Is your spouse or SO a believer in NT/TF/WAPF?

[guestmama9916]

I feel like its an uphill battle to convert my DH to the NT way of eating and thinking about food. When I told him I wanted to buy raw milk he said I had gone off the deep end. He refused to go with me to the farm to pick up the milk the first time I went. Then he kept saying I was trying to poison him with the milk. Now he drinks it and enjoys. He even went to the farm with me this last trip and saw many other families buying the milk too. He was pleasantly surprised to know that I wasn't the only mom that was "crazy" enough to buy raw milk for my family. I introduced him to homemade kefir last night. Again, I got the line about me trying to poison him. Anyone that has dealt with a difficult spouse or SO, can you give me any advice? Is there anything I can say or do that will help convince him? He'll read a little if I pull out the important information and give him a quick synopsis.

Thanks!

Kim

[dvons]

I've not gotten a negative reaction from DH. He thinks it is a little strange when I put something new on the table but he hasn't rejected anything, not even the raw milk. He even tried my Kumbacha the first time I made it and said it "Tasted good!" He's not a totally convert and still has the mentality of "OMG that has sooooo much fat in it." but that doesn't stop him from eating things I make. Of course he hates to cook or even prepare prepackaged foods so he is stuck with eating what I prepare.

Deb

[yitlan]

My dh says, "as long as it tastes good." He could not get into the goat milk, though. Now I have raw cow's and he's open to that. He does have trouble accepting the fats thing b/c he's in the medical field (PA school) and it goes against EVERYTHING he's learned there. He won't take fish oil, though does sometimes take the capsules. He hates anything slightly fishy, though, so I didn't expect him to embrace that. The one big thing that he needs is juice. My kids accept water and milk now without question, but he needs some kind of juice.

[newcastlemama]

My dh is not interested in doing nutritional research on his own so I just give him summaries of all the info I have read and then we discuss. We had the raw milk discussion too. At the end he said that sounded like good idea. Plus, as Yitlan says, as long as it tastes good!

[pampered_mom]

My dh is pretty much game for whatever I am interested in trying. I usually share what I'm learning as we go along so I think that helps!

[kbchavez]

kimbernet- my dh is even more difficult than yours! He gets testy if I even TALK about nutrition or health. He refuses to taste anything I make in case it's "wierd". I think the last thing I got him to taste was store bought kombucha three years ago. I thought he'd love it and give up his soda habit. WRONG. He thought it was disgusting, and now doesn't trust anything I say is healthy. He "lets" me cook him eggs, an occasional hamburger, french toast, and enchiladas. At least the eggs I use are Frenz pastured eggs from NZ with beautiful bright orange yolks. He gets mad when I point out the beautiful yolks! He even asked once why the scrambled eggs were so electric yellow... like it was a bad thing! Life would be so much easier if he weren't so resistant to the idea that food is more than just gasoline for our engines. I can't even get him to take fish oil for the skin lesions he has on his face... and this is something supported by the medical establishment. Sigh. I do think it is important for me to respect that he has no interest in this right now, and to TRY no to nag and preach. It sure is hard, though, because I'm so PASSIONATE about food and nutrition.

[Laurel723]

Originally Posted by kimbernet

I Then he kept saying I was trying to poison him with the milk.

FWIW, I got the line about poisoning DH when I switched from P&H 2% to P&H whole milk!

Don't even get him started with Kombucha...

Sometimes his resistance makes me more inclined to swim a little further away from mainstream. Just to see his reaction! Aren't I awful?

[desertpenguin]

my dh has been very reluctant to give up junk food and to start eating healthy. BUT he has moved an inch for me so i do appreciate that a whole lot! he gave up his storebought cereals and we go and pick up 2 gallons of raw milk every other week which is between a 30 and 45 minute drive one way. he hates kombucha and kefir and is disgusted by the idea of sauerkraut, kimchi, etc (although i haven't made any veggie ferments yet.)

there are a few reasons why he is reluctant to eat healthy... it is so much more expensive for us, and he's just a downright picky eater (dislikes most veggies, mustard, mayo, onions, and the list goes on and on..) he's also somewhat resistant to change in any form.

i have been trying my best with cooking because he'll eat about half of the food i fix, although cooking is still basically new to me. i've only started cooking within the past year or so, and no one taught me anything when i was growing up. we're getting there...just very slowly.

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by pamered_mom

My dh is pretty much game for whatever I am interested in trying. I usually share what I'm learning as we go along so I think that helps!

: My dh does it all ... and loves feeling better too. I think feeling the difference in his health has just cemented the deal, so to speak.

[zoebird]

my hsuband lead the way.

[pampered_mom]

to zoebird's husband for being such a trail blazer - I think that's wonderful!

[krismarie]

dh loves some of it... loves whole foods/raw milk/etc (he actually got me into raw milk)... just getting started with fermented foods. he is very into boosting his immune system so if i tell him it's going to do that, then he'll give it a try (well, most of the time)

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by zoebird

my hsuband lead the way.

Me too! I was all WF, but he was TF and refused to let meat go when we met. He thought I was eating abnormally.

[mamabohl]

Thanks for this thread, I always wondered if i was the only one with a difficult dh! LOL. I have similar experiences to many of the pp. My dh doesn't cook or grocery shop, so he doesn't have much control of what he eats. He always eats what I cook for dinner and usually trusts that I know more about nutrition than he does. He is always concerned with his weight (he gains weight very easily and has to be careful...it's essential to his job that he stay in a certain weight range) and still believes a lot of the mainstream diet beliefs (ie fat free is good, saturated fats are bad, count calories, chosesterol is BAD, etc.). I can be very know-it-all : which really ticks him off sometimes. I'm, like a pp said, just so passionate about nutrition! I just wish he would be as interested as I am. I know if he ju8st read a little he would see the light. For the most part though, he supports me and eats what I serve without question (shhhh...don't tell him I load those smoothies up with all kinds of fat for him, hehe)...it's mainly when he eats fast food and says proudly that he ordered a diet soda that I get all queasy. He loves the ferments though, he's a big kimchi fan and just thought it was so cool that I had made some!

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

My dh is not interested in doing nutritional research on his own so I just give him summaries of all the info I have read and then we discuss.

Same here. Sometimes I have to remind my dh of why we decided something (he might say, "tell me again why pasteurized milk is bad?") but he is 100% on board.

I think because he hasn't read the research and reasoning himself, though, some things are not a important to him as they might otherwise be. But it works.

And he can be kind of a picky eater too, he won't change his diet TOO much. Oh well. He's much better about what our son eats, lol!

[nicolelynn]

My husband is pretty good about trying to follow an NT diet...even telling friends about it. He'll try anything I make at least once, and will eat anything even if he dosn't like it...he'll just let me know he isn't crazy about it. He isn't crazy about fish (except he'll eat fish tacos on sprouted corn tortillas!), broth-y soups (he likes blended/creamy ones though so I get broth in him that way), liver (he still can't buy that a toxin filter can be good for you), sauerkraut or kombucha...but everything else is fine. He slips up even more than I do with no-no's as a guy he does side-work with usually picks him up on his lunch break to do a job and will buy him Burger King or some other gross stuff. He always complains about it and how he feels later though, so he knows what is good for him and what isn't and is trying.

[holliq]

My husband is very receptive to what I have learned about NT and he'll even read something if I will give hime the info.

He told me to cook it and he would eat it. He'll try anything once and has liked most everything I have prepared.

He told me the other day that now he could never go back to eating the old way again!

[caedmyn]

My DH is pretty supportive and understands the reasons behind most of the NT foods...although he thinks soaking grains is stupid. He goes out of his way to talk to people about nutrition, too. He's is not a picky eater, although he refuses to try some of the things I make (he says I make faces when I eat them...which I probably do, but that doesn't mean I don't like them--I'm just weird and make faces when I eat new stuff!). He really likes my fermented veggies but wants HFS mayo, ketchup, etc. He won't try water kefirs and doesn't like the taste of grass-finished beef (except ground beef).

[myhoneyswife]

Mine takes a while to come around, but likes the theory. He'll say something is totally gross and he's not changing... and then I'll start something different like switch from margerine to butter, and after a while he's 'addicted' to the good food and will not touch what before he thought he coudln't live without. We've done this so far with fast food, butter, real maple syrup, whole wheat bread for sandwiches (white for everythign else still, but home made), and I can't remember what else. It's funny to watch a man go from 'I'll never give up fast food, I LIKE Burger King' to 'can you make me lunch PLEASE? I can't stand this fast food crap!' when I was too busy to make lunch one day

He likes me to read the interesting parts of Nurishing Traditions to him, and to share what I've researched about food, but he's not going to be eating fermented foods anytime soon I dont' think, either.

[Brookesmom]

My husband isn't picky and will eat pretty much whatever I make, but he's not exactly supportive. He thinks unhomogenized whole milk is gross and won't let me buy raw (yet) and he will buy 1% conventional cheap milk if we run out. : He's not really interested in the science behind NT eating. He does love the roasts and pickled things and mostly lets me buy what I want, so I'm grateful for that. He's come a long way over the last decade from his Hamburger Helper roots!

-Kelly