As a Registered Nutritionist, I have clients who come to me with a variety of ailments seeking to restore balance in their body. In this series "Habits for Vitality", I'm going to give you some basic habits to incorporate into your life to help you make the changes necessary to live an Optimal Life.
“What should I eat to be healthy?” I really wish there was one simple answer, but just as we are all unique in our personalities, we are unique in the foods we need to consume. A Ferrari needs high octane fuel and a Honda needs low octane fuel – that’s just the way it is for them to perform optimally. So what fuel do you need to perform optimally? Perhaps the information below will help answer that for you.
Hippocrates 460-377 B.C. once said, "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food"
Lucretius, the Roman Healer/Philosopher observed some 2000 years ago, "One Man's food is another man's poison".
Have you ever heard of an elephant hunting down a wildebeest and eating that for lunch, or heard of a lion eating leaves and grass? Of course not. Animals instinctively know what food source their bodies require and eat only that.
As humans we have this instinct as well, the only problem is, we ignore it. The signs and symptoms are all there but due to an overabundance of food at our disposal we choose to eat all that is available without consideration for the affects on our body.
Example 1: you eat some food for dinner and then get wicked heartburn or indigestion.
What is the typical response to this? Take a pill to fix the problem. This seems ridiculous to me.
Why not reflect on the fact that whatever it was you ate is not right for your body and thus causing this uncomfortable reaction? You system is literally trying to regurgitate what it considers to be toxic.
Example 2: you go out for lunch with some friends and 2 hours later you are dopey and desire an afternoon nap.
What is the typical response to this? You grab a coffee or something sweet for a pick-me-up. Now you are setting yourself up to crash again.
Why not reflect on what you ate for lunch and recognize that whatever you had is putting a strain on your digestion – which by the way, requires a lot of energy – and try to figure out the problem. If you had pasta for lunch, try protein next time and see the difference (or vice versa).
Example 3: your girlfriend goes on a diet and loses a ton of weight practically overnight. You give it a try and not only does it not work, but the pounds pile on instead.
What is the typical response to this? you beat yourself up and wonder “what’s wrong with me” and perhaps even go to the health food store looking for a pill to solve the problem
Why not reflect on the fact that your girlfriend is different from you. One size most definitely does not fit all. Think about the foods that make you feel full and satisfied for a long time. Trying eating only protein or only carbs at a meal and note the difference in how long you feel energized.
Keep a food diary – not just what you eat, but how you feel. Consider the following:
Mental Clarity: are you able to sit and read a book and absorb the information or is your mind wandering?
Appetite: are you hungry less than 2 hours after eating or are you satisfied for hours?
Cravings: are you desperately looking for chocolate, sweets or potato chips?
Emotions: are you feeling emotionally stable or are you ready to freak out if anyone so much as says “boo” to you?
Physical: are you feeling any pain, discomfort, allergic reaction, indigestion, headache, etc.?
Sleep: are you able to sleep through the night without waking? If you wake up for a “toilet run” or because of a sound, can you fall back to sleep easily?
Your Metabolic Type is unique and hereditary. Eating the right foods in the right combinations for your Metabolic Type will make you feel great and improve your vitality and general well being.
Metabolic Typing Diet has been around since the mid 1980's when researchers in the US discovered "biochemical individuality". They found that no two individuals are alike on a biochemical or physiological level. Cutting-edge research by Wolcott and Fahey (2000) shows that a 'Metabolic Typing Diet' will enable you to:
• naturally achieve and maintain your ideal weight
• enhance athletic performance
• enjoy sustained energy and endurance
• conquer indigestion, fatigue and allergies
• bolster your immune system
• prevent and reverse diseases
• slow down the aging process
• overcome mood swings and depression
• ultimately improve your whole lifestyle and gain vitality
Each individual has a specific dominant metabolic rate, which is determined via factors such as heredity and environment, (weather, stress, etc). These factors may change over time, but by 'listening' to your body, you can regain and maintain a sense of well being and vitality.
Understanding your MT will lead to increased physical energy enabling you to perform everyday tasks better, control cravings, eliminate hunger between meals and ultimately to increase your sense of well-being.
If you would like to know your Metabolic Type and a list of the foods you should be eating, visit www.myhealthybalance.com, pay for the online test and I will email you the link and then the results when I get them. You will receive a full listing of the foods you should and should not eat and foods that are neutral. If you have specific ailments, there is further intake information we can incorporate to get a more detailed list of foods.
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