Why Do We Need Proper Nutrition?
Right now, our society has an increased need for practitioners willing to help those with health needs learn and apply the best nutrition and lifestyle practices for their bodies. Nutritional Therapy Practitioners help to fill this gap in the health industry.
Our bodies are wonderfully designed for the body systems to work together synergistically, and with the proper fuel for our cells, we function optimally and feel our best. Unfortunately, modern farming practices have left many foods less nutrient dense and polluted with chemicals like hormones, antibiotics, steroids, and pesticides.
The grocery store shelves are filled with highly palatable, addictive foods that are lacking in nutrients, highly processed, and full of harmful ingredients such as additives, colorings, artificial flavors and sweeteners, and inflammatory fats.
White sugar, flour, and vegetable oil make up over 50 percent of the calories that the average person living in the industrialized world consumes each day.
Chris Kresser
These unnatural ingredients add stress on our body systems.
In addition, our modern, often fast paced lifestyles can add even more stressors on our body with environmental toxins, sedentary lifestyles, lack of sleep, unchecked stress levels, and lack of connection. Our bodies are highly adaptable and can overcome stressors and maintain stability, but it needs a lot of nutrients for fuel to do so.
Without proper nourishment, the stressors overwhelm the body, leaving one or more body systems weak and not functioning properly. For example, almost half of deaths from cardiometabolic diseases were found to be associated with poor eating habits (Hickin, 2017).
How can Nutritional Therapy Help?
This is where nutritional therapy comes in.
As your practitioner, we will work as a team to identify body imbalances and nutrition needs and devise a plan that is attainable. We can reduce unwanted symptoms by supporting your body system’s optimal function through dietary and lifestyle recommendations tailored to your bio-individual needs, and targeted supplementation when applicable.
I will assist you in meeting your health goals by supporting the body at the basic foundations of health including nutrition, digestion, blood sugar regulation, healthy fats, mineral balance, proper hydration, movement, sleep and stress support.
How Does an NTP Support Your Health and that of the Community?
Our body is comprised of cells at the basic level, and they need balanced macronutrients, lots of micronutrients, and minerals to function well. Choosing foods with the highest level of nutrients and preparing them properly to promote absorption of those nutrients is the best way to fuel our bodies.
I will assist you in sourcing nutrient dense foods that have been sustainably and organically produced, connecting with your food sources and community, and preparing these whole foods in traditional ways that make them delicious and the nutrients the most bioavailable.
By supporting proper digestive function, your body will best be able to absorb these nutrients to use as fuel for whole body wellness.
In choosing nutrient dense whole foods that our ancestors ate, we can reconnect with food, culinary pleasures, our food sources, the environment, and each other. As a result, we also support our local farms, small businesses, the environment around us, and our social connections.
The more our communities are empowered with the knowledge of proper food choices and the benefits that being nourished can bring, the more big-food companies and industrialized agriculture will have to give up their profits as people choose their health and the health of their communities.
While changing habits can feel daunting, I will support you in making achievable improvements with careful planning, individualized strategies, plenty of resources, and relevant educational information. Working together, we can create habits and knowledge that will set you up for a lifelong commitment to wellness and feeling your best!
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References
Hickin, T. (2017, March 14). How Dietary Factors Influence Disease Risk. Retrieved from the National Institutes of Health on: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-dietary-factors-influence-disease-risk
Kresser, C. (2018, May 30). The Power of an Ancestral Perspective on Diet. Retrieved from the Nutritional Therapy Association on: https://nutritionaltherapy.com/the-power-of-an-ancestral-perspective-on-diet/