The Path to Optimal Nutrition: Nourishing Your Body

What we choose to nourish our bodies with is fundamental to the foundation of our health. The following tips will help get you on a path towards optimal nutrition.

• Fruit: Full of essential vitamins and minerals, fruit is an integral part of a well rounded diet. Aim for having 2 to 4 servings of fruit per day and incorporating different kinds rather than sticking to the same ones.
  
• Vegetables: A great source both of vital nutrients and fibre and are lower in sugar than fruit, vegetables should be a mainstay of both lunch and supper. A rule of thumb to ensuring you are getting approximately 6 servings a day is to make half your plate at lunch and supper vegetables.
  
• “Whole foods”: Foods should be as close to their natural state as possible, thereby minimizing additives and preservatives.
  
• To get the most nutrition from your food and ensure healthy soil, local, seasonal and organic food is always the best choice.
  
• Avoid drinking liquids with meals. There are enzymes hard at work in your saliva, stomach and pancreas and drinking liquids with meals dilutes the concentration of the enzymes and reduces their effectiveness. This can contribute to bloating and gas associated with meal times.
  
• Eat protein with every meal. Protein helps maintain your body’s lean muscle mass, regulates your blood sugar, and helps prevent burn out/ fatigue during times of stress.
  
• Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. If you don’t have an appetite in the morning try blending together frozen berries, hemp protein powder, 2 tbsp of ground flax and some almond milk. Sipping this throughout the morning will ensure you’re starting your day right by getting adequate protein, vitamins and fibre.