You Are What You Eat Ate

 

The body has an incredible ability to heal itself. When the body has the right nutrients, regular movement through exercise, a great mindset, and full function of the nervous system, it has a recipe for long lasting health.

So what does that mean? It means most diseases won’t just happen to you. You have the ability to determine the direction of your health. So, lets talk about the right nutrients. When you feed your body the right building blocks you give it the best chance to experience full potential. It only makes to sense that if we feed our body processed junk (simple carbs, sugars, vegetable oils) then that is what will makes up our cells. After all, we’ve all heard the saying, “You are what you eat” – which is true – BUT what most people fail to realize is that we are also what we eat ate.

Just like humans, cows and chicken thrive when they exist on the diet that they are naturally meant to eat. I can assure you that diet is NOT genetically modified corn and soy. When we consume meat from unhealthy animals – how do you think our bodies react? This is why grass-fed beef contains between 2 and 5 times more omega-3s than grain-fed beef, Grass-fed beef also contains significantly more of the antioxidants vitamin E, glutathione, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase than grain-fed beef. These antioxidants play an important role in protecting our cells from oxidation. That’s not all, grass-fed beef also contains higher levels of zinc, iron, phosphorus, sodium, and potassium. When it comes to eggs – eggs from pastured hens are more nutritious than the conventional eggs you might find at the supermarket. They are higher in Vitamin A, E and Omega-3s. They are also lower in Cholesterol and Saturated Fat.

The same hold true for produce. When you look at vegetables, what is the soil like? If the plants aren’t getting enough minerals – then you aren’t either. For example, organic crops have significantly higher antioxidant levels when compared to conventional crops.

So what can you do? Choose free-range/pastured animal products whenever possible. Choose the cheaper cuts of the best quality meat you can afford and slow cook them (the fats and skin of pastured animals are also full of great nutrients). If you can’t afford free range/grass fed meats, choose leaner cuts of non-pastured animals and discard the fat (like us, animals store their toxins in the fat layer) and use the best quality fats you can to cook them (organic coconut oil, grassfed butter, ghee). Look for wild-caught fish where possible, again the farmed varieties are fed an unnatural diet of  soy, corn and grain pellets.

Avoid the “Health Halo”

Avoid the health haloWho would have thought that buying healthy food would become so difficult. These days, what you think you know about which products to select or how to read food labels often times turns out to be misconceptions. There are a number of health sounding terms that can confuse even the most educated shoppers. This is what is referred to as a health halo effect.

A “health halo” is the perception that a food is healthy, whether it truly is or not. This usually involves cleaver marketing and using buzz words such as all-natural, organic, paleo, gluten free, and/or non-GMO. While some of these products may be healthy – the majority are just processed junk food – albeit  organic, gluten-free junk food.

Marketers use these buzz words for a reason – research has shown that putting an organic label on ordinary foods can trick shoppers into paying up to 23 per cent more for them by believing they are healthier and taste better. Most of us aren’t intentionally buying junk food – we may just believe the hype that a food is healthy. After all, we’re just looking for healthy food to feed our families.

Instead of focusing on these labels – do the opposite – aim to fill 3/4 of your grocery cart with food that does NOT contain labels (as in, fruits and vegetables). When you see health claims, be skeptical – they’re only there to help sell a product (the front of the box is there to persuade – not inform). One of the many positives of eating whole REAL foods is that you know exactly what’s in them. And remember, if you anything with that green USDA-Organic stamp, you will be eating GMO-free food.

Lastly, the fact that you now know that there is a “health halo” will help you avoid it (your welcome).

How to Eat Clean

eat clean

It is a shame that modern medicine has largely ignored one of the best weapons against disease- nutrition. At True Health Family Chiropractic, we hope to guide patients to regain control of their health outside of our office by eating well and by eating clean, health promoting foods.

The first step is to actively remove all of the unhealthy food choices in your house so you have room to fit all of the good things you are going to buy. To successfully improve the quality of what you eat, remember we often eat what’s convenient, and if you buy it and keep it in the house, you’ll eat it – so don’t buy it in the first place. The following are some basic ground rules to follow when eating clean.

Eating Clean Checklist:

  • Eat more organic and/or local fruits and vegetables, and remember the fresher the food, the more potent the nutrients
  • Drink more pure filtered water (Divide your weight by 2, aim to drink that number in ounces)
  • Eat hormone and antibiotic free meats and dairy (Choose products where animals live as close to their natural state as possible -free-range, cage-free, grass-fed, raw milk etc.)
  • Eat foods that have not been genetically modified (Click here for a non-GMO shopping guide)
  • Eat more alkaline foods (lots of vegetables)
  • Lower your intake of inflammatory/mucus producing foods (dairy, sugar, wheat)
  • Eat more raw foods that contain powerful enzymes and phytonutrients (try juicing)
  • Eat more fresh whole foods and less processed man made foods
  • Eat or supplement anti-inflammatory foods (Omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil, flax seed)
  • Increase the amount of good bacteria in your GI tract by eating foods high in fiber and supplementing with probiotics
  • Eliminate soft drinks, sugary drinks, and artificially sweetened drinks loaded with neurotoxins
  • Eat a handful of raw nuts/seeds everyday
  • Limit caffeine intake to one cup of coffee/day, instead aim to drink up to 3 cups of green tea

AND For a detailed grocery list of nutrient dense, fresh, whole (or in some cases minimally processed) foods which promote optimal health, click here.

Weekly Health Round Up

Welcome to True Health Family Chiropractic’s Weekly Health Roundup, where we’ll take a look at what’s making news in the world of health.

Research of the Week

This week we look at the research of Ria Chhabra, a middle school student who after hearing her parents argue about the value of organic foods, was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate. The research tracked the effects of organic and conventional diets on the health of fruit flies. By nearly every measure, including fertility, stress resistance and longevity, flies that fed on organic bananas and potatoes fared better than those who dined on conventionally raised produce.

Interesting Articles

Yahoo News has a very cool article that shows how chiropractic care can benefit more than just us humans. It tells the story of Dr. Gene Giggleman, a veterinarian who once thought chiropractors were quacks. Since then, he says he’s straightened out thousands of dogs and cats, not to mention the occasional snake, hamster, gerbil and guinea pig. The vets say any human or animal with a spine-related problem can benefit from an “adjustment.” I agree.

Food for Thought

From food containers and utensils to water bottles, plastic has become a permanent fixture in our everyday lives – but it’s one that comes with serious consequences. All of these plastic chemicals are now finding their way into your body and the environment, where they are accumulating over time. Dr. Mercola offers a guide on how to recognize the plastics that are hazardous to you as well as offering tips on how to cut down on your plastic use.

Blog Posts Worth Reading

From Mashable comes 10 Touching Acts of Kindness at the Boston Marathon. It’s great to see firsthand accounts of people who stepped up to help in a moment of tragedy. As Patton Oswalt wrote after the bombing: “So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, ‘The good outnumber you, and we always will.'”

Time Capsule

A year ago on the True Health blog we looked at a the benefits of breastfeeding to your baby. This has been by far the most popular article on our blog (it’s been “pinned” on Pinterest over 5000 times(!), and has over 250 likes on facebook.) Needless to say, it struck a cord with moms – and for good reason. From the article: “Recently, published evidence-based studies have confirmed and quantitated the risks of not breastfeeding,” the authors stated. “Thus, infant feeding should not be considered as a lifestyle choice, but rather as a basic health issue. As such, the pediatrician’s role in advocating and supporting proper breastfeeding practices is essential and vital for the achievement of this preferred public health goal.”