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Food Is
Food Is More Than Just Food
Food is Energy
At the most basic level, food is a fuel source necessary for the body to function. Every cell in the body requires energy to function, and the source of that energy is food. The big question we have is what kinds of foods should I eat? The quick answer is it depends on your goals. People that are fighting diseases need different nutrition than athletes training for a competition. That is where working with a nutritionist comes in. I can put together a plan to help you reverse diseases, achieve weight loss, or just feel better.
Food is Information
Food has a profound impact on physiology and biochemistry. Digestion and assimilation of food will convey messages within the digestive system, assist with metabolic processes, and aid in cell signaling. Certain foods can help to reduce inflammation, lower blood sugar and insulin levels, support detoxification pathways, improve cellular energy production, and improve body composition. Conversely, other foods can increase inflammation, raise blood sugar and insulin levels, increase body fat storage, fail to prevent muscle loss, and adversely affect cellular energy, detoxification, elimination, and hormone balance. What foods do you eat that are doing either of these?
We are a society that eats quick, fast, and cheap and cannot understand why we feel terrible. One of my nutrition mentors told a story that was very impactful to my journey as a nutritionist. He had just begun working with this client, which was an executive that ate at the fast-food restaurant near his workplace every day. He ordered the same burger and fries every day and admittedly gulped it in his car on his way back to work. It was quick, fast, and cheap. It allowed him not to waste time so he could get back to work. Sound familiar? He told the nutritionist he would not change this routine.
The nutritionist told him to order his burger and fries, but he had to sit in the parking lot and eat it slower. The guy agreed. His next visit he told the nutritionist he sat in the parking lot and ate his burger and fries and thought it was the nastiest tasting food he had ever eaten. The nutritionist had got him to slow down to see that his quick, fast, and cheap food was not serving his body or his taste buds. This allowed him to see the value in food as information. It is effortless to get caught in the business of life and know that we eat but just eat to fill our stomachs and not enjoy the food. What information is your food sending?
Food is Connection
People often choose to consume certain foods or beverages because they can provide a connection to something else like the sense of pleasure, a specific memory of a fun occasion, a memory of a person in our lives, etc. For centuries food has brought people together, often serving as the central focus of social gatherings and celebratory events. The smell, taste, or texture of food can help an individual connect to those specific memories. This is one reason why we choose and crave certain foods. These memories can hijack our brains, causing us not to make healthy food choices. So what can we do? I teach people how to have a healthy relationship with food again and not feel guilty for the times those memories get the best of us.
Food is Medicine
The Western diet has huge nutritional gaps because of the abundance of food with poor nutritional value like processed and fast foods. As a result, chronic diseases are at an all-time high throughout the world. Healthy whole foods full of nutrients can be just the medicine the body needs to reverse many of these diseases. Nutrigenomics, a new science that studies the impact of food choices on gene expression, is proving that we truly are what we eat! The key is making an effort to choose nutrient-rich foods that send the right healthy signals to the body for positive gene expression and optimal health. Eating high quality, nutrient dense foods can have a positive influence on the body and may even help to reverse disease.
As a Nutrition Coach, your genes can tell me which food choices contribute to the underlying causes of disease so I can help you adjust diet, nutrition, and lifestyle to help get you to your greatest state of health, healing, and vitality.