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July 4th is the climax of summer when everyone eats the best of what summer has to offer: tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, etc…

Summer should not be a time when we sacrifice healthy eating with quick, fill your cart at Costco with processed, convenient foods filled with sugar, preservatives and artificial colors. Quite the opposite! This is the time to put some thought into your food and make fresh, economical, healthy choices. 

I’ve teamed up with some of my blogger friends to bring you a few great choices for real food picnics, BBQ’s and cookouts, beach days, park outings, and fun in the sun!

With a little preparation, you can pack fabulous picnic lunches that are healthy, satisfying, and delicious. Everyone will want what you’re having!
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Most of these recipes are grain-free and all of them can use substitutions if you are sensitive to any ingredients. 
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Sprouted Deviled Eggs with Bacon from The Skinny Pear 
Baked Green Tomatoes with Fresh Tomato Relish from Daily Pea
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Ginger Watermelon Fizz from Daily Pea
Real Food Strawberry Lemonade from Real Food Girl: Unmodified
Honey Sweetened Limeade from Health Starts in the Kitchen
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 Paleo Picnic Chicken from Health Starts in the Kitchen
Burgundy Pepper Lamb Kabobs from Real Food Outlaws
Roasted Lamb Chops with Rosemary Mint & Thyme from Real Food Outlaws

Cucumber Tomato Salad with Basil from Real Food Outlaws
Brown Sugar Maple Baked Beans from Real Food Girl: Unmodified
Homemade Potato Salad from Simple Clean Living
Mediterranean Watermelon Salad from Real Food Outlaws
Summer Salad from Real Food Outlaws
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Almost Paleo S’mores from Health Starts in the Kitchen
Crock Pot Cheesecake in Jars from Health Starts in the Kitchen
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Be nourished. Be happy.
Enjoy!

I started getting regular migraines a little over a year ago and couldn’t figure out why. I thought maybe it was the weather, accidentally eating MSG in food, fluctuating hormones, or sinus issues.

I started seeing a Nutrition Response Testing Practitioner (I was in the process of becoming one myself) and found out that I was reacting to grains, sugars, and eggs. I am also very sensitive to MSG. I stopped eating the offending foods for a month and the migraines stopped. I cheated and ate some sugar at a wedding and voila, migraine the next day!
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I really didn’t make the connection between what I was eating and the headaches I was getting because I thought my diet was great. It was, but it wasn’t the right diet for *me*!  I began looking for more info and found an article from Dr. Mercola. I have reposted it here with permission. 

By Dr. Mercola

An estimated 26 million Americans suffer with migraines. Approximately 80 percent of them are women. All in all, about one in five women get migraines while only one in 16 men get them, according to migraines.org.1 About 60 percent of women affected have menstrual-related migraines, meaning it tends to coincide with their menstrual cycle.

A migraine headache is characterized as an intense throbbing or pulsing headache, typically in one area or side of your head, and is commonly accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

Those who have never had a migraine before can be very frightened with the neurological symptoms. The visual problems are most problematic as a migraine can simulate a stroke where you start to have disturbed vision and even short term visual loss and flashing lights.

Migraine attacks can cause debilitating pain for several hours to several days. Some migraineurs experience “aura” sensations before an attack. These are sensory warning symptoms, such as flashes of light, blind spots, or tingling in your arm or leg.
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The featured article2 recently brought up the dietary links to migraines – specifically how the grain- and dairy-free Paleo diet appears to help banish the pain for many people. This is not entirely surprising, considering that milk and wheat are two major food allergens.
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Searching the medical literature in PubMed.gov using the search terms “migraine” and “food allergies” will provide you with more than 150 different studies.3 Some of the top migraine-inducing foods identified include:
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• Wheat
• Cow’s Milk
• Grain Cereals
• Cane Sugar
• Yeast
• Corn
• Citrus
• Eggs

Processed foods in general can also contribute to allergies for a number of different reasons, and most processed foods contain a variety of food colorings, flavors, preservatives, and other additives that may also promote headaches and migraines. Both aspartame and MSG are notorious for causing headaches and triggering migraines. Besides noting whether or not your migraines typically occur after eating a specific food, additional questions that can help you determine whether or not you might have a food sensitivity or allergy are:
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• Do you experience bloating after meals, gas, frequent belching, or any kind of digestive problems?
• Do you have chronic constipation or diarrhea?
• Do you have a stuffy nose after meals?
• Do you have low energy or feel drowsy after eating?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you may want to investigate further. Keeping a detailed food diary is the easiest way to start tracking down potentially migraine-inducing foods, as well as foods that cause other symptoms of sensitivity. Keep in mind that eliminating your migraines is not the only health benefit you can reap from identifying food allergies or sensitivities. Eliminating food antigens is also critical for gut health. I’ve written extensively on this topic, as medical science is now beginning to realize just how important your gut is, not just for physical health, but emotional and psychological health as well.

A randomized, double blind, cross-over study published in 20105 also found that a six-week long diet restriction produced a statistically significant reduction in migraines in those diagnosed with migraine without aura. If you notice your migraines start up shortly after eating a specific food, then that’s a good place to start. Keep in mind that you can also be sensitive to food additives like artificial colors, preservatives, flavor enhancers (MSG), and aspartame so read the food labels, and note the ingredients in your food journal.

One of the best things you can do if you believe you are suffering from a food allergy is to do a diet elimination challenge. Simply remove all foods that contain what you believe you are allergic to and see if your symptoms improve over the next several days. Keep in mind that depending on your typical migraine frequency, you may need to avoid the suspected food for a few weeks in order to evaluate whether it had an effect or not.
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To confirm the results, you’ll want to reintroduce the food or drink (on an empty stomach). If the suspected food is the culprit you will generally be able to feel the allergy symptoms return within an hour, although migraines can sometimes have a longer lag time than, say, bloating or drowsiness.
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Quite a few people report ridding themselves of migraines on the Paleo diet, which can be summarized as “any food that can be eaten without being processed.” That means no grains, bread or pasta, and no pasteurized dairy, but does include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, some nuts and oils along with wild caught fish, organic poultry and grass-fed lean meats. You can easily mold your diet around the principles of Paleo eating by following my nutrition plan. The full details are described in the plan, but generally speaking, the following key factors apply to any “healthy diet”:
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• Eliminate all gluten products
• Eliminate the other 10 common foods that the Lancet study found helpful in making 85 percent of participants headache free
• Eliminate all artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame. My sister is one of many who will get a guaranteed migraine if she consumes any aspartame. Obviously, even if you don’t have migraines, there simply is no reason to ever consume aspartame
• Unprocessed whole foods
• Often raw or only lightly cooked (ideally, try to eat at least one-third of your food raw, or as much as you can manage)
• Organic or grass-fed, and free from additives and genetically modified ingredients
• Come from high-quality, local sources
• Carbohydrates primarily come from vegetables (except corn and potatoes, which should typically be avoided).
• Dramatically lowering your intake of non-vegetable carbs could improve leptin and insulin signaling which could also improve migraines.

I believe a return to “real food” is one of the most profound interventions for the 21st century. We’ve strayed so far from the foods we are designed to eat, going back to basics and refocusing your diet on fresh, whole, unprocessed, “real” food can improve just about anyone’s health, regardless of what health issues you need to address.
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In terms of supplements that might be helpful for migraines, one of the most critical is ubiquinol (the reduced form of Coenzyme Q10). According to experts like Dr. Robert Barry, an underlying problem involved with migraines is mitochondrial dysfunction. Ubiquinol plays a vital role in ATP production, which is the basic fuel for your mitochondria. Your body does produce ubiquinol naturally, in fact it is the predominant form in most healthy cells, tissues and organs, however, with rampant pollution and poor diet, mitochondrial dysfunction has become increasingly common.

A 2005 study published in Neurology6 found that CoQ10 was superior to a placebo in preventing migraines and reducing severity. Of the patients who received 100 mg of CoQ10 three times a day, 50 percent reported significantly reduced frequency of headaches compared to only 14 percent of those who took the placebo. Ubiquinol is the reduced form of CoQ10, and studies have repeatedly demonstrated that it is far more effective than CoQ10 due to its superior bioavailability.

Other dietary supplements that can be helpful for migraines include:

• Magnesium. This is probably the most important one as it contributes to relaxing the brain blood vessels that cause the pain. The best magnesium supplement I know of is magnesium threonate as it penetrates cell membranes, including the mitochondria, and no other magnesium supplement does this. Interestingly, some of the best drugs used to treat migraines are calcium channel blockers, and that is how magnesium works. Supplemental magnesium would be FAR safer than a calcium channel blocker
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B12
• Folic acid

A 2009 study7 evaluated the effect of 2 mg of folic acid, 25 mg vitamin B6, and 400 micrograms of vitamin B12 in 52 patients diagnosed with migraine with aura. Compared to the placebo group, those receiving these supplements experienced a 50 percent reduction in migraine disability over a six-month period. Previous studies, such as a 2004 study in the European Journal of Neurology,8 have also reported that high doses of B2 (riboflavin) can help prevent migraine attacks.

Patients received 400 mg riboflavin per day. Headache frequency was reduced from four days per month at baseline to two days per month after three months. Headache duration and intensity did not change significantly however. Keep in mind that prophylactic supplement regimens may take several weeks to produce results, so don’t give up too soon. Typically, if the supplement is the right one, you’ll notice results in about three to six months.

The Speigel Online conducted an interview with legendary chef Alice Waters about the “eat local” movement, which has become a force to be reckoned with in the United States in recent years. 
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Waters was one of the pioneers of that movement — she transformed her state’s cooking in the 1970s into world-renowned “California cuisine” with her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse. She promoted the use of in-season produce from local farms, and advocated planting vegetable gardens in schools.

She is now vice president of the international Slow Food movement, which promotes regionally grown goods and local culinary traditions.
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In the interview, Waters expressed her opinion that most of the food currently being consumed is not real food. 

Real food is food that’s grown for taste, and it’s grown in a way that pays people a good wage for their work rather than being grown at somebody else’s expense.
To read the whole interview, and see what Waters has to say about seasonal food, the spread of the eat-local movement, and the food policies of President Obama, click here.
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Perhaps it began in the ‘50s with the advent of the TV dinner, or around the time McDonald’s began expanding their hamburger business. It’s anyone’s guess, really, but this quasi “food” really caught on.

Nowadays, 90 percent of foods Americans purchase every year are processed foods, and in 2006, 2,800 new candies, desserts, ice cream, and snacks were introduced to the marketplace, compared to just 230 new fruits or vegetable products. 
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Of course, food marketers do a masterful job at making it seem like fast foods and junk foods are the obvious choice, and they spend mega-billions every year to convince you and your kids to choose highly processed convenience foods over REAL foods.
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When you hear the term “what’s old is new,” it most often applies to fashion or slang terms … but it can also be applied to food. That is, increasing numbers of people are reverting BACK to the ways of our ancestors, and choosing to purchase food directly from local farmers, and cook it using slow, traditional methods.

For instance, after declining for more than a century, the number of U.S. small farms has increased 20 percent in the past six years. This is in large part a result of the growing demand for locally grown foods, which is slowly but surely shaping the business of food in the United States.

An interesting study, published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, recently hit this point home. After surveying nearly 500 people, they found food shoppers were willing to pay more for locally grown food, and those shopping at farmers’ markets were willing to spend the most for food grown close to home. The top reasons people gave for wanting locally grown food?
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• Better food quality
• Better taste
• Freshness

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There are major incentives to center your diet on real foods as opposed to “food products,” the primary one being it is essential for optimal health. Real foods also taste delicious, and when bought from sustainable sources help to protect the environment. So how can you tell the difference? 

• Produced, manufactured
• Neat, convenient
• Always the same
• Keeps forever
• Instant results
• Dull, bland
• Artificially flavorful
• No connection to land or culture

​If you want to take things a step further, and I suggest you do, here is what you need to look for (whether you’re at the grocery store or farmers’ market) to find not just any food, but high-quality food:

1. Grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)
2. Not genetically modified
3. Contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
4. Does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives
5. Fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh conventional produce, the latter may be the better option)
6. Did not come from a factory farm
7. Grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
8. Grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)
9. Foods that meet these standards will almost always be a wise choice.

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As you discover the alternative food networks in your area — things like farmers’ markets, food coops, and community-supported agriculture — you’ll begin to feel a connection to your community that you likely never felt before. And sources of sustainable food are becoming surprisingly easy to find these days.

To find sustainable agriculture movements in your area, from farmer’s markets to food coops and more, please see this comprehensive list. 

If that doesn’t turn up anything, you can often find real food sources by:
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• Asking workers in your local health food store
• Searching online for local farms in your area