12 Steps to Whole Foods

Introduction
Finally, have a basic understanding of and consider carefully a few other things before placing much stock in
what you read:
• Is the study longitudinal (covering a long period of time)?
• Was it double-blinded, which means that neither the researcher nor the subject knows which of multiple
therapies the person is receiving?
• Was it placebo controlled, meaning that some subjects received a placebo (sugar tablet) instead of the
supplement or drug?
• Was the research published in peer-reviewed journals (often, though not always, ensuring more
scientific analysis)?
• How big was the sample size? Bigger is better, and although case studies (with only a few subjects) are
interesting, without further research, you shouldn’t bet the farm on findings of those kinds.
The more you read and study, the more confidence you can have that the very important decisions you make
about how to fuel your body are sound. This book undertakes to synthesize the research and best practices from
around the world, leading to dietary practice that is simple and achievable and customizable for your personal
dietary needs—a direct route to optimal health.
How Do I Get My Kids to Eat Right?
This may be the #1 question I am asked, and it’s also the one I care about most. It’s therefore worthy of dealing
with right here, before we even get started. Tackling 12 Steps to Whole Foods is a worthy goal for anyone, and
you can make these changes whether or not you have children, and whether or not they live at home.
But one of my greatest passions in life is to help parents understand the importance of excellent nutrition early
in life and implement strategies to achieve it. So if you have children at home (or are close to people who do),
this is for you.
I have found dietitians to be often useless and sometimes harmful in what they teach mothers about nutrition.
(Truth-seeking dietitians do exist, however, and higher education in nutrition is improving steadily.) Keep in
mind that these are the folks designing the menus in school and hospital lunchrooms. (Enough said?) It’s not
their fault: they are taught curricula heavily influenced and even written by the wealthiest industries in
America: the dairy and meat conglomerates.
My experience is that dietitians feel their main job is to push milk and dairy products, because they have been
taught that these products create strong bones and teeth. I spoke with a dietitian recently who had never heard
of any of the ingredients in Appendix A (whole-food sweeteners and other whole, organic, and raw products
you can find in health food stores). She taught in a class I attended that getting your child to drink “flavored”
milk is a great idea. By that she meant hormone- and antibiotic-contaminated milk with pink chemical dye and
plenty of sugar added.
Many dietitians also believe that to get protein, you need to eat plenty of animal flesh. When I was growing up,
the government-sponsored “food pyramid” pushed two servings of meat and four servings of dairy daily!
Fortunately, thanks to an overwhelming, virtually undeniable body of research pointing to disease prevention
being in the form of plant foods such as vegetables and whole grains, a very slow, positive shift is taking place
at the policy level. (The powerful meat and dairy industries still, however, have far too much influence on
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw 12 Steps to Whole Foods 11