Optimal Health

QUALITY DICTATES QUANTITY

Counting calories while eating a diet full of processed food is a game you’ll be playing for a lifetime.

It can work in the short term and you can see results, but that game is not sustainable in the long run for the vast majority of people.

Thankfully your body counts calories for you if you give it natural food high in nutrients 👌🏼

It’s this thing called appetite!

Human appetite helps our body match energy intake to energy needs. When functioning properly, the amount of energy you use will match what your hungry for.

Satiation (feeling full) is a psycho-biological mechanism that functions to inhibit intake following the ingestion of the required amount of nutrients our body needs. It’s built into our bodies so we don’t consume what we don’t need!

Hunger on the other hand, is a survival mechanism to acquire nutrients to function. This necessity for nutrients triggers our body to release the hunger hormone, ghrelin, to get us to search for food.

So what happens when we eat fake processed trash in a plastic wrapper with little to no nutrients? We overeat calories!

Empty (nutrient-less) calories leads to overeating and is the main driver of the obesity epidemic!

What’s the solution? Eat real whole food that comes from the earth! Fruits, vegetables, meat, legumes, nuts, eggs, etc. Get a wide variety of colors on your plate and prioritize getting high quality protein at every meal.

Protein is one of the BIGGEST drivers of satiation because of how important it is for survival. Get enough protein every meal and it will do wonders for satiety.

Some people are more/less tolerant to certain natural foods than others. This is because we all have unique gut bacteria. A general rule of thumb is if you like the taste of the natural food and it makes you feel good after, it’s most likely good for your body.

If eggs make you fart a bunch, lay off the eggs. If broccoli makes you wanna vomit, try something else.

There’s a gut microbiome test called that can tell you all of your food tolerances/intolerances if you don’t have an idea already.