The Power of Good Nutrition: We Are What We Eat

The food choices we make every day affect the way we feel. Good nutrition and a balanced diet are important to lead a healthy lifestyle. Combined with physical activity, a balanced diet can help to lose and maintain weight, reduce the risks of chronic diseases, and promote overall health and well-being.

More fresh, seasonal vegetables is a good place to start.

What Is Good Nutrition and Why Is It Important?

Good nutrition is when we follow a balanced diet where we get all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals our body needs and craves. The benefits of balanced nutrition go far beyond maintaining a healthy weight. Additionally, good nutrition:

It’s not just weight and digestion that are affected by food choices.

• reduces the risk of contracting certain diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, and some cancers
• reduces high blood pressure
• decreases high cholesterol
• improves our ability to fight off illness
• improves our ability to recover from illnesses and injuries
• increases our energy levels
• improves our overall well-being, and
• improves our self-confidence.

Obesity is getting out of control. And diet and food quality is a big part of that.

The Obesity Epidemic

In the United States, about 67.5% of adults are either overweight or obese, of which 33.8% are obese. 17% of children and teens in the United States are obese – a rate that tripled over the last three decades.

Children learn their eating habits at a young age, and it’s often difficult to change those habits once formed. If we teach children how to follow a balanced and nutritious diet, they are better prepared to make the right choices and lead a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives.

Leading Causes of Death Linked to Poor Nutrition

It’s not only our weight that gets affected by our diet. We can have a weight within ideal parameters, but still follow a poor diet, our risk for certain diseases still increases. In 2012, most of the leading causes of death in America were all due to conditions that are affected by a poor diet. These are:

• #1 Heart disease: 599,711 deaths
• #2 Cancer: 582,623 deaths
• #3 Chronic lower respiratory disease: 143,489 deaths
• #4 Cerebrovascular disease (stroke and related conditions): 128,546 deaths
• #6 Alzheimer’s disease: 83,637 deaths
• #7 Diabetes mellitus: 73,932 deaths

Making healthy smoothies at home is so easy once you learn how. And is a great way to get high quality, nutrient-dense food into the diet.

What Does A Balanced Diet Look Like?

The typical American diet is too high in calories, sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars, and contains too little fruit, vegetables, fiber, whole grains, and calcium. Those that know me know that I espouse a diet rich in fresh, life-force-containing ingredients. Personally I’m less concerned about the specific foods, and more about the overall quality and freshness of the ingredients.

Having said that, here are some basic guidelines as to what you can eat to get all the necessary nutrients:

• Plenty of vegetables: Choose a variety of vegetables of different colors and types, and make sure you add enough leafy greens to the plate. Ideally this should be a large majority of our diet.
• Plenty of fruits: Eat fruits and berries of all colors. Fruits are full of natural fiber, so eating the whole fruit instead of just drinking the juice is healthier as we get the benefits of the fiber.
• When eating grains, eat only whole grains. NOT things made from whole grains.
• Cut back on sugar, processed food, and junk food.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Cook from scratch with fresh ingredients.

Also, read my eating practices blog posts about how your health is influenced by your personal diet and eating foods with a lot of qi for more guidelines. How we eat is just as important as what we eat. Check out my blog post on good eating habits outside of specific food choices.

My cooking philosophy is start with delicious, seasonal organic produce, keep it simple, and don’t overcook things. With this you never make something that doesn’t taste good!

Put the Fun Back in Cooking

It’s not always easy cooking from scratch because we’re so busy and don’t have time to cook or we’re bored with the same old recipes, so we often opt for ready-made meals or junk food. Cooking with fresh ingredients is a lot healthier as they contain more nutrients, vitamins, and minerals than processed and frozen foods. There is just more life or qi in fresh food.

Here are some actionable tips to put the fun back into cooking:

• Try new recipes. Ask friends and colleagues for their favorite recipes, or treat yourself with a new recipe book. There are tons out there on the internet these days as well.
• Experiment with different herbs and spices.
• Make cooking a family affair. It’s more fun to cook together with pleasant music and good company.
• Buy fresh ingredients from a farmer’s market. The great vibes at markets will inspire you to put on your apron. You can try out different varieties of vegetables than what you would typically find in a supermarket, and farmers are often eager to give you tips on how to prepare the items you bought. When we buy foods at the farmer’s market, we are getting what’s in season in our local environment, which is the best for our bodies!
• Sign up for cooking classes. Not only will you learn new recipes, but you will also be able to mingle with like-minded people.

I like to use food in my practice as part of the healing process, and I often pair nutrition guidance with my other treatments. Reach out to me if you need help working out a balanced diet or if you need some more ideas to put the fun back in your cooking.