So you want to get “healthy”. What does that mean? It seems like there are so many different diets and protocols and theories out there, everyone has an idea or something that “worked for them”.
I believe that there is no one size fits all diet or way to get healthy. There are so many factors that contribute to our overall health that we can’t possibly apply the same things to every person. But there are some foundations to health that help guide us in the approach we should take.
This is where I start with each of my clients as we build their individualized approach to nutrition and health. In this post we are going to look at those foundations at a high level and in the coming weeks we will explore each of them in more detail.
- Nutrition: aka “eating a properly prepared, nutrient dense, whole food diet.” This looks different for everyone. But ultimately it means eating foods that are not processed and as close to their original form as possible. Does this mean all packaged food is out? No. But we do want to understand what the ingredients in our packaged food are and reduce our exposure to unnecessary chemicals and additives.
- Digestion: Oh this is a big one! “Absorbing and assimilating the nutrients we eat”. When people say ‘you are what you eat’, they are actually on to something. The food we eat is what our body uses to create our cells and give us energy. If our digestion gets out of whack and we aren’t absorbing nutrients properly, this can lead to many different issues that can manifest as poor health.
- Blood Sugar Regulation: This is so much more than diabetes. Our blood sugar regulation “ensures a steady, balanced supply of energy” so that we can make it through our busy lives. How many of us are familiar with the “afternoon crash” where you want to fall asleep at your desk around 3pm? Yeah – that’s not normal.
- Fatty Acid Balance: A lot of you are probably saying “What the heck is that, Allison?” Yeah, I was in the same boat a few years ago. But our body needs fat – especially women – to function well. We want to make sure that we are eating “healthy fats and absorbing and utilizing them for fuel, cell structure and healing”. It’s super important and I want to help you unlearn the fear of fat that is so prevalent in our diet culture today.
- Mineral Balance: This is another one a lot of people don’t think about a lot. We may mutter something about “electrolytes’ after a hard workout or a lot of time in the sun but our bodies need both macro (think calcium, magnesium or Sodium) and micro (think Iron, Zinc, Selenium) minerals to perform many different functions in the body.
- Hydration: Did you know that something like 70% of people walk around dehydrated? Ooof, yeah, that’s a lot. Water is very important – I’ve even heard some people say THE MOST IMPORTANT nutrient we need as humans. Our bodies are ~60% water after all. Proper Hydration ensures our cells and tissues have what they need to function optimally.
All of these things are interrelated so when one is out of balance it will affect the other areas. However, when we work within the framework that these foundations give us, (along with other lifestyle adjustments) we can find a path to great health for each of us. Each of our journeys is going to look a little different and that’s the beauty of our bio-individuality.
Source: Nutritional Therapy Association “Foundations of Health”
Allison Challisis a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. She has been studying nutrition for the last 10 years as she tried to figure out the root cause of her chronic migraines and exhaustion. She decided to go back to school for her NTP certificate in 2017. When she isn’t giving out nutrition advice (sometimes unsolicited) or studying nutrition science, you can find her exploring the mountains with her partner and dog, doing yoga, or cooking up some yummy food in the kitchen.
