Nourished Magazine :: Wisdom to thrive by

Question: I just would like to know if there was any study on the Amish lifestyle. If I am not wrong they seem to eat an unprocessed and traditional food. Are they a healthy community? - Ann
Answer: Although the Amish eat farm fresh food, tend to consume raw milk and do not vaccinate their children, they are not overall that healthy. Like most Americans, most Amish have succumbed to the lure of cheap and processed foods. The stores in Amish country are loaded with the worst junk you can imagine. They tend to eat loads of sugar and white flour. Also, the women have many babies with little time between each baby, resulting in maternal exhaustion and many problems in the later children. Many also use pesticides in their farming. They have lots of health problems including cancer, fatigue, allergies, depression and infertility.

That being said, there is a movement back to more natural diets by some of them and once they make this decision, it is easy for them to do. Those Amish that supply grass-based animal products to our members do not use pesticides, farm organically, consume raw milk, butter and cream, take cod liver oil, have begun to consume lacto-fermented vegetables and beverages, and do their best to limit sugar and white flour. They have reported a return to the robust good health of old and the children coming along are healthy and beautiful.

Question: In Nourishing Traditions fortified commercial formula, it calls for low-iron milk-based pwdered formula.This has been discontinued. Would like to know what other formula can be used with the egg yolk and cod liver oil. If this is not the place to post this
question, please let me know where I can get an answer. Thanks, new Mom

Answer: Yes, I am not sure what the answer is now that the low-iron powdered formula has been discontinued. Babies should not get too much iron and the pre-mixed liquid formulas have carageenan and other problematic ingredients that can cause real digestive problems for the infant. Also, the formula should contain lactose as the sugar.

Perhaps someone can get a list of ingredients of all the formulas and then we can look at them to make the best decision. But, of course, the best thing is to use raw milk, or if not make the meat-based formula.

Question: Are there any special dietary requirements that children around the age of 2 years should be adhering to? How would there diet differ to older children/adults? e.g. fat in there daily diet, amount of cod liver oil? etc - Stacey
Answer: At the age of two, children can follow the same diet as adults (hopefully it will be a WAPF-friendly diet!) The cod liver oil requirement is half that of adults, or a dose that gives 5000 IU vitamin A and about 500 IU vitamin D per day.

About the Author...

Sally Fallon is founding president of the Weston A Price Foundation, a non-profit nutrition education foundation with over 400 local chapters and 9000 members. She is also the founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, which has as its goal universal access to clean raw milk from pasture-fed animals. Author of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions and also of Eat Fat Lose Fat (Penguin), both with Mary G. Enig, Phd, Sally has a encyclopedic knowledge of modern nutritional science as well as ancient food ways. Her grasp on the work of Weston Price is breath taking and her passion for health freedom, inspiring. In each edition of Nourished Magazine Sally answers your questions about nutrition, health, food and medical politics. Send us an email with your question and we'll put it to her.