You can have a good diet, but it may not be the right diet for you. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, lower cholesterol, strengthen your heart, avoid digestive problems, treat a specific health concern, or improve your overall health, you may be choosing ‘healthy’ foods that are doing your body more harm than good.

March is Nutrition Month

We all know we should avoid excess fatty foods, rich foods, sugar and caffeine. We’ve heard we should limit or eliminate foods such as red meats, refined carbohydrates and salt; but what if your iron is significantly low? What if you feel sluggish and lack energy without these foods? Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains are known to provide the optimum mix of nutrients and have the most life sustaining energy, but what if you experience pain or discomfort when you eat these ‘healthy’ foods?

What may be healthy may not be healthy for you!

Most health concerns are associated with the food we eat and the time we choose to eat them. Our health is affected when our body lacks nutrients, has excess nutrients, when we choose the wrong foods, eat out of sync with the season and/or eat out of sync with our own personal state of health. Eating foods unsuited to our body or unsuited to the time of year can make us sick, sluggish, oversleep, experience pain and/or digestive issues, can increase our likelihood of illness or disease, and can decrease the ability of the body to heal. Learning how to manage your individual diet and body is, therefore, the key to ensuring your health and preventing disease, but how can you find out what foods and lifestyle habits are best suited to your body’s needs?

Determining what healthy eating is for you

Naturopathic doctors teach patients about diet, lifestyle, health promotion, and disease prevention. They test for sensitivities to certain foods, and provide dietary suggestions - educating patients and encouraging alternative options to food choices to improve a person’s overall health. NDs look at the cause of health concerns and illness, consider each person’s unique life circumstances and treat each person as an individual.

Finding a naturopathic doctor…

For more information on managing your health, contact a naturopathic doctor today: click here to locate a qualified naturopathic doctor in your area.

Did you know?

- At any meal, you should only consume as much food as you can hold in your two palms
- You should avoid drinking water with meals
- You should have regular bowel movements two to three times a day and
- Stress decreases digestive ability and has a negative impact on the absorption of nutrients

Here’s why:

- Eating more than your stomach can hold limits the contractile ability of the stomach and decreases its ability to break food down so that it can be properly digested in the small intestine. It can also lead to increased heartburn.
- Drinking water with your meal decreases the hydrochloric acid of the stomach which is required to break down food. It is important to drink one half of your body weight in ounces per day (e.g., 75 lbs. = 75 oz.), but stop drinking water one half hour before meals and resume one hour after eating.
- Ideally you should have as many bowel movements as you have meals. Regular bowel movements ensure that toxins don’t sit in the digestive tract and get reabsorbed into the blood system.
- Stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and sends much of the body’s energy to peripheral organs, such as the muscles and senses. Digestion works optimally in when the sympathetic nervous system is relaxed. A body that is relaxed will digest food more efficiently and with greater ease.