Episode 4 Transcript
Episode 4
Navigating Nutrition: A beginners guide
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Nutrition is the Key to Health. Where we begin dipping our big toe in the water of health and nutrition.
I want you to ask yourself one question, Am I eating to feed my face, or fuel my body? Be honest here. I think the majority of the population, including me, has fed our faces for decades. That is why we are in this national health crisis today, but you can choose to change that family tree right now! It is never too late.
Disclaimer, I am not a physician, nurse, registered dietician, physical therapist, or mental health professional. This is my story and what I have done and learned over the course of my journey. If you plan to start a diet or exercise program, please get approval from your doctor.
Okay, let’s get into it.
The first question I am going to ask you is, do you have your why(s) written down. If not, grab a blank journal and do that now. You must have a starting part in order to begin reaching your goals. Without a why and a goal, you are just going to be wandering around aimlessly and be tempted at each turn. Going into a battle without a strategy can be futile.
The goal of nutrition is to bathe our bodies in nutrients and essential vitamins and minerals, so this masterpiece can do its job in repairing and carrying out its daily functions. Eating at drive thru and packaged poison, and consuming multiple high caffeinated beverages is not going to achieve that goal.
Now, we have to understand some of the basics of nutrition.
When I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, I needed more information and wanted to know what happens with the food from the time you put it in your mouth, until you expel it and everything in between. I had to know the processes of the body, and where mine was going wrong.
I wanted to go back to school and finish up my degree, and felt I could incorporate some of this knowledge into my curriculum. Since I was required to retake all my sciences again (since it had been longer than 10 years), I chose Anatomy and Physiology I and II, but the first class I took was Nutrition. This was the class that every nurse and registered dietician was required to start with in their curriculum.
Nutrition was the best class I had ever taken. I personally believe it should be taught in all the high schools, or at least required for every college curriculum. If you have a community college near you, see if they offer the class or go online. It will be the best money you will ever spend.
I am not saying it was an easy class, because nutrition is basically biology and chemistry put together centered around food, but you couldn’t get my nose out of that book.
Hell, I even felt so passionate about it that I wanted to become a Licensed Registered Dietician.
I made an appointment with the head of the nutrition department and came loaded with all my questions. I only needed 35 hours left to finish my business degree, so I needed to get all the facts. This would mean losing hours of classwork that would not transfer over if I made the switch.
I was deflated when I found out the reality of the profession. You needed a Bachelor’s if not a Masters Degree. After the degree(s), you had to get an internship of 1200 supervised hours. Only half the graduates that finished their degrees would get an opportunity for an internship, there were simply not enough to go around. Also, if I lived in Texas, I would have to be willing to pick up and move across the country at the drop of a hat for any internship. Oh, and did I mention that this internship is unpaid? Eight months of working without any pay. If you’re older, like I was, and already had a mortgage and responsibilities, that was impossible. Then, if you were lucky enough to grab one of the internships, you could move forward. When you completed all of this, you could petition and sit for the exam. You had to pass the exam, to get your license to be able to use the designation of RD.
Once you got your license, you had to find a job. Jobs for licensed dieticians were scarce. There were only a handful. They were utilizing the dietician techs under the license of the RD, because they were cheaper. This was true. When I looked back at my hospitals, they had 1 or 2 on staff, and the rest were techs that actually did the job and worked with the patients. Now, wait for it, after all this, depending on the area and state, you would only make about 50k a year.
My dream of working with patients that were compromised with autoimmune disorders, heart disease, diabetes and cancer were quickly snuffed out, like a flame on a candle.
I looked at the dean, who was on the board of the governing agency, and said, does this not give you pause that your system is so broken? After all, educating the people could change the health of this country. She responded, yes, we are trying to determine how we can fix this.
With my autoimmune disorders mounting, I hired a registered dietician. My thought was she would have a more holistic approach, since she was not connected to an institution, but I was wrong. She was what I refer to as a “snake oil salesman”.
She was trying to pedal products and services that were unregulated, like blood tests and supplements that didn’t work. I know, I tested them. Knowing I had deficiencies in certain nutrients, I stopped my supplementations then took the blood tests. It was coming out of some lab out of California. They came back completely unfounded and normal in their results. After that blood work, I went and had a few of the tests done from reputable labs and the results couldn’t have been more opposite. I was showing all the signs of deficiency. This was not a total loss. I was able to get one usable tip from her. Due to the iron supplement being so hard on my stomach and causing constipation, she told me to try a Chelated Iron in the form of Ferrous Bisglycinate and I have been on it ever since. This seemed to abound in the chiropractic world as well. They were all pedaling formulas for weight loss, essential oils and vitamins, because there is big money in it. It is estimated that this year, the supplement industry will reach 57 Billion Dollars! Yes, that is B with Billion. And this industry is unregulated.
I learned the hard way that too much supplementation can also be harmful. So, what do you do? There is a reason why they call food medicine. It is whole food recognized by our bodies and easily assimilated into our cells. It is the first choice. Don’t think you are doing your body any favors just taking a handful of vitamins every morning.
Now, let’s get into some basic structure of nutrition.
Macros are fats, carbohydrates and proteins. This is a 30,000 feet view of nutrition if you were looking out of a window of a plane. Within those, you will have micros. Within the carb family, you will find simple and complex carbs and they both serve different roles.
Micros are your individual vitamins and minerals necessary to keep your body functioning properly. Think of these as if you are looking under a microscope. These are up close and personal. That is why when I had all my deficiencies due to a horrible diet, my body and its functions started shutting down.
On the flip side of that, when I had too much B-1 stored in my tissues due to the supplements I was taking, it produced its own effects. More is not better when it comes to supplementation. Get your vitamins and minerals from whole food. If you have certain known deficiencies, then those will be addressed by a physician.
You will often hear the term “essential” vitamins and essential minerals being used. These are a handful of vitamins and minerals that must be ingested in the form of food, because our body cannot produce these and are needed for vital functions within our cells.
Now vitamins need a certain environment to be absorbed properly or assimilated into your small intestine. One is a water environment that must be present for all the vitamin Bs and Vitamin C. That is why hydration with water is so important. All the other vitamins will need a fat environment to be absorbed. That is why you never want to take vitamins on an empty stomach unless it is instructed by the product/healthcare provider. It’s kind of a waste of money.
The best possible source for all your needed vitamins and minerals is whole food like fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. Not packaged or highly processed.
Then you have certain co-factors within the vitamins and minerals. This means that in order to be absorbed, they need to have additional vitamins and minerals to assist. Like a key opening a locked door. For instance, you need vitamin c to absorb iron. Now, don’t think you can cheat the system and just take an iron pill and a vitamin c pill together, it doesn’t work like that. Real food is needed. So a salad with a squeeze of citrus fruit can work here.
Also, certain things block absorption of vitamins and minerals if they are present. I will not go this deep. Nutrition can be a wormhole as with anything else. Like I said before, nutrition is the science of biology and chemistry combined.
My advice to you, eat the rainbow of plenty of fruits and veggies and add sources of legumes, tofu, TVP and whole grains in your meals. Drink plenty of water and limit caffeine/alcohol.
When you are making a meal/snack, ask yourself this question….Am I fueling my body or feeding my face? Be honest with yourself. If it is a comfort food like ice cream or a bag of chips, my advice is don’t. Learn to make a substitute work around like banana ice cream (if you are not allergic). This will hopefully cap that craving and be a lot healthier.
Creating a new lifestyle for healthy eating is going to have a certain learning curve. After all, we have done this to our bodies for decades. We must unlearn old habits and relearn new ones. But with each day, you can take small steps that will make big differences.
Be the one to take control of your life and make those differences like increasing fiber naturally, water too, decrease those unhealthy saturated fats and sodium, and make sure you are getting a variety of whole foods. If you smoke, stop and alcohol has been proven now to be damaging. It was not what we thought. A glass or two of wine doesn’t protect your heart. So, think about only drinking on special occasions or better yet, giving it up altogether. I hope you have enjoyed the show.
See you next week.
Alicia