Basic Holistic Nutrition

We are bombarded daily by advertisements from companies telling us that we need their products. Take gummies for fiber, eat our gummies every day for better digestive health. Really! Just eat whole fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes and you will get more than enough fiber, plus all the minerals, vitamins, and phytonutrients that your body needs to stay healthy. Whole foods are better for you than the components of whole foods because there is so much synergy that goes on between all the different chemical nutrients in whole foods. If we are eating highly processed foods and taking vitamins and minerals thinking that will keep us nourished, we are wrong. There are so many added chemicals in highly processed foods that our bodies don’t need and may even be harmful to us. These chemicals / additives have to be eliminated from our bodies and that takes energy. If our bodies are not getting proper nutrition to maintain the functioning of our bodies; how can our bodies eliminate the waste products properly? We can end up storing waste materials in our fat. The Evironemental Working Group is a good source of information to learn about what can be in our food and other products.

We need to stop buying into advertising and start thinking about what our bodies need to keep us healthy, happy and in many cases pain free. Our bodies crave fats and sugars because back in time we needed to store fats and sugars for times when there was no food to be found. Today, for many of us, there is too much food out there for us to consume, and we need to remember that even though our bodies may be craving certain foods, we have to stop and think; do I need to eat these fatty hamburgers, fries, and or doughnuts and fancy coffee drinks? Yes, they may be yummy and advertisements are telling us we deserve it and it is the social thing to do, but in the long term eating too many of these foods may make us sick. So, don’t just fill your gut when you have hunger-pangs; think about what your body needs. You may say eating healthy is too expensive, but in the long term it is not. The cost of health food products, the cost of drugs, and developing a disease that may kill us are more costly. There are ways to eat healthy on a budget. It may take a bit of a mind shift for some of us; especially the meat and potato eaters. It doesn’t mean you can’t eat the foods you love, it just means eating a balanced whole food diet. Eating lots of colourful fruits and vegetables will help give you the phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins and minerals your body needs. You can treat yourself every once and awhile. Try to have a combination of carbohydrates, protein, and good fat at every meal. Carbohydrates tend to enter the blood stream first, proteins are second, and the fats tend to take longer. This means you will feel fuller longer and have less spikes and crashes. If you are constantly craving food; eating healthy whole foods will help nourish your body and the constant cravings should subside. Also, every person is different and what works for one person may not work for another person. Some people can eat a large meal (if they have good digestive fire) and feel great. Another person who doesn’t have good digestive fire will probably end up on the couch feeling bloated. Theses people need to eat lighter meals. Each and everyone of us will make our own choices, no one can tell you what to do, but we all have to live with the consequences of our choices.