A Sensible Approach to Healthy Nutrition

There are so many misconceptions and misinformation regarding the best nutrition for you.  It’s hard to distinguish between fact and fiction.  Understanding nutrition facts can help you choose what is best for you.

Common Sense Tips about Nutrition

• Food is not just food. Food is information that speaks to our genes.  Did you know that food “converses” with your DNA to switch on the genes for health or disease depending on the food? Think about that for a minute!

• Fat speeds up your metabolism and carbs slow it down. For weight loss, increase your healthy fats and ditch the processed carbs (stick with the healthy carbs found in veggies and fruits).

• Calories matter but don’t need to be counted. Try to live by the 80/20 rule (80% of the time eating good fats, lean proteins and veggies/fruits.  If you really want to ramp it up, go with 90/10).

• Added Sugar not fat is the culprit for our mostly obese society. Healthy fats should be consumed at every meal. The obesity epidemic started around 1980 – when low fat diets became the norm and sugar was added to just about everything for better taste.

Research any information you hear or see!

• The number on the scale is not a complete picture of your health.

• Low fat diets were the biggest lie – you should avoid foods that state they are low fat.

• Soda and fruit juice – just say NO! Nothing more to say.

• Health claims on packaging should not be trusted. There is too much ambiguity in the facts.  Read the label to find out exactly what is in the food.

• Most gluten free foods are still processed foods. Stick with foods that are naturally gluten free – high fats, good proteins, fruits and vegetables.

• Your overall health should the main goal – not just weight loss.

Let’s face it.  No one wants to feel bloated, tired, and constantly battling an irritated gut, right? 

We are all looking for healthy nutrition that makes our mind and body feel great, doesn’t cause bloating and helps us sleep like a baby!  It’s out there. Be willing to look for it and do a bit of experimenting.  You need healthy nutrition that works for you.

Most people turn to a specific diet as a way to find healthy nutrition.  But finding the perfect “diet” is a bit like looking for a four-leaf clover or a needle in a haystack!  Not impossible but it takes time; and the information out there can be confusing and frustrating.  And we all know that there is not “one” diet that works for everyone.

Common Sense Rules Here

Let’s take a quick look at a few of the most popular “diet” trends right now that are considered healthy nutrition:

Keto – Simply put, Ketosis is a natural metabolic process in the body.  When your body does not get enough carbohydrates from food to burn energy, it starts to burn stored fat as energy.  The Keto Diet is a very low carb diet (about 25 to 30 grams if you are consuming 2000 calories per day) that puts your body in Ketosis so that it uses fat stored for energy.  Meals center around lean meats, healthy fats, higher fat dairy and low carb veggies (green leafy, tomatoes, squash, etc.).

Paleo – If cavemen didn’t eat it, then you shouldn’t either.  Paleo encourages lean cuts of meat, fish, veggies, nuts and seeds.  No calorie counting.  Nothing processed, no grains, dairy, potatoes or salt.  The diet claims that the body is mismatched to modern foods that have come into being in the past 10,000 years.

Common Theme Alert

Whole30 – The focus of Whole30 is to help you determine which foods might be causing inflammation in your body, food intolerances and hormonal imbalances.  In our highly processed food world, Whole30 suggest that you can determine these issues by eating whole natural foods for 30 days.  Foods include fruits, veggies, lean cuts of meats, nuts, seeds and some healthy fats.  Whole30 does include eggs (which can be a big issue for some).  Once the 30 days are up, you can begin to add foods back in to see how your body will react.

Mediterranean Diet – US News and World Report named this the best way to eat for 2018, is based on consuming heart healthy foods such as veggies, fruit, lean proteins, seeds, nuts, healthy fats and oils, and whole grains.  No processed foods here.  It is suggested to limit red meats to a few times a month while eating chicken and fish at least twice per week.  The Mediterranean diet has been shown to reduce LDL’s (low-density lipoprotein) in your cholesterol.  This is the “bad” cholesterol that can build up in your blood.

All of the above diets have the same main premise – eat more whole foods and consume less processed foods.

Eating more veggies, lean meats and fish, healthy fats and whole grains = healthy nutrition. 

Having been through my own trial period looking for healthy nutrition, parts of all of these “diets” have been added to suit my healthy lifestyle.  YOU CAN TOO.  During the past eight years, I’ve tried several different ways to eat.  It takes patience, but it is part of the learning process and you’ll end up eating healthy nutritious foods that feel good!

So, when it comes to better nutrition for healthy nutrition, always research the information   Try things out and if they don’t work for you, move on to something else.  I can’t stress this enough, good nutrition starts with healthy fats, lean proteins, vegetables/fruits, plenty of water and daily exercise/movement.

Start looking for healthy nutrition that makes sense!

Click on the links below for a few recipes to jump start your healthy nutrition

Tasty Oatmeal Muffins

Sheet Pan Fajitas

Energy Bites

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