Link Between Food and Disease

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday weekend!!  One of my pet peeves is when people deny the link between food and disease.  There is always the person in the room telling you all the seemingly unhealthy things their grandparent, great aunt, uncle, etc. ate and “they lived to be 100!”  I have to admit that my father falls into this camp which might explain why it is a pet peeve.  😉  Of course, recently he has started to pay a little more attention because his energy is not as good and it is impacting his golf game.  I am trying to get him to cut down on sugar and drink more green smoothies, but even with the golf game motivation (which anyone who knows my highly competitive father knows that everything is related to his golf game), getting someone to change is tough, especially when they are 84 and are basically in very good health.

The link between food and disease is highly published.  You do not have to read or listen to “The China Study” to gain knowledge in this relationship – just google the relationship between food and disease and you will pull up a plethora of scientific studies citing the relationship between chronic inflammation in the body and disease.  A bad diet causes chronic inflammation in the body, that is a fact.  Does that mean if you eat an inflammatory diet you will get heart disease, diabetes, or even cancer?  Obviously, nothing is for certain, but we do know that preventing inflammation may ward off a wide range of chronic diseases.  Hmmm, so what is the right choice, eat whatever I want and wait and see or be proactive about making changes to your diet that might prevent the onset of a chronic disease?  I know my choice, but my choice also comes with the added benefits of feeling better, hopefully looking better as I am definitely not getting any younger, having more energy to do the things I love, and setting a good example for my kids that hopefully will be passed down for generations to come.

If you have not found your healthy sweet spot, I hope you will join our Back to Basics Shape Up Challenge and make a few key changes to your current routine.  If you are interested in a health coach for your family, I have expanded my consulting business to include a health makeover for families who would like someone to come in and help overhaul their current health and fitness routines.  This would include an assessment of your families current exercise routine, including your children, suggestions for improvements, a pantry makeover with healthy suggestions and options for meals, and an assessment of mental or down time with suggestions that fit your lifestyle and time constraints.  Please email of you are interested.

For week one of our Back to Basics Shape Up Challenge, I encouraged you to limit your alcohol to 1-2 drinks on the weekend.  For week 2, I encourage you to stick with week one and add the elimination of all white flour and sugar products.  If you are a real dessert person and need something, please try to stick with one small square of dark chocolate every other day.  I would also encourage you to add one extra workout per week, even if it is just a 20 minute walk, everything counts!  I am well aware that the first few days of eliminating sugar and white flour can be tough, but if you make it through the first two days, you will notice the cravings subside.  You can always email if you need ideas or suggestions.  Remember, you can still have fruit and medjool dates are a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth.