Every day I am still amazed by how the world of food is being revolutionized by the concept of “nutrient rich”. We are finally realizing that many, if not most, of our health problems, including eating disorders, are caused by nutrient poor diets and nutrient deficiencies.
I know, it’s hard to believe in a world where there is access to so much food abundance, particularly in western countries, how could we be suffering in 2010 from “nutrient deficiencies”?
We are, and it’s because we eat foods that are not really foods, but rather “foodstuffs” that don’t even contain all the nutrient categories that our bodies need to function and perform and stay healthy, that we experience eating disorders. And while women seem seem the be the poster children of eating disorders, men experience them too. Disorders show up in all kinds of ways from bulimia to depression.
What you’ll discover in this article from medical doctor Hyla Class MD who, as a psychiatrist, is familiar with the underpinnings of eating disorders, the primary solution, which she calls “the nutrient solution” is a Nutrient Rich diet!
Food Sensitivity
We crave the foods that we are sensitive or “allergic” too. Not a typical allergy with hives or stomach aches, these sensitivities are intolerances, often inherited, and show up in any number of ways – for example, depression, inability to lose weight, eating disorders, tinnitus, unexplained aches and pains–many, many others. The very foods we crave will create the most symptoms and are the most damaging. In fact, food cravings are similar to an addiction to alcohol. As you withdraw from the foods you’re addicted to, you begin to have withdrawal symptoms and the craving begin. And if you happen to be addicted to wheat or baked goods, you can never get enough of them, so you binge on them, despite your best intentions to the contrary. People addicted to grains may drink excessive amounts of grain-based liquor or beer and can become alcoholics. They’re sensitive to and addicted to the alcohol, but it’s the grain-base that is causing the problem. They can even feel “drunk” after eating cereal or baked goods. Not so different from your regular carb-binger, except the target is alcohol instead of refined carbs.
Nutrients
It’s not just a matter of willpower. In order to break the addiction cycle, in addition to avoiding the undesirable foods, you have to supply the body with a good, supportive nutritional program of healthful food, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Then, the cravings will often simply go away! It’s quite remarkable; with a nutrient rich diet, and good vitamin and mineral formula, you can stop the cycle. In fact, once the diet and nutrients are in place, the cravings and addictions will often just fall away. Remember that nutritional supplements are not a substitute for healthy food, but a supplement to restore missing ingredients and balance biochemistry.
There is only one golden rule that you must follow if you are going to eat a Nutrient Rich diet Successfully. This new rule is not common and it might even sound like a marketing tactic at first because it’s everything you might want to hear. But there is a very good reason why this new rule is in place and it’ s because of the driving forces behind the entire dieting industry that keep you stuck trying to stick to a diet program you haven’t transitioned to yet, vs. successfully transitioning to a Nutrient Rich diet style in a way that works for you.
The new rule is this:
You Can Eat Whatever You Want…
Now as you digest that and say to yourself, “there is no way that a Nutrient Rich diet can be that flexible, or something like that“; relish the possibility while you read the second half of the rule to put it in perspective.
You Just Can’t Eat Whatever, and Get the Results You Want!
What’s so powerful about this new rule?
It acknowledges your capacity to make any choice you really want, and that is freedom.
It reveals that while you can eat whatever you want, not every choice is going to give you the same results.
It gives you the option to live with either set of consequences, the ones you want and the one you don’t want and the flexibility to experiment to prove it to yourself.
Having come from a background as a bodybuilder nearly 20 years ago, I was one of the biggest dieters out there, because during competitions we were so particular about what we ate that one slip up was enough to put you emotionally over the edge for the day.
Sound familiar?
I may have looked tough, but I’ll tell you, a bowl of honey nut cheerios which I loved at that time, would have sent me into a world of emotional hell.
Side note:
I believe that modern diet and fitness strategies were largely born of the body building-for-the-masses-wave that swept America for the past 50 years. As if everyone was getting ready for Mr Olympia or Ms Fitness competitions. We’re not, certainly not all year round and our lifestyle’s don’t support it.
Body builder’s and fitness competitors are judged on body fat % in part, so you can imagine, they will do anything to lose bodyfat and including trading in their health by eating predominantly foods “nutrient poor” foods.
This feeling of emotional hell, when you slip up or “fall off the wagon” because you didn’t “stick to your diet” and all the “diet speak” (the language of dieting) that surrounds the idea of following a diet program perfectly without fail, is what keeps people stuck.
You are dieting (trying to rigidly stick to or manipulate what you eat to lose weight or even get healthy) the second you say “I can’t eat that”. Now I don’t mean “I can’t eat that because it will make me sick or not feel good”, I mean “I can’t eat that because it’s not on my program”.
That!, is a major reason why you are unsuccessful in your attempt to change your eating habits, whether it’s eating better or less.
First, eating less of foods that are nutrient poor and not serving you to begin with is a failing strategy. You can’t expect to eat less “nutrient poor” chocolate chip cookies (there are Nutrient Rich ways to make such a cookie) and expect to be successful. It will never work!
Second, you can only eat less by eating better first. The better you eat, the faster you meet your nutrient needs, the less you will eat because you will not be driven to over consume.
But in this process, the most important concept to know is that you can eat whatever you want, so that you are free to eat what you choose. And psychology demonstrates, that if you know you can eat a certain food, but you also know it’s not serving you or it doesn’t make you feel good, and you are empowered to make that choice, you are far less prone to eat it.
And also keep in mind that there will be times, where you just want to eat a nutrient poor food for some reason and you need to be able to do that, without throwing yourself into a downward spiral.
I remember my friend Howie, once calling me up all our of sorts that he ate a Kit Kat. I said, “Howie, all you did was eat a Kit Kat”, now let’s move on. He was like… that’s it?. Yes, now carrie on with seeking out those foods that you grow to love, just as much, only you look, feel and perform better after you eat them.
Develop your mindset and master the art of making choices. The Golden Rule is the most successful place to start if you want to be psychologically healthy at the same time you start transitioning from nutrient poor to Nutrient Rich!
I was reading an article this morning on my iPhone about “New Years” resolution’s you can enjoy. It’s about the “Nutrient Rich Foods Approach”. It also says Winners Drink Milk!
Now of course, I just had to jump in on this one because the Dairy and Beef Boards have built their whole marketing and PR campaigns on conveying their products as Nutrient Rich foods and they are NOT, at lease by the true Nutrient Rich definition and believe me, allot of time, logic and brain power went into defining what it means to eat “Nutrient Rich”.
Before I go any further, and before you think I have it out for animal foods or the fine people who work in the industry that promotes them for nutritional purposes, I want to acknowledge, ironically, the dairy and beef boards for such a great campaign.
The Nutrient Rich foods campaign is really a great campaign, one of the best I have ever seen in nutrition marketing. But also understand, that while NutrientRich.com supports the campaign in a many ways, there are diet traps hidden within, that can cost you your health and cause you to chase your tail with food issues for the rest of your life!
So as the founder of NutrientRich.com, I am going to comment on the article’s passages in bold. My comments are indented.
Losing weight is a common New Year’s resolution, but people often resort to diets that restrict nutrients and eliminate food groups. This year, why not avoid thinking about food restrictions and aim to think about eating sensibly to nourish your body and give yourself the essential nutrition you need. “You are more likely to keep resolutions that are positive, such as eating more fruit and vegetables, getting the recommended three servings of dairy products every day, and including regular physical activity” stated Diane Ruyack, MS, RD, CD.
First of all in the New Year, really consider what the word eating “sensibly” means. This is “diet speak” for make sure you don’t go radical on me and cut out eating the food my industry provides.
This is a common term used by eat-everything-in-moderation, four food group activists, members of the dairy and beef council who desperately want their foods to be considered nutrient rich, old timer nutritionists who understand nutrient poor nutrition better than nutrient rich nutrition, and those who are so committed to eating animal foods because of familiarity and addiction, and thinking that animal foods are the only place to get protein and calcium.
Let’s get real, not eating a food group for intelligent health and environmental reasons does not mean you are “restricting” yourself. It means you are making a choice not to consume something that doesn’t serve you.
The Golden Rule of eating truly Nutrient Rich, is that you can eat whatever you want, you just can’t eat “whatever” and get the results you want.
It is not “sensible” to eat significant quantities of foods that don’t serve your health and it’s even worse to make some feel like they are buying into a diet of “restriction” if they don’t eat sensibly.
There is nothing that sensible about eating a diet “based” in foods that clog your arteries, cause you to age faster, toxify your body, are loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol and rape our planet, of trees and land to produce an inferior food supply that is rich in some nutrients, but as a whole food, is nutrient poor and is a primary cause of disease.
So be careful about falling for words like “sensible” and “restriction” that are used to control your food choices on a false premise.
Eating a diet that is rich, or based in, or predominantly dairy and animal products will ensure that you are “restricting” nutrients and that’s exactly what you don’t want to do. Eliminating or minimizing entire food groups is fine if they are nutrient poor.
Nutrient-Rich New Year’s RESOLUTIONS:
We are all for true Nutrient Rich New Years Resolutions!
The Nutrient Rich Foods approach to eating is a great way to start the New Year healthy and happy.
Good idea!
Eating Nutrient Rich is the most successful way to eat for health, performance and natural weight loss.
Make your choices based on the total nutrient package of a food or a meal, including the vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber it contains.
If you make food choices based on the “total nutrient package” of a food, milk and beef do not stack up. They are rich in protein no doubt (non health promoting), have no carbohydrate, no phytochemicals, “some” vitamins and minerals, they have saturated “non essential” fat (amongst other fats), they have cholesterol that you don’t need to take in from dietary sources since your body produces its own cholesterol, no water, no fiber… need I keep going?
Now you can eat small amounts of animal products (even I do from time to time) in a total “meal” package and still be eating nutrient rich 90% or more plant based, but the key is to keep your animal product consumption to 10% of less, if you eat them.
Here’s the deal, YOU DON’T NEED ANIMAL PRODUCTS FOR NUTRITIONAL PURPOSES [IN MOST CASES].
Following the Nutrient Rich Foods approach is a positive, realistic way to think about eating that can provide a fresh jump start for the New Year by shifting the focus from foods to avoid to foods you can enjoy.
Of course, the dairy and beef board do not want you to focus on avoiding dairy or meat (animal) products.
Let’s be clear, you can enjoy more truly nutrient rich foods, meals and menus than you can ever get to in your lifetime, (plant based), and if you eat animal products, include small amounts.
But be careful not to buy into the thinking that eliminating or minimizing the consumption of animal products means you can’t enjoy your new years resolution to eat Nutrient Rich foods.
Animal products, based on the explanation above are nutrient poor. Here’s a simple rational:
Why do you think high protein low carb advocates are always posturing their animal food recommendations along side “Nutrient Rich” vegetables and fruits…? It’s because they are lacking in nutrients.
You never see Nutrient Rich food advocates posturing their food recommendations along side beef and dairy, and if they do include, they mention foods like white meat chicken or turkey or fish and almost always say eat “small amounts”?
The reason is, animal products are nutrient poor and unless you are eating truly nutrient rich foods as the majority of your diet, disease is usually not far away.
Even the dairy and beef boards message says, “eat more fruits and vegetables”, FIRST.
Keep in mind: the main reason why people still eat predominantly animal products is because that’s where they think their protein comes from. ALL PROTEIN COMES FROM PLANTS!
Categorically speaking, the only thing you don’t want to miss out on are whole categories of nutrients. But you can easily eliminate whole categories of foods, or at least minimize them.
Here are some tips:
1. Start every day with a nutrient-rich breakfast, such as a spinach, tomato and pepper omelet with lean ground beef and serve it with whole wheat toast or oatmeal made with low fat milk and topped with dried fruit and nuts.
You could do a lot worse than this meal for sure given a large part of our population wakes up to eat a “continental breakfast” of donuts and cereal. But keep in mind the costs of eating an omelet and ground beef every morning for breakfast, on your health, you heart and the planet.
2. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store to find nutrient-rich foods; focus on the produce section as well as dairy, meat and seafood aisles.
What is new about that message? That’s what many people are doing now. What about eating a diet rich in dairy, meat and seafood is Nutrient Rich?
Of course, the produce section, but dairy, meat and seafood? As if refined foods were the only cause of dietary induced diseases. Nutrient poor foods that contain concentrated substances that your body does not need, are a major cause of disease.
Don’t fall for the Nutrient Rich foods marketing campaign of the dairy and beef industry lock stock and barrel. It’s a good one, but hidden in the message are diet traps.
3. Encourage your family to try a new and out-of-the-ordinary food each week, such as arugula, lentils, low fat ricotta cheese, avocados or kiwifruit.
That’s right, intersperse cheese, (the highest fat food in the world) even if it is low fat, in between the lentils and kiwifruit. Otherwise, a great idea!
4. Make your plate more colorful by including more bright fruits and vegetables in every meal.
Of course, the colors are where all the nutrients are. And these foods have protein too!
5. Instead of frying or sautéing meat, choose to grill or broil lean pieces of chicken, pork or beef.
Right, because cooking and frying already toxic, non health promoting foods, that also have to be eaten lean to be eaten better, would make them even worse.
6. Try low fat or fat-free milk instead of whole milk.
Notice you never have to say, eat fat free or leaner versions of apples, nuts, romaine or quinoa?
7. Stock desk drawers at work with instant oatmeal packets, light microwave popcorn, raisins, dried apricots and single-serve containers of peaches or pears packed in water or juice.
But of course.
8. Trade soda for 100 percent fruit juices or low fat milk.
Good idea, in theory; only standard 100% fruit juices are not usually 100% juice, are not fresh and without the fiber they become an insulin spiking nightmare.
9. Instead of eating out, bring the family closer by working together to try a new nutrient-rich recipe at least once a week.
This is a great idea. Although you can eat out the Nutrient Rich Way, with relative ease. But this is great advice, it’s good for the well being of your family.
A New Years Food Resolution you can enjoy, is 80-90% or more truly Nutrient Rich foods, meals and menus derived from these foods, 10% or less animal foods (if you eat them) which are rich in some nutrients but as a whole nutrient poor and less than 5% or less refined foods, (if you eat them at all), that have had all the nutrients stripped out of them and are nutrient barren.
What does this convert too?
If you eat 5 meals a day, that 10% means that if you eat animal products you are eating approx 4 meals per week with animal protein in them. I, along with thousands of others know that you will never miss eating animal products if you include them in small quantities, a couple of times per week.
For people who grew up on eating animal products, that strategy works great!
If you eat 5 meals a day (including smaller snacks), and eat 5% of your diet from refined nutrient barren foods, that means the equivalent of 2 junk food meals per week. That strategy also works because you will never miss it.
Meanwhile you are focused on adding more and more Nutrient Rich foods and learning both how to Lose Weight the Nutrient Rich Way, as well eat for health and performance, and natural weight loss.
One of the beauties of running NutrientRich.com is the fact that I get to publish and republish so many great articles by people talking about Nutrient Rich foods all over the world.
You see eating Nutrient Rich foods is a world wide trend and there is so much juicy information to learn each and every day.
Did you know that Mango’s were rich in amino acids?
I supposed I knew this to be true, but never really associated mango’s with amino acids.
“Mango is high in iron and rich in amino acids (for the production of proteins). Mango also has these seven nutrients of copper, riboflavin(vitamin B2), folic acid, niacin(vitamin B3), potassium, magnesium and vitamin C. Here are seven additional nutrients it contains: flavonoids, beta-carotene(pro-vitamin A), vitamin E, calcium, phosphorus, sulfur and pyridoxine(vitamin B6). Mangos are also high in pectin which is useful in lowering blood cholesterol levels. They are terrific for relieving indigestion. The nutrients of mango fruit are used by the body to support these following organs and systems: stomach, immune system, brain and heart.”
Mango’s are a great addition to your Nutrient Rich diet!
Real health reform is not about your prescription drug plan, it’s about your lifestyle – how you think and live.
Now as someone who lives a PerformanceLifestyle, I am very aware of the various aspects of a balanced and healthy lifestyle and how to apply the various skills needed to stay that way in the relentlessly demanding culture we live in to function and perform “well”. I know how to achieve my goals without trading my health for it as so many people do.
As big part of a PerformanceLifestyle is a plant-based nutrient rich diet; but PerformanceLifestyle is not what this article is about.
This post is about people who have not made the connection between their lifestyle and whether or not they achieve their goals in life in a balanced and healthy way. It’s about people who are caught up in an entirely different conversation of prescription drugs, medicine, and the inevitability of diseases such as diabetes mellitus.
The reason why they are caught up in that conversation is simple; they have no idea that they have significant control of their own health and are towing the country line that says one out of two will diet of cancer, heart disease and diseases like diabetes mellitus because they haven’t yet discovered the power of a plant based diet; just one aspect of a PerformanceLifestyle, albeit one that can dramatically improve your health!
Of course they are also eating a nutrient barren diet filled with refined foods, rich in refined sugar.
I was reading the web this morning and found an article on the Huffington Post called “A Solution for Diabetes: A Plant Based Diet – an article which 5 years ago, or so you would have never scene in the mainstream media, but now, since we are steeped in a discussion of health reform, you are seeing it.
In my opinion, this article is about real health reform and can get you started on the path to not only getting free of diseases such a diabetes mellitus, but creating a lifestyle that delivers a quality of life few experience.
A plant based diet is exactly that; a diet based in plant foods. It may not be 100% food from plants, but the majority of the diet is from nutrient rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, raw nuts and seeds and whole grains and or the endless stream of meals and menus that can be created by the hundreds of foods in thesefirst classfood categories.
Here’s and excerpt from the article.
NB: Yes. When people begin a healthful diet, most see big improvements in weight, cholesterol, and their blood sugar. Their need for medications diminishes, and some may not need medications at all. In some cases, you would never know they had had diabetes. However, I caution people not to simply throw their medications away. They need to speak with their doctors so they can alter their medication regimens only when and if it is appropriate.
Let me describe a case: A man named Vance joined our study. His father was dead by age 30, and Vance was 31 when he was diagnosed with diabetes. As our study began, he started a low-fat, vegan diet and gradually lost about 60 pounds over a year’s time. His blood sugar control returned to normal, and his doctor discontinued his medications. Imagine what it feels like to see family members assaulted by this disease, but then to realize that you have effectively tackled it by making healthful adjustments to your diet.
Read this article; one of the most influential reasons why people start to change their lifestyle is they no longer want to experience diseases of lifestyle like diabetes mellitus and this ends up leading them to the healthiest lifestyle in the world.
The road often begins with a plant-based nutrient rich diet!
Every day I am still amazed by how the world of food is being revolutionized by the concept of “nutrient rich”. We are finally realizing that many, if not most, of our health problems, including eating disorders, are caused by nutrient poor diets and nutrient deficiencies.
Having come from a background as a bodybuilder nearly 20 years ago, I was one of the biggest dieters out there, because during competitions we were so particular about what we ate that one slip up was enough to put you emotionally over the edge for the day.
I was reading an article this morning on my iPhone about 
