CANDY AND SPINACH
Don’t let perfect be an enemy of good.
-Italian proverb
Food is as much about joy and connection
as it is about calories and nutrients.
-Dr Calah
Yesterday I was at the barn with several of my favorite people and animals, one of whom is a particularly wise and strong seven-year-old girl named Thea. Thea was sitting at the side of the riding ring and gleefully announced that she was eating a bag of candy, and it was making her strong. Her aunt was in the ring with me, and asked if she had ever heard of Popeye, because if she had then she would know that spinach, not candy, makes you strong. I couldn’t help myself, I commented to the aunt that the strength-building power of spinach has been debunked because oxalic acid reduces the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. I wasn’t serious; I think most rational people would agree that eating spinach is going to contribute to health and strength more than a bag of candy. But this story illustrates some important points.
The general principles of healthy eating are easy to teach and understand. Eat lots of dark leafy greens and avoid sugary processed foods (sorry, Thea). If education was all it would take to help you eat healthily, I would be on my soapbox all day every day. There is no doubt in my mind that food is medicine.
People are so much more complicated than knowing what they should do and doing it. Many of us know the basics of good nutrition, but that doesn’t change our choices or habits. That is because for humans, food is both physically and emotionally nutritive. Eating connects us with our culture, family traditions, community, location, reward signals in our brain, personal comfort, etc. Many of us have the luxury of separating ourselves from eating out of necessity. We also live in a country where food industry profits and the resulting exploitation of people’s emotions and brain chemistry tied to food intentionally steer us toward unhealthy choices. Any honest discussion of making healthy food choices needs to include consideration of the “softer side” of nutrition.
Here’s what I think: Learn and follow the principles of good nutrition most of the time. Aim for about 80%. Don’t measure this precisely. And when your delicious bag of candy that makes you feel strong and a little rebellious is sitting next to you on a hot summer day, eat some of it and enjoy every crunch. Support your friends and family to make healthy choices, tell them about Popeye and spinach and that healthy snack you just found at your favorite store. When someone tries to micromanage your basically healthy choices, blow them off and understand that better is better, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be healthy. And remember that you are a unique person with a specific combination of genetics and history. Do not be literal with anyone’s nutrition advice, listen to your body and fine-tune the general advice based upon how you feel.
With that framework in mind, there is still specific information that is helpful to know. Here are the basics of nutrition and an anti-inflammatory diet, which reduces pain and disease:
1) Food has two main biological purposes: to provide macronutrients (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).
2) Popular diets often limit a specific macronutrient. One of those diets might be helpful for you (keto, low-fat, etc.) but ultimately none of the macronutrients are “bad” for you, you need all three. You might need to experiment with the ratios to find what works best for you.
3) Carbohydrates- Not all carbs are created equal. Three important types are simple, complex, and a specific complex carb called fiber. Simple carbohydrates are either sugar or very short chains of sugars that are quickly broken down into sugar in your body. Complex carbs are long chains of sugars that are broken down more slowly and are often present in foods that contain micronutrients and fiber as well. Fiber provides relatively little energy, but it is important for digestion. When carbs get talked about as “unhealthy”, it’s really a reference to high concentrations of sugars or other simple carbs (most often in processed foods).
4) Fats- There are also many different types of fat; polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated are three big categories that occur in nature. Hydrogenated fats also appear on food labels. These do not occur in nature, and they are documented to be unhealthy. The only reason hydrogenated oils are used is to increase the shelf life and profit margin of processed foods. Diets high in monounsaturated (think avocados) and polyunsaturated (think olives) have specific health benefits. You may have heard of omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids, these are two kinds of polyunsaturated fats. You need to eat both (your body can’t make them), but the average western diet is much higher in omega-6 fatty acids, which can lead to chronic inflammation (related to pain or disease). Grass-fed meats and dairy products, cold water fatty fish, or chia/flax/hemp seeds are good dietary sources of omega-3 FA.
5) Proteins- No subcategories here, just note the protein content of what you are eating. Most people are probably not eating as much protein as they ideally should, so that might be a good place to start if you want to improve your health.
6) Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals)- Your body requires these to function. A whole food diet that is mostly plant based is the best way to maximize your consumption of micronutrients. Processed foods sometimes have vitamins and minerals added in, check the label to see what’s there.
7) Supplementation- This is a personal decision. In an ideal world, you should be able to get everything you need from a whole food diet. Realistically, you may decide that supplementing specific vitamins, minerals or macronutrients is helpful for you. I will write a separate post all about supplementation. I supplement with greens powder, collagen, creatine, fish oil, Vitamin D/K, curcumin, and magnesium threonate. Everyone is different, but those supplements are what works well for my body.
8) If you want to lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than you use. If you want to gain weight, you need to consume more calories than you use. There are hormonal and genetic nuances to weight loss/gain, but this general principle still applies.
9) There is also an endocrine (hormonal) response to the balance of macronutrients in your diet. For instance, most of us are aware that there is an epidemic of type2 (adult onset) diabetes in our country. This can be related to a diet high in simple carbs which requires the pancreas to regularly release insulin to get sugar out of the bloodstream. Eventually this system fatigues under the constant load and the person develops diabetes.
Those are some basic nutrition concepts that you should know. Perhaps you are wondering how to apply them? I don’t want to give you specific instructions because I don’t know the specifics of your needs. But I’m happy to share some general ideas that should be helpful for you.
First and foremost, always return to the idea that food can and should be a source of pleasure. Maybe it is the joy of fostering connection by sharing a meal with friends or family, or enjoying the experience of mindfully preparing healthy snacks or meals for the week ahead, or more simply taking a moment to thank yourself for making a better choice than you made in the past. And sometimes you may find a different kind of comfort in some Ben and Jerry’s. That’s ok too.
Some people like to follow the instructions in a specific diet, other people have a hard time with it. Either way, a good general framework is to try to have about 80% of your diet come from a variety of plant materials, and the other 20% high quality proteins/fats that for many people could come from meat and dairy (vegans, vegetarians or pescatarians like myself need to think about this a little differently). Choose a variety of foods that you like that are likely to provide your needed macro- and micro- nutrients. Also find a few foods to stock that can become staples for when you are in a time pinch or waited too long to eat and your brain is shutting down (there’s a highly technical description for you).
Many processed foods contain concentrated simple carbohydrates (sugars), fats and food additives that create an addictive response in our brains. These foods provide “empty calories”, meaning that you get a lot of calories concentrated in a small portion with very few micronutrients. The food additives trick your brain into wanting more even when your caloric needs have been exceeded. Try to mostly avoid them. Focus your grocery shopping in the perimeter of the store looking for foods that are being sold prior to processing. Even better, try a local farm stand. Accept that you will make compromises (I never buy dried beans because I won’t take the time to prepare them, so I just head to the canned foods and buy my beans there).
Establishing routines or habits for some of your meals and snacks is helpful. I make a quart size Mason jar of chia pudding and hard boil some eggs every Sunday, and we always have berries in the fridge. We often make a kale salad on Sundays as well, which stores well and can be used for any meal or snack as needed during the week. When I’m running behind, I can grab those things and go. I have a handful of nuts and a little dark chocolate at 10:30 which keeps my blood sugar steady until lunch. I sleep better if I concentrate my calories earlier in the day, so I try to plan for a big breakfast and lunch. My family and clients have different needs, so some of their habits are different from mine. But whatever your needs, planning ahead and establishing habits can be very helpful.
I hope that this post is helpful for you. As always, feel free to reach out via email or at the office with any questions. I am looking forward to talking with you about one of my very favorite subjects.