from reading so much. I have to remind myself to...breathe!!

As a newbie, there are so many challenges, and it feels like I've entered a foreign country to eat, struggling to even read the menu. But, of all the challenges, by far, the biggest challenge is implementing TF into my family with two older dc. While my motivation comes from ME trying to heal, the more I read the more I,too, feel that mommy guilt.

So...maybe a thread on how to eat the TF way with(reluctant) older dc? ( And a not so convinced dh!)

[WuWei]

bumping


Pat

[WuWei]

bumping.

Pat

[Sayward]

Originally Posted by Magelet

. . . Also perhaps a how, as in how to soak different things (acid for grains, salt for nuts and seeds, baking soda for beans) . . .

Could you say more on this, or point me in the right direction for more info? I've been using acid for everything.

[greenmamapagan]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Did you get a chance to read through the Do you think eating fat makes you fat? thread that Pat linked with a bunch of others? There is a lot of good info there, plus you could search good fats or similar here on MDC b/c I know I've read similar threads in the past that were enlightening. Maybe you will find some resources or websites to share with your DH.

No I didn't. I probably didn't even notice it since neither of us are the slightest bit concerned about "getting fat" but he is concerned about heart disease & saturated fat = heart disease to him.
Luckily I found a Scientific American article tonight

In 2008 Stampfer co-authored a study in the New England Journal of Medicine that followed 322 moderately obese individuals for two years as they adopted one of three diets: a low-fat, calorie-restricted diet based on American Heart Association guidelines; a Mediterranean, restricted-calorie diet rich in vegetables and low in red meat; and a low-carbohydrate, nonrestricted-calorie diet. Although the subjects on the low-carb diet ate the most saturated fat, they ended up with the healthiest ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol and lost twice as much weight as their low-fat-eating counterparts.

[JaneS]

This is a great thread:

Vegetarian considering bone broth- is it worth it?
http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1152824