NUTRITIONISIM

No longer are people interested in what the food is, but rather what’s in it. When most people look at a food label, they are more interested in the amount of macro-nutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) in the food rather than the actual ingredients. People select foods based on their micro-nutrient (vitamins and minerals) and macro-nutrient status, even if the food doesn’t even resemble real food. Protein bars, breakfast cereals, margarine, modified milks, diet foods, and muesli bars are prime examples of this. These foods look good based on these arbitrary standards, but when you look at the actual ingredients there are a bunch of numbers, soy protein isolates, hydrogenated vegetable oils and other non-real food items in them.

This is not just the case with packaged foods, but other foods as well. Tomatoes are now being eaten for their lycopenes rather than because they good. Carrots are popular because of their b-carotene content. People avoid avocados when they’re on a diet that restricts fats, and many don’t know that avocados help increase vitamin and mineral absorption, actually making other food more nutritious. People drink wine for its antioxidants, eat meat for protein, milk for calcium, bread for carbohydrates and oils for fats. This ideology has been termed ‘Nutritionism’ and has taken over the modern way of thinking about food.

VITALISM

‘Vitalism’ is very different from this way of thinking. It’s the idea that the power that made the body will also heal it when supplied with right ingredients (good food, exercise, sleep, rest, clean air and sunlight).

Unfortunately, most people see their body and health from a mechanistic point of view, which looks at the body as the sum of its parts – kind of like a car. So if one part goes wrong, it should be replaced or thrown out, which is then supposed to make the body function better. This approach means that people try to treat the symptom rather than looking at the entire system.

This way of thinking also affects how people see food. Food from nature is ‘vitalistic’. It’s healthy, with distinctive characteristics and benefits for the human body that work together to promote health and wellbeing. All real foods provide necessary benefits to the body as long as they have not been interfered with, and have been given the right resources to grow or develop (water, nutrient rich soil and sunlight).

However when people view food in a ‘mechanistic’ way, it simply becomes a sum of parts such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. It’s with this mechanistic viewpoint that makes scientists believe they can improve food (they can’t), and leads to a society that eats food-like products and lives a ‘nutritionism’ lifestyle.

THE GOAL IS TO MOVE AWAY FROM THIS ‘MECHANISTIC’ VIEW AND LIVE A VITALISTIC NON-NUTRITIONISM LIFE!

To be healthy, you should aim to live a life where you understand and trust that the power that made the body can heal the body. This is a life that takes advantage of the fact that the world is full of real, nature based foods that are perfect for your body. So from now on, when you read a food label, forget the nutrition panel and read the ingredients instead. By switching your focus you will reduce the amount of non-food substances you are ingesting daily and start to see the amount of 'fake foods' in the normal modern diet. These foods are usually called healthy, but are actually just complicated chemical constructions that cause disease and dis-harmony in the body.

Look for ethical companies that use real foods and start making a ‘safe company’ list that you can use to guide your shopping trips.

Be aware that this is only the beginning of your exploration into food labels, and there is much more that you need to learn if you’re going to avoid the tricks and traps of today’s food industry!

Action step

Identify your 3 favourite packaged or processed foods and start looking for a better quality product from an ethical provider. It doesn’t really matter which food you choose for this, remember that there are no food restrictions in this program. So if you like chocolates, wine or nuts, this is where you should start.

1. PROCESSED / PACKAGED FOOD # 1.

What is a good alternative?

2. PROCESSED / PACKAGED FOOD # 2.

What is a good alternative?

3. PROCESSED / PACKAGED FOOD # 3.

What is a good alternative?

The other big problem with labels, besides the fact that many people are focused on the wrong attributes of the label, is that it’s very easy to create them.

You simply go to www.nutritiondata.com and type in the ingredients of your food, and a label is produced. It doesn’t ask if the food is organic, or what type of soil it was grown in, or how rich in minerals the soil was, or if you boiled the food to death, or anything else that significantly changes the nutritional content of the food. It actually doesn’t require you to provide any REAL information about the food at all, it merely generalises.

So don’t think for a minute that a nutrition label is always accurate – it’s actually very general. That’s why you need to look at the ingredients, before you look at the product’s component parts.

Have a look at two food labels that illustrate the problem:

If you read the ingredients list on the first label, it’s largely made up of whole foods. It’s something you could make at home. However, the nutritional information section claims that there’s a fair bit of salt in the food, which means that someone who has hypertension might avoid it. And if you’re avoiding saturated fats, you would probably put this food back on the shelf as well.

Then you look at the second food label it shows a high protein level, which is great if you’re following a high protein regime. However, when you look at the ingredients you can plainly see that it’s a totally manufactured food, made up of ingredients that are hard to pronounce let alone create!

What’s in a Label?

You need to start reading labels on a regular basis to get a real understanding of what they’re telling you. A good way to start is with the labels on the food in your fridge and pantry. Remember to forget about the nutrition panel and focus on the ingredients. Over time, this will help you to understand what the additives, numbers and funny names mean and how bad they are for your body.

You can start by becoming aware of some of the worst culprits. The following additives and non-real foods are in a lot of products, which means that you always have to check for them. When you’re starting out with your study of labels, you might think that they’re real food, but they’re actually very processed!

HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL

Hydrogenated vegetable oil, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, vegetable oil, margarine, shortening, and vegetable fat. These names all basically mean the same thing. The oil has been extensively processed using the following techniques: heating, adding nickel, bubbling hydrogen through it and then deodorising it.

In other words, it’s a manufactured oil. It has a very long shelf life and is a cheap fat to make and use, but it’s also very dangerous to consume. You’ll find that many foods have this ingredient including: chips, cakes, biscuits, breads, chocolate, pastry, pies, baked goods and the list just goes on. To avoid this additive is not easy, but it will make a massive difference to your health. These fats are often found in gluten-free goods as well, so be aware and look out for it.

If hydrogenated vegetable oil is ‘partially hydrogenated’ it forms trans fats. And if just 2 per cent of your diet contains trans fats, then you have a 23% increase in your chances of developing heart disease. It also increases your chances of developing cancer and diabetes. If the fat is ‘hydrogenated’ then it becomes a saturated fat. This is not the bad news - the bad news is that the process takes an essential fatty acid and makes it a non-essential fatty acid with some added toxins. Beware of these fats as they increase your chances of weight gain and obesity.

MSG OR MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE

Monosodium glutamate is a nerve irritator and has been implicated in many conditions including headaches, asthma and dry mouth to name a few. Manufacturers don’t want you to know they add MSG to foods so they call it by different names such as: yeast extract, hydrolysed vegetable protein, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, textured protein, flavouring, or hydrolysed plant protein. And sometimes, they just list it as a number (621).

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER (ASPARTAME)

Artificial sweetener (aspartame) is another nerve irritator, but it has also been implicated in the obesity epidemic. Even though it was marketed as a diet sugar and a healthy alternative to raw sugar, new research shows that it triggers something in the brain that causes a craving for carbohydrates. So you can have a diet drink containing it and still crave a donut!

Stay away from this additive if you’re concerned about your weight, or about your health overall.

SUGAR

Don’t be fooled by the amount of sugar in food as many manufacturers call sugar by a different name so that it doesn’t appear high up on the ingredient list. They know that most people understand that ingredients are listed in order of amount. So, if the ingredient is listed first, then there’s a lot of it in the product.

Sugar or sweeteners can be manufactured from many sources and be called by the following names: sucrose, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, fructose, glucose and so on. If the manufacturer puts three of these sugars in the food product, then the sugar won’t be listed as the first ingredient but may be listed as the 4th, 8th and 9th ingredient. But if all the sugar is put together, it probably should be listed first. This is an obvious and very common form of trickery. Many of these types of sugars are also made from wheat grain, which makes them a double-edged sword.

SODIUM NITRATES AND SODIUM NITRITE

Sodium nitrates and sodium nitrite are additives found in cured meats like bacon, ham, salami, hot dogs, and sausages to make them look red. It’s also used as a preservative, which gives them a longer shelf life. This additive has a direct link to cancer.

SOY AND SOY PRODUCTS

Soy is often touted as a health food and perhaps 50 years ago it might have been, when it was only eaten as tofu or soy sauce. But these days soy can be found in many grocery items in many different forms including soy milk, soy lecithin, soy flour, soy protein, and soy grits. In fact, you will see the word soy on the ingredients list of at least three quarters of all packaged foods, and they’re also found in the form of an additive or hydrolysed protein. This is a lot of soy and there is also a concern about the quality of it. Much of the soy today is usually genetically modified, so unless you wish to be part of an experiment, eliminate it from your diet.

And that’s only the tip of the iceberg of what you should know about the ‘technology foods’ and additives that are put into the food supply. For example, if you look at artificial colours you’ll find that many of the colours used in Australia have been banned from foods in other countries. The United Kingdom for example banned six food colours in 2009, and yet Australia has made no move to stop these additives being used in products, many of which have been implicated as a major contributor (if not the cause) of hyperactivity and ADD in children!

The first step to change is awareness, and now that you have the knowledge, you need to make the decision to do something different. Start by reading the food labels when you go shopping and the ones in your pantry, and avoid those products that contain these dangerous additives and chemicals.

Action Step – Look at your own food labels

Read every label before you buy anything, focusing on the ingredients list, and then make an empowered decision on whether the product is helpful to your health or harmful. This is your choice, but if you’re committed to the new healthy version of you, it’s also an absolutely essential step. Become a powerful, knowledgeable consumer that doesn’t purchase from manufacturers who don’t support you or your family’s health.

WHAT POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ITEMS DID YOU FIND?

Top 3 tips

1. Beware of foods that contain vegetable oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, vegetable fat and vegetable shortening.
2. Sugar can be called many things including sucrose, maltose, maltodextrin, fructose, high fructose corn syrup and glucose. Avoid them when you can.
3. Focus on the ingredients on a food label before anything else.

Meal Replacement No Nos

Meal replacements are NOT meals – they are replacements. There are a range of popular diets/quick fix remedies advertised incessantly on television, radio and in magazines and newspapers that promise to fix all your health problems if you just take this shake or that pill instead of eating.

Many of these programs are not sustainable. But more importantly, the ingredients in the powders, bars or pills do not promote long-term health and vitality. Using any type of meal replacement is only ever going to be a very short-term fix that may cause further problems, or at the very least create a habit of 'quick-fixing.'

Just take a look at the labels on these so-called cures to expose exactly what the 'quick-fix' products are actually doing to your body.

MEAL REPLACEMENT DRINKS

If you spend a bit of time in pharmacies you’ll be shocked at the number of meal replacement products for sale – especially in a place that’s supposed to be dedicated to health! And if you have a look at the ingredients list, you’ll find a litany of additives and technology-driven food components packed into these supposed 'health solutions’.

Here are just some of the ingredients listed in meal replacement products: skim milk powder, calcium caseinate, maltodextrin, insulin, sodium caseinate, vegetable oils, fructose, sugar, strawberry flavour, 162, 427, salt, soy lecithin, aspartame and acesulphame potassium. This truly is a complicated concoction of pure toxins that shouldn’t be classified as fit for human consumption!

While you could spend all day dissecting and scrutinising all the products and programs out there, it’s better to simply understand why these products are so dangerous! Most of these foods are made up of milk solids, sugar (mainly artificial), a lot of MSG, some fat and many additives. And the vitamins and minerals are usually synthetic with only a few key nutrients. This means that THERE IS NO REAL FOOD IN THESE PRODUCTS!

So why are these products so popular? The answer is simple, because they’re convenient. But you can still enjoy the concept of convenience - you just need to make it healthy as well! And the key to healthy and convenient is… ORGANISATION!

A great way to achieve this is to stick to this little motto – MAKE MORE THAN YOU NEED MORE OFTEN!

When you make your favourite green smoothie in the morning and know that you don’t have either the time or the rights foods for lunch – make double. That way you can drink the first half in the morning, and then put the second part of the smoothie in a thermos and take it on the road or to work with you.

Another convenient and healthy food is nuts. If you take a zip lock bag with your wherever you go that’s filled with nuts, seeds and organic dried fruit you’ll NEVER be caught without a healthy and nutritious option. In season fruit, home-made dips and veggie sticks, or even date squishes or chia chocolate cake are all convenient foods that are easy to carry with you. They’re also far more beneficial for your mind and body than any commercial meal replacement product.

In short, the key when it comes to food is ORGANISATION. By making the time in the short term you will actually save money and time in the long term. Remember, too, that convenience foods are only really convenient if they’re also nourishing for the body.

Top Tips 

Meal replacements are not a convenience they are a dis-service to your body

1. A convenience is only really a convenience if it’s nourishing for the body.
2. Meal replacements are not a convenience, they are a dis-service to your body
3. In order to have convenience you must be organised.

Action Steps

Try these energy smoothies instead of meal replacements

PAWPAW ENERGY SMOOTHIE

> ½ pawpaw, chopped

> 1 organic free-range egg

> 1 orange

> ½ cup coconut milk

METHOD

1. Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.

Optional: add 1 tablespoon of honey if not sweet enough.

Pawpaw is so full of enzymes that it can soothe almost any digestive complaint. The egg provides an excellent source of protein and, because it’s raw, contains lecithin which balances blood lipids (fats in the blood: mainly cholesterol and triglycerides).

CREAMY SUPER GREEN SMOOTHIE

> 1 avocado

> 1 apple

> 1 cup coconut water or filtered water

> 1 tsp CH Supreme Green Blend

> 1 frozen banana

> 2 tbsp chia seeds

> ¼ cup mixed raw nuts

> 1 cucumber

> 1 zucchini

> 1 tbsp honey

METHOD

1. Blend all ingredients together until you achieve the desired consistency.

Optional: for an even creamier smoothie use coconut milk instead of water.

By now, you’re probably starting to see some changes as a result of your new habits. You are most likely finding it easier to get out of bed in the morning, feeling more positive and inspired, and maybe your body is not aching as much or you’re starting to feel some extra room in your clothes?

Once you become accustomed to it, this new eating style is easy and incredibly good for you. You’ll probably even start to notice some extra benefits such as clearer skin and shiny hair.

So as you continue to experiment with different recipes and food creations, it’s time to look at anything else that you may be consuming that is contributing to your 'sickness symptoms’.

Let’s start with Medications

Did you know the average Westerner will consume between 40,000 and 46,000 medications over their life time!

Not only is this an abuse of medications, it’s an abuse of the body! But this isn’t to say that you should just stop taking your prescription medications. Any changes to this kind of drug regime has to be with a doctor’s supervision.

However, if you’re regularly medicating yourself with over the counter drugs from the chemist, it’s time to be honest about just how much help vs harm those pills and potions are doing to you.

The first step towards taking control of your health is to become aware of exactly what is going on in your body. To do this, it’s imperative that you research the medication you’re taking, prescribed or not.  When you take the responsibility for knowing exactly what’s in your medications and also the potential side effects, you put yourself in a position of power. It means that you can decide whether or not you want to put that medication into your body, or whether there’s something better out there for you.

Many people completely disregard the ingredients in medications, believing they’re made up of a single substance. However, many medications have additional additives, including wheat or other nasties that have been banned in other parts of the world!

For instance, the US banned propylene glycol from all medications because it causes liver and kidney damage. However, Australia and New Zealand continue to use this chemical in many medications. That’s why it’s so important to read the ingredients on everything you put in your mouth.

In many cases medications are simply viewed as toxins by the body. Yes, there are times when people need them, and there are some people who simply can’t live without certain medications, but in general medications are over-prescribed and simply compound ill health.

Moving on from medications, you need to consider the other things you ingest without considering their harm. This includes things like mints, toothpaste, mouthwashes and chewing gum. If you use any of these items, you should take the time to inspect their ingredients! Many mouthwashes and toothpastes are filled with chemicals and artificial sweeteners. Most chewing gum and mints have artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated vegetable oils, flavours, colours, and many more additives that are not conducive to health.

You will find that as your diet improves, your oral hygiene will also change. This means that any halitosis (bad breath) will probably disappear and the need for mouthwashes, mints or similar will become less.

Although these things may seem small, collectively they can have a big impact on your health. Medications, chewing gum, mints, toothpastes and mouthwashes can add up to a huge chemical load on the body and mind that you can simply do without!

Top tips

• Look closely at medications, toothpastes, mouthwashes, chewing gum and mints
• Read the ingredients of all these items
• Find alternatives that are more natural

Action Step - Find out what you are REALLY ingesting…

Go online and research any medications that you are currently taking (prescribed or other). Look at the ingredients and any potential side effects. Discuss any prescribed drugs with your doctor and ask if there are any alternatives. If your GP is not willing to work with you, consider looking for an integrative medical doctor to help you reduce or eliminate any unneeded medications.

The following website will help you find a doctor who practises nutritional and environmental medicine: www.acnem.org

One issue that’s fairly contentious when it comes to health are supplements. People usually see them as a good way to improve their health and wellbeing, but aren’t aware that the supplements they’re taking aren’t much better than other medications.

A recent study evaluated the effects when around 200,000 participants took vitamin A and D and antioxidants. It found that the participants who took the supplements actually had a decreased life expectancy. Whilst many people argued about this study, it seems fairly sensible to say that manufactured, stand-alone vitamins could damage overall health and wellbeing. It’s much better to get your vitamins from real foods that have many natural combinations of nutrients.

It’s also true that the essential vitamin and mineral intake for much of the Western world has decreased over the past 60 years. This means that most people aren’t getting the vitamins and minerals they need, mainly because of modern farming practices.

With a variety of variables attributing to the quality of food, it’s hard to be sure of the exact quality of the food you are eating. Some of the variables impacting the vitamin and mineral density of produce include:

> The state of the soil the food was grown in

> When the food is stored and for how long

> The food production process

> Cooking temperatures

> Food preparation, specifically how finely chopped the food is

> Your ability to chew your food properly

> Stress levels

> Whether your body has the right minerals and vitamins present for you to absorb a certain food

> Whether your digestive enzymes are present in the right quantities.

Although there are a number of variables that affect the amounts of vitamins and minerals you can draw from modern food, with a little bit of body indulgence you can ensure that you’re always getting the right amount for you! Don’t be tempted to supplement for general health using a concoction of synthetically made vitamins and mined minerals, because at the end of the day you’re merely flooding your body with more toxins. However, there is a way to naturally supplement your diet if you’re concerned about your intake.

NATURAL VITAMIN, MINERAL AND MACRONUTRIENT SUPPLEMENTS

For general vitamins and minerals eat lots of organic, well-nourished greens.

For essential fats make sure you have an array of cold pressed oils in your diet such as: inca inchi, chia, macadamia, walnut, coconut, avocado, apricot kernel, olive, almond, sesame and so on. Make sure the oils are cold pressed and organic if you can get them. As well as these oils, eat fresh nuts and seeds for extra essential oils.

For protein you can’t beat eggs - they are the very best source of animal protein. Spirulina is also an excellent source of plant protein.

For essential sugars use maple syrup, honey, blueberries and shitake mushrooms.

Probiotics are a big topic when it comes to a healthy gut and therefore a healthy body. Many probiotics are made in a chemical laboratory and put into a capsule or tablet that may have an enteric coating with dubious additives. You can get probiotics more naturally by eating fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, kumbucha and the like. Probiotics are important because essential bacteria is stripped from your bowels as a result of antibiotics, some medications, preservatives in our food, chlorine in our water and the deletion of fermented foods from the diet.

Many of these foods are used in the breakfast smoothies mentioned earlier (except for the shitake mushrooms). So every time you have one of these smoothies you are giving your body the very best nutrition without having to think too hard about it!

If you want more information about what is really in your supplements, do some research online. Then go to your supplement cupboard armed with your new knowledge and start reading the labels. Just remember that sometimes reading the label is not good enough, and you may need to call the manufacturer for more information.

By cutting down the chemical load you’re blindly ingesting and eating real foods, your body will begin to clean out stored toxins (cellulite, visceral fat (tummy fat) and other abnormally stored fat around hips, waist, arms and legs). Collectively, each change you make to your lifestyle brings you closer to better health, sustained energy and the correct weight for you.

Top tips

1. Vitamins and minerals are not found in tablets.
2. The best supplements are concentrated foods like colloidal minerals, green powders, coconut oil, inca inchi protein/oil and probiotics.
3. Real foods such as nuts, seeds, eggs, berries and mushrooms are like nature’s very own preserved supplements.

Action Step

Review any supplements you are currently taking and replace with the natural alternative. Write down the supplements you replace and the natural alternatives you replace them with.

It is amazing how many people are so aware of the vitamins in their diet but completely oblivious to the minerals. People will buy vitamins because they believe that they can 'cure' or supplement their body with a pill and magically create health. This is just not true.

If there is an unbalance in your body, such as an iron deficiency, an estrogen deficiency or high cholesterol, trying to alter it with artificial and synthetic options isn’t always the right way to go.  These are clues that something is wrong and an opportunity for you to understand your body and health in a whole new way!

Vitamins, proteins (amino acids), enzymes, carbohydrates and fats all require minerals for proper cellular function. And at the end of the day, VITAMINS DO NOT FUNCTION WITHOUT MINERALS. All of the nutrients your body needs work together. And if one is missing, then proper functions are disrupted.

Mineral deficiency is a contributing factor to many of the lifestyle diseases affecting modern society. This is especially apparent in children, with about 45 per cent of children in Western society living with lifelong illnesses.

Minerals control the metabolism of cells and are essential for maintaining health and preventing disease. They’re also essential for the following vital functions within the body: the production of metabolic enzymes, maintaining the acid alkaline balance (pH balance), the structure of hormones, DNA synthesis, the formation of red blood cells, as well as helping vitamins to perform their duties within the body.

In a book entitled Colloidal Minerals and Trace Elements – How to Restore the Body’s Natural Vitality by Marie-France Muller, it states that studies show that rats can be fed into a diseased condition and then fed out of it again to perfect health. This is done by withholding specific minerals from the rats’ regular diet. Not only did the rats suffer physically, but their intelligence, bone structure, general health and social behaviour all suffered badly as a result of mineral depletion.

MINERAL DEFICIENCY IS CAUSED BY:

1.         Soil depletion. In modern farming practices the soil that food is grown in is depleted of trace minerals. The fertilisers used only replace a few of the major minerals (potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus - otherwise known as NPK fertiliser) and few of the trace minerals.

2.         Food storage. Much of our food is stored for long periods of time, and the longer the storage the lower the nutrient content of the food.

3.         Food refining. The further away from the original source food is, the fewer nutrients it contains.

4.         Empty food. Foods like cakes, biscuits and pasta (the addictive food-like products) have the least amount of minerals.

5.         Poor diet. Typically the Western diet lacks many nutrients.

6.         Chemicals and pollutants in the environment. The more chemicals you’re exposed to the faster your body’s elimination systems have to work in order to expel the toxins. When the system works faster it has to use up more minerals, and if your body isn’t receiving optimum nutrition, it can’t deal effectively with these toxins and they weaken the immune system.

TAKING BACK CONTROL & REDUCING YOUR PERSONAL CHEMICAL LOAD!

Firstly, you must try to accept there is very little you can do about many of the chemicals in everyday life. From smog to commercial cleaning products, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have some chemical contact.

But there is something you can do about decreasing the amount of chemicals you directly ingest and consume. By reducing unnecessary medicines, filtering drinking water, buying only natural cosmetics and personal care products, eating natural foods in place of technology foods, and using natural supplementation methods, you can drastically reduce the chemical load on your personal health.

Choose a natural supplement routine as much as possible. This means eating eggs and Inca Inchi for protein, consuming nuts and using cold pressed oils (avocado, macadamia, inca inchi, chia, olive, almond, walnut, sesame) for essential fatty acids, and using green powders such as barley, spirulina, chlorella or wheat grass for vitamins and phytonutrients.

Nutrients from nature are far better than those from a chemical laboratory. A mineral in isolation such as iron can’t be absorbed as readily as when it’s combined with vitamin C and bioflavonoids as well as other nutrients. But a varied and natural eating style means that you can consume good amounts of everything your body needs. That’s why food or food sources are the perfect way for you to create great health and get all of your nutritional needs.

And if you want your vitamins to be absorbed properly, you need to make sure you get the right amounts of minerals too!

Fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds are wonderful sources of minerals. But if the soil they are grown in is lacking then the food will be lacking. Plants make vitamins, amino acids and fats for themselves, which you then consume, but they cannot make minerals and must get them from the soil. That’s why you need to try to ensure you buy the best plant products available from sources that are aware of this issue.

Salt is another source of essential minerals, but it has to be unrefined sea salt and not heated to extreme temperatures or with anything added to it. The best way to ingest salt is to dissolve it, so it’s great to cook with.

Seaweed is another source of minerals, so eat more sushi or try the array of sea vegetables like kombu, kelp, wakame and nori. You will find these at your health food or organic store. These products are rich in minerals and other micronutrients and are easily added to soups, salads, or stews.

By adding seaweed to your unrefined salt your body gets the benefits of multiple mineral compounds in an easily used and digested form! Or you can try a colloidal mineral mix in liquid form and take a spoon or two a day. In liquid form it’s rapidly absorbed by the body at a cellular level. See the Changing Habits Shop (https://changinghabits.com.au/shop/) for details.

Science has detected seven minerals that are essential for life. These minerals are: calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, sodium and chlorine.

There are another nine trace minerals; iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, flourine, chromium and molybdenum required by the body in small amounts for optimum health.

And then there are other trace minerals that are not essential for health, but are required by the body for growth and maintenance. What this all means is that mineral deficiencies due to poor eating habits or other causes, can result in very serious consequences for your body and your health.

Minerals are also essential for curbing cravings, so if you find yourself craving strange foods or drinks, it could be due to a mineral deficiency. In fact, these types of deficiencies could be key to stopping some cases of emotional overeating and addiction to food-like products (and sugar)!

It’s simple to regulate your dietary mineral intake by adding a capful of colloidal minerals to your morning smoothie and sprinkling seaweed salt onto foods. If done consistently, it will only take a few months before the imbalance will be corrected and your body will start to thrive.

Top Tips

·         Minerals are important for the biochemical workings of the human body.

·         Cook with unrefined seaweed salt and add colloidal minerals to your smoothies.

·         We need a full complement of minerals to thrive rather than just survive.

Action Step

Replace your unhealthy salt with nutritious healthy salt such as seaweed salt. Add colloidal minerals into your diet.

How You feel Today

After each step in this program, make sure you evaluate how you’re feeling and write down any general observations about the program or your condition. That way you can look back when you’re further along in the program and clearly see how far you’ve come.

Go to your Health Tracker and click on the How I feel Chart and fill it out