Stage 1: Grocery List for The Body Ecology Diet

This grocery list is for Stage 1 of Body Ecology Diet (B.E.D.) This short period lasts 3-6 months, depending on your individual health concerns, and whilst the most dramatic and most cleansing, you will likely find yourself swept away stunned with awe at the powerful shifts that occur in your body as healing happens. Sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once.

We are all individual in where we are at any given time. How old we are, what we are most susceptible and vulnerable to, what we crave the most, what we need to grow. Ready to transition to stage 2? Stage 2 grocery list.

The Body Ecology Diet was created by Donna Gates as a natural approach to address yeast, bacterial, or viral overgrowth (i.e. Candida, GBS+). When you take the time to do this diet you give your digestive system the opportunity to rest and repair. 

I personally practiced stage one for 3 years. I hit that bullseye every single day. For me this was the amount of time I needed to intuitively know I was ready to move on in how I ate. I have not been the same since. The issues I came into this diet with (i.e. stomach pains, slow digestion, bloating) have never returned, even when I eat food that once brought such suffering.

Jump-start your body to be the self-healing organism you are designed to be.

The foods below are the basics to get you started on The Body Ecology Diet (B.E.D.). These foods have been shown to help your body “rest and repair” and get yeast or bacterial overgrowth under control and start to heal any accompanying damage to the digestive and immune system.

A popular quiz is here to take ….. this is one way to see if yeast overgrowth might be playing a part in your health issue(s).

Most of the foods listed here can be found at a health food store or made at home. Organic is always best of course and an easy way to avoid too many pesticides, herbicides, synthetic hormones, and antibiotic residues. All items listed are ‘gluten-sugar-yeast’ free and most are nutrient-dense and easy-to-digest. As always, the geeky nutritionist in me must remind you of the “digestive powers” of food combining.

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* Best to limit or avoid any food marked with an (*) if you have diarrhea, abdominal pain, or bloating. After 6 weeks of avoiding said ‘problem food’ then you might find you can once again eat that food within reason and moderation. Take your time when weaving foods back in so that your body does not see that food as a threat. Be patient. I often find the stronger the health issue, the longer the healing can take. 

Stage 1: Grocery List for The Body Ecology Diet (B.E.D.)

Animal Protein

Choose free-range, grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone-free.

• Beef and Veal
• Cold-Water Fish (salmon, sardines, smelt, shad, anchovies) ~ fish to eat, fish to avoid
• Egg Yolks (omega 3-rich)
• Fish Eggs (Roe)
• Lamb
• Organs (kidneys, heart, liver)
• Pheasant, Pigeon and Quail
• Poultry
• Rabbit
• Tuna (opt for sustainably caught “light” tuna from the Atlantic or tested by a 3rd party, avoid Albacore/white tuna)
• Wild Game (bison, elk, venison)

Baking Products

• Glycerine-Based, Non-Alcohol Flavorings (vanilla extract, etc.)
• Lakanto (granulated form or liquid)
• Pure Vanilla Powder
• Stevia Extract
• Stevia Green Leaf Powder

Beverages

• Bone Stock*
• Coconut Kefir (homemade or buy)
• Green Vegetable Smoothies
• Meat Stock
• Pure Water (filtered, noncarbonated, high-mineral or catalyst-altered)
• Reishi Tea
• Tea without citric acid (esp. pau d’arco, ujido matcha green, ginger, echinacea, kukicha, raspberry leaf)
• Vegetable Broth

Dairy Products

Choose products made with organic, grass-fed cow or goat or camel or sheep milk.

• Butter (cultured, raw)
• Ghee (clarified butter)
• Kefir (non-pasteurized, unsweetened)*
• X-Factor Butter Oil (Green Pasture’s brand)

Cultured Food

Choose unpasteurized.

Fats

Choose organic, unrefined, cold pressed extra-virgin oils in a raw state as oils are the most fragile of all foods and sensitive to heat damage. Source from a trusted company, because oils can be blended with less quality oils (i.e. corn, canola) in order to cut costs. ‘Extra virgin’ means oil has been processed at low temperatures and without chemicals. Unfiltered is best. About olive oil … keep in dark, cool spot (not refrigerated) and use within 6 months of opening. 

• Acai
• Apple, Sour Green
• Black Currants
• Cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• Lemons/Limes
• Noni Juice
• Pomegranates

Grains

Soak (sprout if choose to) and cook accordingly.

• Amaranth
• Buckwheat
• Millet
• Puffed Millet Cereal
• Sorghum
• Sorghum Kernels* (mini pops)
• Quinoa
• Quinoa Flakes*
• Teff

Ocean Vegetables

• Agar Flakes
• Dulse
• Kombu
• Arame
• Hijiki
• Kelp
• Nori
• Sea Palm
• Wakame

Plant Protein

Choose raw, unpasteurized seeds and nuts and soak. To store long periods, dehydrate.

• Almonds
• Chia Seeds
• Hemp Seeds
• Lima Beans, Baby
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sunflower Seeds

Salt, Seasonings, Spices

• Herbs and Spices (especially anti-fungals: cinnamon, coriander, garlic, ginger, turmeric)
• Celtic Sea Salt, Original Himalayan Pink Salt, or REAL Salt
• Eden Raw Wine*
• Garden Herbs
• Herbamore
• Mustard and Horseradish (made with apple cider vinegar)
• “Sea Seasonings” (dulse/nori/kelp with garlic or ginger)
• Shiso Condiment
• Tekka
• Umeboshi Plum
• Umeboshi Vinegar

Vegetables

• Arugula
• Asparagus
• Bamboo Shoots
• Beet Greens
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Brussels Sprouts
• Burdock Root*
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery & Celery Root
• Chives
• Collard Greens
• Cucumbers
• Daikon
• Dandelion Greens
• Endive
• Escarole
• Fennel
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Green Beans
• Jicama
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Lamb’s Quarters
• Leeks
• Lettuces
• Mushrooms (shiitake, maitake – dried only)
• Mustard Greens
• Okra
• Onion
• Parsley
• Radishes (red & daikon)
• Red Bell Peppers
• Scallions
• Shallots
• Spaghetti Squash
• Spinach
• Sprouts (except mung bean)
• Swiss Chard
• Turnips
• Watercress
• Yellow Squash
• Zucchini

 Starchy Vegetables