[g_podcast id="6925531"]
My nutritional philosophy or why I'm not telling you to become vegan from now on.
In this episode you'll learn:
We all prefer to have rules, concrete steps, do this and don't do that. But I maintain that there are no strict rules that are the same for everyone!
We are individuals and everyone reacts differently to food, has different preferences and also a different attitude, life situation or comes from a different culture, for example.
There are principles, a certain framework and we also have our human genetics, which dictate a few conditions. This article/this episode is about these universal principles and a few personal opinions and recommendations from me.
Nutrition is not a religion. In religion, you tend to be and remain a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist, for example. You may change your religion at some point in your life because you get married or because you have grown up and no longer believe in what your parents taught you. In principle, however, we don't usually change our religion much during our lives.
But nutrition is not a religion! You don't betray your principles if you change your diet from one day to the next. And you can and should change your diet from time to time! Go through certain phases. Experiment. Adapt your diet, for example to your age, your lifestyle, your hobbies or even your state of health. After all, if you're ill, you should eat differently than if you're healthy.
But that seems soooo hard to understand!
Or how do you explain the fact that many nutrition experts give general recommendations such as vegan, raw food, high-carb, protein-rich, meat-based, wholefood, etc.?
I think this is because many nutritionists have had a positive experience with one form of nutrition or another and then think that this one diet must work for everyone else!
But they forget the individuality of their different clients. What's good for me doesn't necessarily have to be good for you!
That's why you'll never hear me say that everyone has to become vegan or that everyone has to eat meat. Or that the Paleo diet is the only true diet. Instead, I'd rather tell you the general principles of a healthy diet for us humans, set out the framework and give you tips on how you can feel for yourself which diet is right for you and which isn't.
By the way, it's also very possible that you eat a vegan diet, for example, and feel great for two years. And then suddenly feel the need for an egg or a piece of meat. In other words, what worked well for two years doesn't necessarily have to be the right diet for you for the rest of your life.
Michael Pollan once summarized healthy eating like this: Eat Real Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. So: Eat real food. Not too much. Especially plants.
I think that's a very good approach!
So let's move on to the six principles that you should follow. You can stick to these principles if you simply want to eat healthily and you don't have a chronic illness or are in a special life situation that requires a different diet.
These principles work no matter what your diet is!
1. Eat only natural foods.
Vegetables, fish, meat, eggs, nuts, pulses, fruit and so on. Of course, you can also eat things made from these foods if they don't contain E-numbers, preservatives, preservatives, etc. And for all those who are now saying: "Then I can hardly buy anything anymore, there's sugar in everything!" I can only reply: "Start buying the raw materials and cooking for yourself." And the fact that there's nothing to buy isn't quite true either... For example, we recently bought a gazpacho in the supermarket that only contained vegetables, oil and spices. And nothing else. There are things like that. Why is it important to eat natural foods? Because the body can't do anything with all those artificial substances. For example, they damage our intestinal flora, disrupt hormones and signals and trick the body into believing something that isn't there.
2. Take breaks between meals and eat a maximum of three times a day.
This principle now seems to be one of the least controversial among nutrition scientists alongside the principle of natural food. Constant snacking is not good for our bodies because our digestive organs such as the pancreas, stomach, intestines, liver etc. are constantly under strain. Enzymes have to be formed, insulin released, juices produced and so the body never gets a rest.digestive problems such as flatulence, bloating or even a shifted intestinal environment are sometimes solely due to frequent eating.we are not made for eating all the time! Our intestines and our digestion need 4-5 hours to process food, and if we are constantly pushing food back in, this leads to unnecessary problems. We humans have a starvation metabolism and are also made for periods of fasting. We won't drop dead if we haven't eaten for 5 hours. And if you feel like the guy in the commercial who becomes a diva because he hasn't eaten for a few hours, then the next principle is particularly important for you. This is a clear sign that something is wrong with your sugar metabolism.
3. Eat a sugar-conscious, low-carb diet.
We are genetically programmed to eat 30g of sugar a day. And by that I also mean the sugar in fruit, because an apple, for example, already contains 10g of sugar. It is assumed that we German-speaking Europeans consume around 100g of sugar a day instead of 30g. In other words, we overload our system by about three times as much every day! I think that alone should be enough of an argument. Imagine you have a machine that is designed for a certain capacity. For example, a printer that is made for 100 pages per day and you print 1000 pages every day. Will the printer break immediately? Probably not! So, that means you'd better leave out sweets, don't eat too much fruit and, above all, don't drink any sweet drinks. But fast carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, rice cakes and muesli are also very quickly converted into sugar. You'll soon find out what this is all about in the podcast episode on sugar.why is sugar so important? I could talk about this for hours. I'll say this much here:
Too much sugar permanently increases your insulin levels, and constantly high insulin levels lead to fat build-up, Hormonal changes, a disordered intestinal flora, inflammation and a weakened immune system. It also leads to blood sugar fluctuations, constant hunger and therefore overeating if your insulin levels are always high.
That's why the sugar issue applies to everyone. Even for the slim ones. Because it's not primarily about getting fat with too much sugar, but about getting sick.
By the way, do you know our sugar quiz? Here you can test yourself to see if you are addicted to sugar, and if so, how much.
Now we come to principle number 4, and in my opinion this is the most underestimated principle! And it's actually so easy to implement.
4. If possible, only drink water, and enough of it.
A good rule of thumb is to drink 30-35 ml per kilogram of body weight. This should be still water or tap water. In other words, if you weigh 70 kg, that would be 2.1-2.4 liters of water.
Water is a means of transport and a cleaning agent. It transports nutrients to their destination in the body and takes waste products back with it.
Your intestines also need water so that bacteria and waste products can be transported through your digestive system. If you are dehydrated, this can upset the balance in your intestinal environment, which can also lead to inflammation, among other things.
The question often arises: "Can I drink unsweetened tea instead of water?" Because there are a surprising number of people who say they don't like water. But there is no compromise. We are made of water and our bodies need water. Tea is a saturated liquid, there is already something in it. So it can transport less. And by the way, you would clean your windows with water and not tea, wouldn't you?
So, water. Without carbon dioxide.
5. Eat lots of vegetables
Half of your plate should consist of vegetables. This is because vegetables contain valuable fiber, balance your acid-base balance, provide antioxidants and many other nutrients. They also help you to feel full, as they add volume and contain lots of high-quality water. I have a bad habit of looking through other people's shopping carts in the supermarket and often discover little or no vegetables. Tomatoes often seem to be the token vegetable, or the only vegetable that everyone in the family likes. And even when I ask my customers about their eating habits, I realize that vegetables are already underrepresented in many people's diets. And I strongly encourage you to change that. Vegetables are the basis of our diet if we want to have a well-functioning metabolism, but it's also important for the gut and bacterial diversity that you don't always eat the same thing.
I know that vegetables can be a bit tricky, they don't taste the same to everyone and many people don't really have the confidence to prepare them. That's why there will definitely be another podcast episode where I give you tips for eating more vegetables in everyday life, even if you have tricky eaters at the table.
6. Eat high-quality food
By high-quality, I mainly mean traditionally produced food. Vegetables that have been allowed to grow naturally in the soil, for example. Or meat from species-appropriate husbandry that has also been fed properly. Good fats that have not been heated or artificially hydrogenated.
Why is this important? Because these foods end up in your body. The nutrients are distributed in your body, they are used for energy production but are also incorporated into cell walls, skin, hair, and so on!
The body can use its own nutrients. The only way to carry out repairs is with building materials that you supply. And that's why quality is crucial.
In addition, your satiety and satisfaction are much higher when you eat good food. And yes, good food is more expensive. But you also need less of it. Many people would save a lot of money if they simply gave up snacks and drinks.
As I said, these are the general principles for healthy people with a "normal" lifestyle. And whether you eat vegetarian, vegan, paleo or simply wholefood and consciously doesn't really matter. As long as you feel good!
If you are healthy, you can of course make the odd exception and not take such a narrow view of everything. By healthy, however, I mean that you have no complaints and are not taking any medication. If you have normal blood pressure but take a pill for it every day, then I no longer count that as healthy.
However, if you are in an unusual situation, such as playing competitive sport or being in the fire department, if you are pregnant or have a chronic illness, then these principles must of course be adjusted accordingly.
Incidentally, many illnesses have an inflammatory background, whether it's Alzheimer's, hay fever, neurodermatitis or MS, and it's definitely worth looking at your diet. I would even go so far as to say that if you don't eat a healthy diet for chronic illnesses, you won't get better. Then you are blocking a large part of your ability to heal yourself. I'm not saying that nutrition alone will fix everything. But it simply doesn't work without it.
I read an Ayurvedic saying the other day. I can't remember the exact quote. But the meaning was roughly that medication can only work if you eat healthily. And if you eat healthily, then you don't need any medication.
Quite apt.
What changes to the 6 principles when you are ill?
As inflammation is often involved, you should definitely eat an anti-inflammatory diet in addition to the 6 principles and therefore completely avoid sugar during the healing phase. So don't take the 30g per day either.
Depending on the illness, it can make sense to leave out wheat and dairy products, to eat cooked vegetables instead of raw vegetables or to have a cereal porridge or soup in the morning. We take a closer look at things like this in my online course Darmglück, for example, which will be starting again soon.
I would definitely advise you not to look at nutrition as the last possible straw in the event of illness if everything else hasn't worked, but to integrate it right from the start. The healing process will be much faster.
Please don't underestimate the power of nutrition. In my opinion, it is drastically underestimated by medicine, politics and society. But hopefully not by you.
And if you're wondering how I eat myself, I'd be happy to give you a little insight!
I eat everything, of course only real , natural, high-quality food.
I like to go shopping at the market, but unfortunately I don't manage it as often as I'd like. Otherwise, I usually shop in the organic section or at the health food store. We buy meat directly from the farmer or in Mallorca from a great butcher's shop in Llucmajor, which ensures that the animals are not given antibiotics. and are also kept well.
We usually only eat twice a day, almost always home-cooked, and occasionally we also eat out. I make sure I cook lots of vegetables, my husband is moderately enthusiastic, but he likes them much better than he used to. We eat few carbohydrates, virtually no wheat, few dairy products, lots of good fats and every now and then we make an exception and eat bread or ice cream.
We try out other forms of nutrition from time to time, most recently the ketogenic diet. There will definitely be another podcast episode about this.
I hope you enjoyed this episode and were able to take something away with you. If you enjoyed it, please leave me a review on iTunes, these reviews will help other people find the podcast too!
My nutritional philosophy or why I'm not telling you to become vegan from now on.
In this episode you'll learn:
- Why I don't think nutrition is a religion
- 6 principles that are universally valid for a healthy diet
- Which complaints should make you alert to the topic of nutrition
- What people who are already ill should pay particular attention to when it comes to nutrition
- How I eat myself
We all prefer to have rules, concrete steps, do this and don't do that. But I maintain that there are no strict rules that are the same for everyone!
We are individuals and everyone reacts differently to food, has different preferences and also a different attitude, life situation or comes from a different culture, for example.
There are principles, a certain framework and we also have our human genetics, which dictate a few conditions. This article/this episode is about these universal principles and a few personal opinions and recommendations from me.
Nutrition is not a religion. In religion, you tend to be and remain a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist, for example. You may change your religion at some point in your life because you get married or because you have grown up and no longer believe in what your parents taught you. In principle, however, we don't usually change our religion much during our lives.
But nutrition is not a religion! You don't betray your principles if you change your diet from one day to the next. And you can and should change your diet from time to time! Go through certain phases. Experiment. Adapt your diet, for example to your age, your lifestyle, your hobbies or even your state of health. After all, if you're ill, you should eat differently than if you're healthy.
But that seems soooo hard to understand!
Or how do you explain the fact that many nutrition experts give general recommendations such as vegan, raw food, high-carb, protein-rich, meat-based, wholefood, etc.?
I think this is because many nutritionists have had a positive experience with one form of nutrition or another and then think that this one diet must work for everyone else!
But they forget the individuality of their different clients. What's good for me doesn't necessarily have to be good for you!
That's why you'll never hear me say that everyone has to become vegan or that everyone has to eat meat. Or that the Paleo diet is the only true diet. Instead, I'd rather tell you the general principles of a healthy diet for us humans, set out the framework and give you tips on how you can feel for yourself which diet is right for you and which isn't.
By the way, it's also very possible that you eat a vegan diet, for example, and feel great for two years. And then suddenly feel the need for an egg or a piece of meat. In other words, what worked well for two years doesn't necessarily have to be the right diet for you for the rest of your life.
Michael Pollan once summarized healthy eating like this: Eat Real Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. So: Eat real food. Not too much. Especially plants.
I think that's a very good approach!
So let's move on to the six principles that you should follow. You can stick to these principles if you simply want to eat healthily and you don't have a chronic illness or are in a special life situation that requires a different diet.
These principles work no matter what your diet is!
1. Eat only natural foods.
Vegetables, fish, meat, eggs, nuts, pulses, fruit and so on. Of course, you can also eat things made from these foods if they don't contain E-numbers, preservatives, preservatives, etc. And for all those who are now saying: "Then I can hardly buy anything anymore, there's sugar in everything!" I can only reply: "Start buying the raw materials and cooking for yourself." And the fact that there's nothing to buy isn't quite true either... For example, we recently bought a gazpacho in the supermarket that only contained vegetables, oil and spices. And nothing else. There are things like that. Why is it important to eat natural foods? Because the body can't do anything with all those artificial substances. For example, they damage our intestinal flora, disrupt hormones and signals and trick the body into believing something that isn't there.
2. Take breaks between meals and eat a maximum of three times a day.
This principle now seems to be one of the least controversial among nutrition scientists alongside the principle of natural food. Constant snacking is not good for our bodies because our digestive organs such as the pancreas, stomach, intestines, liver etc. are constantly under strain. Enzymes have to be formed, insulin released, juices produced and so the body never gets a rest.digestive problems such as flatulence, bloating or even a shifted intestinal environment are sometimes solely due to frequent eating.we are not made for eating all the time! Our intestines and our digestion need 4-5 hours to process food, and if we are constantly pushing food back in, this leads to unnecessary problems. We humans have a starvation metabolism and are also made for periods of fasting. We won't drop dead if we haven't eaten for 5 hours. And if you feel like the guy in the commercial who becomes a diva because he hasn't eaten for a few hours, then the next principle is particularly important for you. This is a clear sign that something is wrong with your sugar metabolism.
3. Eat a sugar-conscious, low-carb diet.
We are genetically programmed to eat 30g of sugar a day. And by that I also mean the sugar in fruit, because an apple, for example, already contains 10g of sugar. It is assumed that we German-speaking Europeans consume around 100g of sugar a day instead of 30g. In other words, we overload our system by about three times as much every day! I think that alone should be enough of an argument. Imagine you have a machine that is designed for a certain capacity. For example, a printer that is made for 100 pages per day and you print 1000 pages every day. Will the printer break immediately? Probably not! So, that means you'd better leave out sweets, don't eat too much fruit and, above all, don't drink any sweet drinks. But fast carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, rice cakes and muesli are also very quickly converted into sugar. You'll soon find out what this is all about in the podcast episode on sugar.why is sugar so important? I could talk about this for hours. I'll say this much here:
Too much sugar permanently increases your insulin levels, and constantly high insulin levels lead to fat build-up, Hormonal changes, a disordered intestinal flora, inflammation and a weakened immune system. It also leads to blood sugar fluctuations, constant hunger and therefore overeating if your insulin levels are always high.
That's why the sugar issue applies to everyone. Even for the slim ones. Because it's not primarily about getting fat with too much sugar, but about getting sick.
By the way, do you know our sugar quiz? Here you can test yourself to see if you are addicted to sugar, and if so, how much.
Now we come to principle number 4, and in my opinion this is the most underestimated principle! And it's actually so easy to implement.
4. If possible, only drink water, and enough of it.
A good rule of thumb is to drink 30-35 ml per kilogram of body weight. This should be still water or tap water. In other words, if you weigh 70 kg, that would be 2.1-2.4 liters of water.
Water is a means of transport and a cleaning agent. It transports nutrients to their destination in the body and takes waste products back with it.
Your intestines also need water so that bacteria and waste products can be transported through your digestive system. If you are dehydrated, this can upset the balance in your intestinal environment, which can also lead to inflammation, among other things.
The question often arises: "Can I drink unsweetened tea instead of water?" Because there are a surprising number of people who say they don't like water. But there is no compromise. We are made of water and our bodies need water. Tea is a saturated liquid, there is already something in it. So it can transport less. And by the way, you would clean your windows with water and not tea, wouldn't you?
So, water. Without carbon dioxide.
5. Eat lots of vegetables
Half of your plate should consist of vegetables. This is because vegetables contain valuable fiber, balance your acid-base balance, provide antioxidants and many other nutrients. They also help you to feel full, as they add volume and contain lots of high-quality water. I have a bad habit of looking through other people's shopping carts in the supermarket and often discover little or no vegetables. Tomatoes often seem to be the token vegetable, or the only vegetable that everyone in the family likes. And even when I ask my customers about their eating habits, I realize that vegetables are already underrepresented in many people's diets. And I strongly encourage you to change that. Vegetables are the basis of our diet if we want to have a well-functioning metabolism, but it's also important for the gut and bacterial diversity that you don't always eat the same thing.
I know that vegetables can be a bit tricky, they don't taste the same to everyone and many people don't really have the confidence to prepare them. That's why there will definitely be another podcast episode where I give you tips for eating more vegetables in everyday life, even if you have tricky eaters at the table.
6. Eat high-quality food
By high-quality, I mainly mean traditionally produced food. Vegetables that have been allowed to grow naturally in the soil, for example. Or meat from species-appropriate husbandry that has also been fed properly. Good fats that have not been heated or artificially hydrogenated.
Why is this important? Because these foods end up in your body. The nutrients are distributed in your body, they are used for energy production but are also incorporated into cell walls, skin, hair, and so on!
The body can use its own nutrients. The only way to carry out repairs is with building materials that you supply. And that's why quality is crucial.
In addition, your satiety and satisfaction are much higher when you eat good food. And yes, good food is more expensive. But you also need less of it. Many people would save a lot of money if they simply gave up snacks and drinks.
As I said, these are the general principles for healthy people with a "normal" lifestyle. And whether you eat vegetarian, vegan, paleo or simply wholefood and consciously doesn't really matter. As long as you feel good!
If you are healthy, you can of course make the odd exception and not take such a narrow view of everything. By healthy, however, I mean that you have no complaints and are not taking any medication. If you have normal blood pressure but take a pill for it every day, then I no longer count that as healthy.
However, if you are in an unusual situation, such as playing competitive sport or being in the fire department, if you are pregnant or have a chronic illness, then these principles must of course be adjusted accordingly.
Incidentally, many illnesses have an inflammatory background, whether it's Alzheimer's, hay fever, neurodermatitis or MS, and it's definitely worth looking at your diet. I would even go so far as to say that if you don't eat a healthy diet for chronic illnesses, you won't get better. Then you are blocking a large part of your ability to heal yourself. I'm not saying that nutrition alone will fix everything. But it simply doesn't work without it.
I read an Ayurvedic saying the other day. I can't remember the exact quote. But the meaning was roughly that medication can only work if you eat healthily. And if you eat healthily, then you don't need any medication.
Quite apt.
What changes to the 6 principles when you are ill?
As inflammation is often involved, you should definitely eat an anti-inflammatory diet in addition to the 6 principles and therefore completely avoid sugar during the healing phase. So don't take the 30g per day either.
Depending on the illness, it can make sense to leave out wheat and dairy products, to eat cooked vegetables instead of raw vegetables or to have a cereal porridge or soup in the morning. We take a closer look at things like this in my online course Darmglück, for example, which will be starting again soon.
I would definitely advise you not to look at nutrition as the last possible straw in the event of illness if everything else hasn't worked, but to integrate it right from the start. The healing process will be much faster.
Please don't underestimate the power of nutrition. In my opinion, it is drastically underestimated by medicine, politics and society. But hopefully not by you.
And if you're wondering how I eat myself, I'd be happy to give you a little insight!
I eat everything, of course only real , natural, high-quality food.
I like to go shopping at the market, but unfortunately I don't manage it as often as I'd like. Otherwise, I usually shop in the organic section or at the health food store. We buy meat directly from the farmer or in Mallorca from a great butcher's shop in Llucmajor, which ensures that the animals are not given antibiotics. and are also kept well.
We usually only eat twice a day, almost always home-cooked, and occasionally we also eat out. I make sure I cook lots of vegetables, my husband is moderately enthusiastic, but he likes them much better than he used to. We eat few carbohydrates, virtually no wheat, few dairy products, lots of good fats and every now and then we make an exception and eat bread or ice cream.
We try out other forms of nutrition from time to time, most recently the ketogenic diet. There will definitely be another podcast episode about this.
I hope you enjoyed this episode and were able to take something away with you. If you enjoyed it, please leave me a review on iTunes, these reviews will help other people find the podcast too!
