Everyone, no matter their health status, will benefit from eating healthy, nutrient dense food. Some people cannot improve their health without taking steps to change their diet. I have found that when my patients make changes towards healthy foods and eating patterns their health improves rapidly, sometimes miraculously. 

Why Does Food Have Such a Big Impact?

Our bodies are constantly regenerating, replacing older cells with newer, more functional copies. The material used to produce these new cells comes from the food you eat – the proteins and fats you consume become the building blocks of your cells, the carbs and sugars you eat power your cells, and the vitamins and minerals provide support to your biological system. Our systems were honed over millions of evolutionary years to turn what we consume into the best possible machine – and the average American diet can cause these systems to malfunction. In the age of processed and fast food, what we eat is often packed with pesticides and dyes, enormous amounts of trans fats or hydrogenated oils, and largely unrelated to what our bodies read as “food”. Imbalances in healthy and unhealthy foods confuse our metabolisms and create roadblocks in the way of achieving health, no matter how many medicines we take. And lack of nutrients and vitamins often cause the cells of our body, and brain, to suffer and sometimes disappear. 

If you eat fresh fish, meat and dairy, fruits and vegetables directly from the source, clean water rather than sugary sodas, your body will be made of the building blocks it was designed to be made of. Additionally, the nutrients that come from a healthy and diverse diet will help your body to clear toxins, fight inflammation, and maintain brain and organ function. 

What is the Ideal Diet for Optimal Health?

Michael Pollan states it best: Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants. In addition to this, it’s important to include variety in your diet. If you follow the above steps, you could eat kale day in and day out, and not get what you need from your diet because you’re lacking nutrients that simply don’t exist in kale. Throw some beets in the mix; eat radishes on Wednesdays; on Sundays, make a big bowl of cabbage salad; eat more nuts, seeds, and diverse grains. 

Furthermore, no one diet works for everyone. If you truly feel like the food you eat is at the core of your ill health, try a diet that will help you determine what’s harming your gastrointestinal system. We recommend the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Elimination Diet or their Renew Diet. 

The bottom line: start small, and with a critical eye. Look at what you eat, read the labels. You want to be eating food, not products. Try to buy whole, unpackaged vegetables. Buy fresh meat and fish, not hot dogs or fritters. Avoid things that contain commonly inflammatory ingredients: bread, deserts, and preservatives. Try to eat as though the year is 1500, and you’re well on your way.