by Robin Rudner, RD, CSP, LDN
You may have heard the phrase “Food as Medicine”, but have you ever experienced how it can work for you?
Have you ever truly experienced the power of food as a vehicle to healing you physically and emotionally?
If not, I challenge you to take a look at your lifestyle and ask yourself the following questions:
What are my eating behaviors?
Am I skipping meals, and why?
Do I lack energy and motivation?
Am I irritable?
Am I taking multiple medications for diseases such as diabetes, which may be caused in part by what I’m eating?
Am I tired of hating my body? Am I sick of feeling guilty every time I eat?
While there are many factors that can affect one’s mood, balanced nutrition can truly have a profound impact on one’s entire being.
As a dietitian, I am often seen as the “food police.” I can assure you my goal is to help you, not judge you. I want to help you live a life free of guilt related to food.
What if you could include your favorite foods in your diet and not feel guilty after eating them?
As someone who has made significant changes in my own lifestyle, I can attest that eating to nourish your body actually nourishes your mind and helps you to achieve other goals you may set for yourself. Choosing the right foods to nourish your body can help you be ‘your best self’’.
Eating well makes you feel good. That’s the plain and simple of it.
Examine your lifestyle and food choices. How have you felt after eating nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats and proteins? Do you feel any different when you eat fast food, or snacks with lots of sugar or fat?
Choosing the right foods is ‘showing yourself love’.
There’s a lot of evidence that how we nourish our bodies can have a big impact on how our brain functions – now and in the years to come. Eating well in the present, along with other healthy lifestyle choices we make today, can keep our brains working well now, and perhaps prevent age-related problems in the future, like cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
On the other hand, eating foods that are devoid of nutritional value make us tired, irritable and moody, and can even make us more insecure.
If you know how to eat well, why are you not doing it?
A good nutritionist can help you explore the benefits of balanced nutrition and the wonderful things that happen when you simply show yourself a little more love.
When we think of food more as medicine for all of its healing properties, it is then that we can truly change our lives. This doesn’t mean being on a strict diet and telling yourself you can’t ever have certain foods… it’s about being able to determine what your body needs at any given time. What foods will make you feel good? What will give you the energy you need for the day? This is part of eating “mindfully.”
Reap the benefits of a balanced diet.
- 1) A balanced diet = ensuring that one is getting a variety of critical nutrients such as good carbohydrates , folic acid, b vitamins, omega 3 rich foods, etc.
- A balanced diet = longevity of life
- A balanced diet = more energy
- A balanced diet = a better mood and may improve one’s mental health
I encourage you to take the journey of experiencing ‘food as medicine’.
Robin Rudner, RD, CSP, LDN is a licensed dietitian who offers her services at Psych Choices of the Delaware valley. To make an appointment with her please call 610-626-8085 or visit our website’s Schedule An Appointment page.
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I have a bad back (scoliosis, degenerative disc disease, and had a bulging disc) by changing my eating habits I no longer am plagued by the pain. Yes it is still there and hurts but I’m helping it to be better without medications that make me sick or can cause more problems. That was exactly what made me want to be a dietitian in the first place, because I saw from my own experience that changing your diet to be healthier can actually make a difference.