This week’s newsletter will be quick!  I had a very good question someone asked me this week. She was telling me that her daughter who is recovering from Lyme has not had much of an appetite.

Q: “She tells me she is not very hungry most of the day. She doesn’t feel  like eating breakfast and lunch. I usually give her some breakfast but she says she feels stuffed after eating it.  She says she has felt like this for about a year. I hadn’t noticed, but mainly she can’t take her pills on an empty stomach.  I don’t want her to get run down or become deficient in nutrients. I know she wants to lose weight, but I don’t know if this is why she is not hungry. Any comments?”

A: Yes, I have some ideas. It’s summer and I’ve noticed I don’t eat much either. It’s
probably 100 degrees in SC now, not a bad thing if she isn’t that hungry right now.

Focus on eating just foods that are full of nutrients like: a tablespoon of Chia seeds, psyllium husk in water to get fiber in, eating berries, freezing grapes and eating them to cool off, eating mostly veggies, maca or raw coca, drinking teas and making sure to eat lean protein once a week.  If her digestion is really weak, eating soups (veggies cooked down) is great, although sometimes difficult in the summer.

When you are fighting infection, your body needs all of its energy. It takes energy to digest food…LOTS OF IT. If she focuses on just eating the nutrient dense things, this is a good thing.  She needs to keep supplementing also.

Getting the right nutrition is very important.

If you notice yourself slowing down with the eating, it’s okay. During summer months you might notice yourself eating more fruits and veggies and not wanting to digest hardy meals. This is natural for everyone, but the only real reason why someone who is ill might have a hard time eating, is usually because of the inability to digest foods (which is why supplementing with enzymes is important) or just because it takes energy to digest foods and the body needs its energy in other places.

I sometimes lose my appetite when training, which is a sign of overtraining. If my body is tired then it’s sometimes becomes hard to be in the mood to eat anything. This is when I force myself to eat nutritious things and then I get plenty of solid rest.

Here are a few food items I think are essential for anyone’s pantry (ESPECIALLY when dealing with an illness):

Chia seeds (you can buy them in bulk and take a tablespoon of them each day for quick nutrition)

Maca-Raw Coca powder (put a little teaspoon in your smoothie!)

Aloe concentrate (a tablespoon of this a day goes a long way and you can also put them in smoothies…nothing on the market compares to the enzymatic activity and energy of this product! Read the newsletters here about using this aloe concentrate juice!)

Flax meal (good in yogurt, good in smoothies and I put a few tablespoons in my pizza crust or baked goods)

Coconut Oil ( eat a tablespoon a day or cook liberally with it!)

Ghee butter (cook with it, very nutrient dense)

Green Tea Extract (put a little in a smoothie OR just put a little in boiling water to make tea)- Read about the benefits of using this here!

Yerba Mate (highly antioxidant beverage)

Brewer’s Yeast (high in B vitamins and other nutrition, get the flakes, not the powder, as the flakes are easier to eat by the tablespoon, while the powder will just stick to your teeth)

Psyillum Husks (high in fiber, a couple of tablespoons a day in 8-12 oz of water, drink quickly before it congeals)

Shilajit (I’m exploring with this, but it’s an ayurvedic herb that is good for detoxing).

Excuse me one second, I have to go to my kitchen to see what else I want to mention….

Okay, some other foods I really like (staples during any season):

• Wild rice (buy different kinds, try the black wild rice varaieties that are slighty sweet)
• Chorella (get it in bulk here) (good for everything and is highly dense with nutrients)
• Green drink ( I like this one because of what’s mixed in it, find out here) (main ingredient should be either Wheat Grass or Barley Grass)
• Frozen fruits for the freezer (buy items like bananas or berries this summer when they are cheap, wash them and make gallon size mixes for quick smoothies at anytime)
• Quinoa (a South American grain, high in protein)
• Organic chicken broth (just add seasonal veggies like Chard and mushrooms)
• Coconut milk (great to cook with and is high in good fats and good energy calories)
• Dried herbs of all types (during the summer I try to grow my own fresh ones, it’s easy, you just add water a few times a week)
• Miso soups ( you can get the real deal by venturing out to the natural food store and in the refrigerator section they will have a container of fermented miso soup, just add a dolap to boiling water and you have INSTANT miso soup)     *If you are sensitive to soy, don’t eat it or you might pay dearly!

These are just some examples.  I’m also a big fan of raw milk and cheese unless you are intolerant to them. I would suggest getting RAW milk and cheese. The least amount of processing for your food, the better it will be for you!

It’s a pain to change your way of eating when you’re ill, but if you make baby steps in the right direction, it becomes a wonder why you never made the switch earlier in life! When you’re ill, you just have to make these types of changes. Going and eating out or eating convenience foods just won’t cut it.  I hope by giving you a glimpse into my pantry that you’ll understand that I really do practice what I preach and hopefully you will find the same benefits in these foods that I do.

See Ya Later, Tick Slayer!

Perry