Good Food is Good for You

by Kaleb Montgomery, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Lately I have been doing research on nutrition for some lectures on fertility that I am. A couple of things really hit home.

The first was the importance for getting the nutrients we need from the food we eat. We need daily doses of many vitamins and minerals essential for life. Everything from food digestion, nerve function, the immune system and even the heart require daily doses of good nutrients to function well.

Through the research I found five things that need to be in your diet daily if you want to be healthy.

1. Fresh fruit
2. Fresh vegetables (potatoes don’t count)
3. Whole grains
4. Protein from a wide variety of sources (beans, lentils, tofu, eggs, meat and fish)
5. Essential fatty acids (fish, flax, olive, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, etc.)

The other thing I noticed was a list of things that deplete our bodies of nutrients. The most damaging are:

1. High or chronic stress
2. White sugar and flour
3. Alcohol
4. Tobacco
5. Drugs – recreational, prescription and over the counter
6. Processed foods
7. Caffeine

Lack of vitamins and minerals caused by all of the above prevent our body from functioning properly and cause a higher risk of disease. Poor nutritional status can be a factor in everything from depression to headaches to fertility problems. Anyone who regularly experiences high stress levels or ingests any of the above damaging list must be especially careful to include more of the good 5 list daily in their diet if they want to stay healthy.

Neither of these lists is revolutionary. It is all just common sense. However, how many of us actually follow these simple but important guidelines? This week consciously choose to use food to heal. Include the good 5-list everyday in your diet for 7 days. Then write me back to tell me how it went. As usual please feel free to contact if you have any questions or comments.