Why Clean Eating Isn't Enough Anymore for Ideal Health

People tell me all of the time that their plan for better health is to follow a Paleo diet, and while I would agree that Paleo or "clean eating" is absolutely critical as a base for any program that addresses your health, it certainly is not going to be enough to save us from the major health and weight issues that we face today. It may have been perfectly sufficient for people in Paleoltihic times, but in case you hadn’t noticed, things have changed a bit around here with our food supply since then.

Don’t misunderstand me... There is nothing wrong with following a Paleo diet. Eating clean is better than 99% of the programs out there claiming to be good for you while containing artificial sweeteners, color dyes, and known cancer-causing ingredients that are ok because they are within the calorie allotment for the day. Ummmm. Let me know how that works out for you..

Eating clean is the first step toward better health, but certainly not the last. In Paleo times, the food was abundant with all of the minerals and trace minerals that we needed to feel good, have energy, and support our immune systems. With modern day agriculture techniques and the use of pesticides, herbicides, and over-farming, that is no longer the case. If our soils are void of these minerals and trace minerals that our bodies require, can you guess where else they are void? Our bodies. And if we don't have minerals, we don't absorb the vitamins either. High quality supplementation with trace minerals, vitamins, and digestive enzymes is necessary in order to restore what is lost in our modern day farming methods. 

Let's talk about stress. Anyone have it? Mental stress, emotional stress, or how about physical stress for the athletes out there? Our bodies were designed to deal with stress. The kind of stress that existed in Paleolithic times. Mostly running from predators or lack of food. Back then, stress was temporary assuming your weren't eaten by the predator or didn't starve to death Your cortisol levels spiked which caused your metabolism to slow in case you needed those fat stores during famine. The bad news for us today is that we are in a chronic state of stress and our bodies were not built to handle that. Our cortisol levels are off the charts, leaving us with excess belly fat, fatigue, poor sleep, and inflammation, which is underlying to just about every disease on the planet. A clean eating diet alone isn't going to address the stress hormones. What will address cortisol is specially formulated adaptogenic herbs such as Ashwaganda and Rhodiola.

Let's talk toxins; in our air, in our water, in our hair care and body products, and in our food. The list goes on and on. I know, I know, we have a liver and kidneys that are designed to detox our bodies naturally. You are right. But again, when our bodies were designed, they were created to deal with the small amount of toxins that people were exposed to back in the day. Certainly not to deal with the 80,000 toxic chemicals that we are exposed to daily. When we are exposed to toxic chemicals that our bodies do not recognize, it’s response is to create more fat cells to shove them in as well as retain water to dilute them. (See Visceral Fat)

An inflammatory response is triggered by the immune system because it thinks there is an invader. In order to do a deep tissue cellular detox (not the colon cleanse that most programs are), you must rest the digestive tract while providing your body with an abundance of nutrients and herbs designed to breakdown the toxins and make them water soluble in order to excrete them. Drinking lemonade and cayenne pepper just isn't going to get the job done. What it will do though is to deplete your minerals and it will cause your body to enrobe the toxins in fat cells (Visceral Fat), while you drop a bunch of water weight. 

Is it any mystery why our immune systems are not functioning? Why autoimmune diseases and cancers are at an all-time high? Why we are becoming more and more overweight by the day despite our best efforts. Why are we stressed out, exhausted, and barely functioning? Good news is that if we open our minds to new nutritional technologies that are available and commit to addressing each of these issues head on, we have a real fighting chance at living a healthy, full and abundant life. 

I feel blessed to have found a system that addresses all of these issues and to have helped thousands of people take their health to the next level with a few tweaks.  If you are not achieving your goals and you are open to something new, let's connect.