Primary foods & healthy living

The more primary food we receive, the less we depend on secondary food. The opposite is also true. The more we fill ourselves with secondary food, the

Most people have been taught that losing weight is a matter of simple math: cut calories and you’ll lose weight.

But as it turns out, experts are learning that this decades-old strategy is actually pretty misguided.

"This idea of 'a calorie in and a calorie out' when it comes to weight loss is not only antiquated, it's just wrong," says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity specialist and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. [1]

"Drop the calories notion," says Dr. Stanford. It's time to take a different approach, she says, putting the emphasis on improving diet quality and making sustainable lifestyle improvements to achieve a healthy weight.

Three main factors affect how your body processes calories.

Your gut microbiome
Your metabolism
The type of food you eat

In integrative nutrition, we believe successful weight management comes when you focus on what’s off your plate, as well as what’s on your plate. We call these primary foods.

Primary food includes elements such as a meaningful spiritual practice, an inspiring career, regular and enjoyable physical activity, and honest and open relationships that feed your soul and your hunger for living.

The more primary food we receive, the less we depend on secondary food. The opposite is also true. The more we fill ourselves with secondary food, the less we are able to receive the primary food of life.

In future posts we will cover the way you can nourish your body, mind and soul through primary foods.

REFERENCES:

Harvard (2020). Stop counting calories. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/stop-counting-calories

Categories: Gut Health, Integrative Nutrition, Mindfulness