Your Relationship With Food – the Starting Point
Eating food is a complex subject as it is both a necessity to live but also a social, sometimes emotional, event. No party or get together is complete without traditional celebratory foods. Think Super Bowl and wings, Thanksgiving turkey and Mom’s Sunday lasagna.
When we’re trying to lose weight, all we can think about is calories and what we’re missing…..how much to eat, how many calories to cut, free calorie foods…… Hearing the words, “improve your nutrition” conjures feelings of dread as we think of deprivation and craving forbidden foods.
We NEED to eat better but we WANT to eat delicious food; it’s in our nature and we should consider it natural. After all, we have multiple taste buds for different flavors and we’ve perfected making food that caters to those tastes.
Let’s explore desire. If we desire to recover from stroke, then food can become a desirable tool to achieve that desirable end. It isn’t about lowering calories or denying the pleasure of eating. Instead, we seek delicious foods that pack a wallop of nutrition in every bite to give us recovery from the inside out.
Junk food isn’t going to get you the best bang for your buck but you can trade nutrient barren foods for other crave worthy foods and still nurture your body. You can even find healthier versions of your favorite snack foods. Imagine the day you crave stuffed naan or indulge in dark chocolate gelato without guilt because you’re adding nutrients to your body.
Food is a daily choice. An all day choice. Everything that goes in our gut, goes into our cells. It’s the fuel we’ve given to our body to run the engine. If you want a fine tuned, well oiled machine…..give it premium grade fuel. When your body is compromised, it’s essential to give it amazing fuel to fight inflammation, give your body energy and optimize the health of your cells as you build new ones.
How To Make Simple Changes That Last
Here’s how it all comes together…..curcurmin is a powerful anti-inflammatory herb; apigenin stimulates neuronal growth, omega 3 fats feed the brain, theanine promotes neurogenesis. Enjoy a meal of Indian palak paneer, garlic naan stuffed with chopped spices washed down with a creamy blended drink of Chai tea and coconut milk and you’ve nourished your body with all the above nutrients, feeding your brain and giving your body nutrient packed nutrition without sacrificing flavor. Imagine guiltlessly eating ginger and Manuka honey glazed salmon, sweet potatoes roasted with avocado oil, black pepper and cinnamon and spinach salad with quinoa, wild blueberries and pomegranate seeds drizzled with a chia seed lemon dressing for dinner knowing you’re doing your body and your taste buds a favor. Snack time, licorice candy or dark chocolate covered goji berries and you’re still winning.
Ideal Food Choices
We are big advocates of feeding your body through actual food. Pharmacology can concoct substitutes in the lab but nothing beats the real thing. Avoidance of chemicals and additives is important as they build up in the body and cause toxicity. Since we want to give our body only the best fuel, eating anything processed or chemically created is equivalent to putting sugar in the gas tank. Let’s talk about quality and “healthy” terminology.
Organic foods have an advantage on non organic as they keep chemicals and additives off their ingredient list. Organic is a humane and sustainable way to farm animals and our waters but it also means your meat, dairy and fish will be cleaner. Free range means they aren’t kept in coops or pens. Organic or not, if an animal is kept in cramped conditions, farmed water tanks or overcrowded pens it will stress the animal. Stressed animals in dirty environments produce cortisol and have compromised immune systems which affect the quality and nutrient content of the meat. Grass fed means the animals are not fattened up with wheat and corn. Grass fed milk tends to produce a better, higher nutrient meat and is passed on to the dairy. Pasture raised means the animals were allowed to graze naturally in open field and eat grass. Pasture raised chickens eat bugs and other grassy inhabitants as intended. Their well rounded diet makes delicious meat and nutritious eggs. Another reason pasture raised and grass fed has become important is that wheat and corn, often used in winter months as feed, can be infected with a mold pathogen that isn’t killed with heat. This pathogen passes through the feed into the meat, dairy and eggs of the animal that ingested it. When you eat the animal products, you become a carrier of this pathogen which is known by the World Health Organization as a cancer causing carcinogen.
Many farmers are prohibited from calling their products “organic” because of the expense involved with getting the license. They may call it “organically grown”. While this isn’t a bad thing and allows more access to fresh organic foods, be sure that the farm is not affected by high traffic pollution, overspray from other fields, contaminated pastures or drinking water or pesticides sprayed aerially for mosquito control.
How You Eat Is As Important As What You Eat
The quality of food isn’t the only important consideration. How you cook it is just as important. Fried foods should be once in a long time. Frying changes the composition of the oil. Olive oil has a low heat threshold and using it for frying causes it to become carcinogenic. Seed oils are not good for frying for the same reason. High heat oils should be used judiciously. Corn oil and soybean oil are not balanced fats and have too much saturated fat to be used often. Coconut oil, red palm oil, canola oil, avocado oil and organic grass fed ghee are good choices for frying. Sesame seed oil, walnut oil and olive oil have excellent flavor properties and should be used in dressings and drizzling on food.
Grilling or smoking foods brings in another carcinogenic factor and should be eaten sparingly. Like once or twice a year. They can really damage the lining of your stomach and affect the entire balance of your gut’s flora.
While we are not against supplements (we have an entire section dedicated to them), we still favor getting nutrition from food first. Eating the plant is much more beneficial than dried powder forms of it. It only take one glass of freshly squeezed lemonade sweetened with raw honey to meet your body’s required daily intake of vitamin C and a boost of antibacterial nutrient. We don’t need to eat huge portions, juice endless bags of carrots or consume dozens of food choices each day to get our nutrition through food.
In The End, It’s All About You
You are the only one to benefit from dietary improvement. Whether it be diabetes, cholesterol or GERD, it is YOUR health that benefits from YOUR changes. It requires commitment and creativity to find a way of eating that supports your recovery. You have to be prepared to embark on your own as it’s a personal decision and a personal benefit. It takes time for good nutrition to change your body’s cellular composition and it must be consistent to keep you at that level.
The links below give you a glimpse of what nutrients in food can do for you. Then, head over to the Products page for recipe book recommendations that will kickstart your new way of eating. We are particularly enthusiastic about the books from Julie Morris as she gives plain English explanation on why you should eat nootropic and adaptogen foods, educates you on the value of them in your meals and the recipes are great for the whole family to eat. Julie also has her own webpage with some free recipes to give you a head start.
Impact of diet on adult hippocampal neurogenesis
High Fat Diet Reduces Brain DHA Levels
The Neuroprotective Properties of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Apigenin Appears to Stimulate Neuronal Cell Generation
The Relation of Theanine, an amino acid in tea leaves, and Neurogenesis
Neuronal Protection of Curcurmin
Changing Gut Bacteria Through Diet Affects Brain Function
Licorice Root May Protect Brain Cells
Getting Forgetful? Blueberries May Hold the Key
NeuroProtective Mechanisms of Lyceum Barbarum (Goji Berries)
Efficacy of Piperine (Black Pepper) in Hyperlipidemic Rats
Why Beans can Boost Your Brain Power
Pigmented Potato Consumption Reduces Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Damage in Men
Intermittent Fasting Attenuates Increases in Neurogenesis after Ischemia
Algal-Oil Capsules and Cooked Salmon – Nutritional Equivalent Sources of Docosahexaenoic Acid
12 Proven Benefits of Pomegranate
Phytochemicals as Nutraceuticals
Chia Seeds Pack Nutritional Punch
5 Impressive Health Benefits of Acai Berries
15 Brain Foods That May Help Preserve Your Memory (protein rich sources)
41 Sneaky Ways to Add Protein Powder into Every Meal
This page is intended as an informational guide. The remedies, approaches and techniques described herein are meant to supplement, not be a substitute for, professional medical care or treatment. They should not be used to treat a serious ailment without prior consultation with a qualified health care professional.