Is this food healthy or unhealthy?
The term healthy is used so much to describe diets and nutrition plans, really what does this mean? Is this word overused? And how does that relate to you? We are all different… healthy for one may not be healthy for another. We know that nutrition plays a vital ride in nourishing the body and protecting the future.
I believe nutrition is probably the most important factor influencing people’s life span.
Approximately 80% of chronic diseases and premature death could be prevented by not smoking, being physically active, and adhering to a healthy dietary pattern.
Ok, so what do we mean by a healthy dietary pattern?
Often what we hear in the media is sensationalised, inconsistent and confusing - usually related to the latest fad, often there is an incentive to sell a product and facts are misguided & out of context. And individual reactions vary widely.
To explore this further let’s review what we mean by an unhealthy and use the obesity pandemic as a means to review this.
The obesity pandemic took off at about the same time around the globe in most high-income countries around the 70’s & 80’s - the rapid rise appeared almost concurrently across the industrialized world, this suggests a common cause - what may have been the trigger?
There are a number of theories:
Changes in our environment – yes I believe we do now live in a more toxic world, and these toxins affect our physiology. In the last 50 years alone, an estimated 5 million new chemicals have been created - 75,000 of which are in daily use and under 10% of which have been toxicity tested.
Lack of personal motivation – everyone just woke up one day decided not to bother - this is highly unlikely. The food industry seems to blame inactivity - in fact the CEO of PepsiCo said ‘if all consumers exercised, obesity wouldn’t exist. It would seem that physical activity levels is on the rise in Europe.
Genetics – may play a role, it would seem genetics accounts for between 3%-20%.
We exist in survival mode - we are born to eat. We are hardwired to seek excess consumption of calories to survive in the context of food scarcity - we are programmed with this powerful drive to eat as much as possible.
We now however live free of saber-tooth tiger and scarcity is not a problem – we use to have to work hard for our food.
The food industry exploits our innate vulnerabilities.
They take away the nutrition from our crops and just leave the calories - we see this in flour and rice, they remove the fibre. What you’re left with is Calorie Rich & Processed (CRAP acronym conceived by Jeff Novick).
Processed foods are typically ready-to-eat meals, snacks, drinks, desserts and these products generally have many ingredients, and go through many processes in manufacturing and are pack with calories and other chemicals.
These calories activate reward pathways in the brain and you just want more! These pathways overrule our innate ability to recognise and listen to internal mechanisms that help us seek foods that nourish and understand when we are hungry or full. Literally disrupting energy, brain, gut, mood and decision making. These high calories and chemicals increase the risk of chronic disease.
We use to have to make our food at home, prepare it, cook it and clean up - this takes time, commitment, love and dedication - at the same time we knew what as in the food and where it came from.
Technological advances in food preservation and packaging enabled manufactures to mass-produce and distribute food for immediate consumption, using preservatives, artificial flavours and new technology in packaging. Food companies produced ready meals, calorie rich, nutrient poor and non-perishable at huge commercial advantage.
At the same time, we had the marketing industry telling us ‘You can have it all’ – don’t spend time cooking, you’ll be happier if you eat these meals (McDonalds even calls their meals - Happy Meals). And we listened and we changed how we shop, bought, prepared and ate - even how much we ate.
Mark Schatzker proposes in his book The Dorito Effect (great book) that since the rise of the industrialized food product in the 1940’s we have been gradually leeching the taste out of what we grow simultaneously, we have taken leaps forward in technology, creating a flavour industry – in an attempt to put back the tastes we’ve engineered out of our food.
The result being food that increasingly resembles flavour manipulation - dressed up with calories and chemicals!
These synthetic flavours break the connection between flavour and nutrition – fool the brain in to experiencing heightened levels of pleasure without the nutrition benefit and driving addiction - compulsive and impulsive behaviour.
These foods are designed to contain - salt, sugar & fat to create ‘super stimulating’ highly palatable foods to tempt people to just keep buying and eating as much as possible.
Food is now more associated with pleasure than to the need to nourish.
When it comes to the obesity epidemic and many other chronic disease the culprit is the food. We have to stop eating like this.
Life expectancy has been on the rise over the last two centuries until recently, longevity gains have flattened and even reversed.
Whats the one habit that all healthy people share?
All healthy people make time to eat real food.
Food that hasn’t been messed with, added to, or enhanced, just real honest food. Food that is as close to its natural state as possible.
This is the process of replacing highly processed foods with vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, anti-inflammatory fats, and high-quality proteins to promote health – this is the basics of eating well that will protect you from chronic disease.
When we eat like this, we have a great chance of not being over-nourished (too many calories) and undernourished – (lack of core vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids - we need to function, think, act, feel and behave) - yes what we eat really does impact how we feel, function & perform.
Michael Pollan sums up healthy eats in just a few words “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
A healthy diet lives at the core of optimal health and that starts with real food.
Ok, so we know not what to eat… how should we balance our real food? What should we choose?
I believe a healthy dietary pattern considers three core areas:
1) Feed the gut
2) Balance Blood Sugars
3) Remove toxins well - from what we eat and the world around us - physical, mental, emotional (I’ll cover this another time, removing stressors is just as important and eating well. Chronic stress has become one of the biggest health risks of today).
1) Feed the gut
There are up to 10x more microbial cells in the human body than human cells - more gut buddies than there is us
When we have the right balance of commensals (good gut bacteria) we can protect the gut lining, reduce inflammation, and detoxify well
When the gut bacteria are off balance then our gut can start to eat our protective mucin lining, which can drive inflammation and pay havoc with the immune system
The types of microbes in the gut can also impact how well we take on calories from our food - and certain species have been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes
We must eat foods to feed our microbes - they can then protect us.
Think of your gut as your own personal farm, you feed your farm to flourish and survive all year round - and to do this you need diversity. Diversity means stability, and stability means health.
The gut needs
fibre and prebiotics
polyphenols
probiotics
good environmental inputs - reduced exposure to stress, alcohol, medications, antibiotics and chemicals
Fibre & prebiotics
Prebiotics are a class of fibres that are metabolised or fermented by the gut microbiota – they feed the microbiome.
Fibre (soluble fibre) is metabolised by the gut bacteria into short chain fatty acids - potent anti-inflammatory molecules that travel to the entire body.
Fibre (insoluble) acts like a brush on the gut wall - cleaning it and removing waste and dead cells.
Top fibre foods include:
garlic, onions, leeks, artichoke, chicory root, asparagus
legumes, beans, peas
beetroot
whole grains - brown rice, barley, oats
green bananas
cooked and cooled rice & potatoes
Polyphenols
Polyphenols are plant chemicals found in large amounts in coloured fruit or vegetables. Many of them possess well- researched antioxidants, which help to reduce the risk of systemic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Many studies have shown that polyphenol metabolism is poor by human enzymes and is mainly done by the microbes in the large intestine. Polyphenols feed bacterial species which can result in diversity of the good bacteria, and they produce metabolites to support immunity, reduce inflammation and support the nervous system.
Some major source of polyphenols:
blueberries, blackberries, pomegranate, blackcurrant
green tea & other forms of tea
coffee (organic)
cocoa
globe artichokes
citrus
colourful – vegetables
medicinal mushrooms
herbs and spices
Probiotics
Are live bacteria and yeast that, when eaten in a viable form and in adequate amounts are beneficial to human health. Live bacteria have been used for thousands of years to produce food – such as beer, wine, yoghurt, sauerkraut, green olives, cheese and many other traditional fermented foods. Adding fermented foods to your food is a great way of increasing diversity of the microbiome.
Introducing probiotic foods daily (slow and low) and slowly increasing to consuming twice to three times a day is recommended and has been shown to support immune function & reduce inflammation.
2) Balance blood sugars
We need fibre, healthy proteins and fats.
Fibre not only feeds the microbes it reduces the rate in which sugar reaches the bloodstream, keeping insulin response down. Insulin fluctuation or spiking too much insulin drives many chronic disease. The more we can control this and become sensitive to its repones the better. Fibre also helps us to feel more satisfied – generates a signal from the gut that reaches the brain – therefore telling us we are full.
Fibre also helps to optimise transit time (reduce toxic load) – when transit time is too fast or too slow it can impact health either reducing absorption or increasing toxins.
We need proteins. Proteins are what we are made of, it’s known as the repair micronutrient. Needed for growth, immune system (immunoglobins are proteins) and brain, neurotransmitters need proteins. You need to eat protein to ensure your body is getting the essential amino acids.
Protein is also known as a thermogenic food – it uses more ATP to prepare for energy, meaning your body burns more energy digesting protein than it does either carbohydrate or fat.
Protein is also the most satiating macronutrient - which is why higher protein nutrition plans have been shown to promote weight loss.
Choose protein from organic sources – lean animal - (grass-fed and wild sources) and encouraged whenever possible to choose plant proteins for example - beans, pulses, soy, there is a small amount in nuts and seeds (complete plant proteins include soy, edamame beans, organic and fermented is best (e.g. miso, tempeh, natto).
Healthy fats. Many people still believe that fat makes you fat.
When in fact fats don’t raise insulin - so weight is not driven by dietary fat, rather refined carbohydrates, sugar and yes, processed foods.
Including healthy fats within your meal can help to balance blood sugar as well as keep you fuller for longer. Your body also needs to be fed certain fats - omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Fats are also essential to absorb fat soluble vitamins and fats are required for healthy hormones.
As for saturated fat being the driver of cardiovascular disease is controversial. Trans fats are the fats that have been shown to be categorically detrimental to health – particularly hydrogenated fats this type of trans fat was once a common ingredient of processed foods.,
Trans fats have not yet been banned in the UK. Industrially produced trans-fat was banned in the US in 2015, and all products were supposed to be phased out by July 2019.
The subject of fats is controversial in nutrition – the bottom line is we need them, not too much and they can have positive benefits for the brain, hormones, as well as being essential to help resolve inflammation. It’s important not to consume any trans-fats and to choose fats that are as close to their natural source.
Healthy fats sources:
fatty fish
omega 3 from algae
nuts and seeds
organic dairy (if you don’t have tolerance and full fat)
olive oil
olives
avocado
When it comes to balancing your plate, your aim include - fibre, healthy fats, good quality proteins and lots of colour from a variety of fruits and vegetables, and most importantly remove the processed foods, sugar, limit alcohol and don’t overstimulate yourself on caffeine. Click here to download my guide.
It’s not just what you eat it’s also how you eat and when you eat – some simple rules to try and live by:
Slow down with your food – become more aware of your decision making – just pause
Eat all meals undistracted – give your full attention to your plate – we are guilty of eating whilst doing something else, and before you know it your plates empty and you barely remember eating – you miss the experience, the enjoyment and most importantly your internal satiety cues
Don’t eat when you are stressed – your digestion doesn’t work as well – you can’t breakdown the food, you can’t absorb as well and can result in a whole host of symptoms
Aim for 3-4 hours of no food between meals
Try and stop eating by 7pm until breakfast the next day
Aside from everything health is individual to you and if you really want to define your perfect nutrition plan then understand your bloods, look at your hormones and see what resides in your gut - these tests provide data to tell us whats going on - to be able to devise a specific and personalised nutrition plan that is for you.
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. But most importantly cut out the crap.
