You consume more than just-food
Hello, there. Happy to see you again. Congrats to me for writing my second article, congrats to you for wanting more from your health. You have no idea how much this means for your healing, for your nervous system, and your self-esteem.
Hope you understood what a holistic health coach does and does not, and you have fewer doubts if it works for you or not. If you still have, though, don’t hesitate to write me on Instagram at @am.briciu, send me an e-mail at annamariabriciu@gmail.com, or in a comment below. Wherever feels better for you.
First, let me ask you a question:
How do you define health?
How much time do you spend on becoming the healthiest version of yourself?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with this area of your life?
Today I will walk you through some core concepts we will be using in our work together. Bucker-up Buttercup and jump in the coaching train, we’re goin’ on a trip!
- bio-individuality
- primary and secondary food
- the circle of life
BIO-INDIVIDUALITY
You know that one friend that no matter what she eats, never gains weight? Then there’s you not eating after 8 pm, livin’ on kale salads with no results. Well, let me tell you something. There’s nothing wrong with neither of you.
“One person’s food is another person’s poison.” — Joshua Rosenthal, the founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.
In other words, no one diet or lifestyle works for two people. Just as we are all unique in mind, body, and spirit — we are also unique in the things that support our individual health and happiness. When it comes to diet, lifestyle, and what makes you happy, what works for you won’t necessarily work for your family members, friends, or coworkers. So, honey, please stop trusting anyone telling you that they found the one-and-only diet that will make you look like Kylie Jenner in 5 simple steps.
Now, if you want some science, it all lies in the biodiversity of your gut microbiome. There are roughly 40 trillion bacterial cells in your body and only 30 trillion human cells. We are more bacteria than we are humans. Oh, you little conscious amoeba, you.
The gut microbiome refers to all of the microbes in your intestines. They act as another organ that’s crucial for your health. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microscopic living things are referred to as microorganisms, or microbes, for short. Trillions of these microbes exist mainly inside your intestines and on your skin.
Most of the microbes in your intestines are found in the “pocket” of your large intestine called the cecum. They are referred to as the gut microbiome. Although many different types of microbes live inside you, bacteria are the most studied.
Researchers at the Personalized Nutrition Project have proven that bio-individual diets lower the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, as well as other widespread modern diseases. After analyzing nearly 50,000 meals consumed by 1,000 participants, the Personalized Nutrition Project released the first round of findings from their multi-year study.
Eran Segal, one of the biologists leading the study, observed a wide variation in how people responded physiologically to foods universally considered “good” or “bad.” For example, many participants experienced lowered blood sugar after eating ice cream, while buttered bread triggered less of a blood sugar spike than plain bread.
To figure out why people reacted differently to the same foods, researchers studied participants’ gut microbiomes. — their unique collection of good and bad bacteria.
This investigation showed that obese people have a less diverse microbiome than thin people, proving that variation in bacteria is key to health and weight maintenance. In an experiment on mice, scientists found that when they transferred bacteria from obese mice to lean mice, the lean mice became obese without a change in food intake. It’s clear from this experiment that the gut bacterial profile plays a large role in how the body responds to food.
PRIMARY FOOD
To be honest, they got me at this concept. Primary food refers to what nourishes us OFF the plate. It’s called primary food because wellness goes beyond the food we eat. We all know that we need food to survive, but primary food emphasizes that we’re multidimensional beings. We need more than just food to thrive.
Primary food is powerful because it helps bring awareness to the full picture of health. It reminds us to take a step back when we feel imbalanced and look at our health from a big-picture perspective. We’ve known for a long time that diet, physical activity, and interpersonal relationships have a direct correlation with overall wellness. We’re also starting to recognize the impact that lifestyle factors have on physical, emotional, and mental health.
Did you know that there’s a specialist that can predict how much you’ll live based on the answers to a few questions? No boho-woho stuff. Pure science. Will write about him and his studies in a different article.
So what nourishes us OFF the plate?
- our relationships
- a meaningful conversation
- good music
- physical activity
- spirituality
- career
- social life & fun
Just to name a few.
CIRCLE OF LIFE
The easiest way to have a clear overview of your overall quality of life is the circle of life. There are 12 categories, that if taken into account will skyrocket the quality of your life. Here’s an exercise you can do to find out where you stand:
- You can either save & print it, or draw the circle yourself.
- Place a dot where you feel you are in this moment in your life (the closer to the center, the low it is)
- Then connect all the dots, and you have a geometric abstract painting of your life.
- Select the top 3 areas that are lowest and figure 1–3 small things you could do to improve them today.
- Select the top 3 that are the highest and figure out a way to celebrate them.
The idea is that if you manage to get the lowest ones up ASAP, you will see an improvement in your self-esteem and the other 9.
Another shorter version is grading each area, then add them up and split the sum to 12. That is your life satisfaction score. Here is an example:
Mary has graded
social life with 5
relationships with 7
home environment with 9
home cooking with 8
physical activity with 4
health with 5
education with 8
career with 8
finances with 7
creativity with 3
spirituality with 4
joy with 6
= 74/12 = 6 out of 10
lowest 3: creativity, spirituality & physical activity
What can I do now to improve them?
Creativity: start painting, dancing, singing, playing with my kids, wash my teeth with the opposite hand, choose a different route back home, meet someone new
Spirituality: listen to a podcast or something from a spiritual figure I admire, spend 5 minutes in silence every day connecting to a higher source of my own understanding, read a book on spirituality, be kind to a random stranger
Physical activity: instead of taking the elevator, use the stairs
take a walk instead of taking the car/ bus
do 10 jumping jacks in the morning while my coffee is brewing
highest 3: home environment, home cooking, career
I am thankful for having a space that inspires me and makes me feel safe.
I am thankful I choose to cook home and be inspired every day with the best recipes.
I am thankful I have a fulfilling career that makes me feel free and joyful.
SECONDARY FOOD
Secondary food is the food that we eat — it is what nourishes us ON the plate. Nourishment happens on different levels, so when you’re thinking about secondary food, it’s essential to go back to your primary food.
I love food tbh. I cried the first time I chewed food after 10 days of juice fast.
Before being too hard on yourself for not complying with some ‘diet’ rules, let me tell you something, love — you are OK the way you are. Many factors lead us to choose certain foods, including:
• Health & Lifestyle
Health plays a vital role in choosing your food. Maybe you have Celiac disease and know you must not eat gluten. Maybe, you’re sensitive to dairy. Or maybe, you’re vegetarian and choose not to eat meat.
How about lifestyle? Well, if you don’t have a predictable schedule and don’t prepare food in advance, of course, you’ll go for a croissant — it’s convenient. If you work double shifts and have to run errands, of course, you’ll have 3 cups of coffee a day to substitute sleep.
The more stress you experience throughout the day, the more you crave comfort foods.
• Environment, society, culture, and economy
Environmental, social and economic factors affect the types of foods available for purchase, the cost of those foods, and the means of transportation (a personal vehicle, a social network, or public transportation) that can be used to acquire the foods.
• Physiology and psychology
This one is pretty obvious — when our body sends us hunger cues, we want to eat. How about when we walk past a bakery? I’m sure my mouth is not the only one watering.
Eating can also be emotional. We tend to associate good, happy memories with different types of food. What was your experience with food when you grew up? Did you know that after a hearty meal, we release dopamine, the reward hormone?
• Personal belief system, food relationship, and knowledge of food
A Vietnamese, an Italian, a Hindu, and a Romanian sit at a table and argue which one has the tastiest food. No one will win because we are emotionally connected to the food we grew up with. Cheers to mămăligă & zacuscă!
On top of that, when you grew up, maybe you were forced to lick the plate before you left the table. Maybe, you were forced to eat various foods ‘Because I say so.’
So, next time you feel like eating or craving something, I want you to ask yourself what, in fact, you’re craving? What else would you like to nourish you OFF the plate?
If you liked the article and feel like sharing it with your people, please do. And if you want more of me and how to make your life all about happiness, healing, and health, make sure you subscribe here & follow me on Instagram at am.briciu.
