News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Diet is what you eat. Simple as that. But in a culture that sells us one "diet" after another, the word has too often come to mean "the latest weight loss gimmick."
What you eat can have a profound effect on your health and well being. Changing bad habits and creating new, better ones can change your life - and it isn't about deprivation and discipline. Eating well can be downright delicious.
When do you know that you need to change your dietary ways?
"I believe people should know that they need to make a change if they're on a multiple number of pharmaceuticals," says Sheree Gillaspie, a nutritionist who serves the nutrition counseling needs of a national client base through Pure Life Living in Sisters. "Unfortunately, people think, I have this situation, so I have to go on this pill."
Yet changing eating habits can have a profound effect on problems such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, acid reflux problems, even allergies.
"It's amazing what can happen through food," Gillaspie says. "Your body has an innate ability to know what it needs."
Lynn Woodward of Sisters can testify to the life-changing effect of modifying her diet.
About six years ago, after years of battling migraine headaches - sometimes as many as three a week - she sought out a naturopath in Portland. After testing, he determined that the migraines were related to consumption of dairy products. He advised Woodward to cut out dairy completely.
"That stopped the migraines almost immediately," she says. "It was like I could see in color again; I just felt so much better. It made a night-and-day difference to me."
Cutting out sugar took care of some digestive problems, too.
People's dietary needs are individualized, and it makes sense to get some nutritional counseling to determine what your specific needs may be.
However, there are a few basic principles that everybody can - and should - practice:
• Drink a lot of water.
"The No. 1 deficiency in the USA is hydration," Gillaspie says.
She recommends drinking half your body weight in ounces, not to exceed 100 ounces. And if you drink a diuretic like coffee, you need to up your water intake to compensate.
• Cut way back on processed foods. Shop around the periphery of the grocery store, where the whole foods are. If it comes out of a box or a can, it's not so good for you. Find an alternative.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables. They make good snacks and are a critical part of a healthy diet.
• Don't be a fatophobe.
"Fat is good for you, so don't be afraid to have a tad of real butter on your steamed vegetables," Gillaspie says.
Some supplementation is usually in order to make up for deficiencies, especially in omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D.
"Most people have to have supplementation," Gillaspie says.
Dr. Jared Skowron, who works with Sisters-based nutriceutical manufacturer Metabolic Maintenance Products, notes the importance of Vitamin D3 supplementation:
"Most people do not get enough sunshine to maintain adequate Vitamin D levels," he says. "Today's indoor culture results in much lower Vitamin D production than is required for good health."
It's hard to get enough Vitamin D through food.
"Foods are usually enriched with Vitamin D2, a form that is one-third as effective in the body as Vitamin D3," Dr. Skowron says.
If you're eating right, you can eat well. Deprivation doesn't have to be part of the deal at all.
"Learning what you should eat is a really simple process," Gillaspie says. "And it's really good food."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
Reader Comments(0)