Integrative Nutrition
Physical activity, food, water, healthy relationships, fulfilling
activities and spiritual practice feeds our bodies
and satisfies our hunger for living.
Healthcare vs. Self-Care
• America spends
over $2 Trillion a
year on healthcare!
• That is a lot of
money. We spend
far more on
healthcare than any
other country in
the world.
• The pillar of our
healthcare system
is operations and
medications.
Prescription drug
costs continue to
skyrocket.
• With an aging
baby boomer
generation,
medical costs will
continue to soar.
• About 80% of
healthcare
spending happen
during the final
years of life.
• Almost no money
is spent on
education and
prevention.
• As we look to develop a national healthcare policy,
what if we were to spend 2% of our national budget
teaching people how to adopt healthier habits?
• More than a healthcare system we need a self-care
system where people understand how to make the
choices that best support their lives.
• We need people educated on whole foods, exercise
and stress prevention.
“Just as food
is needed
for the body,
love is needed
for the soul”
Osho
“Change your diet and
dramatically reduce the
risk of cancer, diabetes,
heart disease and obesity”
T. Colin Campbell PhD
Author, The China Study
What is Primary
Food?
•
The foods you eat are secondary to all the other things that feed you—your relationships, career,
spirituality, and exercise routine. Those are the things we call primary foods.
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•
All that we consider today as nutrition is really just a secondary source of energy.
Think back to a time when you were truly happy. Everything was exciting. Colors were vibrant.
Everything was magical and effortless, and feelings of exhilaration sustained you. You were floating
on air. You forgot about food and were high on life.
Remember when, as a child, you were playing outside, having fun? Suddenly, your mother
announced dinner was ready, but you were not hungry at all. The passion of play took all of your
attention.
Sometimes we are fed not by food but by the energy in our lives.
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These moments and feelings demonstrate that everything is food. We take in thousands of
experiences in life that can fulfill us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
•
We hunger for play, touch, romance, intimacy, love, achievement, success, art, music, selfexpression, leadership, excitement, adventure and spirituality.
All of these elements are essential forms of nourishment. The extent to which we are able to
incorporate them determines how enjoyable and worthwhile our lives feel.
•
“Wellness and prevention, to me, is one of the true keys to changing the
health paradigm in this country.”
First Lady, Michelle Obama
“Pay attention to your body. The point is…everybody is different.
You have to figure out what works for you.”
Andrew Weil, MD
“No particular food or way of eating is the answer. Good food is that which
nourishes without causing stress, allowing our immune system to spend
its energy in healing. Many different diets will have healing effects.
Often it’s not what we eat but what we don’t eat
that helps us become healthy again.”
Annemarie Colbin, PhD
Modern Food
Movements
Local vs Organic
• The traditional definition of organic food is pure,
pesticide-free, locally produced ingredients grown on a
small family farm.
• Since the 1990s the major food industry retailers picked
up on the organic food trend. Now organic food is the
fastest growing segment of the food industry.
• As a result, corporations like General Mills, Wal-Mart and
many other major distributors buy organic food from
across the globe and ship it thousands of miles to a store
near you.
• A counter movement focused on local food is picking
up momentum. Local food cuts down on food miles –
the distance food travels from the field to your plate
– and decreases the amount of fossil fuel burned.
• Local food is available at health food stores, farmers’
markets and CSAs (community supported
agriculture). Buying from these sources gives us an
opportunity to build relationships with local farmers.
• For information on organic foods, visit www.
organicconsumers.org. To learn more about eating
locally, visit www.localfoodcompanies.com.
Bio-Individuality
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•
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EVERY BODY IS DIFFERENT! We are too
individualistic to eat the same exact
food. Ever notice that men eat
differently than women? Children, teens
and adults all have very different
preferences. People who work in an
office eat differently than those who do
physical labor.
Our personal tastes and preferences,
blood types, metabolic rates and
genetic backgrounds influence what
foods will and won’t nourish us.
So, when the experts say, “dairy is good
for you” or “fat is unhealthy,” it’s too
much of a generalization. That’s why
fad diets don’t work in the long run.
They are not based on the reality that
we all have different dietary needs. One
person’s food is another person’s
poison.
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high
and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.
~Michelangelo