Nutrition, what do you think?

"Man does not die-he commits slow suicide with his unnatural habits of living. Your body is the most gloriously accurate instrument of this universe. Given the correct fuel, pure air, exercise, and keeping it internally clean, your body will last indefinitely and function perfectly." Paul Bragg

Powerful statement if you ask me and the debate is how to do this, how to fuel our bodies properly, etc. Well I believe one way we can do so is through the elimination of sugar. (Now, I am not talking fruit because I believe and I have numerous sources that agree with me that fruit is an essential part of any and every diet. The key is it needs to be organic and all natural). This is no easy task as sugar and hidden sugars which are usually contained in code on the nutritional ingredients portion of food labels are everywhere. Awareness and taking the time to read a label and ask yourself this question, if I am not sure what the ingredient is, then I should hold off, do a quick google search on it at home and learn exactly what I am putting into my body as fuel.

Here is another great point as mentioned in Never Be Fat Again by Raymond Francis..."Overweight individuals often cut down on the amount of food they eat without changing the types of foods they eat. That is a recipe for failure. Calorie reduction without nutrient addition is counterproductive because that approach typically increases malnourishment (deficiency) and encourages food cravings. If you want to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight you must consume foods with high amount of nutrition per calorie. Make your calories count rather than count your calories."

There are 4 particular books whose philosophies support mine. These are not diets, these are lifestyle based philosophies
*Warrior Diet (philosophical approach to eating for maximum health)
*Nourishing Traditions (information of how and what to include in your health plan)
*Omnivores Dilemma (discusses how food is prepared, grown, etc. thought provoking)
*Never Be Sick Again & Never Be Fat Again (discusses how we get sick and fat and how to overcome)

I am certain I will find more as I come across them but all of these books touch on many of the same premises, which I believe and follow.

*How your food is raised and prepared from the conception to consumption is integral to the health and nourishing value of the food. I like to look at it as an investment. When investing we want to make sure that their is a high Return on our Investment, otherwise known as ROI. This to me is a basic idea of life, one in which we should use daily in all our actions.

*Sugar, processed oils, & white flour are enemies to the health of our body and minds in fact providing limited to no ROI and are therefore a poor source of fuel. Put it this way, you will get little to no gas mileage for your car out of these fuels. Elimination of these foods takes a due diligent approach to understand where your food came from and what it is made up of. You will have to learn how it was prepared. Learn how to read a label and do not be fooled by the clever marketing used by food companies.

*Expanding on the prior points, eat your fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, grains. The should be Fresh, whole, unprocessed, organic and in some cases raw. Note: each of the authors has differing views on raw, what should be raw and what should be cooked for the best absorption of nutrients.

*Animal proteins (to an extent and this depends on which books each has differing views). Personally, I am not a vegetarian, vegan, etc. I believe animal proteins do provide essential nutrients and in a form that cannot be matched in any other way. However, I do make sure that these foods are raised properly, all natural, organic, wild, grass feed, deep water, etc. (depends on food). Again, this is a key aspect to make sure you are getting your ROI.

I am going to stop here for the time being, much of this is still in development for me as I take all this information and 'wisdom' with a grain of salt. I like to look at things in a logical and scientific manner but with a realistic approach. There is more to nutrition for most and health for that matter than just eat this or that. There is a deep philosophical believe system and many emotions wrapped around how we life our lives. So, all this must be ingested and digested in time and through a healthy conversation.

I do believe that illness, weight gain, and unhealthy bodies/minds begin at a cellular level and much of this is indeed due to deficiency and toxicity that comes from nutrition and beyond.

I hope this is a thought provoking piece that gets you more involved and aware about what you do. If you want to talk with me please feel free to call or email, I love a good healthy discussion :-)