Eating a nutritious whole foods diet is an excellent way to nourish the body to achieve good health.  However, achieving this is complicated in today’s world.  We have busy lifestyles and fast, convenient foods are everywhere.  Our food crops are sprayed with pesticides.  Some people need special diets which complicate the situation even more.  At Aloe Hills Naturopathic, we specialize in helping you solve these issues.

Our busy lifestyles make it tempting to choose fast foods or convenient packaged foods that we know aren’t the best for your health.  Reading labels, planning ahead and having a supply of healthy foods you enjoy on hand can make the job of getting good nutritious food easier.  It may be worth a little more time and effort to achieve this.  Dr. Ferguson can help you implement this plan in your life and show you how to make it as easy as possible.

More people are choosing organic foods because of the pesticides sprayed on commercial food crops.  Eating organically is the best way to avoid these toxic chemical residues.  However, organic food is more expensive and not feasible for everyone.  One good way to decrease your pesticide intake is to avoid the foods that are most heavily sprayed. 

The Environmental Working Group www.ewg.org lists the 12 food crops most likely to be sprayed with pesticides.  This list does change so you can check it frequently.  On their website they say “people can lower their pesticide exposure by 90% by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the 12 least contaminated instead”.  Currently the 12 most contaminated are: Apples, bell peppers, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach and strawberries.  Currently the 12 least contaminated are:  Asparagus, avocados, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, corn (sweet), kiwi, mangos, onions, papaya, pineapple and peas (sweet).  Check their website for more detail.

If you need to follow a special dietary program such as a Candida diet, Gluten-free diet, or any other special diet, Dr. Ferguson can help you design a program and teach you how to prepare recipes so you can follow the program on your own.  If you have chosen to become a vegetarian, Dr. Ferguson is an excellent vegetarian chef and has a lot of experience with vegetarian meal planning and cooking to assure delicious food and sufficient quality protein.

          If you feel you have food allergies, doing an elimination diet is the most accurate and inexpensive way to find the foods you are allergic or sensitive to.  Some common symptoms of food allergies and sensitivities are: abdominal discomfort, gas, bloating, rash, hives, mood swings, joint pain and fatigue.  The elimination diet involves removing certain foods from the diet and re-introducing them later, to see if the symptoms recur.   Sometimes we have lived with these symptoms so long, they seem to be a part of normal existence.  But they shouldn’t be.  We should feel comfortable and satisfied after eating a meal and not experience these symptoms during the day or night. 

To get good nutrition today we need to be more aware of the quality and origin of our foods and make wise choices.  These choices should meet our nutritional needs, completely satisfy our appetite, and provide eating pleasure.  Whether it’s guidance in eating a balanced whole foods diet, help with eliminating food allergies, or designing a specialized diet, Dr. Ferguson can help.

·        Learn what a healthy diet is.

·        Get enough high quality protein.

·        Choose the right types of oils to improve health.

·        Balance protein, fat, carbohydrates and fiber.

·        Meet your special dietary needs  

          For more information about a nutritional program or help with a special dietary issue, please contact Dr. Ferguson.