Today in the practice, a mom who was in a big hurry (redundant!) asked me to quickly identify what I thought to be the three biggest nutritional tips I could give her.
No pressure. No pressure!
Off the top of my head, these were the three biggies that I recommended would provide the most bang for the buck:
1) Upgrade your food choices. Make the vast majority of your food be a variety of:
a) “real” food vs. factory food
b) whole food, closest to it’s naturally occurring state (ie. don’t listen to the “diet dictocrats”!)
c) clean and pure; fresh, local, seasonal and organic when possible
and, d) make every effort to eliminate or reduce toxic and deficient foods
2) Add sufficient amounts of pure omega 3 fish oil to your nutritional supplement regime
3) Regularly detoxify and cleanse
Of course, there are a few hundred other things I could tell her… but these 3 just popped to the surface of my brain as being the most critical for overall health, well being and optimal function.
Had she asked me about weight loss, fat loss, hormonal imbalances, stress, depression, blood sugar issues or athletic performance… well, she could have been there all day!
She had just started taking an antidepressant to help her “take the edge off” of some pretty enormous personal and work related issues. BUT, she hadn’t yet addressed ANY of the biggies on the nutritional lifestyle end of the spectrum.
How well can a person respond to any treatment (let alone a medication) if their lifestyle leaves them toxic and deficient?
We need to look at the big picture first. I’m glad she asked about the “biggies”!
About Dr. Mom Online
Hi!! Thanks for the excellent tips on healthy eating. I have recently moved completely to both organic and whole grain food. Organic food is hard on my pocket but I know the amount of unwanted pesticides that I get to avoid when I chose organic food. I understand that healthy eating id the key to a healthy life. There are no two ways about it. Our habit of surviving on packaged food has led to bad lifestyles and major health problems. In such times, your article comes as a sparkling beacon. Thanks for it. I am also a mother and your article will help me to feed my children the most nutritious and healthy food I can manage.
Hi! Yes I fully agree with Rachel. The article provides us with some very good and organized piece of useful information. And yes Rachel, there is no denying the fact that Organic Foods are “the” meal inclusions today, irrespective of the cost part. Health is wealth! With kids as you very rightly say, food is something you just cannot afford to compromise on. When we are talking of food, especially vis-à-vis kids then Dr. Mom, your point “d” is of utmost importance. Fast food or junkies, as we call them, are proving to be a sort of necessary evils today. You just find them so much around that you cannot overcome them. You go for outings and get hold of these readily available junkies. Though we do try hard to resist these fun foods, with a 4 year old around though, you do give in occasionally. The ill effects of fast food on health are not unknown. Liver is the worst hit organ of the fast food binge. These usually hard to digest junkies, strain the digestive system like anything. And of course obesity is one effect, which is more obvious than we want it to!