Principles of holistic nutrition
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A TRANSCRIPTION AND YOU WILL FIND TYPOS FOR THAT REASON
So we're gonna be talking about the three principles of holistic nutrition.
#1 Eliminate Source of Toxicity
#2 Eat foods that are healing and nurturing
#3 You must cleanse before you rebuild
Step 1 - Eliminate sources of toxicity-This is step one on purpose. To heal, we have to stop the barrage of what is coming in that is hurtful. That's toxic in our bodies. Toxicity can be in the water we drink, in the air, we breathe but it is constantly in the foods that we take in. And so eliminating sources of toxicity means targeting foods that cause inflammation in the body and foods that cause inflammation in the body foods that are not really foods by the definition of what food is. And the definition of food is it must be nutritious. That's step one, and it must promote life and growth. That's step two. So there are a lot of things out there that are nutritious, right? They have some form of nutrition, but they don't meet the second qualification to be food, which is to promote life and growth.
And so when you're looking at what you're going to be eating, and you're saying, is this a form of toxicity? Is this food that is really food, then you should be looking at, you know, does it, it, does it meet those two qualifications? And so is it something that will immediately help you? Is, is it alive? Is it growing towards the sun? Is it organic? Has it not been sprayed with pesticides? These are things, these are things that are not going be toxic for you. So if it's, if it is in that, then you want to limit that toxicity from the body so that you're not getting glyphosates that have been sprayed on your food. That's, a form toxicity as, as well as, so looking at foods and eliminating those sources of toxicity. And I, I get really deep into that.
That whole eliminating sources of toxicity is a whole podcast about what foods are toxic and what foods are not considered foods, but eliminating sources of toxicity is really important. So fast, frozen, processed foods that have are high in sugar, gluten dairy, these things are causing toxicity in the body. And they may be considered quote unquote food because they have some nutritional value, but they do not do not meet the second standard, which is promoting life and growth. So that is the first step of the first principle of holistic nutrition. We have to eliminate the sources of toxicity that we're bringing into our body. So that's, that's step one or the principle one. Yeah.
Yeah. I love it. You know, it's yeah. When you look at, and, and it seems like we're on the, the back end and maybe COVID, although it never goes away, it kind of in the rear view mirror and it'll be like the flu and things like that. And we have vaccines and all kinds of ways of treating it now. But you know, when you look at the measures, we've taken to protect ourselves from a disease. But we have no knowledge for the most part of what we're putting into our bodies. So I'm glad you're covering that.
We, have cohabitated with germs for a long, long, long time. We have a great microbiome in our gut that's full of bacteria. And so it's when a species of something becomes overabundant and then our immune system cannot react, to it properly that we have that we have problems, but when we eat toxic foods or foods that are not really foods, we set ourselves at a disadvantage. That's true in being able to have our immune system work properly. But what we're seeing now is an intense increase in autoimmune disorders, meaning the body is so toxic that it's starting to attack itself. And that has really increased in the last 50, 75 years. Which is when we have started to mass produce food, mass processing. There is a key component to helping your health and helping you thrive in, in an environment where there's bacteria and viruses, by making sure that the level of toxicity you put in your body is as low or as low as possible.
Yeah. Good stuff. All right. So what's # 2
Number two. So the second principle of holistic nutrition is to add in foods that are healing and nurturing to the body. These foods are going to reduce inflammation. So this is number two on purpose because I can eat all of the great foods in the world. And if I'm eating fast frozen, processed foods, I'm never, ever gonna truly heal because I'm constantly bombarding my body with inflammatory foods. So this is why this is second adding in foods that are healing and nurturing to the body. And you probably know what I'm gooing to say. If it grows towards If it grows is towards the sun. If it's alive, if it's been planted in soil that has been fertilized and has been properly cared for and contains nutrients in that soil that are going to be beneficial for the plant that's growing in it. You should eat it.
Well, what about frozen foods? I love frozen strawberries, frozen berries. I think it's great. And the reason is, is because it is ripening on the vine and what you get at the store when you buy strawberries that are the shelf and not frozen is they are already in the process of rotting, right? So they have already, they picked them before they were really ripe and they sort of tried to ripen, but really they're not riping anymore. What they're doing is going through their own process of death in that plant. And so when you get it frozen it's a great way to consume it because it has ripened the vine, you have all the nutrients from the soil that give you all those vitamins and minerals from that plant, from that fruit, from that vegetable.
And so, so I tell people that's a great, you know, its great you can also integrate frozen foods into my diet because those have already been have ripened on the vine. And so they have a lot of nutrition in them versus what I call is, you know, where they're actually rotting on the way to the store. I still eat and love to have fresh. I'm not saying don't have fresh fruits and vegetables too. Right. but being open to, to that, and those foods reduce inflammation in the body and help your body to heal naturally with whatever is going on in your body. And it also helps protect your immune system. It gives your gut what it needs for serotonin production. So for people that are feeling sad or depressed, we make serotonin in our gut. And so those foods help with brain health.
They help with our heart health, they help with our, our, our gut and our, all of our, all of our other organs that are working together to help make you move and talk and walk and think and work. So that is the second principle is really to add in those foods that are going to be healing. And these are foods that are, you know, by definition foods, they must promote life and growth and they must be nutritious. And so that is the second principle of adding in those really great foods, smoothies, juices, salads soups, any way that you can get foods that are allowed into your body is gonna be a great way to reduce inflammation.
I, I strongly encourage you if you're not gonna, if it's the choice between not eating vegetables or eating organic, I would say, eat vegetables, even if it's not organic. But if you can try to integrate organic foods slowly into your diet and, and you'll see, you'll taste some of the difference there, but growing your own food in your own backyard is the absolute best way to get the best quality because you are going to have, you're gonna have control over temperature and the soil and what goes in and what goes on.
Wow. All right. Good stuff. So on to number three, what do you have?
So this one is important and it's actually in its position for a very good reason too. So number three is that you must cleanse before you rebuild. And so when I'm working with my patients, I give this explain that it's kind of like going to that really, really messy closet, the one that you have avoided for years and years and years, you just, just kind of throw things in there. Well, we have to take everything out of the closet and we have to make even bigger mess <laugh>. So in the beginning, when you start this healing process and when you're starting to eat more better foods and you're starting to heal your body and you're starting to conditions that you thought were irreversible, it it's a little, what I call messy, right? I, I, I say, you know, it can be a little messy that because we have to cleanse the body first and we have to detoxify the liver and the gallbladder.
And that is, that is done through cleansing. And so once we've cleanse and we've got it all clean and we've wiped down the, we took everything out and we threw away the toxic foods and we start buying all the good foods in. Then we can start to rebuild the body with nutritious foods that are going to be rebuilding. So I have found this quote and I, I have, I love it. And I say it a lot. It says, when you commit to transform in your life, you commit to getting very uncomfortable over and over and over again, be friendly, unfamiliar the risky, the me no wanna the discomfort means you're almost there. And so I have started to integrate that into all my protocols, with my, my patients to say, this is at the very top. I want you to understand that when you making a change, it is uncomfortable.
You are trying to make a change. And any change that you try to make and any change at all is there's a level of discomfort, you know, that's, that can be, I uncomfortable for people. And so, but we have to cleanse before we can start the process of rebuilding up the body. That is the third principle of holistic nutrition that we have to cleanse before we can start building back up the body.
Wow. I just love what you're saying and you know, I, I think that's a lesson for all of life that you're not growing, unless you're feeling uncomfortable. ideally a regular basis. I mean, it's, it's just, it's the way it works. SoI'm so thrilled to hear that you're, you're putting that out there
I have to tell myself that too, because I'm, I'm taking that new all the time, too. You can't really make any significant change unless you push past those those pretend boundaries, because you created those in your mind, you said, I can't eat fruits and vegetables. I don't like broccoli. I don't eat this way. You decided, you decided to put the wall up and you decided that that was, those were your boundaries. And so to systematically go through and kind of take those down is uncomfortable.
Hey, I'm uncomfortable too. Sometimes, I was uncomfortable going and doing things on social media and, and doing things with, my practice. I was uncomfortable. I do find that there's a lot of benefit there for me. And there's a lot of benefit for other people to kind of move outside of their comfort zones when it comes to foods that they that they think are real food.
Absolutely. I think you totally hit it on the head. There is that sort of uncomfortable of like, is this gonna work finally? I see that a lot. Because by the time they come to me, they have tried 12 other doctors and 10 other things. And they're like, is this really gonna work for me? Is this the thing that's gonna work for me finally? So there is that discomfort too. And, I'm glad you brought that up, cause that is a really great point.
Love it, love it. Well, Dr. Michelle, really again, appreciate you getting through your UN uncomfortableness and doing these podcasts. Cause I know it was a stretch for you and good for you and your listeners and really looking forward to the next episode.
