Knowledge + Discipline Your Diet
By James Jordan, J.D., C.N.C.
Knowledge + Discipline Your Diet
I've gone through various phases in life regarding exercise - intense, macho, brutal workouts, yin yoga and healing exercises and everything in between . My years as a personal trainer helped me see that often less is better. So I've found that a balanced exercise program will include the following components:
As many of you know, my view of health is that there are three main influences on our wellness that we can control to some degree:
- Diet
- Emotions
- Environment
Your Diet: Seasonal Adjustments
The basic principles of diet that I teach are to eat as much of your food as possible:
- Fresh
- Raw
- Organic
- Right for your metabolic type
Fresh, raw and organic are pretty clear, and those who have had their metabolic type assessed know that different foods are balancing (or energy-producing, fulfilling, healthy and so on) for different people. But did you know that your ideal foods and ratios of fat, protein and carbohydrates can, and likely will, change depending on the season, your levels of stress and activity, and climate?
The basic rule is that as the weather gets warmer and/or you have less activity and stress one would eat more high-water content fruits and vegetables and eat less cooked protein and fat. You may inherently know that this makes sense yet often people will ignore their instincts and instead stick to the same diet year round.
So if you're a protein type and summer is approaching as it is now, or you're going on a winter vacation to the Caribbean, you might lean a little more toward a mixed type diet plan with a larger selection of fruits and vegetables and definitely more vegetable juices. You might also eat less cooked red meat and start consuming more poultry, fish and raw sources of protein during these times.
Remember these diets are all relative--no diet is suited to fit everyone and no philosophy of nutrition is perfect. Experiment with more fresh vegetable juices and fruit smoothies in the summer. Always add some protein and fat, such as a raw egg or two, coconut oil, whey protein and/or ground flaxseed, to your smoothie.
I had a delicious smoothie the other day at Whole Foods with pineapple juice, blueberries, banana, spirulina and egg protein. As I mentioned above, it's always a good idea to add some protein to the smoothies to balance the carbohydrates and prevent an insulin spike.
Two incredibly healthy and delicious summer drink recipes include:
- Vegetable Juice Cocktail: celery, spinach or other leafy green, cucumber, parsley and pureed pineapple added for more enzymes. Add either some spirulina powder, whey protein, a raw egg or some ground flaxseed to balance the carbohydrates.
- Raw Milkshake: 6-8 oz. of raw milk; 1-2 free-range, omega-3-rich raw eggs; ground flaxseed or lemon flavored fish oil; 1/2 cup of blueberries and either a banana or 1/2 a papaya or mango.
Each of these can be adjusted to be more in alignment with your metabolic type by substituting different fruits or vegetables. Also, remember that raw milk is good for virtually everyone regardless of metabolic type.
For more information, please visit James Jordan’s Web site, www.createvibranthealth.com.
By James Jordan, J.D., C.N.C.
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