Nutrition for Wellness

I like to offer "simple" solutions and steps regarding lifestyle choices that, when added up over time, make a tremendous difference in our overall levels of health, wellness and happiness. I know that this "simple" step isn't necessarily so simple for everyone who will read this. But, it's worth knowing about and taking this step whenever you can.

Remember, I don't talk about being"Perfect". That's not my word when it comes to lifestyle choices... "HealthIER" is!

In order to understand what makes a lifestyle choice healthy, we also need to understand what it is that causes us to move away from health.

Inflammation lies at the core of every chronic illness there is: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, obesity, digestive disorders, depression, learning disorders, Alzheimer's, infertility, etc. Chronic inflammation, along with insulin resistance, stress hormones, decreased sex hormone binding globulin, and decreased immunity make up the five pillars of chronic illness.

Essentially, what this means is that you don't develop chronic illness ("Diseases of Lifestyle") unless you first develop one or more of the five pillars. They are the precursors. How do you develop a pillar? Toxicity.

The consequences of NOT making pure and sufficient lifestyle choices in the way we eat, how we move, and how we think are quite serious.

So, here's one critical area we can clean up in our diets that will make a tremendous impact on our overall level of toxicity.

Arachidonic acid is considered to be one of the number one sources of inflammation in our diets (along with the myriad of food additives and drugs made in chemistry labs, and then applied to our food somewhere along the line). One of the leading sources of Arachidonic acid is meat.

Stop. I did NOT just tell you to become a vegetarian! I made that lifestyle choice myself years ago, inaccurately believing it was the healthiest way to go. I was wrong. A pure and sufficient balanced diet made up of real whole food, closest to its naturally occurring state - some animal protein, fats, nuts & seeds, vegetables, fruit, pure water - that's the healthiest way to go. If you're choosing a vegetarian lifestyle for philosophical or spiritual reasons, I completely respect and honor that. If you've been led to believe that it's a healthier way to live, I urge you to further research those claims, like I did.

Meat, in and of itself, is not "bad". The overwhelming problem with meat is what we're feeding the livestock and how they're being raised ahead of time. That's where the toxicity is coming from.

Study after study that looks at the healthiest cultures around the planet since the beginning of humankind demonstrates that some amount of animal protein has been consumed in these healthy, vibrant cultures. Some ate (and still eat) large amounts of animal protein and fat while others eat significantly less. That's not my point in this article. Simply, I believe that we all have individual variances with how much animal protein and fat we thrive on. But, I believe that we should follow the Gold Standard of our far healthier ancestors.

Anyhow, here's the point of this particular article. The toxicity in our meat is primarily coming from all the corn and grain (and oftentimes, soy) that is being fed to our livestock. These foods are, 1) not the normal diet of the animals they're being fed to, and 2) highly inflammatory and toxic with omega-6 fatty acids.

What can we do? If you're going to consume meat and other animal products, whenever possible, do NOT choose the conventional selections. I know that many of you do not have the time, resources or finances to make this choice as "simple" as it should be for all of us.

Try anyway. It's that important.

When choosing red meats - choose grass-fed (and organic, if possible).

When choosing poultry and eggs - choose free-range, organic.

When choosing fish - do not choose farmed fish. Choose deep, cold-water wild fish. (e.g. Wild Alaskan salmon)

When choosing organ meats - make sure they come from grass-fed or free-range animals.

When choosing wild game - a naturally better choice... but make sure it's truly "wild" game. Many fields are spiked with corn, so the wild game is still loaded with omega-6 and toxins.

What if this isn't easy to come by for you? First, I recommend requesting these cleaner meats at your local market or butcher. It's worth a try. Next, I recommend that you find out if there's a farm near you that raises their animals this genetically congruent way, and if you can purchase your meats there. It's usually fairly easy to at least find a local farm that still knows how to raise chickens without drugs and fake, toxic foods! You could start by purchasing your eggs there. Although, free-range organic eggs are increasingly easy to find in conventional markets. You may also find some community farms where you can buy a share of a naturally-raised cow or other sources of food.

There's also a wide variety of choices online now, where you can have exceptionally high quality fresh meats shipped right to you.

Finally, if you really feel that you "can't" clean things up for whatever reason, then that's the time that I'd recommend decreasing your overall animal protein intake. Again, NOT because of meat itself, but because of the toxins that come along with conventionally raised animals and fish. The scales have tipped. This stuff is just too toxic for us to consume day in and day out and think that it doesn't have a negative impact on our health. Wrong.

Remember, every time you choose a "cleaner" source of meat or animal protein, you're lightening the toxic load on your body and brain. That's a good thing. Even if you just clean up ONE meal out of twenty-one in a week, that's better and healthIER than eating twenty-one toxic meals!