Dissolving Conventional Wisdom | Driving Issues in Complicated Wellness
April 24, 2021 - Just a handful of the things that drive me nuts in nutrition and some confusion I need to clear up
Each week I sit down to consolidate my ideas, my interests, intrigues, passions and pursuits. I sit down and think “what do I want to share this week, what can I teach, and how can I help spark a creative debate while informing, educating, and empowering my readers to live their best lives possible. That’s the goal. 🏆
If I can’t do that, then I might as well give up. But if I can, then that's a win.
And today is no different.
What I say today may shock you, may surprise you, and honestly.. some people might hate me for saying this.. some people would probably scream and shout at me from my own professional position for making these claims. And that’s okay.
I’m not here to please anyone, I’m here to speak up, speak out, and step into all the many wonderful ways in which I can help people in health and wellness. 💪
And with all that being said, I want you to know I’m not a doctor - but FYI you are your own best doctor.
Know Thyself - as they always say. You, learning to know YOU is always best.
No one else can live your life, make your decisions or fully understand your experience as much as you. Period. 💯
And if you would, please do me a favor and share this newsletter with a friend, or three that you can think of right now… yup, right now ;) that you can send this newsletter to to be a part of our shared and collaborative approach to healing one another with holistic health, education and empowerment 📚 💪 🌱 ❤️
Thank you!
Food is Medicine
Food as Medicine
Food is Medicine
Food as Medicine
And since every person is unique, no two people think the same, believe the same, behave the same or eat the same and obviously they are not the same.
Therefore, no two diets will work the same way.
So why do we always tell people to eat the same way?
You wouldn’t tell a monkey, a chipmunk, and a zebra to eat the same… so why do we think all humans should eat the same? It’s preposterous.
It’s honestly absurd and ignorant at best. We simply don’t know as much as what we think we do. And as we continue to be driven to an endless insatiable reductionism, nutritionism and perfectionism.
Problem is, most food comments of our time in the US have been designed by skinny white guys. Overlook the crude and brutal truth here, but it’s just that. US dietary guidelines have historically neglected indigenous cultures, or the vast discrepancies of every nuanced ethnic / cultural immigrant population.
And how could they account for such depths of discussion for the great diversities of beautiful peoples we house under our nation’s name? That task would seemingly be impossible, in my opinion.
Sadly, the guidance that is given is largely biased, politicized, and paid for by powerful (and I mean powerful) lobbyists striving to sway a vote for _____ food and _____ diets.
Books by Marion Nestle on this topic
Food Politics, How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health
Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat - Marion Nestle
Through the many iterations of the dietary guidelines, non have proved successful to do anything to help out obesity epidemic, diabetes soaring off the charts in all ages and population groups or even scratch the surface with respect to childhood obesity and the scary realities for rising rates for fatty liver disease, depression, anxiety, and rates of suicide among our nation’s youth. 📈
Obviously, we can do better - and we should be doing better.
Does it really take a leap of intuition for us to realize that there’s something more?
Is it really that impossible for us to consider personalized plates, as part of personalized medicine ? Can we not consider that someone of Asian descent would do better with sea vegetables or fresh seafood than someone from a more mainland country such as Russia or middle of Columbia, much more traditionally attuned to robust crops, non-starchy vegetables, and root, tubers, beans, etc. ????
Problem is, most food comments of our time in the US have been designed by skinny white guys.
Should someone from Mexico be expected to eat the same as someone from Canada? Would the same diet impact them the exact same way? Likely not, generally speaking. And also just as important to consider is “as compared to what?” 🌎
What are they used to eating, what were they eating? How old are they, what’s their gut status, their brain status, and their sensitivity status with respect to dopamine, insulin, and heck, let’s go ahead and discuss their gut-microbiome status to figure out if they can digest certain foods better or worse.
There’s an infinite number of variables I could name off as of important considerations when considering a specifically tailored nutrition plan for someone, but I won’t do that here. Why? Because, by and large it is pointless.
Nutrition science has some credibility to show us general themes and patterns, but it does nothing to address the root cause of disease, empower people’s decision making, or change their increasingly chaotic and stressful environments to be any more safe, secure, trustworthy or healthy by design - for them to take the path of least resistance while knowing it is also the healthiest, easiest, most efficient and effective path forward.
But instead, we have lines of junk food lined shelves at the grocery - especially near the vulnerable instant-purchase checkouts - and be on the lookout for your kids at the register, because we both know the companies didn’t place those candy bars at an adult’s knee level, no… they placed them at a child’s eye level within a short arm-lengths away. Where’s the safety or protection in place for that?
How is that easier for a parent or guardian?
Talk about a return on investment! The grocery would sell more real food and not have to waste as much in the process. Plus, consumers would be able to not miss out on the chance to purchase a beautifully colorful basketful of fresh fruits and vegetables. We don’t need all the neon colored candies near the checkout aisle, instead we need colorful produce.
“Taste the rainbow” 🌈 should take on a whole new definition in the checkout lane.
How’s the Pancreas doing ? 🍭
- you know, the organ system that helps secrete insulin that greatly impacts blood glucose balance and stabilization as well as pancreatic enzymes to help digest foods?
How ‘bout them Kidneys ? 🩸
- you know, the organ system largely focused on blood filtering, removing toxins and excreting excess of minerals, proteins, glucose and more.
How are your Gut Bugs this week ? 🦠
- you know those millions of bacteria, fungus, and other living organisms that live inside, outside and within every ounce of your person that largely dictate how you will digest food, respond to environmental pathogens, decide your immune system response, and support every ounce of your health?
It’s too bad we don’t ask worthy questions like these more often. It’s too bad we simply point fingers and tell people to “eat less, move more.” And if you’re new to my work, then you need to know it’s not all about “calories in = calories out.”
Surprise, surprise - but a calorie is not a calorie like you probably thought it - and maybe were taught it was.
All of these systems of our biology are unique to the individual, and often change throughout our years of life, if not every week, changing like the water of an ever- flowing river of water.
No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man. - Heraclitus
I wonder what our ancestors would think of our food and diet culture today, and our relationship with nature. 🤔
They knew sooooooo much more than what we give them credit for - in medicine, wisdom, movement, mindfulness, and in planetary health as well.
Their genetics have listened and learned over generation to generation to be really good at culturally and geographically relevant foods and environmental cues of that region, yet if someone from Canada and someone from Mexico meet in the US, they will both be faced with the same old, dry, sterile dietary guidelines while every street corner and food swamp main-drag highway is lined with junk foods, fast-food that looks nothing like the foods their ancestors used to eat not so many years ago.
Real Food is Good Food.
Diet dogma is stupid. Diet dogma fails to provide a personalized approach to dietary suggestions as unique and specialized model medicine.
Just like in the animal kingdom, different animals eat different food.
We wouldn’t expect giraffes and hippopotamus to eat the same, would we?
💦 🦛 💨
🌴🦒💨
One has a long neck that can reach to tree tops, while the other one spends a lot of time in water and mud, with a giant jaw and head that hangs much closer to the ground. Are they expected to consume the same food too?
We humans, we think we’re so funny.. so smart… telling everybody to eat the same…
Some people can eat beans, some people don’t do so well eating beans, developing more gas, pain, and digestive issues. Is it their fault? NO.
We all have unique organ systems, intestinal health variances, different genetics, different ancestral eating practices that designed your current genetics and epigenetic susceptibility, and so much more. Not every person responds the same way to the same food, the same ingredients, or the same environments of eating.
#foodallergies amirite?? 🤧
Jump in our community Facebook page or leave a comment below to tell your story about food allergies or any food intolerances you might have?!
What you eat today may impact you differently tomorrow as well. Yes, there’s so many variables that impact your healthy digestion and absorption that it’s true - what you eat today may not end up being the same way you eat the food tomorrow.
Between different levels of stress, hydration, body temp, sleep, number of bites for chewing, movement before or after mealtime and the timing of the meal itself there’s just so many variables to consider. To simply say a + b = c would neglect the rest of the entire alphabet in the English language, as well as every other language that spans this earth and all of its people. 🗺
We need open dialogue to continue to provide the best care, and the best food as medicine approaches going forward. 👏
We need more culturally inclusive, and intentionally diverse forms of communication, presentation, and celebrations for health promoting indigenous eating styles. 🌱
I encourage you this week to take a step back from any forms of diet dogma and take a step closer to knowing yourself, listening to your body and finding general themes that make sense for you.
If it works, it works. If your health improves and you feel better. GREAT. 👍
Write that crap down so you know what you did, how you felt and why it worked.
If it matches your values, your goals, and your particular place in this world, then you might well be doing better than most of us others’ grinding away trying to follow this diet or that diet while we battle against shame, guilt, binge and restrict as we navigate the overly complicated world of wellness around food and nutrition. 🥘
Every person is unique. Every person may need slightly different nutrition recommendations - or even major differences - based on his or her specific needs.
Nutrition science provides us with good themes to stick to when we think about what and how and when we eat. But the indiscriminate details, well those are best left discovered and left intuitively up to us. And that’s actually a good thing if we take the time and attention to learn more about our bodies, learn more about food, and how to live our best lives together. 🤝
And with all that being said, I want to thank you for being one of the amazing readers of this Newsletter, because I know you’re here doing just that, striving to learn and learn to adapt as only you can. I commend you, and celebrate you today and genuinely appreciate your readership. 📖 🤓
If you think of anyone you know who would benefit from this news, or who came across your mind while reading through, please send it to them and check in on how they are doing while you’re at it.
Every new season brings new delight and new challenges. This is the ebb and flow of life and our values will continue to be our guiding compass leading our steps forward.
We Zig and We Zag, as we learn to adapt.