The Importance of Nutrition.

Your body is made up of over 75 trillion individual cells. Skin cells, blood cells, muscle cells, brain cells, liver cells etc. they all have different specialized functions. Some only live for a few days, others for months, years, and even your entire life.

When they die off (for example the cells that line your stomach only live 4 days due to the high acid levels) they are replaced by newly reproduced cells that take the place of the old ones at a rate of millions per minute throughout the body.

Pretty amazing stuff and it’s happening to you, right now!

But these new cells are not made from thin air. The raw material for building these cells come from what we put in our mouths.

By eating clean, fresh foods you nourish and support healthy new cells and therefore a healthy body.

You literally are what you eat!

What we eat and drink has an enormous effect on our health and the ability of our body to function its best. Unfortunately there are many conflicting ideas about what a healthy diet is.

Generally speaking we need to look at what is the nutritional requirement for our species i.e. Humans. For example, the optimal diet for lions is freshly hunted game. The antelope however has evolved to graze on grass and it would end up very sick if it ate a lion! Its digestive tract doesn’t have the right equipment to digest meat, just as a lion will not get the nutrition it needs if it just ate grass.

A study of the human digestive tract tells us exactly what our optimal diet should consist of.

So here it is, plain and simple; lots of fresh vegetables and fruit, lean meat (idealy organic and grass fed) and protein, plus small amounts of whole grains (rice and oats), legumes and nuts. That’s all folks. And the closer our food is to its natural, wild state, the better. (E.g. hummingbirds thrive on sweet nectar, but not on sweet lemonade.)

Also, your body is 70% water, so don’t forget to drink 6-8 glasses of pure water every day.

Supplements and vitamins can be of benefit if you are not getting your nutritional requirements from your food. As modern farming has decreased the nutritional value of our food, this is quite common (most people require Omega (fish) oil supplements at the least). Eating organic, locally grown produce that is in season is ideal.

Although we can tolerate them to varying degrees, processed, packaged and ‘fast’ foods, grains (wheat etc.), dairy, sugar, alcohol etc. cannot provide optimal nutrition for humans, and in many cases increase toxin levels in your body and increase your risk of chronic disease. And while many of us need the occasional treat to maintain our sanity, it is important to remember that every action has its consequence, good or bad.

Every meal you eat is either pushing you towards health, or away from it.

Bon Appetite!