Welcome guest poster Carrie Vitt, author of the cookbook Deliciously Organic and publisher of popular food blog, Deliciously Organic. Carrie focuses on recipes using unprocessed, organic ingredients with vibrant flavors and simple dishes everyone will love. She is the wife of an Air Force Test Pilot and mother of two daughters.
If you had two girls under the age of two, and your husband, a fighter pilot, was flying cover during a war in Iraq – would you be thinking about converting your diet to organic, whole foods? I wasn’t. My life had enough stress without another distraction. But that’s what happened in 2003.
Two years earlier, after the birth of my second daughter, I began having daily migraines. I was 25. As migraines often are, they were both baffling and debilitating. I often had to lie down in a quiet dark room, which was almost impossible with toddlers to care for.
I was taking several medications to manage the pain. After two years of struggle, my neurologist suggested adding yet another daily medication to my prescription regimen, a treatment that wasn’t working anyway. I kindly rejected her suggestion and drove home thinking: There must be another way.
That same day, a tiny newsletter article caught my eye. It was about the benefits of organic foods. I knew migraines could be related to diet, so I wondered if changing to organic foods might help. I was at the end of my rope and willing to try something different.
At the time, I was eating lots of vegetables to lose the last 10 pounds of baby weight. I replaced my lettuce with organic – my first step, since lettuce was a food I ate most. Within a week I noticed a significant difference. The frequency of my migraines decreased and it was now easier to take care of my kids. I didn’t need any more encouragement. I next switched all produce to organic with the intent of increasing the amount of pure and untreated food in my diet, while decreasing my pesticide intake. As I dug deeper and learned more, I continued making changes in my pantry and refrigerator.
Over the next year and a half, I converted my family’s diet to whole, unprocessed organic ingredients. I felt like a stranger in a strange land. I had a hard time finding recipes that were equivalent in flavor to what we were accustomed to. Nevertheless, I avoided such ingredients as white sugar, white flour and partially hydrogenated anything. Recipes using whole grains were especially challenging. We weren’t ready to leave the world of paninis, pasta and pizza. As my husband likes to say, “We ate some terrible pancakes during the transition.” This was disheartening because I had grown up with a great love for cooking that I inherited from the women in my family.
I decided that if we were going to eat organic dishes, they were going to taste every bit as delicious as the ones I used before.
Over time, I shared with my friends and family how I overcame my health problems. Many were earnestly interested in learning more or in making changes to their own diets. I continued to tell my story, share my recipes and give encouragement through my blog, Deliciously Organic and my recently published cookbook, Deliciously Organic.
Through organic, unprocessed food our family of four was able to overcome severe asthma, eczema, IBS and migraines. No drugs – just good, natural real food.
If organic, whole foods are something you’ve thought about, I encourage you to give it a try. I hope you’ll discover, as I have, that eating food direct from the source is not only perfectly doable and beneficial but perfectly delicious! And don’t be surprised when your friends and the whole family (including the kids) say, “I can’t believe this is organic. It’s delicious!”
Jen B says
My daughter had tummyaches almost every night. But I thought it was related to my tummyaches, which the docs never could figure out. But, for some reason, I started to switch our produce to organic. I noticed she didn’t complain as much, so I switched our meats, then dairy. And now, the only time I hear her complain, is if she had too much junk food(which is very rare). Even my tummy is a bit better. I can’t imagine where we’d be if we never made the switch. Eating organically has made all the difference in our lives.
Citysister says
I’ve noticed a change in our family when we started making the change too…less acne, temper tantrums, and better concentration. I used to get migraines all the time, now it is limited to one a month. It’s amazing what a dietary change can do.
Lyndsay says
Glad to read this post! My migraines had been increasing all last spring, until I was having several every week. We then started to eat more whole, unprocessed foods and less of the “junk”. I now have migraines much less often, and they can be cured by a good nights sleep instead of a bunch of medicine. We have also noticed a difference in our son’s behavior. He has some behavior difficulties, but with less unprocessed foods in his diet, he does much better. I don’t know why it took so long to figure out that when we eat food the way God intended it, our bodies work the way God intended too!
Kim says
THANKS for sharing this!!!
Jana Buter says
Your story is so similar to mine and is so encouraging. I have eliminated so many things from our diets with no success but somehow have not tried to make everything organic. My family will definitely be giving this a try. Thanks for your post!
Lori says
My mom raised me on organic foods since I was 5 years old and I am now 52…She was WAY ahead of her time. I use to get teased about it but I am so thankful to her. I learned some more things that help keep you healthy ~
http://lorialexander.blogspot.com/2011/04/healthy-immune-system.html
A healthy immune system is vital to staying healthy and fight all the bad bugs out there! I always say that organic foods are a lot cheaper than cancer!
Rhonda L says
I, like you, suffered from migraines. I read a book about diet changes being able to help my suffering (continual migraines and on pain medicine constantly). This was the FIRST time that I had heard that diet could help! I had been suffering for years!! I have since changed my diet to quite a bit of organic and mostly homemade foods. What a difference this has made! I no longer suffer from the debilitating migraines as I once had and on the occassion that I do get one I can control it with normal over the counter medication! Thank you so much for your help! This site (and now yours Carrie) have been a real God-send for me!
Charmel says
I have had migraines since junior high. I only have them every few months, but that is enough. Several months ago though I started having a constant nagging headache which I treated with caffeine! But I could never get enough caffeine to make it go away. When we made our dietary switch a little over 2 months ago I wasn’t even trying to cure my headaches, I just wanted to feed my family better. About 3 weeks into the change i realized i had not had a single soda or a single headache. I was so elated. I went 6 weeks headache free. Then we took a trip to my husband’s family and not wanting to be a problem we just ate what they had, including one fast food meal along with a soda. The next day i had a horrible headache and fought it for 3 days after we got home and back on our organic food. I have learned my lesson, we will take our own food. I am looking forward to see how my daughter’s asthma does this Fall.
El says
Great post. I’m not sure how you managed with migraines every day but I;m glad you found a way out of it. Great post!
Jennifer P. says
Thanks for the reminder that organic foods REALLY do pay off for our health. It can be hard in this economy, but is truly worth it in the long run.
Jill says
I notice I feel much better in the summer than in the winter – this is probably because in the summer I eat way more produce from my own chemcial-free garden and in the winter, I must depend on the grocery stores more.
We live in such a chemical loaded world. Too many people want to pop a magic pill for every problem and too many doctors are willing to let them.
Good for you for ending your reliance on chemicals (that weren’t working anyway!). I just wish organic foods were more affordable!
Valerie says
If you gals don’t know, there may be increasing pressure/controls put on producers of local, “organic” food. If you have a chance please view the recently released “Farmageddon”….get fired up about your right to feed your family for health benefits instead of stockholder profits.
Mandie says
Switching to organic,whole foods got rid of my migraines as well! I know it helps because if we go out to eat a couple times, have a food filled family function, or attend a potluck (last night), I get a headache! Glad you found a way to helps yours. Looking forward to checking out your recipes!
Chris says
Great post and I can totally relate. Three years ago I switched to organic and unprocessed foods after I read an awesome book called Heal Your Headache by David Bucholz. A month after that I found out about Nourishing Traditions and Weston A. Price. From someone who used to suffer from migraines on almost a daily basis eating clean has made a HUGE difference. I still get an occasional headache but they are much less severe.
Andrea says
This is very encouraging! Thank you for sharing this!
Lisa @Retro Housewife Goes Green says
Organic food has helped me reduce my number of cluster headaches, lose 30 lbs, get my bp to a normal range, lower my insulin levels, and reduce my fibromyalgia symptoms. :)
Deliciously Organic says
Wow, I had no idea so many others had migraines that were cured through organics. That’s amazing and so encouraging! I hope we can all work together to get the word out there as I’m sure there are so many others suffering and food might just be the answer!
Thank you to Laura for featuring my story today!
JenniferStuart says
My daughter loves them, she would love to win one!
Judy says
Having gotten off almost all processed foods including sugar…I can honestly say that eating healthy, organic foods has changed my life. I am never going back and have made contacts with local farmers. It’s time folks to become completely independent from the mega farmed foods and the meat mills of the larger corporations. QUICKLY!