Confusion Around What to Eat?

I don’t know about you but I have stopped listening to everyone out there talking about the newest trend in diets or the latest dietary theory we all need to jump on. I’m here to tell you that the only person you need to begin listening to is YOU! Your body knows exactly what it needs to thrive. When we give our power over to others to tell us what we need in order to optimize our health in terms of nutrition, then we can run into trouble.

I recently jumped on the keto bandwagon and quickly jumped off.. I was hungry often and ate loads of cheese. I missed my occasional fruit — maybe an apple in the afternoon. I found myself baking with the “keto” friendly sugar substitutes like Swerve, Stevia, Monkfruit, etc. I never felt right when I used them, but I continued to bake with them for a short period of time. I found they were not good for me. They caused me to feel bloated and have lower stomach cramps. I’m very happy my body told me I was not giving it the right nutrients. I have come to realize these 0 carb sugar substitutes can wreak havoc on the body — especially the pancreas.

I was missing veggies, an occasional healthy sweet and a few healthy carbs. I would run to the fats instead of the carbs, telling myself that this was the way to better health. NO! The way to better health is to listen to your body and honor what it’s telling you. If you crave carbs, your body is looking for that nutrient. If you crave something sweet, your body is looking for that. This doesn’t mean that if your body is craving something sweet that you eat Oreos or a pie from Walmart. It means you may need a sweet potato with dinner or some local, raw honey in your tea — or even homemade ice cream made with good quality cream and milk, sweetened with maple syrup. Think “unrefined sugar” and healthy alternatives like maple syrup and honey. They are much better substitutes for refined sugar.

Also, cravings can be the sign of an underlying imbalance. It’s your body’s way of telling you it needs something that you’re not giving it. This might be where you begin to look deeper into the root cause of cravings. An example of looking deeper might be…you crave fats and do well with eating lots of fat.. but, this might also be a sign that your body is not absorbing fats. One way to know this is if your bowels are oily or if they float.

How did our ancestors survive? Think about it. There was no-one telling them how to eat, what to eat, and what diet was the best for them. Wherever they lived, Mother Nature provided them with the foods that would nourish them and keep them healthy. They hunted and ate “nose to tail.” They ate organ meats (which today are villified), local fruits, local greens, etc. If they lived by the ocean, they ate wild caught fish, seaweed, etc. They ate according to their environment. They ate the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet and they ate with the seasons. Whatever was available and plentiful was eaten.

Do you eat with the seasons?

It doesn’t have to be confusing. Listen to your body — it has all the answers.

-C