So you’re saying, I’ll just find a Paleo practitioner! Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Paleo is still a niche market where the many interpretations of what is and what isn’t Paleo are at odds.
We don’t know what we don’t know, until we know. In other words, it’s easy to simply go to the doctor when something is wrong and, if there is no indication that what you’re eating has a role in how you’re feeling, there isn’t a reason to naturally doubt their council.
In an ideal world, we should be able to go to the doctor, get sage medical advice, and be straight on our path to healing. And in some cases, this can happen. If you’ve found an incredible functional medicine doctor, or an amazing naturopath who knows to ask if you’re eating gluten when you complain of a skin rash, or tell you eating dairy plays a role in symptoms of gassiness and bloating, great! But for many, this is not the case and as a result, patients are faced with long term medicating and challenges dealing with moderate to severe symptoms. Misdiagnoses are common and so often, consuming a toxic Standard American Diet (SAD), is the unidentified culprit.
What can we do? Educate!
Everyone in the community can benefit tremendously by learning the effects of eating refined wheat-based products or drinking low-fat milk and eating battery raised chickens. And, while global change isn’t going to happen overnight, if we can approach it in stages, and get people on board little by little, it’s going to promote tremendous awareness.
One admirable and significant example is Jamie Oliver’s mission with Food Revolution:5
“My wish is to create a strong sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”
Start a community garden, offer to give a talk at your children’s school, or team up with other neighbors to create Paleo potluck meals or picnics on the weekend. By proactively approaching the health of our society with positive, fun activities, we can collectively get ourselves on the right track to health far more easily than sitting around stewing about the erroneous, inaccurate advice we get from the MyPlate recommendations.
Remember, we can catch more flies with honey, and since honey is Paleo (once in a while), we may as well take this route!
References
[1] "National Nutrition Month." National Nutrition Month. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
[2] "ChooseMyPlate.gov." ChooseMyPlate.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
[3] "New Study: Big Food’s Ties to Registered Dietitians." Food Politics New Study Big Foods Ties to Registered Dietitians Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
[4] "New Study: Big Food’s Ties to Registered Dietitians." Food Politics New Study Big Foods Ties to Registered Dietitians Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
[5] "Food Revolution Day - 15/05/15 - #foodrevolutionday." Food Revolution Day 2015. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
