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Dear Friend,
I wanted to share with you what I've been busy with! This is good stuff. Good for me and my family, good for whoever reads this blog, and good for my future clients and students iyH. I’m taking a course in holistic nutrition from Nutritional Therapy Association. I am learning so much. Squeezing my brain cells to wake up and retain tons of useful information. But the main thing is action!
So on that note I wanted to share with you what I've learned about the six foundations of health according to the NTA.
So the first foundation is: Nutrient Dense Food: Less important than counting calories, believe it or not, is what those calories consist of. If we fill up on convenience food, we have no room for the nutrients that keep us vitalized! And even food we deem healthy may not be as nutritious as we think. Putting joy and love into our food preparation includes deciding what to buy and from where. Currently, processed foods account for about 60% of the American diet, almost 1200 calories a day. (culinary wellness, pt. 1) Eating boxed, prepared food whose creators don’t have your health’s best interest in mind, while hurriedly sitting down alone, checking phones or watching videos, can never replace relationship-based meals, where we sit together and enjoy homemade delicious food, sans the screens. Real food is not industrial or processed or artificial. “The Real Food approach is an ethical and conscientious omnivorous approach to eating that recognizes the power and pleasure of cooking traditional, whole foods from scratch. Real food includes dairy, meat and eggs, fish and fowl, fruits and vegetables, grains and pulses, nuts and seeds and plenty of healthy fats,” (Culinary Wellness Student guide). Being aware of the proper macronutrients (fats, proteins and carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) needed for our bodies to be structured and to function ideally helps us make the best choices for our food.
The next foundation is Digestion:
Hippocrates said, “All disease begins in the gut.” Our bodies need nutrients to function properly and to have the proper structure, and digestion must be working properly to get those nutrients in, absorbed and assimilated. Every cell in the body depends on the digestive system to provide it with its specific nutrients. Dysfunction in digestion therefore is at the root of almost any health problem. Actual common digestive problems include GERD, diarrhea, bloating, gas, gastritis, constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, crohn’s, gallstones, and IBS. Other conditions are also impacted by digestive dysfunction like allergies, autoimmune diseases, endocrine disorders, anxiety and depression, and even cardiovascular disease.
Unfortunately, using medication and even over-the-counter drugs to combat digestive distress causes a host of other problems like kidney disease, bone fractures, stomach cancer and liver disease.
So best to work really intently on perfecting our digestive system’s work. And best to begin all the way at the top and then work your way down: Fascinatingly, digestion begins in the brain, even before tasting the food. Proper environment, intention and state of mind is the beginning.
And another thing: Proper digestion relies on a healthy microbiome--all that living bacteria in the gut needs to be balanced.
The next foundation I’ve learned about is: Blood Sugar Regulation. This is a super integral foundation of health. It affects so much: energy production, the health of every organ and blood vessel, hormonal balance, and cognitive function and mood. Its dysregulation can impact overall health in extreme ways and lead to oxidative stress and glycation (which makes diabetes and other diseases more complex).
The body needs to have a certain amount of glucose in the bloodstream at all times. Too much or too little is dangerous. So the systems in place release hormones of insulin and glucagon to balance it out, to help raise and lower the levels as needed before and after meals. When constantly overconsuming refined sugars and carbohydrates, the body’s blood sugar regulation is super taxed and the trouble begins. There are five stages of dysglycemia, or an abnormality in blood sugar stability, starting with compromised blood sugar regulation and ending with type two diabetes. Some symptoms that blood sugar regulation could be compromised are increased cravings for sugar and white flour, increased hunger and reduced satiation, weight gain and blood pressure increase. Further signs could be anxiety, fatigue, irregular heartbeat and memory issues. Things get worse till full blown diabetes can develop. Nowadays, the amount of sugar consumed per individual is staggering. The average American consumes 179 pounds of sugar a year (and some consume less, which means that some consume way more than that). This does not bode well for our health!
Thank G-d we can reset, rebalance, revitalize and regulate our body, guiding it into a healthy and balanced state. A hint how to get there: with nutrient dense and properly prepared meals, increased exercise, and dealing with challenges without stress.
The next foundation important to talk about is that healthy fatty acids are crucial to your health. The world spent many years vilifying fats and now it’s time to clear their name! But only the good fats! Fats have a number of roles to play in every body. They provide a source of energy, act as a building block for cell membranes and hormones, aid absorption of fat soluble vitamins A,D,E and K, help proteins get used properly, make up part of the protective lining for organs in the body, slow the absorption of food and thus regulate the body’s energy, increase the feelings of fullness, and make food taste good!
If that’s not enough to convince you, let me tell you the flipside, what could happen if someone were to have a fatty acid deficiency: the person could have musculoskeletal issues, endocrine issues, cardiovascular issues, immune issues, allergies and skin problems, and depression and anxiety. Wow! So don’t be afraid of fat! Learning the ins and outs of fats is a long and fascinating lesson.
Which fats should we not be consuming? Trans fats! They are very toxic, and that’s finally been acknowledged. So all margarine, butter substitutes, shortening and anything hydrogenated are to be avoided at all costs. Also, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but regular commercially made oils like soybean, canola, and vegetable should all be outlawed. Those are industrially processed using high heat and chemical solvents. Those are polyunsaturated fats, which go rancid if heated, and heat was used in their creation so they are non nutritive to begin with, and then further worsened when they are deodorized with stripping agents. So there is no smell or evidence of their rancidity.
Which fats should we be consuming? Natural, organic, cold pressed, unaltered fats are the best. Things like butter, extra virgin olive oil, shmaltz (from organic chicken), and some cold pressed oils like flax or sesame. So enjoy your food much more now, but with the right delicious, healthy fats.
Mineral Balance is another nutritional foundation. Although minerals only comprise 4% of a person’s body, they are essential to our health. The body cannot create them on its own and relies on consuming them from food sources. We need minerals for functions like activating enzymes (magnesium and zinc), allowing the transfer of nutrients across cell membranes (sodium and potassium), maintaining nerve conduction (calcium and magnesium), contracting and relaxing muscles (calcium and magnesium), and regulating tissue growth (iodine). Altogether there are 18 essential macro and micro minerals. Each one, even if only needed in tiny amounts, is crucial for the body to do its work. And what’s ultra interesting is that they intertwine and depend on each other. Popping random supplements of one or the other doesn’t cut it. Our body is so magical. And the food G-d created is magical. So together, eating properly prepared wholesome food should give you the balance you need. Taking supplements can be helpful at certain times, especially because our soil is depleted and often even healthy food is lacking. But be careful, and learn more about supplements. One example is calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body. It actually may be not helpful to take it as a supplement and in fact may be detrimental. When adding too much through supplements, this mineral can be deposited in the wrong places. The fact is most Americans get enough calcium in their diet. The problem is not the amount of calcium. The problem is that in order for the body to be able to utilize the calcium it needs certain conditions. The key lies in correcting those conditions. Without listing all the conditions, I'll give a shout out to vitamin D from the sun, and a good working digestive system that provides enough of an acid environment to absorb and utilize calcium.
The final foundation of good health I'd love to share with you is as simple as it is powerful: Adequate hydration. Although overhydration can happen, it is usually dehydration that occurs. Surprisingly, you’d think we all know to drink enough water, with the abundance of water bottles all around, and water sources, and tons of drinks in all grocery stores. The fact is that many Americans are living in a state of chronic dehydration. To name a few functions of being properly hydrated, there is transporting nutrients, cushioning bones and joints, regulating body temperature, removing wastes, flushing toxins, enabling the digestive process, and empowering the body’s natural healing process. On the flip side, not drinking enough liquid can account for constant fatigue, dry mouth, muscle cramps, anxiety, headaches, inability to concentrate, and if it gets worse, chronic conditions like heartburn, joint pain, back pain, constipation, colitis, and exercise asthma. So the point is to drink enough, but also to be aware of the best ways of drinking like adding electrolytes to the water, choosing the purest kind of water, and calculating how much is best to drink based on your body weight and the nutrition content of your other food.
Now you see a glimpse of what I've been busy learning. Without getting too obsessed over food and health, it is still a great idea to be mindful of these foundations, as we only have one life, and we want it to be a vibrant and glowing one.
Wishing you all a healthy, happy, and wholesome year in gashmiyus and ruchniyus, filled with Torah, good deeds, abundance, nachas, and shalom.
Nechama Dina Smith
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