Eating Well
The saying “you are what you eat” has truth to it. What goes into your body has the power to nourish or harm.
The 13 Vital Components:
The first step is to understand that the goal is health, not losing weight etc. Losing weight is a side effect of a healthy diet. Start by adding good foods to your diet. As your health improves you’ll naturally want to minimize toxins.
1. Minimize sweets and grains, examples are: cookies, breads, pasta, cereal, sugar, candy, undiluted juice. Substitute with vegetables, fruit, and some grains (steel cut oats, wild rice and quinoa are examples). For example, try diluting juice with 2/3 water.
2. Limit dairy intake. Examples are yogurt, cheese, milk, cream, ice cream etc. Do you think we are designed to suckle off a cow? Enough said.
3. Take an Omega-3 fish oil daily. The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in North American diets is approximately 1:20. Ideally, the ratio should be approximately 1:1. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to nervous system function and have many other benefits including mental health, healing, and cardiovascular health. Adults should take two teaspoons of fish oil daily (about 10 capsules depending on size, or the equivalent to 10 mL). Be sure to buy one that has been purified. If the oil tastes awful, it is most likely spoiled.
4. Buy organic. Not only does it taste better, is better for the environment, and has not been genetically modified, but most importantly contains no toxins. Limit processed foods. Foods made by nature have been proven vastly superior than man made, think packaged anything.
5. Take a probiotic daily. We consume one million times less bacteria than we need. These friendly bacteria have a massive impact on our immune function.
6. Plan your meals before you shop. This allows you to buy fresh ingredients and helps avoid the temptation to eat out or buy junk. Always shop full. Never feel guilty about a poor food choice, but instead look excitedly to your next opportunity to nourish yourself.
7. Be grateful for the food you have. Slow down, so often we shovel back feast huge portions, giving little thanks. Be aware that an animal’s life may have been taken for your consumption. Enjoy your food and eating with friends and family is always better.
8. Eat more raw foods and cook less. Try fresh, ripe, local (when possible), raw fruits and vegetables contain enzymes, phytonutrients, bioflavinoids, vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients.
9. Take a quality multi-vitamin daily to fill the gaps that your diet did not provide or better yet juice (make your own with fruits and veggies).
10. Take Vitamin D daily if your not getting regular sufficient sun exposure.
11. Eat fat. This may be a surprise, but fat should make up about 30% of our diets. Extra virgin olive and coconut oils are fantastic and nuts are a great source as well.
12. Try to drink less during meals as this dilutes hydrochloric acid in the stomach vital to proper digestion.
13. Don't skip meals, especially breakfast. Many people foolishly skip meals in an effort to lose weight, which over the short-term works, but over time slows your metabolism. Diets don’t work.
For more detailed information please attend the Eat Well™ talk, it’s free.