Being mindful of food choices can have a significant impact on your own and your family's health or disease. Poor quality or nutrient deficient food can cause disease, whereas foods with the right kinds of nutrients can help to heal and reverse chronic disease.
The above seems ovewhelming especially when taking care of a large household!
So what is the #1 nutrition rule we can begin to follow to make this easier? Where is a good place to start?
It's pretty straight forward!
When you are food shopping or choosing something to eat, ask yourself... Did mother nature make this or did humans or a factory make it?
... and then make sure your shopping cart is mostly filled with things MOTHER NATURE MADE. Make this a rule, make this a tiny habit,
and watch yourself BOOST YOUR HEALTH & THAT OF YOUR FAMILY!
Did mother nature make coke? No
Did mother nature make natural water? Yes
Did mother nature make hamburgers? No
Did mother nature make stawberries? Yes
Did mother nature make eggs? Yes
Did mother nature make avocados? Yes
Functional Medicine starts with food. Food is energy, medicine, information and connection. Eating a wide variety of high-quality, whole, and mostly plant-based foods is truly powerful medicine that improves health and prohibits the development of disease.
We can teach ourselves and our families to think about food as medicine, to choose and eat food which bring life rather than disease.
Food as energy. Calories from food are fuel for our bodies to burn whilst operating.
By providing the body with fuel of the highest quality which is nutrient rich, we ensure that our bodies are able to function optimally.
Food as information. With every meal we consume, the food we eat provides the body with information which has the ability to turn on or off genes that control disease risk, lifespan, and metabolism. With every meal we consume we have a choice to provide our body with the food our body needs to function at its best level, that is, the correct information. If the body isn’t given the right information consistently, it will eventually begin to perform poorly and a person's health will decline over time.
Food as medicine. Chronic disease is unfortunately more common than ever and this is largely due to the abundance of food which is nutrient deficient and highly processed. On the other hand, nutrient rich, unprocessed whole foods can be just the medicine the body needs to reverse many of these diseases. Nutrigenomics, the scientific study of the interaction between food and our genes is proof that we are what we eat! If we had to think of what we eat as medicine, it should make our choices simpler and in choosing the right right foods we are giving our body the correct information for optimal gene expression and health.
Food is last, but not least, connection with loved ones. Shopping for whole foods and cooking at home not only supports connection through cooking and eating together with friends or as a family but it gives us the opportunity to deliver nutrient rich food to the table which can boost your health and that of your family.
Tip of the day: Shop at the Ta' Qali Farmer's on Tuesday's & Saturday's for well priced, seasonal produce from the local farmers without plastic wrapping. WIN - WIN - WIN - WIN
In a nutshell, if we are going to start somewhere, this is a good place to start! 👊
I hope this little piece inspires you to show up as a better version of you for yourselves and your loved ones, one food shopping trip, one meal at a time!
Should you be interested in my health coaching you, get in touch here
Lisa