Develop Personal Nutritional Awareness

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Develop Personal Nutritional Awareness

 

John W. Travis, M.D., M.P.H. and Sara Regina Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food and nutrition are enormously popular subjects today. Food companies are

climbing on the bandwagon, offering products that are vitamin enriched, low in

salt, high in fiber, or caffeine or cholesterol free. People are preoccupied

with cutting down on fat and cholesterol. They are also inclined, because of

their high-speed lifestyles, to eat more fast foods, which are notoriously high

in both fat and cholesterol. The numerous popular diets and the growing body of

nutritional information confuse many people. Since even the experts often

disagree among themselves, it’s no wonder that nutrition has become almost as

controversial as religion or politics.

In the 1960s, the pioneering work of Roger J. Williams, Ph.D, introduced the

concept of biochemical individuality, which said that each person has unique

biochemical needs that can only be met by a personalized balance of nutrients.

His work ushered in the era of individual nutritional analyses, metabolic

profiles, personalized health plans, and specially designed diets (such as

eating for your blood type or your ayurvedic type). While such workups may be

valuable, unless they rest on a foundation of self-understanding, they become

one more way of relinquishing your wellbeing to the control of others. You need

to develop an awareness of your own nutritional needs and to understand your own

relationship to foods. You can become a partner with the experts, using the

information they supply to supplement what you know about yourself. Then you can

decide what makes nutritional sense for you.

In Column 2: Inhabit Your Body and Love It (12/3/02) we spoke generally of

tuning in to your body’s feedback system, of listening to and inhabiting your

body. What follows builds on these concepts, applying this awareness

specifically to food and eating habits. We suggest that you review Column 2

before proceeding.

Developing awareness of your body and its nutritional needs means that you

observe—with honesty, sensitivity, and thoroughness—what types and quantities of

food and what eating environments support your overall wellbeing, and which

don’t. When you eat so quickly that you don’t have time to savor your food, when

you use food to soothe emotional pain, or when you get in the habit of

overeating, you soon lose awareness of what food is doing for you. As you

sharpen your ability to understand what your body is telling you about its

relationship to food, you reinforce the conscious lifestyle that you have

chosen. This type of awareness is an effective way of breaking the dieting habit

forever. Instead of waging war with your body, you form an alliance with it,

feeding it what it really wants and needs in order to support you.

A Nutrition Journal

A nutrition journal can be used as a:

personal record of your body’s responses to the foods you eat

 

balance sheet to observe the kinds of raw materials and fuels with which you

supply your body

 

place to keep special recipes

 

diet notebook for weight gain and/or loss

 

record of your feelings and resolutions

 

 

Taking Stock

These exercises that follow will help you sharpen your self-awareness, and may

point out some areas that need more attention to support your overall health.

1. Find out what you are eating, when, and how the food makes you feel by

keeping a Nutritional Journal for a week or more. Record anything that you learn

about your relationship to food and use this knowledge, when you’re ready, to

design a simpler and healthier diet for yourself.

2. Pause for a moment and become aware of how hungry your body feels. Ask

yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = fainting from hunger and 10 =

overstuffed, just how hungry you are now. Do this several times during the day

to heighten your self-awareness and to get in the habit of eating only when your

hunger score is 5 or less. Learn to distinguish between stomach hunger and mouth

hunger. Mouth hunger is usually experienced in the jaws, tongue, teeth, and

gums—which want to chew on or be stimulated by something—or in a salivary

reaction prompted by the sight of food or food cues, such as a restaurant sign

or images of eating on TV. Mouth hunger often indicates a need for attention,

affection, pain relief, or security of some sort.

3. Observe bodily signs that indicate imbalances in your diet. Look at your

tongue, for instance. If it is frequently discolored or coated, or if you

consistently have bad breath or a sour taste in your mouth, you need a change of

diet. The health of your gums and teeth are indicators both of good dental care

and of a healthy diet. Teeth can become discolored from caffeine and nicotine,

and eating foods with lots of sugar can cause cavities. Fingernails that split

may mean that your body is not assimilating protein properly. Read your bowel

movements for signs of a poor diet. If stools are hard to pass and dark, and

sink rather than float, dietary change is indicated. Many processed foods, like

white flour products, are slow to move through the intestines. Eating foods with

a high fiber content, adding a moderate amount of oil (such as flax [always

uncooked], olive, or canola) to your diet, and drinking lots of water will speed

intestinal transit time, lowering your risk of colon or intestinal cancer and

improving your health in general.

4. Consider headaches as loud and clear messages that something is amiss.

Frequently they are indicative of stress, but they are also associated with a

host of dietary problems, such as excessive alcohol consumption, reactions to

caffeine, undereating or overeating in general, and blood sugar imbalances.

A Nutrition Journal

For example:

Subject under Consideration breakfast

 

Day/Time

Monday, 3/22, 9:00 a.m.

Breakfast Foods

2 eggs

bacon—2 strips

toast—2 pieces

butter and jam

coffee—2 cups

Immediate Effects/Later Effects

Left the table feeling stuffed. Too much food. Generally good day. Not hungry

until 3:00 p.m.

Reflections:

Resolutions:

 

5. Do you experience frequent indigestion? Listening to your body means

carefully noting how you feel after eating certain foods. Indigestion is not

normal. If you get up from the table or wake up in the morning feeling

nauseated, bloated, heavy, or achy, it’s time for a change of menu or an

adjustment to the quantity of food you consume.

6. Do you have difficulty sleeping? Try to recall what food or drink you

consumed in the hours before retiring. Many people find that heavy foods (like

pizza), caffeine drinks, or chocolate and other sweets interfere with their

ability to fall asleep quickly and stay asleep.

Then What?

Experiment with different foods and different ways of eating. Stay with each

experiment long enough to really experience its effects. Add a new food to your

diet or stop eating a particular food for a while. Try eating your heaviest meal

in the middle of the day instead of evening, or abstain from food for three to

four hours before going to bed. Within a few days (or up to a week or two),

small dietary changes may result in positive health benefits like greater

energy, mental clarity, or better digestion. Be aware that even if the change is

a positive one it may feel difficult or uncomfortable, like when we challenge an

addiction (caffeine or sugar) or an old habit (overeating). If you aren’t sure

whether a dietary change is working for you, consult with your doctor or

health-care professional.

Educate yourself about nutrition. Read. Talk to your health professionals or

those who exemplify healthiness for you, and go on to the next chapter.

 

 

Reprinted with permission, from Simply Well by John W. Travis, MD, & Regina Sara

Ryan. Copyright 2001. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA. www.tenspeed.com

John W. Travis, M.D., M.P.H., acknowledged as a founder of the wellness

movement, established the first wellness center in the U.S. in 1975, and created

the Wellness Inventory (the first wellness assessment). He is co-author of the

classic Wellness Workbook (Ten Speed Press). The online version of the Wellness

Inventory may be accessed at (www.healthy.net/well) by HealthWorld members and

licensed by organizations.

 

 

 

Archived columns by John W. Travis, M.D., M.P.H. and Sara Regina Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

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