Healthy Foods: The Hidden Truth…
I’m curious, what does “eating healthy” mean to you?
When I graduated from college after studying fitness, nutrition, and health for 4 years, I thought eating healthy meant you should…
- Be in a caloric deficit by eating less and moving more
- Have a snack or meal every 2 hours
- Always eat 3 solid meals per day
- Eat low fat, lean meats, veggies, fruits, dairy, starches, and whole grains according to the food guide pyramid now known as the “plate”
So I did exactly what I was taught, and I felt like crap instead of feeling great and having my ideal health and weight.
It turns out there’s a LOT more to eating healthy than what we were taught in school or what you might have read on your own about diets and nutrition.
In fact, some so-called healthy foods aren’t healthy for you.
It took me years to figure out what foods were healthy for my body. When I finally figured it out, it made getting the results I desired so much easier! So I want to help you cut to the chase and get to the bottom of what foods are healthy for you so you can feel like your best self too, instead of wasting time trying to figure it out.
I see so many clients and people feeling frustrated about food and eating healthy. They’ve tried just about everything with little to no results. They’ll literally say…
I’m eating healthy, but I’m not getting any results!
OR…
I’ve tried (insert any type of diet) but didn’t get the same results others get.
Do you find yourself feeling frustrated like this too?
In theory, the clients I’ve worked with are “eating healthy.” They are often eating a Paleo, Whole30, Keto, or a generally well-rounded and clean diet. In some cases, they are eating mostly organic foods, good sources of meat, and even avoiding some of the well-known inflammatory foods.
But they still aren’t getting results. They still struggle with digestive upset, weight, anxiety, hormone imbalances, or other nagging health issues.
All because eating healthy isn’t always healthy for YOU.
In this week’s video and blog, I’ll reveal why some of the healthy foods you’re eating might not be healthy for you and give you tips to figure out what is healthy for YOU.
There’s a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.
Eating right for your body will incorporate healthy foods, but not all healthy foods are right for your body.
Most diet approaches tend to focus on food elimination, which is good considering that oftentimes it means eliminating the top inflammatory foods such as gluten, dairy, sugar, soy, alcohol, and even other grains or foods containing lectins.
However, most dietary approaches fail to consider two key components to eating healthy for your body:
- Macronutrient (protein, carb, and fat) balance
- Specific food sensitivities
Eating the right balance of proteins, carbs, and fats gives your body the right ratios of fuel so it can function at its potential. Understanding and eating according to your macronutrient needs can instantly:
- Reduce digestive stress
- Increase energy
- Fight off food cravings
But you can still run into issues when eating the right balance of macronutrients if you’re eating foods that you’re sensitive to.
Food sensitivities aren’t always obvious. They don’t always show up as digestive upset, which is why you might think you don’t have any. Other common food sensitivity symptoms can include:
- Anxiety
- Skin breakouts
- Low energy or fatigue
- Poor sleep
- Weight gain or resistant weight loss
Food sensitivities or poor macronutrient balance could certainly be secretly sabotaging your healthy eating efforts and results!
Consider a banana, for example. Globally, most would agree it’s healthy food full of potassium and nutrients, but if you have a sensitivity to bananas OR they contain too many carbs and sugars for what your body can tolerate in one sitting, then they aren’t a healthy food for you.
When you eat something like a banana that has these negative effects on you, it spikes blood sugar and inflammation, reduces nutrient absorption, disrupts hormone balance, messes with your sleep and energy, and leaves you craving more food to get another energy bump.
Wearing Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) for as little as two weeks will help you gather real-time insights about how your body is responding to bananas or other so-called healthy foods your body might be having a response to.
When my husband found out he was sensitive to beef, he lost 5 pounds within a week of removing it from his diet.
Beyond these two key components, there could be even more to consider, such as high oxalates and FODMAPs (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols)
Oxalates are a naturally occurring element in foods and in the body, but an abundance of oxalates leads to kidney stones, chronic joint pain, mineral deficiencies, and more. Oxalates can especially become problematic when Candida or yeast overgrowth is going on the body.
Some of the foods highest in oxalates include:
- Dark chocolate
- Nuts
- Berries
- Citrus fruits
- Beets
- Sweet potatoes
- Zucchini and other summer squashes
- Dark leafy greens such as spinach and certain kinds of kale
Just about every one of them is considered a healthy food!
And FODMAP foods can be problematic with an overly inflamed or leaky digestive system, making it hard to break down these foods, leading to fermentation and bacteria overgrowth in the gut.
Some of the highest FODMAP foods are:
- Garlic
- Onion
- Fruits
- Grains
- Certain nuts and legumes
See how you could be eating so-called healthy foods that aren’t actually healthy for YOU?
The best healthy eating plan considers your body’s specific needs and combines the elements related to macronutrient balance, food sensitivities, and other physiological factors.
When working with clients to figure out what foods are right for their bodies, we always do a series of functional lab tests to uncover all of the pieces to their health puzzle and then use that data to guide recommendations for how to eat healthy for their body.
The series of tests will often include a:
- Food sensitivity test to pinpoint specific foods they are reactive to
- Metabolic typing test to assess ideal macronutrient balance
- Stool sample test to evaluate digestive and intestinal health
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to eating healthy for YOUR body.
If you want to dial in the right balance of carbs, fats, and protein for your body, click here to get my Food & Body Language Log to start dialing in your macronutrient ratios.
P.S. Combining my Food & Body Language Log with Theia’s Continuous Glucose Monitor will get you even great insights and results; click here to grab a CGM today!
