I promised to look at Diet this week — but in the first instance I want us to stop thinking about the word diet as meaning cutting back.
Instead I want you to use the word diet to mean eating for health, focusing on nutrition and the type of food we are eating. I also want to stress that I am not a qualified dietician or nutritionist and I am not talking about weight loss when I use the word diet, but in terms of health and fitness I am looking at foods that are considered healthier for us to consume.
Remember that I am looking at the whole circle of health and wellbeing, and the four key areas are Stress, Sleep, Diet and Exercise, so this week I am considering diet and the small steps we can take to make some changes that will help us achieve optimum health.
Certain food types can affect our gut health, and the vegas nerve which links the brain and the gut, is very sensitive. There is a lot of research into the potential that eating certain foods can cause inflammation in the gut and this will compromise and affect other areas of health, particularly mental health. Our mood and how we feel is heavily affected by some food sources. You may experience this in yourself, and can possibly identify that when you have eaten certain things the next day
you may feel quite low and sad, listless and low in energy and motivation.
We are constantly told by Nutritionists and Dieticians that too much dairy can be a common denominator for health niggles such as: eczema, asthma, migraines, energy levels. Processed foods and sugars — hidden sugars particularly — are also problematic in affecting so many other areas of our health. Sugar, dairy and gluten have been found to affect our joints and create inflammation and pain in the body. If your diet is high in fat then this will cause your poo to be sloppy — guilty of
over-sharing again!
I am a coffee drinker and, unfortunately, coffee will add to cortisol production, and I have already talked about the fact that too much cortisol adds to feelings of stress and anxiety, so cutting back on coffee is a constant goal of mine. I know when I have had too much coffee because I find my mood is affected, and I feel bloated and ‘full’. And while I don’t want to give up completely, because I enjoy a cup of coffee, I make it really good coffee — not instant — but a proper coffee, and
I limit my coffee to maximum two a day, all before lunchtime.
It’s quite tricky to know which foods are better for us as we are all individuals and different foods will be better suited to different body types, and different personalities. For example, are you the personality that decides to cut out all sweets and chocolate completely, but after two weeks caves in and visits the supermarket and fills the trolley with chocolate and biscuits and cakes, or are you the personality that can say I will have one square of chocolate every night but no more,
and can make one 100g bar of chocolate last for two weeks?
Here's a few things we can do to work on creating a healthier diet:
- Make a list of foods you eat and scale them 1 = unhealthy, to 10 = very healthy
- Start to make small changes by increasing the foods at the top end of the scale and reducing the foods at the bottom end of the scale
- Try giving things up for 7 days to assess if you feel differently eg, cut out dairy and see if it has reduced how often you are reaching for the pain killers
- Remove things that you feel could be causing inflammation in your body: you can always try to gradually re-introduce those foods — or simply have them less often
- Try to cook with coconut oil, and use olive oil for dressings
- Don’t cut out carbohydrates — but make them healthy options
- Check foods for hidden sugars — sugars can constantly affect mood swings so look at reducing those hidden sugars from the diet
- Eat more greens
- Work out during the day when you want to eat — if you don’t like eating first thing in the morning, don’t force yourself to eat then, but make sure you have a healthy option available for when you feel hungry later in the morning
- Try not to snack — drink more water instead.
So remember: I am NOT talking about weight loss, but if like me you want a healthier version of you, it is possible to make small incremental changes that are achievable to help with Stress, Sleep, Diet and Exercise.
This week, take some time to look at your diet, and if you want to make it healthier — because remember there could be something in your diet that may be affecting others areas of your health — decide where you can make some small, achievable changes that could make all the difference for you.
Next week — Exercise.