Healing the Body with Personalized Nutrition

acupuncture, traditional chinese medicine, herbs

Healing the Body with Personalized Nutrition

8/2/2020

"The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame
with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition"
~ Thomas Edison ~

You are what you eat... or rather what you digest and absorb, but many of us don't know exactly what it is we are absorbing each day. And more importantly, we don't always know what we are missing. This week I'd like to shed some light on ways you can find the right nutrition and diet plan for you to help you along your journey to better health.

To get started, check out the video below with Brittany and Dr. Sarica Cernohous talking about metabolic balance®, what it is, and ways in which it can benefit you.

The Nutrition Conundrum

Let's be real, nutrition can be overwhelming. Deciding what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, and then trying to consider and decipher what the vitamin, mineral, fat, fiber, and protein content of what you are consuming daily takes a lot of thought, planning, and research. Quite frankly it can be exhausting and stressful.

Though I strongly feel that nutrition should be common knowledge (I mean come on, its how we survive) many of us were never taught much about it throughout our lives. And those of us who were taught nutrition in grade school, it was likely the food pyramid of the SAD (standard American diet) which is cringe worthy for those who actually understand nutrition. I mean truthfully, the acronym explains it best: it's just plain sad!

On top of this weak foundation, when we start to do the research, we stumble upon fads, quick fixes, pills, supplements, varying studies with differing opinions, an overwhelming amount of information regarding the "right" diet for human health and optimization.

Should you go Paleo, Keto, or do a raw food diet?

Be vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, meatatarian, or maybe fruitatarian?

Go gluten free, low carb, or no carb?

Follow the Atkins Diet or Weight Watchers?

Count calories?

Choose low fat or no fat?

Eat based on your blood type?

Do intermittent fasting, the master cleanse, or just juice all of your food?

Eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away?

Or maybe just give it all up and become a breatharian?

And as if that's not enough questions to ponder and stress about, some of the information and recommendations we find online from "trusted" organizations are often sponsored and funded by large food corporations that have a big influence on what is said since they have something to gain from the information provided.

So what resources can we trust and where do we even start?

Where to Start: A Basic Roadmap to Nutrition

While I can't address your specific nutrition and dietary needs through this newsletter, I can provide you with a roadmap to get you started.

Where to buy and what to look for:

Buy/support local when you can
- Try your local farmers markets or CSAs (Flagstaff CSA)
When the local options don't have what you need, try health food stores
- Natural Grocers
- Whole Foods
- Sprouts
- These stores tend to steer clear of GMOs & Monsanto, and have a bigger selection of organic foods and healthier alternatives.
Buy organic or non-gmo foods
Get what is in season
- Different fruits and vegetables have certain seasons in which they grow and ripen, and our bodies follow along nicely with this rhythm. So pay attention to what looks or smells ripe-for-the-pickin' or become familiar with what foods are ripe each season.

What to INCLUDE:

Eat your rainbow each day (in fruits and vegetables, not sugary colorful candies)
Eat foods with healthy fats to assist in absorption of nutrients
- Avocados
- Nuts & seeds
- Organic grass fed Ghee
- Fatty fish
Help out your digestion and gut by adding more bitter and sour foods
- Bitter greens: Kale, arugula, dandelion greens,
- Artichoke
- Turmeric
- Dill
- Dark chocolate (in moderation)
- Grapefruit
- Cranberries
- Saffron
- Chicory root
- Yellow dock
- Sesame seeds
- Broccoli rabe
- Bitter melon
- Coffee (in moderation)
- Ginger
- Endives
Help out your gut bacteria by adding probiotics or more sour foods
- Sour Foods:
  - Kefir
  - Sauerkraut
  - Tamarind
  - Grapefruit
  - Kimchi
  - Rhubarb
  - Tart cherries
  - Gooseberries
  - Cranberries
  - Vinegar
  - Plain yogurt, goat yogurt, or plant based yogurt with live cultures
    (opt for plain or greek to avoid sugars)
  - Kombucha
Protein: switch to leaner protein
- Add more:
  - Beans
  - Quinoa
  - Eggs
  - Chicken
  - Fish
- Reduce
  - Red meat: beef, pork
  - Processed meats: sausage, hot dogs, salami, cured bacon, beef jerky, canned meats, etc.
Switch to healthy carbs
- Eat whole grains: quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice
- Instead of refined carbs: bread, rolls, cereal, white rice
Include high fiber foods
- Chia seeds
- Flax seeds
- Split peas
- Chickpeas
- Lentils
- Kidney beans
- Almonds
- Avocados
- Oats
- Quinoa
- Brussels sprouts
- Artichoke
- Sweet potatoes
- Broccoli
- Beets
- Carrots
- Mushrooms
- Raspberries
- Pears
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Dark chocolate
Feed your skin with Vitamin D
- As important as it is to eat food, there is also nutrients we get from the sun that are an integral part of our health and the health of our digestion. We absorb vitamin D through the fats and oils in our skin, so consuming at least 15-20 minutes a day of sun rays is so important. There are some supplements you can take, but be aware that vitamin D taken internally has to be paired with other specific vitamins and fats in order for us to be safely and efficiently absorbed. Consult your nutritionist, TCM practitioner, or healthcare provider for questions on this.

What to LIMIT or AVOID:

Inflammatory foods
- Processed sugar, cane sugar, & high fructose corn syrup
- Trans fats, hydrogenated oils, & partially hydrogenated oils
- Some vegetable & seed oils: canola oil, soybean oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil.
- Refined carbohydrates: bread, rolls, crackers, french fries, most cereals,
- Alcohol
- Red meat & processed meats: sausage, hot dogs, salami, cured bacon, beef jerky, canned meat
BPA lined containers or canned food
Processed foods
Snacking between meals
- Give your digestion a break so it can work more efficiently when it is meant to. Make sure you are getting enough healthy fibers, fats, and protein in your meals to keep you satiated.

Every Body is Different

I would like to point out that nutrition is not one-size-fits all, so there is no one specific approach that will work for all bodies.

We all have a unique genetic makeup paired with unique life circumstances, likes and dislikes, illnesses, imbalances, allergies, or other limitations, so your nutrition should be specific to your needs. What may be right for one person, will not work for all, and may not be right for you. Yes we all need a certain amount of the right vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, fibers, and so on, but as I mentioned before, there is a difference between what we eat and what we digest and absorb. And the digestion, metabolism, and absorption of every body can vary.

The good news is, you don't have to do this alone. Let us take the weight and stress of the questions and uncertainty away through proper nutrition guidance based on your unique body through metabolic balance®.

Metabolic Balance®

"metabolic balance® is an innovative all-natural nutrition program that brings balance
to your hormones, optimizes your health, and leads to a new invigorating lifestyle
resulting in successful long term weight management."

Here at Harmonizing Healthcare we are so grateful to have the unique skills, expertise, and offerings of Dr. Sarica Cernohous. In a previous newsletter, Spring into Movement, I mentioned and explained another offering she provides at our clinic, TCD (True Cellular Detox). With almost two decades of experience and practice in nutrition, she is also here for you along your path to better health through food.

As a coach of metabolic balance®, Dr. Sarica can help you take the guesswork out of what to eat by creating a personalized plan designed with you in mind. She will work with you individually, incorporating your unique health history, concerns, and related lab-work, to help you better understand what you need, why you need it, and how to move forward to achieve your health and weight goals.

For more information on metabolic balance®, you can visit the website here.

Group Coaching

To make this program even more accessible and affordable to you during these times, Dr. Sarica will be offering group sessions. We will have more information about this in the next webinar, but if you have any questions, or would like to schedule, please reach out to us.

Is Metabolic Balance® Right for You?

Do you find yourself standing in your kitchen, and just don’t know what to eat?

Do you often wonder what are the best foods for your health?

Have you often questioned if it is possible to get to (and maintain) a healthy weight without restrictive diets?

If these questions ring true for you, then you need to connect with Metabolic Balance!

This personalized weight optimization plan offers a powerful roadmap for health through nutrition. Using your lab results, coupled with the health goals and health history you share with your coach, a personalized nutrition plan is crafted for you, using only real, whole foods selected for your body and metabolism.

There are no shakes or pills, just wholesome nutrition from your grocery store or farmers
market!

Discover how the Metabolic Balance Method will provide the right insight and strategies of success to support your body, increase your vitality and reach your health and weight goals naturally.

Step into your healthy future!
Staying healthy is now more important than ever!
Eat right and feel AMAZING!

Stay tuned for the next free Webinar to learn how Metabolic Balance naturally supports
your health, your metabolism — and helps you experience a lifetime of healthy, balanced weight.

You will soon be eating right and feeling amazing!

Questions?

Curious about metabolic balance®?

Did any questions arise for you as you read this weeks newsletter?

Want to know more?

If you have any unanswered questions or curiosities, let us know at info@harmonizingcare.com so Dr. Cernohous and Brittany can address them in their next free webinar.

We hope you have found this newsletter helpful on your road to nutrition, health, and wellness. In addition to the exciting offerings of Dr. Sarica, we have some other news to share.

September 14th-17th there will be a FREE online summit surrounding a balanced approach to pain and wellbeing which Brittany Petrick will be speaking at. Check out the flyer below and stay tuned for more information on how to attend.

HER Facebook Page

Wishing for you all abundance, health, peace, and love.

With gratitude,
The Harmonizing Healthcare team

(928) 856-0656

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