Since we’ve made the decision to wander around the world for a while, my biggest concern has been our health and well being. How were we going to deal with sickness on the road? Where were we going to find a good doctor in a new place? What if we had an emergency… Where are we to go? All these questions were spinning through my head until I got dizzy.
There was not much left to do, but to get ready. I got on my favorite websites, visited my naturopath, doctor Evelyn Asher and realized that prevention is the best way to go. I knew that most common diseases start in your gut, so healthy intestines are key in fighting off all kinds of bacteria and viruses. Evelyn assured me that maintaining a healthy, whole, real, made from scratch foods diet was crucial.
At home, it was easy to get all the unprocessed, raw, locally grown, mostly organic foods. But on the road, it was a whole new ball game. Many times we walked out of a store with empty hands, because everything was processed, chemically altered, genetically modified and out of a box. However, thanks to Robert’s love of back roads, we were able to find products at small food stands in the country. It was mostly produce, but also locally grown meats, honey, and raw dairy products.
Along the way, we have been on a constant lookout for “edible” foods, feeling like modern day hunters in the overly processed and plastic world. When we found a good store, I would buy more to keep us going for the next day or so, but not more, since all we had was a portable cooler.
In addition, all of us went on probiotics and fish oil supplements. Not just any. There are a lot of expensive and worthless products, but there are a few good and inexpensive ones too (we use Primal Defense and Nordic Naturals). I put it in smoothies for my children and they never know the difference.
We also packed some essential oils, like oregano and eucalyptus. The first one is a natural antibiotic that you can not develop resistance to, and the second is a great natural and DEET free bug repellent.
You may say, that it is expensive, too much hustle, time consuming… Yes, it is all of those things, but the rewards are tangible. If it was not for the ticks that bit Nadia or a recent 2 day fever for Alex, my kids would have made a year without any kind of health issue. How is that for a saving on copay’s at the doctors offices! Yes a year… That is a great result for a travelling child, sleeping in different places, eating new foods, being exposed to all kinds of germs and regularly going to school in Mexico.
Writing this post, I have probably jinks-ted myself and now we are all going to get sick, 😉 but here it is, I’ve said it. To me it is worth every penny and every minute, it is my long term commitment to let food be my medicine so cheers and let’s raise our glasses… Mine is filled with jugo verde! 🙂
I love your food posts Aga, I admire your dedication but I also think its the POLISH genes since we rarely get sick too and are not as good in keeping the healthy diet as you…baby steps for us. We did fall in love with organic meat and will never buy regular meat anymore. I have a question for you. Do you give any other vitamins to the kids? I want to give something to my kids they don’t take any vitamins anymore since they were staining their teeth, I think Leo could benefit from fish oil. He is not too young for it? Let me know what you think.
I have to remember what you said about oregano and eucalyptus:)
Ala, thank you so much for your kind words. The work that mothers put into serving quality food to their family is most of the time underappreciated.
I do not give my kids any vitamin supplements because there are very few things that they will not eat so they get everything they need from food which is ideal. Try smoothies, You can put anything into a smoothie and disguise the taste with other fruits. I do mine with kale, spinach, cucumbers, probiotics, honey, coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds….you name it. If they are still picky try the color free vitamins. I think both your kids would benefit from fish oil unless they eat a lot of sardines and fish in general. The ones I bought for mine are Nordic Naturals for kids available on Amazon. They are small so easy to swallow. The only other two things that I give to my kids are coconut oil (organic) and probiotics (Primal defense for kids) also available on Amazon. Make some of our recipes:-)