WELCOME TO HOLISTIC NUTRITION 101
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might be covered during a Class or Workshop
Healthy Eating 101: Retraining Your Taste Buds
Imagine this…enjoying food with less salt and sugar…without unnecessary chemical additives and preservatives…without hormones, pesticides and herbicides...honest…you can do this…it just takes time…and…If you have a will, there is “A Holistic Way” to help you succeed.
The following are general tips, suggestions and guidelines; and are not all encompassing answers or solutions to all nutrition problems. The following is not to be construed as a sure fit for everyone. This is meant to serve as a guide in your endeavor of healthier eating habits. Each person is different and should evaluate their body type and their personal situation before changing their eating habits. You know your body better than anyone, trust yourself. Take care of your body as if it were a temple or a castle. Striving for the best nutrition options helps your body, the most efficient, intricately made machine, run optimally, just like a vehicle running on optimum oil and gas.
We all have been programmed since infancy, especially in America, to think about food the way we have been taught, whether from our parents or in school or through some magazine fad diets. So we grow up believing some food pyramid scheme designed for the general population by the government, a one size fits all diet, equates to optimum nutrition. Well, that is simply ridiculous. What’s good for me may not be good for you -- You are unique. The bottom line is that you can control, for the most part, the state of your nutritional health. You can retrain your taste buds to taste and enjoy foods without excess and artificial flavorings, additives and preservatives.
There is a world of food out there just waiting to be tasted in its “whole” form. To live healthy is to eat and enjoy real, whole, living foods that are alive and filled with enzymes …processed foods are devoid of these precious living enzymes and nutrients…processed foods are dead foods, and they are slowly killing us and we are allowing them to debilitate our health and futures.
If you have a will, there is “A Holistic Way”. ©
The following are general tips, suggestions and guidelines; and are not all encompassing answers or solutions to all nutrition problems. The following is not to be construed as a sure fit for everyone. This is meant to serve as a guide in your endeavor of healthier eating habits. Each person is different and should evaluate their body type and their personal situation before changing their eating habits. You know your body better than anyone, trust yourself. Take care of your body as if it were a temple or a castle. Striving for the best nutrition options helps your body, the most efficient, intricately made machine, run optimally, just like a vehicle running on optimum oil and gas.
We all have been programmed since infancy, especially in America, to think about food the way we have been taught, whether from our parents or in school or through some magazine fad diets. So we grow up believing some food pyramid scheme designed for the general population by the government, a one size fits all diet, equates to optimum nutrition. Well, that is simply ridiculous. What’s good for me may not be good for you -- You are unique. The bottom line is that you can control, for the most part, the state of your nutritional health. You can retrain your taste buds to taste and enjoy foods without excess and artificial flavorings, additives and preservatives.
There is a world of food out there just waiting to be tasted in its “whole” form. To live healthy is to eat and enjoy real, whole, living foods that are alive and filled with enzymes …processed foods are devoid of these precious living enzymes and nutrients…processed foods are dead foods, and they are slowly killing us and we are allowing them to debilitate our health and futures.
- Water – just drink it! How much? Divide your body weight by 2 = ounces you should consume. Drinking pure water (i.e. reverse osmosis) is the single best thing you can do. Water is the ultimate aid in detoxification—you need to drink water all day long. Dehydration results in many bodily imbalances and headaches. Avoid restricting your water consumption to avoid trips to the restroom; that is very unhealthy and taxing on your system causing a back up of toxins. Instead you should drink more and eliminate more often! Water improves your skin’s complexion and reduces dark circles and wrinkles. When you drink before meals, it helps decrease your appetite.
- Coffee and caffeinated beverages and foods. By consuming more than 1-2 cups of coffee (and/or in addition to other caffeinated products) each day, the caffeine is likely exhausting your adrenal glands which leads to interference with your sleep cycle. That is why it becomes so difficult to awake from sleep feeling refreshed, and then you feel sluggish as the day goes on, which causes you to consider having more caffeinated products to keep going strong. This leads to blood sugar fluctuations and insulin resistance. Facts: Coffee and caffeine can increase hyperacidity, suppress the immune system, leading to over-stimulation of the digestive system. Caffeine interferes with a calming neurotransmitter in the brain that relaxes the digestive system, therefore affecting not only your gut, but also your brain and heart. Coffee drinking and caffeine consumption are shown to exacerbate acid reflux, heartburn and GERD in susceptible individuals. Caffeine and coffee have been shown to exacerbate irritable and inflammatory bowel conditions. Plus, did you know that coffee is the most pesticide-treated food commodity in the world? Do yourself a favor, cut down on coffee and caffeine. If you absolutely refuse to accept these facts, you should then at least consider this option: organic coffee in small amounts. Granted small amounts of (organic) coffee may contain beneficial antioxidants, but those nutrients are best consumed from other food sources. It is best to avoid all high potency caffeine drinks.
- Never diet again. When you starve your body, your metabolism slows down and that is what causes your body to store fat, it goes into survival mode. You will feel tired and irritated. Always start your day with food and hydration (water). Wake up to drinking 1-2, 8 oz. glasses of water. Keep water bedside. Some great examples for breakfast are any of the following in any combination of one or more: fresh squeezed juice or a smoothie, hard boiled eggs, whole grain cereal like rolled oats, fresh fruits, live active cultured yogurt (kefir), herbal teas, herbal coffees. Snacking throughout the day is ok when you eat any fruit or veggie and/or seeds, nuts mentioned below. Be careful when choosing snacks, especially the “snack bars” which may contain more sugars, junk and processed things than you think. Avoid salty and sugary snacks like chips and crackers and snack foods that contain hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. Lunch should be substantial in nutrients to carry you through your day and into the night. Lots of greens, grains and seeds, with small amounts of animal protein (vegetarian sources are better for you especially if you want to avoid heart disease). Avoid skipping breakfast or lunch. If you are going to skip a meal, it should be dinner. Your body doesn’t need and won’t function well with a big meal before bed. In fact, that will over tax your digestive system which is trying to rejuvenate you while you are sleeping.
- Avoid eating too many processed foods (typically in boxes and bags, wrapped in plastic or in a can or frozen). Avoid white flour products such as pasta, breads, cereals, crackers, bakery products: Their nutritional value has been robbed so that their shelf life is extended. These products are the ones that contribute to blood sugar imbalances and obesity, among other things. Almost all are made with unhealthy hydrogenated oils, a host of chemical preservatives and are then fortified or enriched with synthetic vitamins and minerals that your body cannot absorb. Empty calories, without any significant nutrient value causing digestive disorders and imbalances.
- Reduce refined sugars. Try instead stevia, organic raw honey, molasses, and pure maple syrup. There is no nutritional value to white sugar, just empty calories. It is actually cancer’s favorite food. It will age you faster because of the reactions it causes in your cells. It will rob you of important nutrients in order to be digested. As you eat more sugar your body become deplete of chromium resulting in sugar cravings that cause spikes in your blood sugar. Insulin resistance may result along with diabetes, and also create weight gain.
- Avoid any of these foods: trans fats, fried foods, vegetable and corn oils (i.e. canola and crisco), artificial sweeteners (particularly aspartame), soda and high sugar sports drinks or fruit juices (high fructose corn syrup), processed meats (lunch meats, hot dogs, etc.), irrigated or genetically modified organisms (GMO foods), chemical preservatives, artificial colorings and flavorings, particularly monosodium glutamate (MSG).
- Taste the living foods…organic, whole foods, green foods are proven to contain highest nutrient value. Grow your own and support local farmers. Eat a rainbow of colors for the best nutrient balance: yellow, green, orange, blue, purple, and red.Foods grown in non-organic soil are typically nutrient depleted, and the nutrients that exist are potentially canceled out by the loads of added pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, growth hormones and antibiotics that you cannot remove from them through washing because they are “grown in” or sprayed deeply into the skins and leaves. Compare the taste, you can tell the difference; organic has more flavor and they smell good too. Tomatoes are supposed to taste like juicy scrumptious tomatoes and strawberries are supposed taste like sweet juicy strawberries. There is nothing worse than biting into a fruit or vegetable only to find that it tastes like nothing! Fresh fruits and vegetables are living foods that contain active live enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. If you are cooking them, do so gently, so they are al dente, either by steaming or lightly stir frying with water and a tiny bit of oil (better oils to cook with are grape seed oil, coconut oil and olive oil, instead of vegetable or corn oils).
- Eat more whole grain products, nuts and seeds. Choose the whole unprocessed grains, and legumes. Don’t be afraid to try some great whole, gluten free, grains such as brown rice, rolled oats and oat bran, quinoa, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, and raw wheat germ; they are very versatile and tasty. You get necessary fiber with eating whole grains in addition to essential minerals and tend to be more filling due to the content of fiber. Diabetics: This is a more balanced source of energy that won’t result in extreme blood sugar fluctuations. Eat raw, unsalted nuts and seeds when possible. Best are: almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds. Avoid peanuts and peanut butter, unless they are organic.
- Animal protein (including dairy products). Wild catch, cold water (Pacific) seafood is best. Avoid farm raised seafood when possible. Natural, grass-fed, pesticide and hormone free, organic meats, when consumed in small amounts (4 oz. or less per serving, or no larger than the size of your fist) are acceptable as long as you are not eating meat at every meal, every day. Limit your meat consumption to 1 serving per day, or less than 3-4 servings per week. (Yes, Texans, you can do this.) Avoid fatty cuts of meat, lunch meats, burgers, sausage, bacon and especially meats from fast food restaurants. Eat organic eggs from free-range, cage-free chickens, because they do have a higher nutrient content. It goes without saying that they also taste better and are not full of toxins from pesticides, hormones and antibiotics which are found in non-organic eggs. If you consume dairy (milk, butter, cheeses, ice cream), you should be consuming organic products, and whenever possible, seek out the raw non-pasteurized and non-homogenized dairy products. FYI: The fats that we consume from animal protein are stored in our fat cells, therefore, if you are eating non-organic, the toxins in those foods are being stored in your fat cells as well. If you carry around excess body fat, you are probably carrying around lots of unwanted toxins which are likely disrupting your immune system among other things. That is why it is so important to seek out organic animal protein sources—to avoid having those toxins stored in your body.
- There are good fats and oils, and you should eat lots of them. Your body’s cells require essential fatty acids for many of its important functions and your body needs them from food sources. Seek fats from nuts and seeds such as flax seed and flax oil (omega-3 is so important / polyunsaturated), or fish oils. This saturated fat is needed for brain function, memory and fertility; reduces the risk of heart disease, and aids in reducing inflammation (i.e. arthritis). Symptoms of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency may include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation.
If you have a will, there is “A Holistic Way”. ©
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