There is no one-size-fits-all approach to diet. With this being said, there are a number of broad principles that are supported by a significant amount of scientific research.
The Food Matters 10 Nutritional Principles
1. Eat as Nature Intended Nature didn’t create you to eat ready-made meals with artificial preservatives and chemicals. Our ancestors and forefathers have always lived in symbiosis with nature and man has been geared toward natural food. It’s simple; eat more ‘living’ food and eat less ‘dead’ food! We generally recommend plenty of vegetables and fruits (all in a wide range of colors and preferably in-season with low food mileage from farm to table), herbs, seaweeds, mushrooms, sprouted nuts and seeds, and cultured vegetables. 2. Choose Organic... Where Possible Organic fruit and vegetables contain more vitamins and minerals than their non-organic counterparts, particularly if they are picked ripe and locally grown. Moreover, they are safer to eat as they are grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms, all of which have been proven to have harmful effects on our reproductive health and hormones, as well as overloading the liver.
3. Invest In a Juicer or Blender A juicer or blender is your best friend in the kitchen. By introducing more fruit and vegetables into your diet, you will automatically be crowding out those foods that harm your body. Let’s say you come home from work and you are feeling hungry and lethargic. You normally reach for a packet of chips, but why not instead opt for a quick juice or smoothie loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and enzymes? We call it an instant meal! This is what our cells are crying out for.
4. Limit Your Intake of Gluten-Containing Grains Gluten is a protein found in many grains, namely wheat, rye, barley, triticale, and contaminated oats. Coeliac Disease and gluten intolerance are becoming more prevalent and even those not diagnosed with gluten sensitivity may find that reducing their intake of gluten-containing grains is beneficial. Gluten irritates and damages the intestinal lining and causes inflammation, immune reactions, and contributes to increased intestinal permeability, commonly referred to as ‘leaky gut’. Traditional preparation of these grains, i.e. soaking them for at least 12 hours and sourdough leavening, make these food items easier to digest for those who have trouble with them, but they still contain gluten.
5. Stay Away from Processed Sugary Products Too much sugar or other refined ‘simple’ carbohydrates can lead to blood sugar highs and lows, causing mood swings and food cravings, if not balanced by fats and proteins. Consuming large amounts of added sweeteners is associated with a greater risk of fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Opt for foods that naturally have a lower Glycemic Load or have a Low Glycemic Index (Low GI). If you are going to eat sugar and carbohydrate-rich foods, it’s best to combine them with healthy fats to steady the uptake of glucose into the bloodstream. Avoid sweetened packaged foods, particularly those sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), corn and glucose syrups, and artificial sweeteners.
6. Eat Good Fats People who are trying to lose weight often try to keep their fat and cholesterol intake to a minimum. The reason behind this is that fat contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates and proteins. However, good fats and cholesterol are essential for the absorption of most nutrients and the production of hormones. Thus, it’s important not to avoid them. Here at Food Matters, we believe in counting nutrients, not calories! Enjoy the healthy saturated fats (not evil as they’ve been made out to be, but in fact anti-aging) found in coconut oil, wild-caught fish, organic dairy and grass-fed meats, and monounsaturated fats like those found in extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil, macadamia nuts, and avocados. Make sure you steer clear of the oxidized, free-radical-creating trans fats (found in margarine spreads, cookies, chips) and refined, processed vegetable oils containing safflower, sunflower, and canola oil.
7. Be Smart in the Kitchen Prepare your meals with care. Ditch the microwave. Eat more raw foods. Don’t fry too hot - it’s best to sauté in heat-stable coconut oil, ghee, or butter on a low to medium heat. Turn the temperature down: Get an old-fashioned cast iron pot and learn how to slow-cook!
8. Look for Ethical & Sustainable Sources When buying eggs, dairy, and meat, it is super important to know where your food comes from. Toxins and chemicals are mostly stored within fat cells, so organically grown and raised is best. With organic and free-range animal products, it is reassuring to know that no antibiotics were used, no GMO feed was given, no growth hormones were injected, and the animals were raised naturally. Get confident with asking your food supplier questions.
9. Avoid Food Additives Read the labels! Chemical food additives can wreak havoc on our hormones. In general, avoid E-numbers and be particularly careful with the flavor enhancer MSG, that tricks our brain into thinking we need to overeat. MSG is disguised under the following names: E621, monosodium glutamate, glutamic acid, hydrolyzed vegetable oil, yeast extract, and mono-calcium glutamate and is often found in ready-made soups, chips, sauces, and cookies. As a general rule: if you can’t pronounce it or it’s listed in numbers and code, don’t eat it!
10. Eat in a Relaxed State Our stomach and digestive systems are very sensitive. Rushing your meal and eating on the run will put your body in a state of fight or flight, which in turn will compromise or even halt your digestive processes and the uptake of nutrients. What we don’t digest can turn into bacterial fermentation, bloating, or worst of all, can be stored for later. Make sure to relax while you’re eating (and that doesn’t mean eating in front of the TV).
Additional Note on Sugar
In the Western world, our food system has an abundance of added sugar. It’s added to usual suspects like soft drinks, fruit beverages, flavored yogurts, cereals, cookies, cakes, and candy. It’s also found in less expected places like spice mixes, tinned beans or vegetables, bread, and sauces.
This excessive consumption of refined sugar has widespread effects on the body. The consumption of added sugars has been implicated in an increased risk of a variety of chronic diseases including obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), as well as cognitive decline and even some cancers.
In fact, it’s estimated that refined sugar may be linked to as many as 200,000 deaths worldwide each year from diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer combined.
When consumed, refined sugar significantly alters the brain structure, in a way that is similar to amphetamine, cocaine, and nicotine. Regular sugar intake can impair the brain’s ability to heal after trauma and also inhibit memory formation and retention. Long term, excess sugar consumption can also shorten the telomeres, accelerating the aging process. Telomeres are like the plastic tips on the end of your shoelaces, except at the end of your DNA strands, which protects them from an early death.
The good news is that studies show that when sugar is removed from the diet, biomarkers of inflammation decrease markedly, and blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels improve. The risk of Type 2 Diabetes even drops by nearly 25%.
WHAT SUGAR DOES TO THE BODY & BRAIN
In a healthy diet, the production of glucose tells your brain to produce insulin, which helps your body regulate blood sugar and also interacts with other hormones to help you feel satiated.