As Functional Medicine Doctors, we believe in the power of food. What we eat can be incredibly healing, nourishing and therapeutic, but can also be damaging and disruptive to our physical and mental wellbeing. There is a lot of confusion in the public’s knowledge about foods they ‘should’ be eating and foods they ‘shouldn’t’ have as part of a healthy lifestyle. When you know the role of foods, you can use their healing powers for good and minimise adverse reactions.
To gain some more clarity about foods which support the body’s healthy functioning which will disrupt it, we need to consider the function of each type of food in your diet. For example, eating refined sugar can lead to spiking blood sugar levels, which may lead to cyclical highs and lows, leading to changes in mood and mid-afternoon energy loss. On the other hand, fibre found in vegetables and whole grains helps to stabilise blood sugar and keeps us feeling full for longer.
If you’re looking to fill your diet with genuinely healthy foods that nourish your body and provide therapeutic benefits, here is what to look out for.
Natural – not-processed – food
Processed food doesn’t have much healing power, and can often contain ingredients which may be harmful to health. Learning how to avoid them and how to choose less – processed foods can be a fantastic way to improve the benefits you are getting from your diet. While processed foods are a quick and convenient way to fill you up, they also contain disruptive ingredients such as high levels of sugar, unhealthy trans-fats and chemical additives such as sweeteners, artificial flavourings and preservatives.
Processed food uses 20 ingredients when 5 will do. They are more likely to spike blood sugar levels, cause inflammation in the body and can often be addictive – making us eat more than we need. The more processed food we have in our diets, the higher the risks of developing chronic health issues such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and autoimmunity.
If you are looking for food that contributes to your health, choose natural, homemade foods or start checking food labels to ensure they only contain ingredients you would expect to find in your kitchen cupboards.
Protein
Protein is a really important part of your diet. We need it for healing, growth and maintaining normal functioning of our enzymes and detox pathways. You can get protein from good quality meat, fish, eggs and dairy (if you can tolerate it), as well as plant-based sources like legumes, nuts and seeds.
Oily fish is an excellent addition to the diet because it also contains omega 3 fatty acids, which help to lower inflammation and are essential for brain health. However, before you stock your freezer with fish, beware that because of the contamination of our waters, many fish contain toxins, such as mercury, which can be harmful to health. We recommend our patients stick to the SMASH fish – that’s Sardines, Mackerel, Anchovies, Salmon (wild-caught, not farmed) and Herring – while avoiding large predator fish such as tuna and swordfish.
Vegetables
Vegetables are a great source of carbohydrates (yes, we do need some carbohydrates!), as well as being amazing sources of essential micronutrients and fibre.
Green leafy vegetables tend to be lower in carbohydrates and are a great way to make sure we are getting all the vitamins and minerals that are essential for Healthy living. Starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots and celeriac), help to fuel our bodies with higher levels of carbohydrates, while releasing sugars more slowly than foods containing processed, added or refined sugars – helping to stabilise blood sugar for longer.
Vegetables are a fantastic source of fibre, another essential of healthy functioning. Why fibre is important takes some explaining. Have you heard of the microbiome? It’s the bacteria that live in our large bowel. There are some in the small bowel too (but we don’t want much there or it can cause problems). Looking after your microbiome is critical to your overall health. If you’re not feeding it with the right nutrients, your gut won’t function properly, causing all kinds of disruptive symptoms, and bad bacterial growth can develop. The fibre in vegetables stays intact all the way to the colon, feeding the very important bacteria there. The best part of this process is that, in return, these friendly bacteria produce nutrients that look after the colon by providing energy and supporting repair. Vegetables feed the gut inhabitants and keep it healthy.
On top of that, vegetables help us to process and manage essential aspects of detox. In the world today, we are all exposed to multiple sources of toxins in water, air and our food. While we can do our best to limit our contact with them, it’s impossible to avoid them altogether.
Sulphur compounds found in cruciferous vegetables, including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kale, as well as alliums (garlic, onions and leeks), help us maintain our essential, effective detox mechanisms to keep us safe and healthy despite the inevitable toxins we meet in daily life.
That’s why vegetables are so good for you. They provide the healing powers of carbohydrates, fibre, sulphur and other minerals. Aim for 8-10 servings (half a cup of cooked or a cup uncooked), of a wide variety of vegetables every day to maximise your benefits from their therapeutic properties.
Healthy fats
Yes, there is such a thing as healthy fat – and in fact, fats are essential for health. However, fat-free diets have previously been framed as the most healthy way to eat. The idea that if you eat too much fat, it will clog your veins and cause heart disease isn’t at all accurate, so please leave that image behind!
Your body can’t function optimally if you don’t eat enough healthy fat. Our hormones, for example, are all produced from the often-demonised cholesterol. Every cell in our bodies is wrapped in a protective membrane made from fatty layers and the nerves in our brain are protected by a special kind of fat which is essential for nerve functioning. So fat is part of many vital bodily processes.
If we don’t eat healthy fats regularly (to replace fat that has become damaged or oxidised), this can increase the amount of inflammation we experience and our bodies are unable to heal and repair properly.
Great source of healthy fats include avocados, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds and coconut oil.
Brightly coloured food
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘eat the rainbow’? It’s a great principle to live by. Naturally brightly coloured foods contain healthy polyphenols which protect the body against harmful health conditions including cancer and heart disease.
Both fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals and protective antioxidants. However, for those with unstable blood sugars, too much fruit can cause blood sugar spikes. The best choices are berries (which are naturally lower in sugar). Pairing fruit with protein is also a great way to help slow down sugar release from fruits. Try a spoonful of nut butter, a piece of cheese or meat with fruit as part of a balanced meal to help prevent blood sugar spikes.
Fill your diet with blueberries, tomatoes, peppers, purple carrots, pomegranate and any other pops of colour that take your fancy.
Fermented food
How you treat food can be just as therapeutic as the food you eat. The fermentation process is a fantastic way to support the gut microbiome.
Foods can serve as ‘pre-biotics’ (a healthy source of nutrition to maintain the friendly gut microbes). Cooled boiled potatoes, green bananas and jerusalem artichokes are great examples of fantastic pre-biotics.
‘Live’, fermented foods also help to increase the numbers of healthy bacteria in the gut (although they have to be eaten regularly as they don’t colonise the bowel). Yoghourt and kefir as well as fermented vegetables such as kimchi and sauerkraut can all be really beneficial to gut health.
Fermented foods can take a bit of getting used to, but they are worth it because looking after your gut microbiome is so vital to a healthy functioning gut and immune system.
There is so much good stuff that can be gained from food. Your body uses a whole range of nutrients in the millions of processes it manages on any given day. So, as well as looking for nutrient-dense foods with therapeutic benefits, aim for diversity. Use the power of food to power you. You’d be surprised at what a difference it can make.
It’s also worth remembering that different people need different levels of nutrients depending on their health status, health history and genetics. Some people are deficient in one particular vitamin and might need special therapeutic support and dietary intervention. Those suffering from autoimmune disease may be able to make their symptoms more manageable or even put their condition into remission by changing the way that they eat.
In Functional Medicine, we often use the technique of elimination and reintroduction of foods method to determine whether there are any specific foods acting as harmful inflammatory triggers. Our aim is to create a personalised nutritional plan full of nourishing foods according to your unique needs.
Book an appointment at the clinic or join our expert-led Functional Foundation Programme to get started on your personalised natural healing journey.
