Sarah M. Burnett MS - RDN - LD
A WHOLE FOOD, WHOLE BODY, APPROACH TO HEALTH!
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It's TIME for Health!It's TIME for health is a multifaceted approach to wellness. It focuses on the impact of nutrition on four core areas of health,
Toxic burden, Inflammation, the Microbiome, and Epigenetics. Diet affects every aspect of health. Understanding the link between the foods you consume and the way you feel, both physically and emotionally, is one of the greatest steps towards wellness. I think we can all agree....It's TIME for health!! |
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Toxic BurdenToxic burden refers to the amount of destructive compounds and chemicals your body contains at any given time. Some of these compounds are produced externally and enter the body through various routes such as the foods we eat, products we use on our skin, or from the air we breath, while other toxic compounds are produced by our bodies during normal metabolism. Many mechanisms are in place to help remove these unhealthy compounds. Unfortunately, when we under-consume nutrient dense foods, we blunt these processes, and toxins build up. A nutrient dense diet that supports all phases of detoxification is essential in helping to lower our toxic burden and improve our health!
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Inflammation
At the basis of most all disease processes is inflammation. Two key promoters of inflammation are over activation of the immune system and overexposure to reactive species (RS), also known as free radicals. To counter both of these potential threats, our bodies rely on antioxidants. Consuming a diet high in antioxidant rich foods and phytochemicals will help bring balance to our system and decrease damage caused by inflammation.
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MicrobiomeA microbiome is a collection of microbes living in a community, and our gastrointestinal tract is home to more than 500 species of bacteria totaling about 100 trillion microbes! To help keep our microbiome functioning optimally, we have to continually inoculate our gut with good bacteria (probiotics) and feed these bacteria colorful nutrient dense foods (prebiotics). In exchange for a home inside our digestive tract, these beneficial bacteria help us extract nutrients from foods, support our immune system, regulate hormones and much much more!
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EpigeneticsWhen scientist began mapping the human genome in the 90s, it was thought an individual's disease risk could be determined based on their genetic predisposition. However, it was found the expression of a gene is predominantly determined by various environmental factors such as nutrition. This gave rise to the study of epigenetics. The field of science that is researching the connection between nutrition and gene expression is nutragenomics. This concept is so exciting because it supports the idea that we can influence gene expression and disease risk through the foods we consume!
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