"You are what you eat." How many times have you heard this well-worn phrase without giving it deeper thought?
Let's take a moment to remind ourselves that EVERY SINGLE STRUCTURE in our body and EVERY SINGLE FUNCTION which takes place to keep us alive run on NUTRIENTS from the food we eat. Our bodies are designed to run on very specific nutrients. In addition to literally building our bodies from the cellular level up, food is the "gas" for our "cars". We would never think to put inferior gas, or some other random liquid, into our fuel tank because we know what the consequences would be. Yet, day in, day out many of us consume poor quality "food" or "frankenfoods" that our bodies don't even recognize.
Question: Why is it acceptable to eat inferior quality foods and substances which are not food (I'm referring to much of what you see in the center isles of the grocery store or in a convenience store) on a regular basis?
Answer: It isn't! The structure and function of our bodies begins to degrade.
Result: For the first time in U.S. History, the life expectancy is decreasing. There is an epidemic of chronic diseases such as Diabetes, Cancer, Heart disease, Alzheimer's, Depression, and Autoimmune disease. It is estimated that at this rate by mid century roughly 1/2 of infants will be born with Autism and 1/2 of the elderly will be afflicted with Alzheimer's. These are shocking statistics. All of these are epigenetic pathologies, having a large diet and lifestyle (toxicity, inflammation, stress, infectious, microbiome health) component.
Everything you put in your mouth has the ability to either nourish and heal you, or cause damage and disease. (i.e. is not recognized a food, and thus toxic and inflammatory). It's really up to us to take ownership of our health and make the choices that lead to vibrant health. Why would we want anything less for ourselves?
The Good news: The body has a amazing capacity to heal itself when we remove the offending substances (junk foods) and replace them with nutrient dense whole foods. It's truly the miracle of life. Health and well-being are restored, energy levels soar, weight loss occurs. These changes can be felt in a very short period of time.
Basic Nutritional Guidelines:
1) Eat real food. Organic, non GMO, nutrient dense whole foods, as nature has always provided them. You will feel so satisfied with the wonderful, clean flavors in these foods.
2) Cut out sugar and refined/excess carbohydrates. Sugar is an anti-nutrient. It's an addictive, inflammatory toxin which depletes us of beneficial nutrients.
3) Cut down on or remove gluten from your diet. Take a gluten break and see how you feel. Gluten is highly inflammatory, damaging to gut health and implicated in the formation of every autoimmune disease.
4) Remove toxic, heat damaged fats from your diet (i.e. soy, corn, canola, vegetable oil, margarine). These are typically found in processed foods such as salad dressings, baked goods, chips and crackers. They are highly inflammatory and contribute to heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers, and diabetes, as well as being particularly damaging to our cell structure and communication within our body.
5) Consider adding in a few therapeutic whole food supplements or herbs (i.e. nutrients) for their powerful health benefits.
In addition to food, exercise, stress relief, and sleep are essential to optimal health.
If you want to know more about how food effects health and learn simple strategies to optimize your health, please join me for the RESTART or BioLogic Nutrition programs offered at BLDG.7. You'll feel great, experience increased energy levels and mental clarity, and lose weight. Check out their website for details.
Here's to a health filled New Year!