Thursday, February 16, 2012

Primal Nutrition


Here is a piece of food for thought on nutrition. On Saturday, I went to a lecture presented by Nora Gedgaudas, author of the book, Primal Body, Primal Mind. 
Wow! I learned a lot. It took a while to condense 8 hours of information, but here goes...

According to Dr. Mark Steinberg, PhD, clinical neuropshychologist and author of ADD: The 20 Hour Solution, Nora's book is a nutritional treasure map leading to optimal wellness, the way nature intended. She provides guidelines for shopping and eating in ways that will eliminate a host of physiological and mental disorders.

She began by taking a look at where our dietary requirements originated. Our bodies are 99% genetically similar to those of people from the Paleolithic Era, thousands of years ago. We were designed to be omnivorous, to eat meat, and burn on ketosis. In other words, we need to consume protein and fat...but in today's society, especially as recommended by the US RDA, we consume mostly carbohydrates and way too much sugar!

Blood sugar surges are enormously destabilizing! There is nothing more stabilizing to the brain than dietary fat (which is even-burning like putting a large log on a fire) and nothing more de-stabilizing than carbohydrates (which is like putting kindling on a fire and requires constant feeding). Are you hungry all the time?

So many people, myself included, scrutinize labels for fat content yet this is not the culprit. We need lipids to synthesize hormones, cell membranes and for other body functions such as nervous system stability. It is critical to brain formation of infants and children, teens, making up almost 80% of the brain's content. Did anyone ever call you a fathead? That's a compliment, sweetie, LOL! You can't have a healthy brain w/o cholesterol.

The foods we crave the most are probably causing us the most problems. 
She especially emphasized the issue of gluten sensitivity (wheat, semolina, graham, barley, rye, and even in processed oats and many other processed foods).
Gluten sensitivity and celiac disease is on the rise up to 400% and go largely undiagnosed,with only about 1% of the population currently identified. Problem is lab testing is quite unreliable. She did, however give us the website of a lab that has reliable results. www.cyrexlabs.com

It boils down to this...
The best psychological training and counseling, even the best pharmaceuticals (and nobody has a deficiency of Lipitor or Prozac, folks!) will not put a nutrient in your body or brain, WE NEED RAW MATERIALS TO FUNCTION!!!
It's no fun being a prisoner in your own nervous system...nutritional deficiencies have been shown to cause numerous issues with cognitive and nervous system function!
In fact, most hormonal and glandular issues such as adrenal fatigue and low thyroid have roots in faulty signals and rhythms from the brain, which tells the factory what to do. This is a major shift in thinking folks, but I'm here to tell you there is another way to approach disease...from a holistic perspective!

Ok, this is long enough, I must respect your time and attention...so here is a link to Nora's website...www.primalbody-primalmind.com
Her background is very similar to mine, her father was a radiologist (I was a CT/MRI tech turned health educator), she studied nutrition, and finally became a neurofeedback practicioner after she found healing which resulted from her own neurofeedback training. I'm not the only one! 
I even have her book for sale on my website www.edgeneurofitness.com/suggested-reading

I'll conclude with this quote: Emerging findings suggest that dietary factors play major roles in determining whether the brain ages successfully or experiences a neurodegenerative disease.
-Mark P. Mattison, Ph.D., "Gene-Diet Interactions in Brain Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders," Annals of Internal Medicine, 2003

I'm in the process of compiling a list of supplements to promote good brain health and function, having consulted with Nora, Dr. Michael Murray, and Dr. Daniel Amen. I invite you to send me a reply and let me know if you are interested in this information or have any questions.
And don't forget to check in to http://www.facebook.com/OrganicProduceGals for the latest organic nutrition info and http://www.facebook.com/EdgeNeuroFitness for articles on brain health!

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