Dietary Changes Project

APPE Rotation Home

As much as we talk about herbs, we will talk about food. You will learn in great detail the ways in which diet impacts our health. It is nearly impossible to resolve a chronic illness without dietary changes.

For four weeks, change your diet to incorporate FOUR of the diet change strategies listed below. Only adopt those changes which are different from your current eating habits!

This project is critical so that you can experience how to implement these changes – your advice to make any of these nutritional changes has little weight if you have not personally experienced them. Maintain these changes regardless whether you go to a party, you visit your parents, you go to a restaurant, etc.

Keep a journal of your experiences.

Important Note Regarding Eating Disorders:

If you have a history of eating disorder, or are presently coping with one, please feel welcome & encouraged to modify this project in a way that supports your physical & emotional health. Here are some suggestions – but we are open to any adjustments that work for you!

• Diet changes don’t have to be about restriction. Many studies show simply increasing vegetable intake, for instance, positively impacts a myriad of health markers. These guidelines include lots of things you can add to your diet, so if restriction is triggering, feel free to choose only additions!
• As you track your food, the intention is not to count calories or portion sizes (unless you choose to do so). It’s enough to simply track “did I get veggies today?” You might like an app like Daylio, where you can set your own goals and just check off the ones you achieved each day.
• Please be gentle with yourself about the diet project. The goal here isn’t to be 100% perfect all the time, but to see how these various changes to diet impact your health – including mental health! So if you find yourself feeling stressed or anxious about the food project, or if at any point you feel triggered or notice that the project is causing intrusive thoughts or negative self-talk, please give yourself permission to release that and to be kind to your own mind. It is more important to be kind and gentle to yourself than it is to be strict about the project.
• Please reach out if you would like some individualized support. Both Katja & Ryn are available to help you!

Dietary Additions

• high quality protein daily (pastured/organic or as good as you can get), 1-3 grams per kg bodyweight
• high quality fat daily (olive, coconut, palm, avocado; ghee, tallow, lard), up to 50% of daily calories
• bone broth soup, 1-3 cups daily (guidelines for recipe; health benefits)
• high quality organ meats (pastured or organic), 3x/week
• small fatty fish (e.g. sardines, herring, anchovies), 3x/week
• shellfish (e.g. mussels, clams, scallops) 2x/week
• 6 servings of vegetables daily (or 4 veg + 2 lower-glycemic fruits)
• 2-3 cups of cooked leafy greens daily (kale, collards, chard, etc)
• 3-5 grams seaweed daily (dry weight; excluding processed seaweed sheets and “seaweed salad” unless homemade)
• 1/4 cup fermented foods (e.g. sauerkraut, kimchi) or 8 oz fermented drinks (kombucha, kvass) with each meal
• high doses of omega-3 fish oils (1-3 Tbsp liquid oil or equivalent)
• basic supplement set: magnesium (300-600 mg/day), vitamin D3 (5000-10,000 IU/day), chromium (400-800 mcg/day), and B12 (1000-2000 mcg/day, methylcobalamin) for one month

Dietary Restrictions

• eliminate bad fats (corn, soy, cottonseed, & canola oils; margarine, etc), including those used in restaurants and processed foods
• eliminate one or more common food allergens: gluten, dairy, soy, corn, nightshades, etc.
• eliminate processed foods
• eliminate sugars
• eliminate all grains
• eliminate all beans
• eliminate liquid calories (soda, juice, beer, etc)
• eliminate caffeine (if you currently consume more than 3 cups of coffee or 300mg caffeine per day)
• restrict alcohol consumption (no more than 1 glass of red wine each night)

Dietary Shifts

• prepare all your own food (purchase no prepared foods)
• eat a high-protein breakfast (~30 grams)
• don’t eat between meals
• leptin resistance protocol: large breakfast, medium lunch, small dinner (at least three hours before sleeping); no eating between meals
• insulin resistance protocol: low carbohydrates, moderate protein, high (quality) fats; don’t eat between meals
• experiment with intermittent fasting, choosing one of these strategies:
  • have a window of time for eating, e.g. 10:00am – 6:00pm. during that window you eat whatever you want; outside of it you don’t eat anything. maintain this every day.
  • take one fasted day per week. consume only liquids, e.g. nutritive herbal infusions, demulcent cold infusions, mushroom/root decoctions, etc. (if not of robust constitution, also include bone broth.)
  • skip one meal, every other day.
• use a glucometer to track your glucose levels (take 2-5 measurements per day)
• practice mindful eating skills

Nutritive & Digestive Herbs

• 1 quart strong nettle infusion daily
• 1 quart gut-heal tea daily
• bitters before each meal (tea or tincture)
• carminative herbs with all meals
• milk thistle daily (2 capsules morning and night)
• other herbs as appropriate to your personal constitution (e.g. demulcents, nervines, hepatics)