How Studying Nutrition Changed my Diet!!!
For some time now I have been asked did studying nutrition change the way I eat?
It has GREATLY, but maybe not in the ways you may think.
Even before I decided to start studying nutrition I looked into ways to change my diet and that was about 8 or so years ago. I looked into blogs, magazines, and websites for information like most because well google always tells the truth right? WRONG!
What I researched led me to change up a few things such as making sure I eat foods that will help detoxify my body and try to get my blood to a more alkaline state. Drink green juices and smoothies to get more vegetables and fruits in my diet. I even attempted the green smoothie cleanse (lets talk about how horrible of an idea that was lol). Read all nutrition labels, choose agave and honey over sugar. At that point for me nutrition was strategic, pretty restrictive and somewhat a gamble.
I then decided to switch my major to nutrition to become a Registered Dietitian. By doing this, I could learn more and really tap into the ins and out of it all. I am now in Graduate school, while also completing my dietetic internship. During this time I am working with a wide range of patients and this has helped me realize that nutrition is far more complex than we can currently understand - in other words, there is so much more research to be done. Hence why I love it so much because it continues to evolve daily.
However, eating “well” is simpler than we make it out to be.
The more that I learned about nutrition science, I have come to better understand that our bodies do not benefit from strict rules or intense regimens. Our pancreases can handle the occasional donuts and our livers won't self-destruct with a few too many glasses of sparkling wine at girls' night. Whether you're eating fresh blueberries or a Ritz cracker, a carbohydrate molecule is still a carbon + hydrogen + oxygen, and will provide your body with energy. I am not going to downplay how important it is to eat unprocessed, whole foods, which contain phytochemicals (e.g., antioxidants) that the processed foods lack. However, I want people to feel freed from the inaccurate understanding that some foods heal us while others destroy us. Trust me, it’s not that black or white.
Nutrition research is incredibly difficult to conduct because humans are not robots, and our lifestyles have so many factors for which studies can't control. As a result, we can't put too much stock in headlines promoting individual "superfoods" or special diets. Trying to hack your health with short-cuts is typically too good to be true (though makes for much more captivating social media content).
What research consistently shows to be most effective are eating patterns that are: 1) varied with different types of foods, 2) adequate amount of calories, 3) sustainable and not going from one extreme diet to the next, and 4) full of plants. These concepts don't Instagram as well as fad-diets do, so we don't see them advertised as much in our day-to-day lives. However there are some very cool evidence-based nutrition Instagram accounts out there. :)
As I continuously gain nutrition expertise and experience, I have personally become more liberal with what I eat. I follow fewer rules, eat with less guilt, and do NOT exercise as punishment. And for what it's worth, I feel more content with my health than I did when I tried the green smoothie cleanse. (again horrible idea lol)
I have also found that the more an individual knows about nutrition and health, the fewer "rules" he or she follows. The people who I intensely admire as nutrition experts and mentors eat really inclusive, non-restricted diets. They love dessert and they appreciate how different foods serve our bodies without having to count macros or calculate percentages.
Moral of the story is that myself (#RD2be) and Dietitians may eat more treats than you think we would. If someone claiming to be a nutrition professional is selling you a very strict diet or plan to improve your overall wellness, chances are they are not truly an expert :)
If a less restrictive, more life-giving relationship with food sounds intriguing to you but you're not quite sure where you should start...let's talk!
