3 Simple Keys to Good Nutrition
The fact of the matter is, good nutrition isn’t rocket science.
As you are probably starting to realize by this point, the key principle is to eat real food in as natural and organic a state as possible. Once you get into the program, you start to get the hang of the meal planning pretty quickly, and it can have amazing results on both your health and your waistline. Elizabeth didn’t have amazing healing happen in her body because her health had not yet broken down. She wasn’t in need of radical repair, but she saw that impending iceberg and corrected the course of her life. In effect, Elizabeth changed her own medical history.
#1) Eat Real Food
I believe we are truly in the midst of a food revolution. Books like Michael Moss’s Salt Sugar Fat and documentaries like Super-Size Me, Forks over Knives, and Fed Up are shedding light on what our food industry has become. They are exposing how manufacturers are manipulating our taste buds for their own profits to the detriment of our health, and why obesity has grown to such a point that in most of the world it is a greater health risk than hunger or poverty.
More and more information is available every day to help consumers make better choices as to what they buy and what they eliminate. Getting rid of foods that are not only low in nutrition and encourage overeating, but are also filled with toxins that stress our bodily systems and cause them to break down is easier than you think.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 65 percent of the world’s population live in countries where obesity kills more people than being underweight.
Though we don’t have room here to go into all of the different great-tasting recipes that are possible with real food, here are some of the basics for choosing real foods:
Vegetables should become the foundation of your new food pyramid, replacing the traditional breads, cereals, rice, and pastas that all come from grains. The more living your vegetables and fruits are when you eat them, the better.
Avoid sugar and gluten as much as possible, especially in beverages and white breads. These are toxins and are literally killing America. Alcohol and caffeine should also be avoided as much as possible. Beer, wine, and many liquors contain sugars and gluten.
Avoid all processed foods. As author and food expert Michael Pollan puts it: “If it’s a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.”
Start reading labels. Here, again, the rule for purchasing is pretty simple: if there is an ingredient on the label you can’t pronounce, don’t buy it.
Avoid “diet,” “low-fat,” or “fat-free” products. “Diet” usually means they have replaced sugar with an artificial sweetener and removed fats that your body actually needs.
Just because it says “organic,” “gluten-free,” “whole,” “natural,” or “sugar-free” doesn’t mean that it’s healthy for you. In fact, there is no standard for what can be labeled “natural”—anyone can use that term.
Canned or packaged real foods normally have a simple list of ingredients (usually five or fewer), all of which are able to be recognized as foods and not as chemicals or sugars.
Also, make sure to watch the carbohydrates! Now that manufacturers are increasing the sugar, fat, or sodium content to make foods more addictive, many are marking their products gluten-free. Just because something is gluten-free doesn’t mean that it is safe. Many gluten-free options contain far too many carbohydrates. We need roughly 60 to 80 grams of carbohydrates a day. Be careful about getting 40 grams from one gluten-free muffin or 20 from a handful of gluten-free crackers.
Truly organic foods will be more expensive, but also much more nutritious. According to Professor Carlo Leifert of the Tesco Center for Organic Agriculture, organic fruits and vegetables have up to 40 percent more antioxidants than non-organically grown produce, while organic milk contains up to 60 percent more antioxidants and healthy fatty acids than conventional milk. In other words, you are getting about twice the nutrition for only a little bit more money. Pound for pound, that makes organics worth it.
It’s not only that these foods are more nutritious, but they are also less toxic. Truly organic foods have had no artificial fertilizers used on the soil, no pesticides added, and no hormones, antibiotics, or other chemicals or drugs added to enhance growth or bolster weak systems. Healthy plants and animals will have systems strong enough to resist disease and insects on their own.
Humane treatment of animals is also a priority for those seeking to be truly organic. Free-range is better than cage-free, and wild-caught fish is much preferred over farm-raised fish.
Be as informed as possible about where your meats, dairy, and eggs are coming from and what those animals were fed. Don’t eat meats from animals that eat foods you wouldn’t eat. This means choosing grass-fed or green-fed beef over grain-fed. Also, find out what antibiotics, steroids, or other drugs or chemicals were given to the animals while they were being raised.
While this list probably seems a little overwhelming at first, remember, we are running a marathon here, not a sprint. All of this doesn’t have to be done in a day—or even a week—especially if you have children taking issue with suddenly seeing asparagus instead of chicken nuggets on their plates. I have two simple rules for transitioning toward healthier meals:
First, simply add more healthy foods and drinks rather than taking anything away.
Second, replace rather than just eliminate. Herbal teas or water for sodas, organic (or raw) milk for reduced-fat milks, organic fruits for pre-packaged snacks.
Statistically we spend a smaller percentage of our net income on groceries than ever before. Just in the last 30 years, American spending on groceries has gone down from more than 12 percent to less than 9 percent according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
Change Your Food; Change Your Life!
Epigenetics is the study of how the potentiality or the expression of genes in the human body can be changed. It is the study of the “soup” surrounding our genes. This “soup” decides which chemicals get switched on and which chemicals get switched off. And we can change the messages sent from our brains to our cells via this powerful, genetic soup. Did you get that? We are not controlled by fate or our inherited tendencies! We have the power to change our lives by changing our gene expression and the potential of future gene function! This relatively new scientific field of epigenetics is integrally tied to human choice. We as humans have been given the great gift of being able to choose whether we will eat for health or eat for merely pleasure. We can choose whether to be grateful or bitter. We can choose whether to allow the winds of life to beat us down, or whether to let them lift us up so we can soar. With this gift comes awesome responsibility.
One of the simplest ways that we can change our genetic potential is through what we eat. When we are consistently mindful about getting the right nutrients into our bodies, then we will begin to see amazing benefits in every area of our lives. How can I make this bold statement? Because I have seen those who have changed their “gut biomes.” This in turn led to better mental and physical health. With more stamina and energy, those persons began to think more clearly, make better life choices, and take advantage of opportunities they would have previously avoided or not even recognized. Those opportunities then propelled them financially and socially to places they never thought they would be. Changing your eating will change your life!
What does this look like on a daily basis? At first, it will look like baby steps. When you meet someone for lunch, you may decide to go somewhere where you can get a salad instead of a heavy, carb-laden sandwich or pasta entrée. Later in your journey, it may look like having a first meal of eggs, avocado, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach later in the morning. It will look like having the equivalent of three platefuls of vegetables each and every day, and eating full-fat cream and butter instead of a fake butter substitute. For now I want you to get that you are in charge of your health, and your choices today affect your genetic expression tomorrow!
#2) Hydrate
Survivalists abide by the “rule of threes”: other than in rare cases, humans can survive for three minutes without air, three hours in freezing temperatures, three days without water, and three weeks without food. The fact that water is the third most vital element on this list, behind air and warmth, is no small thing. We as humans are dependent on a clean, reliable supply of water, and we need it several times a day.
Water benefits the entire body. It irrigates cells so that they can efficiently process all that you consume, keeps the engine of digestion running smoothly, and lowers body temperature in stifling heat. It increases your metabolism allowing it to burn more calories, and it hydrates the cardiovascular system. Water also helps the liver and kidneys flush out wastes at the end of the digestive process.3 Our lungs are 90 percent water, our brains are 70 percent water, our blood is more than 80 percent water, and our entire bodies are roughly 65 percent water. No wonder it is so vital to human health!
How much water is enough? Although you can survive on less, in order to thrive, you should be drinking half your body weight (pounds) in ounces of pure, filtered water each day. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces of water. There are eight ounces in a cup, so that means consuming roughly nine and a half cups per day.
Not all waters are equal. Numerous studies have shown that tap water is a major source of toxic chemicals and adds toxic stress to your liver and kidneys. Many bottled waters have pictures of pristine mountains and clear streams on them, promising to be from natural springs or have special qualities. However, at least a third of them are simply filtered tap water! Few, in fact, are worth the plastic containers they are delivered in. Yet bottled water is still a $4 billion-a-year industry that charges us roughly 1,900 percent more than if we simply got water from our own taps. If our nation were to spend an equal amount of money that is spent on producing, consuming, and then handling the waste from bottled water, we could easily have cleaner water systems for people the world over. The practical solution is to get a water filter for the home and office and always drink your water from that in a reusable, BPA-free cup or bottle.
Step 1: Drinking little to no pure water
Step 2: Replacing sodas and coffee with water and caffeine-free herbal teas each day
Step 3: Always have a glass of filtered water near you during the day and drink from it every time you think of it
Step 4: Drinking half your body weight in ounces of pure, filtered water
And water is not just for drinking. Clean water is also important for bathing and showering every day. Water works as a natural stimulus increasing energy and resistance to disease. Because we are warm-blooded, we react to changes in temperature, and these reactions activate all the vital body systems to equalize and stabilize body functions. Cool or cold water stimulates our bodies and increases the use of oxygen in our cells. Bathing in warm or hot water stimulates blood vessels and improves circulation. That, in turn, improves the transportation of oxygen to the cells and brain and speeds up the elimination of toxins. Hydrotherapy, as many call it—therapy through water—can inspire not only a well-balanced body, but also a healthy, alert mind.
#3) Supplement Wisely
While the majority of nutrition should come from our food, good nutritional supplements are incredibly beneficial. Just as we want our diet to be centered on whole, living foods, any supplements that we take should also come from whole, living foods as well.
Myth: Calories are calories—they are all the same.
Truth: Food that has been made by man or altered by man has calories that act differently in your body than foods that are natural and that we have been eating for thousands of years.
Supplements are important because they can give us nutrients that aren’t readily available in our modern world. Things like sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium are electrolytes that carry electrical charges throughout our bodies. They also dissolve completely into water so that they are easily transported to wherever our bodies need them the most. Our cells communicate with our brains using these electrically charged particles. Because of the contamination of our fish supply with mercury, it is wise to include a good quality omega-3 supplement every day. Most Americans are deficient in vitamin D3 because of the amount of time we spend indoors, our dietary choices, and our overuse of sunscreens. Because vitamin D is really a hormone, not a vitamin, it is important to make sure your levels are adequate. This will most likely require supplementation. Optimal dosage is 4,000 IUs for adults, and 3,000 IUs for kids 3-8.
Our bodies need to maintain a delicate balance between sodium and potassium for communication between the brain and the cells to be clear and effective. To put it in simplest terms, sodium pumps water into our cells while potassium pumps waste products out. Too much sodium and we tend toward fluid retention, puffiness, and high blood pressure. Because of the high level of sodium we typically get in our normal diets, the issue is usually getting enough potassium to keep sodium in balance. To maintain this balance, when we don’t get enough potassium in what we eat, our kidneys will work overtime trying to find enough potassium to send our cells what they need. A similar balance is needed for calcium and magnesium. In the standard American diet, we tend to get more than enough calcium and not enough magnesium. To get more magnesium, we need to eat a diet richer in leafy, green vegetables and nuts.
Kale has the most nutrition per calorie of any plant on earth.
We don’t have enough space here to go into all of the different needs our bodies have for supplements, and those needs are unique to each individual. However, in the world of industrialized nutrition, widespread antibiotic use, and indoor workplaces, it is fairly safe to say that most North Americans can benefit from starting with these three supplements: omega-3, vitamin D3, and probiotics (healthy, helpful bacteria).
Keep It Simple, Keep It Fun
One of the great things coming out of the real food movement is not just the reclaiming of health, but also the reclaiming of our kitchens and the joy of cooking. Food has always been a social connector. From Thanksgiving dinner to soccer team potlucks, food has always connected us. It is the constant tradition in a world of change. Finding ways to cook fresh vegetables adding grass-fed, free-range meats and wild-caught fish, and replacing breads and grains with more healthful options doesn’t need to change that connection. In fact, it will keep us around longer to enjoy those connections with the ones we love!
To say it won’t be different, however, would be disingenuous. These new habits will require changing our way of thinking as well as the time needed for planning. Learning to time our evenings better will be essential. Taking time to cook sweet potatoes in the oven, taking the meat out of the freezer to thaw in the morning, preparing dishes before we cook them, leaving things overnight to soak or marinate, using the slow cooker more often—all of this takes more time. This will be different than walking into the kitchen 10 or 15 minutes before mealtime, opening something prepackaged, and just following the directions on the box. The greatest assets you have are your health and your time. They go hand in hand. Investing in them synergistically will give you great fulfillment and more joy in life.
Eating more healthfully is going to take more planning and creativity, but there is no reason for it to become burdensome. And there is no reason it has to be left all to mom either. While being around the dinner table and having a family meal is a powerful bonding time, cooking together can be just as powerful. Involving kids in this process helps them to appreciate what they are eating, and reduces complaining once it is served. It also educates them about healthy food choices, teaches them about cooking, and builds their sense of competency. Having your kids shop with you and teaching them to read labels can take this even further. As with any new process, this might not be easy at first; but like most activities we share with our children, in the end it will create treasured memories to be passed on for generations. Most modern parents share too little of their regular household “chores” with their kids, and miss the benefits of bonding time, the opportunity to teach responsibility, and the creation of a sense of family.
Step 1: Regular sodas
Step 2: Sports drinks with electrolytes
Step 3: Juicer juices that are mostly vegetables
Step 4: Most of our hydration comes from pure, filtered water
Another component of the real food movement that creates opportunities for connection is “farm-to-table,” which epitomizes the desire to not only know where our food is coming from, but to take part in producing it. This farm-to-table tradition involves taking our families to cooperative farms to contribute time or share the experience of creating, caring for, and harvesting from our own backyard gardens. You may not have time for all these different activities, but you can pick and choose the ones that will work for you and that you can enjoy with your family. Simply going to a “pick your own” apple farm as a family is a delightful experience that children love and appreciate. Keeping them alongside you to help make homemade applesauce when you get home is something they will never forget.
Reconnecting with the food we eat is important, not just for community and health, but for wholeness. There is a morality of stewardship that comes from reconnecting with the food we eat and the ground in which it is grown or upon which it is raised. Like so many things, attitude is important. We have the freedom of choice to make anything fun or tedious, and there are powerful benefits to learning how to have fun and choose to enjoy every task we undertake. We always have a choice, and choosing to live in joy as much as possible not only makes life more fun, but has powerful health benefits as well.
