The Perfect Diet Dilemma - Is there a perfect human diet?
Real and Whole Foods
This week I have a very special guest post from Meghan Prescott. Megan is a recent graduate of the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and is quickly becoming a great friend. She has been on a personal health journey and today would like to share with you a bit of her story.
Hi There! My name is Meghan Prescott. For a long time, I have been deeply interested in food, nutrition, food production, and the effects they have on our health and lives. Prior to that I spent years feeling just kind of low-grade sick and tired, struggled with adult acne, weight gain, arthritis flare-ups in my hands and shoulder, and a major lack of energy. I was hangry All. The. Time. I had just accepted that this was a natural part of life and aging and was resigned to it. I had no idea that I could make changes in my diet that would change everything. I watched a video one day about the effect of fructose on our bodies that blew my mind and piqued my interest. It led me to do some research and start making small changes to my eating habits. When I made those changes and started to see all of that turn around, it became my passion and I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to experience what I had. I spent a long time educating myself on these topics, including the history and politics of food, and I have spent the past year finally fulfilling that passion and desire to help others by pursuing an official education in natural nutrition, recently graduating as a C.H.N.C., Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant™. I am thrilled to be able to start working with you to help you regain the vitality and wellness that should be our natural state!
Something that has fascinated me for a long time are the “diet wars” and the politicization of food. We have a pretty broken food system in North America, and the rates of diabetes, obesity, bowel diseases, the rise of allergies etc., should tell us that there’s something really strange going on. Back in the 50’s and 60’s there were some well-meaning people who made some really big decisions about how we should eat, and it was based on some pretty shaky science that has had a ripple effect through the world ever since. The past 40-60 years have been a time of massive upheaval in the way we produce, process, and purchase our food, and the results have been pretty disastrous and catastrophic to our health and wellness. The good news is that there are steps we can take to reverse this, and every small step in the right direction can have huge effects on our health and wellness.
So, is there a perfect human diet? Is there one way that everyone should eat that will take care of every health concern, disease, and environmental issue? The media would like us to think so. Every couple of years, “the” way of eating takes centre stage in the news. Passionate and very persuasive articles fill social media. “Meat Will Kill You”, “Cows Are Ruining the Planet”, “Saturated Fat Causes Heart Attacks….wait, Saturated Fat Won’t Cause Heart Atta….Nope, Saturated Fat Will Definitely Kill You”, “Plant-Based Diets Will Save The World”. And on and on it goes. New ideas come out, new hype around those ideas, books are written, media goes nuts, and a religious fervour overtakes our way of eating. Not only that, but we are made to feel guilty, wrong, and 100% responsible for our poor health and the detriment to the environment, when the food industry and many government policies have left many people without the ability to make informed choices. So, how does the average person deal with this constantly changing message? Who has the time for that? We hear what the media tells us, we see what the grocery stores and restaurants are offering us, and we eat and shop accordingly. Some people might even watch a documentary or two and completely change their diet and lifestyle, but how do we really know who to listen to? When did eating, such a basic fundamental of life, become such a politically charged and divisive issue? I can point you to a number of books and articles that can give us some insight into when the modern politics surrounding food really came into being, and I will link to some of those at the end of the article. There are some great researchers out there who have helped to simplify and de-dogmatize the information for us. For the rest of this blog post, however, I would like to take a rational and non-partisan look at some basics for how we can nourish ourselves and our families better in a balanced and simple way.
To answer my first question above, is there a perfect human diet? The answer is simply, no. There are so many factors that go into what an individual person needs due to their genetics, culture, environment, state of health, lifestyle, stress-levels, and the list goes on. The amount of choice we have in our society confuses and conflates this even more! That is where a Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant can be a huge help. We can help you walk through your struggles and help put together a personal plan that works for your individual needs, preferences, and lifestyle. Most of all we can teach you how to take your health into your own hands and be your own best advocate for wellness. There are some basic principles we can all apply to our diets and lifestyles that will absolutely encourage our best health and nourishment, and that’s what I would like to focus on here. I tend to eat what is considered an Ancestral/Paleo way of eating, because that’s the way my body feels its best and most nourished. I have had food sensitivities my entire life to wheat, corn, and dairy, and this way of eating really meets my needs. I’m not a perfect adherent by any means, but I do my best. I also don’t think that cows are ruining the planet, but that industrial farming and mono-cropping are unsustainable practices and absolutely need to change. I try to support local, clean, and sustainable agriculture as much as possible, and I think we have some amazing producers and growers in Alberta, and Canada at large. So, without further ado, here are three basic principles for building a basis for nourishment that all of us can apply, regardless of our way of eating!
1. Just Eat Real Food
I know, so basic. Eat whole foods that are minimally or unprocessed and packaged, with no additives or preservatives, no added sugar, and organic when possible. Read the label. Be mindful that just buying something at the health-food store doesn’t automatically make it healthy. Source pasture-raised and wild-caught meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood if possible. Learn traditional preparation methods for grains, nuts, and legumes through soaking, sprouting, and fermenting. This helps to increase their nutrient availability, and to decrease the potentially detrimental effects they can have on our gut health. I know the arguments around budget, time, and labour when it comes to eating whole foods. My answer is that when we eat this way, the amount food we consume actually goes down, because we are being truly nourished by our food. Nutrient density = less consumption. When we take time to be mindful about how we purchase, prepare, and eat our food, it changes our relationship with that food, our environment, and our bodies. It takes a bit of extra time to plan when we eat this way, but in the long run we end up saving time and money when we eliminate the junk. Even small changes add up over time, so taking steps towards this can make a big difference down the road.
2. Think Globally, Shop Locally
Let’s face it, we live in a world where we have year-long access to out of season produce, and things like coffee and tea that come from around the world. It’s the best of times and the worst of times. If we make some conscious choices about where we shop and what we buy at the grocery store, we can make a big impact. Industry responds to demand, and it’s up to us to decide which kind of consumers we will be. I know I’ve seen Costco bringing in much more organic and fair-trade products over the years. Almost every major grocery-chain has a “health food” section. As much as possible, buy local, seasonal produce and meat products. Join a CSA (community supported agriculture) program, shop at farmer’s markets or small-scale butchers. Buy direct from a farmer and choose fair-trade or direct-trade products at the grocery store. We have amazing access to all of this right here in Calgary. You can find anything you’re looking for, and the internet can help you get there. That’s why I say it’s the best of times! We have the ability to make the choices that can positively impact our local producers and growers, as well as the global market. The more people who choose to buy locally and globally sustainable food, the better it will be for everyone. If we want real food to be more accessible and economical, we can be at the grass-roots beginnings of making that happen by “voting” with our grocery budget each week to the best of our ability.
3. Who Profits?
If you’ve seen it advertised, there’s a profit to be made. I’ll try to stay off of the conspiratorial bandwagon here, but the industrial food-complex is big money, and the pharmaceutical industry is the direct recipient of the fall-out of the illness and disease that is rampant as a result of our over-fed and under-nourished society. There’s a vested interest in keeping us blind, distracted, and unaware. Some of it is intentional, a lot of it came about as a result of ignorance or even a genuine desire to make things better, but not being able to walk back the colossal failure of faulty or skewed research has been disastrous for our health. This can come under the guise of health-related and government-driven programs too. No way of eating is immune from it. I’m not against people making a living at all, but the bottom line for me is, who is profiting? My encouragement to you is to simply ask that question and allow it to influence your buying choices. As I said above, we vote with our wallets every time we make a purchase, and I truly believe that we can impact change on a grand scale. If companies are acting ethically, sustainably, and for the betterment of our health, I say make your millions. It’s unfortunately not the case at present, but I have hope that we can make a difference. There’s too much at stake for our health, our planet, and our future. We can make the choices now that will impact things for a long time. It’s up to us!
Book Recommendations: These are some personal heroes of mine! There are lots of videos online from these folks. They have some really important things to say, and I hope you’ll find their information compelling and thought-provoking.
Nina Teicholz, “The Big Fat Surprise” https://ninateicholz.com
Joel Salatin, “Folks This Ain’t Normal” http://www.polyfacefarms.com/our-story/
Dr. Robert Lustig, “Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease” https://robertlustig.com/
Do you want to know more? Are you feeling that low grade sick and tired that Meghan described? Have you resigned that the aches and pains you experience are just a part of aging? Would you like to know more about how you can begin to feel the best EVER no matter what age you are? Let’s chat about how holistic nutrition consulting and health coaching can help you make your own healthy changes so that you can feel your best every single day. We can provide recipes, meal and snack ideas and support changes to transform your health! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with us today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about! Visit www.noshoesnutrition.com and sign up for a FREE consultation. We work with people from all over the world individually or in groups so don’t let anything hold you back!
