Today I thought we’d take a look at 4 areas of nutrition to focus so we don’t actually have to diet. If we can get these 4 things dialed in we never have to diet again. They kill cravings, balance metabolism, help shed excess weight, correct insulin and leptin resistance, maintain muscle and bone mass, balance energy throughout the day and help us sleep better which in turn improves our stress response, cognition and memory. Pretty much all the good things. But it sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?
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Ep 154
Category 1 of 5
Diet free nutrition
How is your New Year Work IN coming along?
Today I thought we’d take a look at 4 areas of nutrition to focus so we don’t actually have to diet. If we can get these 4 things dialed in we never have to diet again. They kill cravings, balance metabolism, help shed excess weight, correct insulin and leptin resistance, maintain muscle and bone mass, balance energy throughout the day and help us sleep better which in turn improves our stress response, cognition and memory. Pretty much all the good things. But it sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?
But if that list came up on a pharma commercial for a pill we’d believe it. We’d be lining up for it. ALL of those things are side effects of properly balanced nutrition. We don’t have to “diet” to get them. Dieting, this need to diet, is a direct result of the lies that the big food and big pharma industries have been telling us for 70 years. Dieting is a consequence of consumerism, convenience and overconsumption.
Can you imagine if every fast food or cereal commercial had to disclose the health side effects of their products? I can hear it now…Lucky Charms fortified with 9 vitamins and fiber… do not eat lucky charms if you’re allergic to gluten, may cause rapid weight gain, hypoglycemic episodes, prediabetes, fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, leaky gut, ADD, ADHD, anxiety and depression. Would you eat it then? Would you give it to your kids?
I hate dieting. I hate feeling deprived. I think most people do. But I love food. Especially really delicious flavorful food. And the good news is if we all just ate good whole food most of the time (not even all the time) we’d be good to go. The problem is that so much of our modern processed foods have been hijacked and are full of hidden sugars and emulsifiers that our system is just not able to handle. It’s overwhelming (and annoying)to have to read every single label to figure it out.
Let’s not worry about that right now. Right now we’re just going to focus on getting whole food onto our plate in these 4 areas.
Number one: Protein
Highest quality protein sources that you can find. Don’t worry about how much fat is on them. Turns out the body can absorb and use that protein better (more efficiently) when fat is present. And that saturated fat is what replenishes the lining of the gut and can help heal leaky gut. Protein is essential. All essential amino acids, the things we can’t make, are in animal sources of protein. And they're complete. If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you’ll need to be very intentional about your sources because it’s just harder to get. We need protein in order to build and maintain muscle mass. Period end of story. If you don’t want to eat it then supplement it with protein powder or something. The RDA hasn’t been updated since 1980 and is no longer supported by the current nutrition science. RDA is out of date according to Robert Lustig Eat more protein. If you want to calculate it I think it comes out to something like 1 gram per pound of body weight. When we don’t get essential nutrients the body thinks it’s starving and that all by itself is a stress on the nervous system and affects every other system in the body.
Number two: Fiber
Highest quality fiber that you can consume. Both soluble and insoluble. Why? It’s not for us. It’s for our gut microbiome. Fiber feeds the bacteria there and if we aren’t feeding them enough they will start to feed on us. This is one of the sources of leaky gut and where some of our autoimmune issues come from. That microbiome is where the majority of our immune system is. And fiber from fruits and a variety of vegetables is how we can build up and support our immune system every single day. If you can’t get a big variety of fiber on a regular basis, there are plenty of fiber supplements out there. Personally I like the pre biotic sources because I like the idea of getting out of my body’s way as much as possible. And I’m learning how to trust my gut after years of being completely dysregulated.
Number Three: Hydration
Yes, water. Possibly electrolytes. Because those actually help water get into our cells and there’s a difference between irrigating yourself and actually absorbing those fluids. Now you can get hydrated somewhat from everything you drink. But certain things change the actual amount and may be detrimental to other systems in the body. For example caffeinated beverages like coffee. Caffeine is a diuretic. So you’re only getting about ⅔ rds of the amount of fluid from coffee. Juices, both sugar and diet sodas and alcohol can all damage the liver and cause downstream metabolic effects. So getting close to half your body weight in ounces of water a day is a good rule of thumb. Hydration improves cognition, inflammation, sleep and recovery for every system of the body.
Number four: Remove packaged foods
As much as possible. Not all processed/packaged foods are a problem. But so many of them are loaded with hidden sugars it’s not worth the time it takes to read and translate the label. My rule of thumb is that if it has more than 5 ingredients I’m gonna pass. Especially if I can’t pronounce it or I don’t know what it is. Ice cream might be ok sometimes. Ingredients: Milk, sugar, vanilla. Maybe. Canning is a form of processing. Usually fine. Same with frozen vegetables. But here’s an example. Mayonnaise. I love mayo. I wanted to get some healthier kind and avoid some of the seed oils like canola and soybean so I tried the olive oil mayo. Turns out the first 4 ingredients are olive oil, Canola and soybean oil. Ridiculous. Plus the sugar. Fun fact: olive should only have 2 ingredients and it's really easy to make. You just have to eat it within a week.
I don’t want to go down a rabbit hole here. My point is if you don’t want to have to read every single label, give up as many foods with labels as you can.
This time of year people get crazy with the diet and health challenge stuff. And those can be really inspiring and help us kick start some healthy habits. But whatever you’re looking for out for your health in the new year staying intentional with protein, fiber, hydration and limiting processed foods will support those goals.
If you’re looking for some help in that area, nutrition is a part of our CAT 5 Challenge. And if you haven't heard about it you can check out Episode 152 and download the Challenge tracker as a guide. Next week we’re looking at another aspect of our cat 5 challenge: Resistance training. See you then.
Thanks for listening and if you like what you heard and you’d like to know more head over to Savagegracecoaching.com/theworkin for all today's show notes and links from the episode.