What Healthy Food Means to Us

As a Holistic Nutritionist, I see each person as unique, and so what is healthy for one person would not necessarily be for another! And so what 'healthy eating' is, is not actually that easy to define. (For example, tomatoes have many healthy anti-oxidant vitamins and can confer an overall benefit for most who eat them, but they are a plant in the nightshade family which can cause inflammation for some people, making it an unhealthy choice for those few)

Healthy eating is really a continuum, not some end-goal of attainment. A healthy diet can be omnivorous, vegetarian or even vegan.

That said, there are the pillars that I use to create a healthy diet that is a fit for most people and here's what I convey in my classes/workshops about that:

This seems almost overly-simple, but really, we are already going the right direction by ditching packaged food. Even if people are still using somewhat refined ingredients in their home cooking, they are likely not adding the cheap fillers, chemical additives, artificial and excess sweeteners colours etc.

The most dramatic health-benefiting action you can take right now is to seriously reduce or get rid of refined sugar! Sugar has a myriad of health consequences and is absolutely unnecessary for health. When avoiding sugar, learn where it lurks, and also avoid refined flour (cookies, pastries, white bread and yes, even most gluten-free items). Easier said than done (which is why I teach about healthier alternatives to refined sugar, baking with sprouted grains and replacing sweets), but once sugar is out, it is amazing what healing can take place! Normalizing weight, balancing blood sugar and reversing diabetes, hormone and mood regulation, reduction of pain and inflammation of all types.

Choosing foods that are wholesome, or un-refined is key to getting the most nutrients in the diet. When a food is in its 'whole package' it has the right balance of fiber, water and nutrients. When we start breaking or stripping away parts, or 'refining' the food, we get nutrient depletion, or are not able to properly assimilate the nutrients (ie: whole wheat berries into whole flour, then into white flour, we lose the fiber, most of the nutrients and are left with only the starchy endosperm, a blood-sugar-raising food with almost no nutrient value). Choose vegetables and fruits with edible peels, left intact and eaten whole, whole grains, unrefined sweeteners and even unrefined natural salt.

Nutrient-density is another way to look at 'wholesomeness' of food, and takes it another step. Choosing more foods that have high nutrient value compared to caloric values, such as choosing orange squash over white potatoes, or zucchini 'noodles' over white or even whole-wheat pasta.

Switching to brown rice from white, or munching on nuts and seeds instead of processed snacks is a great step towards healthier eating. But both science and traditional food preparation agree- some whole foods need careful preparation to become optimally digestible and nutritious! Soaking and even sprouting or fermenting nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans/legumes is an important step to stepping up your healthy eating to 'optimal', and for some people who have digestive difficulties, could be an essential step towards digestive health and nutrient absorption.

Some people thrive on more or less protein, or more or less carbohydrates, but in general , it is most important to focus on nutrient-dense foods. Filling half of your plate with vegetables, leaving the other half for protein and carbohydrate (potatoes or whole grains) is a good guideline. ( Again, I'm talking base guideline! Some people thrive on lower carbohydrate diets etc.) Fruits are best eaten on their own and are not interchangeable with vegetables. Most of us would benefit from increasing vegetables in the diet, so consider snacking on raw veggies, adding one salad dish to lunch and dinner or sipping on a vegetable soup as part of your meals. Variety is key. Eating produce seasonally and locally brings variety and more nutritious food than shipped produce.

Thankfully, gone are the days when we thought of 'low-fat' as synonymous 'healthy'! Rather than blaming fat for the enormous health problems of overweight/obesity and heart disease, we are starting to realize what important roles that fat plays (hormone balance, nervous system and cognitive functioning, vitamin absorption and more), and choosing the best quality of fats is paramount. Ditching trans-fats altogether is an important first step. Choosing to get fats from whole sources such as nuts, coconut, seeds, avocados and olives assures the fats are fresh. In their 'whole package', fats come with vitamins, minerals, fiber and often protein.

Adding a few good oil supplements (fish oils, walnut oil, flax and hemp oils) helps balance omegas 3 and 6. In the kitchen, healthy cooking fats are unrefined coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil and even butter and ghee from organic and grass-fed dairy (if you include or tolerate dairy)

Your intestinal biota, or micro-flora, is an essential aspect of your overall wellness. Bacteria cells outnumber your other body cells 10:1! Your gut bacteria being in balance is essential to the proper functioning of your body as a whole, with clear links to digestive health, absorption of nutrients, hormone balance and a properly functioning immune system. Include a variety of probiotic foods everyday, such as yogurt, or raw (un-heated) sauerkraut, kimchi, brined pickles, miso and more. A couple of serious disruptors for intestinal biota balance are: food sprayed with pesticides as well as (unnecessary) antibiotic use.

How much water you need a day depends on your activity, your body constitution, body weight and even the climate you live in! One great way to be in touch with your thirst is to start every day with a warm glass of water and a squeeze of lemon. By sticking to a wholesome diet that includes lots of fresh produce as well as homemade soups, you may find you get a lot of hydration from food. Sipping on room-temp water through the day, and herbal teas as well as avoiding the dehydrating culprits such as alcohol, excess salt, excess meat and coffee, all contribute to great hydration balance. Avoid falling for the sweet beverages, which add calories with little to no fiber or other food value. The best way to tell if you're hydrated? The colour of your urine: should be pale yellow. Dark yellow, and you need hydration asap! Clear, and you should lay off the excess water.

7) The 80/20 rule: We eat what is optimal for our healthy 80% of the time, and have free range without guilt or shame with what we do with the other 20%. This balance helps us enjoy 'treats', feel relaxed about social situations where we eat different foods than we might normally choose. It's important to attain balance, not 'perfection' (and that a fixation on 'perfection' in diet becomes an eating disorder called orthorexia , an increasingly common problem!) The stress of trying to attain 'cleanliness' or 'perfection' in what you choose to eat or refrain from eating can become its own serious health detriment! Chew thoroughly, relax and enjoy your food!

What do you think?

Are there any guiding principles that help you make healthy choices?