The majority of people who seek my nutritional advice state one of two things: either they believe they eat quite healthily or they are aware of what to do but choose not to follow it.
First off, just because we know something doesn't imply we will act on it. Our ideas drive our behavior, and many of the clients I work with are so dejected and disheartened from their numerous unsuccessful diet attempts that they start to believe they will never be able to achieve their health objectives.
Second, there is a clear distinction between a healthy diet and a balanced one. Even nutritious food can cause your blood sugar to surge and your body to accumulate fat if you don't know how to use it properly—in the appropriate mixes, in the right portions, and at the ideal frequencies.
You will be familiar with the value of blood sugar stability if you have been following me for any period of time. A healthy blood sugar level is crucial. In fact, it's so crucial that it's built into the way our bodies work.
Before leaving the hospital, newborns have their blood sugar levels monitored to make sure they are stable. Babies naturally retain that steadiness. Anyone with kids will attest to the fact that a baby or young child is ravenous as soon as they awake.
Babies consume breastmilk or formula, which is the ideal ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrate to control blood sugar levels. As they become bigger, not much does either.
Heaven forbid you should leave the house with a young child in tow and not carry a snack, am I right? This is especially true once babies start eating solid food. Their blood sugar is falling, that is. When they become "hangry," they begin pestering you for a snack.
The same process occurs in our adult bodies, but because to our hectic schedules and the constant diet advice nagging at the back of our thoughts, we succumb to temptation and disregard those cues to eat.
The way our bodies absorb and metabolize food hasn't changed much since we were infants; we've only grown bigger as people. And it seems that our eating habits get crazier as we get bigger.
The constant barrage of information overload with, quite frankly, incorrect information has the majority of our population either on a diet roller coaster they can't seem to get off of or so confused they do nothing. It tells them to eat no fat, cut out carbs, count calories, avoid eating in the evening or the morning, eat three meals per day and no snacking, eat five meals per day, and yes, have snacks.
How is that doing so far for you? It's probably safe to assume that it isn't. In Canada, more than 31% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 and nearly 30% of adults are obese. The most recent data I could locate on childhood obesity was in 2012–2013.
Diets are obviously ineffective, and doing nothing is definitely ineffective. Blood sugar stabilization is effective.
Stabilizing blood sugar is effective for all bodies. It's how we came into being, and the sooner we return to it, the sooner we'll start to see changes. However, diets don't teach you that because of the multi-billion dollar diet business, and if you discovered something that worked for you, your spouse, your children, anyplace, and in any circumstance, you'd never go back to dieting. Their financial situation would not be improved by that.
Why not learn to eat the foods you enjoy in a way that creates hormonal balance, stabilizes blood sugar, revs up metabolism, and positions your body in a position where it naturally releases stored fat, protects lean muscle, increases energy, and eliminates cravings rather than depriving yourself, restricting foods, counting calories, or eliminating entire food groups?
You'll reduce your chance of metabolic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, and heart disease, and stroke and you'll generate health in your body while your body naturally loses weight. By the way, inflammation is the underlying cause of all diseases.
Really, it's very easy. Eating the right foods throughout the day in the proper proportions, mixes, and frequencies will accomplish all of those goals.
Just keep in mind that it's not a diet. This means that outcomes usually take time to manifest. However, they will occur in a healthy manner.
It didn't develop overnight, no matter where you are in your health journey, and it can take some time to reverse those consequences. How long relies typically on how long your body has been out of equilibrium and in a starved state.
What I do know, though, is that it has less to do with your age and more to do with how long you have been doing or not doing things that are good for your body and health.
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