Keeping it simple
I am sure throughout the weeks of this relatively new year, you have been inundated with articles, TV segments, blogs and podcasts about how to improve the state of your health. Maybe some of you set resolutions some weeks ago, tried to keep them and have already fallen off that wagon! Hopefully many of you are continuing to work towards improved health goals, it is worth it after all! I would like to offer one thought for you to keep in mind as you continue or get back to, reaching your goals. You don’t have to get bogged down with calorie counting, food plans, points or any other such thing….just eat REAL food!
The more I study nutrition the more fascinating it becomes. Eating is something we all have to do on a daily basis, but when you dive into the role of nutrition as a means to good health it becomes so much more than filling a growling stomach to keep hunger at bay. Proper nutrition is the key to good health, yet in our modern world this simple message seems to have been forgotten-lost in the ever growing sea of processed “food”, slick marketing, and the idea that eating is mostly a form of entertainment.
In this day and age when there seems to be a drug (and a commercial) for every ailment under the sun, we bypass the fact that our food can give us what we need in order to live at the peak of health. There is a wonderful book, The Wahls Protocol by Terry Wahls M.D. She is a western trained doctor who developed multiple sclerosis. She sought the conventional treatment of pharmaceuticals and was devastated to find her condition worsening steadily to the point where she was confined to a reclined wheelchair. She took matters into her own hands and discovered that by focusing on giving her body the nutrients it needed through whole foods, it began to heal and she was able to dramatically turn her health around.
This book fascinated me because as a student of natural health, using nutrition to keep our bodies functioning optimally seems intuitive and makes perfect sense. I was blown away to think that a medically trained doctor had to discover this idea for herself when faced with a challenging illness. We all need to return to the simple idea that food is literally the fuel on which our body runs. When you provide it with the proper nutrients, there will be little need to have a pill for every ailment under the sun.
“When diet is wrong medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.” Ayurvedic Proverb
As I geeked out recently studying the roles various minerals play in running our systems, I was amazed at the possibilities of the body healing itself when given the appropriate building materials. Did you know that deficiencies in calcium and magnesium can cause depression and/or anxiety? High sugar diets can deplete crucial micronutrients including calcium, magnesium, and Vitamin D. How many people today, including young children, suffer from depression and anxiety symptoms? Connect the dots with me here, could it be, in our fast food, high sugar, processed food world, that they are simply lacking in foundational minerals?
A simple and intuitive way to start getting a handle on your health whether it’s for weight management, anti-aging or disease prevention is to just eat real food! Begin by simply eating more whole foods. If it comes with a label and loads of ingredients, skip it.There are so many health concerns that can be solved through nutrition. Let this be the year that you start truly FEEDING your body what it needs so that you can thrive.
It’s Your Life - Choose Health!