Our Philosophy On Food & Nutrition at Kinder in the Keys

Many years ago, and during my education, I learned of how the food supply and quality of the food was changing.  Not only with the addition of fast foods, but pesticide laden and genetically modified foods that have become readily available.  These foods over time have been researched and years later people have obesity at alarming rates that are comorbid with type 2 diabetes, metabolic disorders, cancers, intestinal issues, and depression just to name a few.  So, when I developed Kinder in the Keys, it was important to bring in healthy foods and eliminate foods that are known to cause disruption and disease.  So, I want to take a bit of time to address why Kinder is an organic non-GMO facility.  Serving nutritious foods is not a marketing ploy but truly a mental health treatment and here is how.

First, we must understand what a genetically modified food is and how it functions.  One of the main issues with GMO foods is the use of Glyphosate.  Roundup is an herbicide and used as a weedkiller.  Glyphosate is one of the main ingredients in Roundup.  Glyphosate was originally used as a chelating and descaling agent to clean pipes.  What that means is that Glyphosate binds to minerals like calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, and zinc and eliminates them from the body.  These minerals are important for the health of our bodies.

Crops were genetically modified so that they would be roundup ready.  Which meant that crops could be sprayed with Roundup, and it would not kill the crop.  This was done so that a crop could yield two yields per season – more production.  Since the addition of genetic modification depression has more than doubled, gluten intolerance has developed, and leaky gut has occurred.

Depression – has everyone heard about serotonin?   

Our bodies need amino acids.  Some amino acids can be made by the body and some amino acids must be consumed in our foods.  Genetically modified foods disrupt the Shikimate pathway of the plants that have been sprayed with Glyphosate.  The Shikimate pathway is involved with the synthesis of the essential amino acids, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan.  Hence the plant cannot supply us the necessary amino acids that our bodies absolutely need.  Tryptophan is an amino acid that requires consumption from the foods that we eat.  We get tryptophan from grains, nuts, oats, wheat, and eggs just to name a few.  Tryptophan is the precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin and the hormone melatonin.  Tryptophan deficiency leads to lower serotonin and melatonin levels resulting in depression and sleep disruption.  

Therefore, at Kinder we eliminate the use of Glyphosate in our foods and around the properties – we do not use Roundup weed killer to control weeds on any property.  By doing this we allow your body to consume the needed amino acids so that your serotonin levels become normalized.  This is very important because if we can’t reduce depression symptoms you will not feel better no matter how much therapeutic work that you do.

Gluten intolerance – is this real or a fad?

In the Journal of Toxicology that was published in 2013 – ten years ago – it was known then that Glyphosate is a pathway to modern diseases like Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance. This one article discusses the many roles that Glyphosate has and the effects on the body.  The article is rich with detail and concludes that Glyphosate has many biological effects on the body that include cytochrome P450 inhibition, disruption of amino acids, chelation of metals and all contribute to gluten intolerance and or celiac disease.  The key component in the toxicity of Glyphosate to the body is the impaired sulfate supply to the tissues.  This disrupted mechanism is highlighted in the article in many ways, and I encourage you to learn more about the relationship between Glyphosate and the detrimental effects on the body.  Gluten intolerance became an issue a few years after Glyphosate increased in usage and prior to about 2010 gluten free was of historical insignificance.

(Glyphosate. Pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance. 2013)

At this point it is important to talk about processed foods because we limit usage at Kinder in the Keys.  A processed food is any food that has been altered in some way.  This could include freezing, canning, or drying and include prepared frozen dinners, microwave meals, chips, cakes, etc. and because we are talking about gluten, I am going to talk about gluten free commercial products.  

Gluten is a structural protein that is naturally found in grains.  Gluten gives dough the elasticity that would allow the dough to rise and keep its shape and has always been in grains.  Due to the use of Glyphosate and resultant gluten sensitivity, gluten-free products were developed rather than to address the toxicity of Glyphosate and take Glyphosate from the diet.  The gluten-free items are a highly processed food and are not healthy options.  Gluten sensitivity is not celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder.  In addition, gluten is not inherently bad for people and has been consumed since people made bread with no problems. There are many gluten-free foods to eat that are not processed and that do not contain glyphosate.

List of naturally gluten-free foods (organic of course)

• Fruits 
• Vegetables
• Meat and poultry
• Fish and seafood
• Dairy
• Beans, legumes, and nuts
• Buckwheat groats
• Chia
• Corn
• Flax
• Oats
• Potato
• Quinoa
• Rice
• Soy
• Tapioca
• Nut flours
• (Not an exhaustive list)

So, if you are feeling that you are gluten sensitive stay away from glyphosate. Buy organic non-GMO foods.

Chips, cookies, sugar, processed and sodas. 

As you can guess these foods are not purchased at Kinder.  They are not good for us.  Your journey is all about feeling better and these foods are known to have many negative effects to our emotional and physical needs.  They are full of processed sugars, fats, salts, etc. that should be avoided.  Sodas are full of chemicals and sugar and are also not purchased.  

Note about Organic and non-GMO foods.

Not all foods that are non-GMO are organic but all foods that are organic are non-GMO.  Organic foods are free of genetic alterations, herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers.  They are also free of antibiotics, growth hormones and animal by-products.  Whether we buy or grow our own food at Kinder we use organic seeds and soil and buy organic foods.  Sometimes there is a limit because not all organic foods are always available.  We may want pears, but organic pears may not be available and in that case, we will not buy pears.

I encourage you to learn about how foods effect the physical body and the emotional body.  For example, the relationship between caffeine and anxiety or the relationship between caffeine and sleep.  Or the relationship between stress and melatonin.

Dr. Laura Tanzini
CEO and Founder Kinder in the Keys