It drives me crazy trying to shift through all of the articles that are published day after day on what is and isn't healthy to eat. One day eggs are good for you, the next they aren't. Eat bacon! Don't eat bacon. Animal proteins cause cancer; Animal proteins are the best way to get protein. Yikes! It changes all of the time making it difficult to know what foods to keep in your diet and stay healthy.
I want to start by saying that I'm not a Doctor or a certified Nutritionist. However, I have helped many people find their path to a healthier life. I consider myself a researchist -- is that a thing? Ha. I spend hours and hours a week reading articles and trying to find both side of every story. I also want to say that I don't believe there is a "one size fits all" eating plan. It is more common than ever for people to have diabetes, a thyroid condition, autoimmune diseases, depression, IBS and more. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that, "As of 2012, about half of adults - 117 million people - have one ore more chronic health conditions. One of four adults has two or more chronic conditions." Scary, right? I have Epilepsy so I fall into those numbers. If you are one of these people you most-likely take medication for your condition. I don't want to, but it is needed right now to control my seizures. Depending on the medication you take, it can cause deficencies in your diet. Your medication can also cause other side effects that you have to take into consideration. So the first step is to do research about your condition, your medication(s) and what that means. If you are one of the lucky ones that doesn't take any medication at all, yay! Clean slate. Deciding on beneficial foods should be easier!
My approach is that of moderation. I live pretty much by the 80/20 rule of eating healthy and giving myself treats. Yes, that number jumps up to 30% sometimes around the holidays, but I also know how to dial back to 90/10 if needed. Why 80/20? Because diets don't work longterm -- period. If you can naturally eat healthy 100% of the time and enjoy it, great! But I love dark chocolate and my Mom's homemade pies at the holidays -- a piece of cake on birthdays, a cheesy shrimp enchilada on the weekend, and I don't want to have to feel guilty about it. Guess what? I don't! (Sometimes I do pay for it later when I have a stomach ache!) I eat pretty much everything except for red meat. If you love red meat, I'm not saying you shouldn't have it from time to time. If you just like it, you may find that you can do without. I haven't found anything that red meat has to offer nutritionally that I can't get otherwise. I haven't had red meat for over 20 years. I thought about cutting meat out all together for awhile. In fact, I started eating a lot of that soy-meat in my 20s and 30s thinking I was making a healthier choice. Ha -- again fed by what I read was healthy at the time. I also ate everything low-fat because that was another thing we were all told was healthy. What I didn't realize was that eating "healthy" is really trying to stay as whole food and clean as possible. No matter what you read, eggs are good, eggs are bad -- you always have to look at the source of your food (and the source of what you have read -- there are always two sides). I started eating organic cage-free eggs because while you will read about cholesterol being a problem with eggs, I don't think one a day or less is what's going to kill me. If I ate a dozen conventional eggs from hens fed GMO corn and soy, maybe I would have a problem. If I already had high cholesterol or heart disease, I might have a problem. Otherwise, all of the positive outweighs the bad. Eggs contain essential vitamins and minerals our bodies need. This is just one example.
We have all read about the gluten craze. If you have Celiacs disease, having any gluten at all can be extremely harmful to the lining of your small intestines, causing all sorts of problems. There are also people who are gluten-intolerant and gluten-sensitive. If you don't have any of these issues, there is no reason to completely avoid gluten. In fact, there are foods that contain gluten that are quite healthy for you! I have often thought it would be great if you could get a food allergy blood test covered by your primary doctor. This test would give you a heads up as to what foods you should really stay away from! For now, the test(s) are very expensive. I am saving up. :) If you don't have the money for these expensive tests, you can always try an elimination diet to figure out what you may have a sensitivity to. Along with gluten (wheat), dairy, soy, eggs, fish and nuts are the most common allergens in adults.
Speaking of tests, another great simple blood test to get taken (again, not covered by insurance) is a nutritional deficiency test. I have gotten this test at a place called AnyLabTestNow -- it is the MicroNutrient Lab test from Spectracell. You don't need a doctor slip to get this test. However, you may be able to get a slight discount if you go through a nutritionist. I wish I would have done this test before I started Isagenix. Oh well. My test results were great. Funny enough, I wasn't deficient in anything my doctors thought I would be (just something to note). I was borderline on Selenium. The answer? Take 2 brazil nuts a day. Seriously.
There is no clear answer for how we should eat because everyone needs something a little different (depending on a person's natural deficiencies, medication use, genetic predisposition, allergies, etc.). But food alone will never be enough due to the depletion of vitamins and minerals in our soil. Do your research, everything in moderation, eat whole foods, eat clean and get a little help from a company you trust like Isagenix. I feel that the IsaLean shakes have filled in all of my gaps successfully -- along with a few supplements that I know I need for me (IsaOmega, Ageless Actives).
Good luck with your healthy journey!
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