Nutrition 101

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Yesterday I was a guest speaker for two Sports Medicine High school classes! Fun hey? I got to go in and teach them all about nutrition and get them to think about what they are putting into their bodies. I figured that since I’m doing a Nutritional Series on my blog, I would count this “lesson plan” in! I completely forgot to have the teacher take pictures of me teaching....otherwise I would have posted them since everyone loves pictures-next time!

OK Class, Listen up! LOL

Think back to the beginning of time…to the first people would ever lived on this Earth! For simplicity sake, we’re going to call them Adam and Eve J Where do we think that Adam and Eve got all of their nutrients from? The land! They consumed from their surroundings- the plants, the fruits, the vegetables, and the animals. Adam and Eve didn’t have to worry about diseases, illnesses and toxins as much as we do today.

Q: What concerns do we have today that Adam and Eve didn’t have in relation to Nutrition?

-fast foods

-Artificial colors, flavors

-Added sweeteners

-Preservatives

-“Junk” Food

-Nutrient-depleted soil

-Pesticides

The list is long! Can anyone tell me what all of these things have in common? They are all synthesized! Processed! Man-made! Our bodies are meant to eat foods in their natural forms just as Adam and Eve did. These processed foods have a negative effect on our bodies and are lacking in nutrients:

-Contribute to obesity

-Contribute to diseases

-“Toxic” to our bodies

Now, we are going to touch on another big factor that our bodies have to deal with: Oxidative Stress!

According to Netdoctor.com:

What is oxidative stress?

Your body constantly reacts with oxygen as you breathe and your cells produce energy. As a consequence of this activity, highly reactive molecules are produced known as free radicals.

Free radicals interact with other molecules within cells. This can cause oxidative damage to proteins, membranes and genes.

Oxidative damage has been implicated in the cause of many diseases, such as cancer and Alzheimer's and has an impact on the body's aging process.

External factors, such as pollution, sunlight and smoking, also trigger the production of free radicals.

Pretty scary, eh? It’s not something we can necessarily avoid! It just happens as we eat, breathe and exist!

So does anyone know what our Doctors and Healthcare professionals will often recommend to us to help counteract this oxidative damage? ANTIOXIDANTS!

Antioxidant Rich foods:

-Berries

-Tomatoes

-Garlic

-Green Tea

-Mangosteen

-Brocolli

So, other than antioxidants, can we think of something else that Doctors and Healthcare professionals recommend to counteract all of the nutrient-depleted foods that we eat? A MULTIVITAMIN!

Did you know that 98% of our Body functions rely on minerals? The scary part is that most of us living in North America are deficient in minerals! No wonder there is so much sickness and disease!

Now, when it comes to Multivitamins, they aren’t all the same! Yes, they should all contain Vitamins and Minerals, but the form of these is very important! Let’s think back to Adam and Eve-How did they get their vitamins and minerals? Did they need to take a multivitamin? Nope!  The foods they ate were in their most natural and pure form, which made it easy for their bodies to digest and absorb all of those nutrients.

Vitamins and Minerals should be plant-sourced (or natural as opposed synthetic). Ok, time for a quick Chemistry lesson! Can anyone tell me the difference between an Ionic mineral and an Elemental/Colloidal  Mineral?

Minerals are not all created equal, in-fact minerals in certain forms can cause trapped minerals to stay in your body. Minerals can be very hard to absorb and be used by your body if they are not sized and structured correctly.

“Ionic” minerals basically mean that the mineral is in its smallest form, or the best form for our bodies to absorb.

So, as far as multivitamins go, they should be formulated with only natural and plant sourced minerals that are IONIC! The easier the multivitamin is for our body to absorb, the better! This is also why I often recommend a liquid supplement as opposed to a solid pill form.

So class, what have we learned? What can we do to make sure we are getting the proper nutrients are bodies need and thrive on?

-Less or NO fast food

-less processed foods

-organic foods as much as possible (food it its natural state)

-daily multivitamin (preferably with plant-sourced and ionic minerals)

-eat antioxidant rich foods

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Ok, moving onto the fun stuff! Since this is a Sports Medicine Class, let’s talk about Sports Drinks! What are some Sports Drinks out there?

We drink sports drinks when we are playing sports or being physically active or working out. So, since our bodies are working hard, expending energy and sweating, what are some things that sports drinks should have?

-Electrolytes (to replace and rehydrate as we sweat)

-Amino Acids (support recovery by protein building)

-Carbohydrates (for added energy while active)

This is where we pass out a few different types of sports drinks, teach them to read the nutritional label and figure out which ones have the three components listed above, along with all of the “all-natural” factors we talked about in the lesson (no preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners). Obviously, they will soon discover that most Sports drinks out there are pretty nasty because of what’s been added into them! Then I can happily say the line of products I promote has an all-natural hydrating drink mix that has all of the necessary requirements for a healthy lifestyle including the essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants!! 

I’d love some feedback on my lesson plan! Especially if there are any teachers out there! 

Have a wonderful day full of happiness and health!