Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
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Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH.
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Over 2500 years ago, Hippocrates, who is the Greek physician also known as the father of medicine, had a really amazing statement and that was, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Now, we fast forward to current day and we have to think to ourselves, how is it that we went so off the rails when it comes to recognizing that nutrition is part of health? It is alarming when you see the lack of nutritional understanding and nutritional planning when it comes to traditional physicians and those in healthcare in general. It really is quite a shame that they had it right 2500 years ago and then you see where we’re at now, with all of the different chronic disease states, we’re still not able to connect those dots.
Hippocrates, for the most part, has been largely neglected, along with that philosophy and understanding of the importance of nutrition. When you look at the way we practice medicine now in the traditional sense, it’s much more about drugs than it is foods. Food as thy medicine has really kind of gone out the window. You don’t have to look too hard or too far to figure out why this trend continues. When we recognize that throughout the United States and technically throughout the world, nutrition in medical education is incredibly lacking.
Today, I want to talk about the lack of understanding when it comes to nutrition. When we talk about nutrition, we’re not talking about putting someone on a low-salt diet or a low-sugar diet. It’s just the basic wherewithal of what is it that nutrition is and why is it that we have pulled so far away from understanding that.
The importance of the Mediterranean diet and superfoods
Most people have heard the saying, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” That’s not a far fetched thought. We understand that our foods can either make us or break us, which is why I continuously talk about the Mediterranean diet.
We know that if we go back in time to Hippocrates and we’re thinking about foods, we know that those foods that were incorporated into his philosophy of health were from that Mediterranean region. There is a large body of research data that suggests that the Mediterranean diet is by far superior to any other form of diet out there. It’s been shown time and time again to have all of these different health-promoting effects across the spectrum.
Mediterranean Diet Shown Time After Time To Be The Best – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 243
We need to go back to the basics and look at things like superfoods. These are going to be foods that really, across the spectrum, are giving you a really good, abundant amount of key nutrients including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, protein, healthy fats and the right blend of carbohydrates. There’s not one single food out there that can offer every aspect of full nutrition, but it’s when you adhere altogether to that Mediterranean diet, this is where you gain all of that benefit.
We realize that all of these different foods, like berries, fatty fish, green leafy vegetables, nuts and olive oil, are all a really great way to “superfood up” your diet. Yogurt, for example, is a really wonderful way to balance your homeostasis within the gut microbiome. Cruciferous vegetables, including brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, really can heighten our body’s ability to function properly. If you’re not hearing this from your physician, it’s probably because they’re not trained in that.
Tune into the full podcast episode to learn more about why many doctors do not know enough about nutrition and why the Mediterranean diet is so important.
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Written By Patricia Pimentel Selassie, ND, CNS
In the Standard American Diet (SAD), breakfast is typically composed of heavy, highly refined carbohydrate foods such as cereal, waffles, pancakes, toast, muffins, danishes, donuts, biscuits and orange juice. These refined carbohydrates enter your blood stream as glucose, or sugar, providing quick energy. Now, this would be an ideal breakfast choice for the day you run a marathon, but most often the only place we run to is our cubical at work, our desk at school, or our couch on the weekends. With our mornings spent sitting and our blood full of glucose, our bodies secrete insulin to remove the sugar from our bloodstreams and harmfully transfer it into our muscles and our vital organs.
Any time our blood sugar is high, we cause damage to our blood vessel walls and nerve tissue in a process called glycation. To avoid this, the pancreas overcompensates by dumping more insulin into our bloodstream. This process results in a hypoglycemic state, where excess sugar gets stored as fat. This results in the majority of our bodies having too high proportions of fat in three types –
Epidemiologists are beginning to demonstrate that having fat in place of muscles or lean tissues could be more of an indicator of poor health than having a high Body Mass Index.¹ Obesity leads to chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Belly fat leads to fatty liver or hyperlipidemia. Skinny fat leads to osteoporosis and frailty as we age.
Research shows that eating protein in the morning (as opposed to leaving protein for evening meals) has multiple benefits for maintaining proper body composition. Protein gets digested more slowly than carbohydrates, adding a sustained sugar release into the bloodstream that is maintained over a longer amount of time. There is no longer a rapid or spiked insulin response. Blood sugar is secreted into the tissues at a more even rate, and is used as it is received. It has been demonstrated that if protein is eaten in the morning (as opposed to a carbohydrate equivalent), subsequent caloric intake is reduced for the rest of the day.² This is good news for those of us who are obese, as protein as a healthy breakfast would naturally reduce food intake, without the feeling of deprivation. Apple-shaped individuals may be able to tighten their belts by eating protein for breakfast, as it encourages a decreased amount of carbohydrates later in the day that would otherwise be stored as belly fat. Furthermore, protein in the morning helps our bodies build and repair muscle tissue more effectively throughout the day, whereas saving protein for evening meals does not appear to be as beneficial for muscle maintenance.³ Maintaining lean muscle tissue is one of the first ways to get rid of unwanted fat in obese, underweight or ‘skinny-fat’ individuals.
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It appears that eating a healthy breakfast also stops carbohydrate cravings later in the day by affecting hormone and brain signaling that controls food regulation, leaving a more satiated and nutritionally nourished individual.⁴ In fact, obese individuals looking to lose weight may find success with the addition of a protein breakfast, leading to decreased food intake, decreased body weight, and increased satiety due to positive hormonal influences.5 It’s clear that protein appears to be the variable that influences satiety by decreasing ghrelin, the hormone that signals individuals to eat, and by increasing PyY3-36, which reduces appetite. 6And by eating most calories in the beginning of the day as opposed to the end of the day, we find better insulin responses resulting in weight loss as fat loss rather than a loss in muscle or lean tissue.7
Next, only a few of us can report feeling even-tempered and satiated, all while maintaining good cognitive performance throughout our day. Most deal with high and low moods and times when fatigue sets in. Many describe brain fog affecting performance. These issues can be directly related to blood sugar imbalances due to meals of highly refined carbohydrates.8 Having a higher protein breakfast may reduce cravings after meals and may increase dopamine levels, the neurotransmitter responsible for memory, recall, and learning.9 More research on orexin, a neuropeptide that signals the brain when we have eaten protein, has demonstrated that protein plays a role in energy and motivation.¹º If the orexin receptor is not stimulated, the result is fatigue and sleepiness.¹¹ A change in breakfast choice could be the solution to achieving a stellar performance in school or work.
So what are some fast and easy ways to incorporate protein into your morning routine? If you are looking for a SAD food suggestion, you could go for eggs and turkey bacon from organically fed, pastured poultry. Keep in mind that eggs are one of the most common food intolerances and might not be the right choice for you. For those looking to stay away from a SAD diet, these options may help –
In this society, breakfast is often skipped due to lack of time for preparation. Before grabbing a piece of toast for your long commute or driving children to school, consider making a protein shake for breakfast. Start with a scoop or two of a protein powder like whey protein, soy protein, and meal replacement powder. Add in organic flaxseed powder, some seasonal fruit like berries or peaches, chopped kale or spinach, and unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk. Blend and drink. If you are really in a rush, place a scoop of one of the protein powders in a shaker bottle with some unsweetened chocolate almond milk and fly out the door knowing you will be maintaining your muscle and using your fat as fuel, all while feeling like a champion – more satiated, focused, and even-tempered – throughout your day. Enjoy!