Foundations of Health
Properly Prepared Nutrient Dense Diet
It’s important to choose “real” foods. Foods that have not been processed and mixed with man-made chemicals such as food dyes and preservatives. The best produce to choose is organic and seasonal. This produce has not been sprayed with harmful pesticides and herbicides and holds more nutrient density. Your meat choices should be pasture raised, organic, and grass-fed, wild caught fish, and free-range eggs. Not only will you be missing out on the toxic GMO’s they feed the animals and antibiotics, you will be getting way more vitamins and minerals and they will be more bioavailable for your body to absorb. Diversity is important so, switch your meats and produce up so you are not eating the same thing all the time. It is also important to use safe cookware for cooking vessels and food storage such as cast iron, stoneware, stainless steel pans and skillets and glass storage containers.
Digestion
Being able to digest and absorb the nutrients in your food is vital for optimal health. Our bodies undergo several chemical reactions to maintain homeostasis and they require a ton of nutrients! It’s important that the entire digestive process is functioning optimally in order to break our food down so the nutrients can be absorbed. We can start this process off on the right foot by eating in a calm state and not eating while driving, standing, watching tv, etc. That way our parasympathetic nervous system can communicate important messages such as telling the stomach to make enough stomach acid to disinfect protein, excreting enough bile to emulsify fats, and releasing pancreatic enzymes to help break the rest of the food down. All cells in the body rely on nutrients for proper function. Those nutrients are obtained by our digestion system. This is important because our cells make up everything in our bodies such as our tissues, organs and systems.
Blood Sugar Regulation
Our bodies are always attempting to maintain a steady blood sugar level ideally between 70-90mg/dL. Our central nervous system communicates with our pancreas to either release insulin or glucagon. It releases insulin when our blood sugar levels rise to bring it back down to normal range. It releases glucagon to start the process of converting glycogen (stored glucose) and things like fat and protein into glucose when our blood sugar drops. This process is often compromised due to a high consumption of sugar and processed foods, internal and external stress, and lack of sleep. This can negatively impact blood sugar regulation causing adrenals to fire off epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol. The high and low spikes overtime can make it difficult to get that save from the adrenals leaving you craving for sugar, fatigued crashing mid-day, weight gain, hypertension, depression and mood disorders just to name a few.
Fatty Acids
We have been led to believe fat is unhealthy but this couldn’t be further from the truth! This misconception has steered us into believing things like eggs are “bad” for you and many switched to fat free dairy thinking it will keep them from becoming “fat.” A fatty acid deficiency can lead to depression, allergies, endocrine, cardiovascular, immune, and skin problems. Fatty acids are also an important component of managing anti/pro inflammatory responses. Problems with fat occur when the ratio of omega 6 and omega 3 is off (1:1 or 2:1). The issue with this is, most omega 6s in the western diet come from highly processed vegetable oils that have been deodorized to mask the smell of it being already rancid and they are over consumed leaving the average ratio 20:1. Over time these detrimental oils can cause inflammatory conditions like heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
Mineral Balance
Minerals make up approximately 4% of the body. Don’t let that small percentage fool you of the significance minerals have on our overall health such as transferring nutrients across cell membranes, regulating tissue growth, and acting as cofactors for enzyme reactions to name a few. Many people are deficient in minerals due to soil depletion, digestive dysfunction, and stress which can inhibit the absorption and utilization of minerals. Every process in the body requires minerals. Also, minerals are required for the proper use of other minerals. For example, B12 is required for digesting and utilization of iron. Also, calcium is the most abundant macro-mineral in the body. The body is consistently hard at work to maintain 10 mg/dL of calcium through a process called calcium homeostasis. However, calcium requires potassium, manganese, boron, copper, and zinc for proper utilization and vitamin D for the absorption of calcium in the first place.
Hydration
Many people are living in a chronic state of dehydration. Not only are we not consuming enough water, many are not getting enough electrolytes to absorb it in the first place. Water plays many vital roles such as lubricating joints, transporting nutrients, cushioning bones and joints, flushing toxins out, regulating body temperature and many more. Many people are eating processed foods and drinking diuretics like coffee, tea, soda, and alcohol which slow the reabsorption of water leaving you dehydrated. Water makes up 55% to 60% of our total body mass so it is crucial you are drinking the adequate amount daily for your age and lifestyle. Signs of dehydration include darker urine, cravings, muscle cramps, anxiety, headaches/migraines, joint pain, heartburn, and constipation to name a few. It’s also important that water is being sipped on throughout the day, not gulping a lot at one time and not drinking with food.