Neuro -Physical -Rehabilitation
David Howard
Welcome
Food And Nutrition
Why is Food So Important to Us
What is food to the body? Food is merely information for your brain/body system. All the food related issues we build up over time are created in our frontal lobes and associated regions of the brain. For the body/brain, food is merely energy the body needs to continue to survive. When the body triggers the hunger signal the certain bio chemicals/hormones spikes and then while we decide what to eat the dopemine spikes as we recall through past memory what we want to eat. Depending on your emotional state at that time, your brain will call on associated memory to decide what you will/want to eat. If you are in a happy place then the array of food you want to eat will be much broader than if you are in an emotional state, and therefore will probably eat healthier. When we are in an emotional state there is a fairly good chance that you don't really caring about what ( or even if ) you eat! As your brain calls on associated memories from past experiences, your emotional state at the time of eating can be very important, and in some cases what you eat can even dictate that you remain in an emotionally detrimental state. This is why food can play an important role for people with emotional issues!
Why Do We Get Stuck in Bad Eating Habits?
Why do we crave food? Food cravings are brought about by the dopemine cravings we accumulate from a very young age. When we discover a food we find delicious, the brain will create a feedback loop through the dopemine pathways in the brain that stays with us for life! Which is why sugar has had such a devastating effect on eating habits over the past 70 years! Unless we make a concerted effort to change that feedback loop, we find it almost impossible to turn those bad eating habits around. Surprisingly, while this does take effort, it can be done through exercise and simple changes in lifestyle! While the body loves diversity when it comes to maintaining a healthy body through exercise, it crave simplicity when it comes to food! By consuming the same food ( the same information) over a period of time, the bio chemical/ hormone craving spikes can be stablised in the system. Leading to less emotional issues when it comes to the effects food can have on the human system!
Why Do We Crave Carbs
As is pretty well documented to this point - carbs are a big no no! But why - if they are so unhealthy do we crave them so much? Anyone who spends time in the gym will tell you that there is nothing like a burger and fries after a work out. This is the body telling us that we have just expended a lot of energy and we need to recharge the batteries. So why then does the body call on Carbs to achieve this objective? This is quite simply because the body uses sugar as the fastest, most available form of energy and carbs are converted into glucose in the system very quickly and easily! The bad thing about this is that the carbs are also a high energy food, which means they create inflamation in the lining of the stomach walls (energy can only be converted to heat in the human system)! Which means that the information from the food can't get through to the blood barrier and onto the brain to inform it that we have eaten enough! This is why we can eat a whole pizza and not feel full until it's too late! This is a double edged sword because at the same time it is creating inflamation in the stomach lining, the high energy food is also creating spikes in the bio chemical/hormones in the body and creating desensitisation to certain foods. Desensitisation to food means that even though the food is bad for us, the body will adapt so that the body can extract the energy it needs to continue to survive. This leaves us with a maladaptive system - a system functioning in a negative/ low energy/ protective state which gives us no room for system growth to bring about healing in the body, because it is just always using energy to protect itself. Another reason for the carving of carbs and sugar is the dopemine reward system in the brain telling us that we have either - just worked out or finished a hard day of work or had a bad day so why not reward ourselves just this one time! And before we know it we are rewarding ourselves in this way on a daily basis!
Why Diets Don't Work
No ground breaking news here! We have known for years that diets don't work, but why? Any time we diet the brain/body system sees the change in eating habit as a threat to the system and will stress because of the emotions invovled in the changes in eating habit. The change will produce more cortisal ( the stress hormone). When the body stresses it puts fat on the cells as a protective mechanism because it percieves the diet as a threat to the system! Remember food is just information to the brain/body/ system! Fat, because it is seen as an energy source by the brain/body system is placed on the cells to help the immune system fight what it perceives a threat from the change of eating habit ( thanks to the emotional reaction to the change in diet)! Fat to our system, as well as an energy source, is also percieved as intelligence by the system. Once the diet is over and the person feels they have lost enough weight (simply through eating less or also added exercise) and they go back to their old eating habits again, the body must adapt all over again with the changes in eating habit, and so while on the diet, the body has been placing fat on the cells, the person goes back to yet another eating habit and the body starts storing even more fat on the cells to accomodate the change in eating habits yet again and the problem is just exasperated. Which is why people put the weight back on in record time after the diet is over.
So What Do We Do
Sorry, no ground breaking news here either! We do what we have been told for decades and change eating habits long term. It will come as no big surprise to anyone that people who change their eating habits long term -lose weight. Instead of labeling the change in eating habit as DIET, call it a lifestyle change! The emotional reaction to the term is more positive and the negative conotations are not there! So, What do I eat - I hear you ask? Rember the word simplicity! The body loves simplicity when it comes to food. When the brain/body system can read the information from food easily it doesn't need to stress - stress creates cortisal ( the stress hormone). When the body is in stress mode it places fat on the cell as a protective mechanism! So you need to give the body simple low energy food ( so the stomach lining doesn't get inflamed, and the info from the food can get through to the blood barrier to tell the brain you are full). This means no high energy carbs like pasta, bread, potatoes, grains, flour etc. Where do I get my carbs? Most vegetables and fruit have carbs, they are just slow release carbs, which means they are released into the system slower. Eat plenty of protein from meat, fish, eggs or the plethora of vegetables that are high in proteins. Stear clear of dairy products, fruit juices ( high in sugar) and all processed food - remember if the body can't read the info from food easily - it will store fat on the cell for protection! But most importantly eat the same things every day for the maximum weight lose and the stabilisation of the bio chemicals/hormones. And eat 5 times a day - this is so the metabolism doesn't slow down or stop! Every time the metabolism stops it needs to start all over again - resulting in the spikes of certain bio chemicals/hormones. Have a mid morning/afternoon snack of a peice of fruit or a hand full of nuts. This will benefit the system is more ways than you ever thought possible. Do it for 10 days initially and then if you break from your routine after the 10 days, you will very quickly see what effects the high energy food has on your system.
