Nutrition is the intake of food and water necessary for health and growth. Our goal with nutrition is to develop better eating habits. A well-balanced nutrition plan will give you the proper energy to function mentally and physically throughout the day! Nutrition can be broken down into gastrointestinal (GI) tract, energy, and hydration.

GI Tract

Nutrition and intestinal function are extremely interconnected. Everything you eat has some effect positive or negative on your GI tract. This is why it’s so important to understand how the foods you eat are affecting your body. Since everybody is different, we process and break down foods differently and at different rates. This is why some people cannot eat dairy and others are sensitive to gluten. Knowing the signs and symptoms your body is expressing, can help to reduce adverse side effects from your food. Before the days of modern medicine, food was medicine. At some point in history, we stopped listening to what our body is saying and started taking medications to numb the negative signals it’s sending. Rather than taking antacids every time you indulge in something that doesn’t agree with you, we need to listen to our body and find alternatives that support our digestive system1.

Energy

Food is fuel! If you owned an expensive car that required premium gasoline, would you fill it with regular? I’m guessing the answer is no. So why would you fuel your body with sub-par nutrients when your body is so much more valuable than that car? You can replace the car, you cannot replace your body. Just like the car, it will run so much better and more efficiently if you supply it with the necessary nutrients for the tasks at hand. This is going to be completely different for everyone. There are so many factors that play into how your body breaks down and utilizes the food that you supply. This is why I am opposed to following all of the trendy diets coming out. They don’t take account of your body’s specific needs, they just tell you what to do because it’s what they did. Beyond the genetic aspect, the food itself has varying speeds of breakdown and energy supply. Contrary to what many people may say, not all carbohydrates are created equal and it’s not just about calories in and calories out. The rate of absorption can drastically change. Sweet potatoes and sugar are both carbohydrates. However, the nutritional quality and speed of breakdown are drastically different.

Hydration

Drink water! As simple as this may sound to some people, a large portion of the population has trouble drinking enough water. The role of hydration is so important in maintaining your health. Studies have shown that mild dehydration can impair your concentration, alertness, and short-term memory3. You can survive quite a long time without food(not that you should), but about two to three days without water. Your mood, digestion, cognition, athletic performance and so much more rely on your water intake. And we are talking about water, not the sugar-filled soda that says it has water as one of the ingredients. We want the benefits of drinking water without the detriments of the artificial garbage pumped into other products.

So how does Lifestyle Systems approach the nutrition pillar?

Elimination and Introduction

The only way to properly understand the effects that certain foods have on your body is to eliminate or introduce them slowly. During the systems, we will eliminate some foods that are scientifically proven to cause detrimental side effects to your body. However, rather than just taking things away from you, we will show you the healthy alternatives along the way. Instead of saying NO to something, we exchange it for healthier alternatives. Small healthy changes over an extended period of time are so much healthier than drastic changes in the short term. This is the name of the game here. For the introduction of foods, we will focus on foods that provide you with sustainable energy, and healthy macro and micronutrients, and bring some green to your plate!

Digestion and Performance

There is nothing worse than eating a meal and spending the time after in the bathroom. We will help you to understand a bit more about why your stomach may be a little bubbly after a meal. We also will track your performance after eating certain foods. If you have ever done a workout and felt “on” we want to know what fueled that. In our experience, it has to do with the food you eat and your mindset (which we will talk about in our mindset pillar). Going back to our food is fuel, we will help you to get your body running like a brand-new car again!

Macro/Micronutrients and Nutritional Timing

If you are unfamiliar, macronutrients are proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, while micronutrients are smaller chemicals like vitamins and minerals that are also essential. We will work on addressing the importance of some of these in System I but this is the main focus of System II. For now, you just need to know that it’s much more than calories in and calories out. What those calories are composed of is essential. There is always room to have a cheat meal or indulge, but knowing when and how much is what we will work on here!

Remember, the two things that all of our pillars have in common are time and consistency. No short cuts. You have to show up, put some work in, and stay at it. We got your back! Don’t be overwhelmed, get excited! We are in this together! Let’s move on to mindset!

Dr. Brock Brady, PhD

References

(1)      Mousavi, Z.; Granholm, K.; Sokalski, T.; Lewenstam, A. All-Solid-State Electrochemical Platform for Potentiometric Measurements. Sensors Actuators, B Chem. 2015, 207 (PB), 895–899.

(2)      Brand, J. C.; Nicholson, P. L.; Thorburn, A. W.; Truswell, A. S. Food Processing and the Glycemic Index. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1985, 42 (6), 1192–1196. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/42.6.1192.

(3)      Ritz, P.; Berrut, G.; Rosenberg, I.; Dal Canton, A.; Sawka, M.; Manz, F.; Jéquier, E.; Shirreffs, S.; Ferry, M. The Importance of Good Hydration for Day-to-Day Health. Nutr. Rev. 2005, 63 (6 II). https://doi.org/10.1301/nr.2005.jun.S6-S13.