How To Optimize Your Nutrition For Vibrant Health

Confused about what "good nutrition" is?

You shouldn't be -- we know what works and what doesn't.

In a moment, I will share 5 simple tips to help you optimize your nutrition and achieve vibrant health, but first let me clear up a few misconceptions.

Despite the "conflicting" scientific studies and media reports designed to confound rather than enlighten, there is no confusion about what constitutes good nutrition.

If we were to gather the world's top nutrition scientists and experts -- free from food industry influence -- there would be very little debate about the essential properties of good nutrition.

Unfortunately, most doctors are nutritionally illiterate. Worse, they don't know how to use the most powerful medicine available to them: food.

Common sense and scientific research both lead us to the conclusion that if we want healthy bodies, we must put the right raw materials into our bodies: real, whole, local, fresh, unadulterated, unprocessed, and chemical-, hormone-, and antibiotic-free food.

There is NO role in our diets for foreign molecules such as trans fats and high-fructose corn syrup, which interfere with our biology at every level.

If you want junk out, put junk in. Enough said.

If you want a whole, healthy body, put in whole real food.

Today I will explain how you can do that ...

This is the first in a 7-part series where I will give detailed explanations about each of the 7 Keys to UltraWellness. Key #1 is Optimize Nutrition, and in this blog I will explain what constitutes a healthy diet, give you some tips to help you optimize your nutrition, and clarify whether or not supplements are truly a waste of money.

The Basics of a Healthy Diet

What I am about to share might be shocking ...

Carbohydrates are the single most important food for long-term health and well-being.

This may be surprising given the low-carb movement, and "carbophobia" in our country, but it's true.

Of course, I don't mean the over-processed, refined, sugary, white foods we commonly think of as carbohydrates, such as donuts, bread, bagels, muffins, colas, juices, and most junk food.

And I don't mean the cheap, super-sweet, government-subsidized high-fructose corn syrup that is driving our epidemic of obesity and chronic disease.

The carbohydrates I am talking about are the real, whole, nourishing plant foods that the human species has thrived on since from the dawn of evolution.

Most of the food consumed by humans since the beginning of time has been carbohydrates. In fact, plant foods are comprised mostly of carbohydrates: vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices.

These foods contain slowly released sources of sugar that prevent surges of blood sugar and insulin. Too much insulin causes heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, and even dementia.

Carbohydrates contain almost all the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to operate normally and optimally.

They also contain fiber, which helps normalize our digestive function and slows the absorption of sugar and fats into the body, keeping us balanced.

The bonuses in plant foods are phytonutrients -- colorful healing compounds made by plants to protect themselves, but that also protect us against aging, obesity, brain damage, and more.

For example, broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale, Brussels sprouts, and other vegetables from the cruciferous family contain powerful detoxifying compounds that protect us against environmental toxins.

Green tea contains anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and detoxifying properties.

Resveratrol from red grapes boosts our energy production and protects our cells.

These are just a few examples of the thousands of phytonutrients in the plant foods that should be the foundation of our diet.

Michael Pollan, the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, summed up all nutritional research in 3 simple principles:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

In fact, you need know nothing else to be vibrantly healthy.

That's it. Eat real whole food as it came from the earth: fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, eggs, and lean animal protein like fish and chicken.

Imagine what your great-grandmother would recognize as food, or what might have been on her dinner table. Just food. There is really no such thing as junk food -- there is just food, and then there is junk.

Whole foods that contain phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, omega-3 fats, and fiber all directly, immediately, and specifically interact with our genes, controlling moment-to-moment changes in our physiology and biochemistry.

Food literally talks to our genes. Food is not just a source of calories, it is also a source of INFORMATION.

The key is to send the right information to your genes by eating whole, real, food -- mostly plants. Specific nutrients or plant compounds bind to receptors in cells, translating messages from the foods we eat or vitamins we take in into instructions that are carried out by our cells through their effect on our DNA.

That is why food can heal or harm. You make that choice every day by what you put on your fork.

That means if you eat whole, real, fresh food, you don't need vitamins. Right?

Well, maybe ...

Do We Need Vitamins or Not?

I agree that you don't need vitamins and that they are a waste of money.

But that is true ONLY if you eat wild, fresh, whole, organic, local, non-genetically modified food grown in virgin mineral and nutrient rich soils, and not transported across vast distances and stored for months before eaten.

It is true ONLY if you work and live outside, breathe only fresh unpolluted air, drink only pure, clean water, sleep nine hours a night, move your body every day, and are free from chronic stressors and exposures to environmental toxins.

Then you don't need vitamins.

But, of course, this describes absolutely no one on the planet! Therefore, in reality, we ALL need vitamins.

Most people don't understand the role of vitamins and minerals in our bodies. I certainly didn't when I finished my medical training.

I thought if we just got enough of a nutrient to prevent some horrible deficiency state like scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), then we didn't have to worry about getting more than that.

I also believed that if you ate "enriched food" like white flour with a few vitamins added back in, or milk with vitamin D added in, additional vitamin supplementation was a waste.

What most people don't realize is the same thing that I didn't realize when I first started practicing medicine: The real reason our food supply must be "enriched" is because it has been so processed that it is "impoverished" to start with.

So why can't you just eat "nutrient-rich" food, instead of eating "nutrient-poor" food?

Today, even with our "enriched food," more than 92 percent of Americans are deficient in one or more vitamins. That doesn't mean they are receiving less than the amount they need to get for optimal health. That means they receive less than the MINIMUM amount necessary to prevent deficiency diseases.

In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers found that 6 percent of those tested had serious vitamin C deficiency and 30 percent were borderline low.

A report in the journal Pediatrics found that obesity and malnutrition can coexist. Obese, overfed, and undernourished children with cognitive disorders were found to have scurvy and severe vitamin D deficiency or rickets. These deficiencies damaged their brains. You never think of an overweight person as malnourished, but they are!

A USDA survey showed that 37 percent of Americans don't get enough vitamin C, 70 percent not enough vitamin E, almost 75 percent don't get enough zinc, and 40 percent don't get enough iron.

I would say that 100 percent of us don't have enough of the basic nutrients to create optimal health or give ourselves a metabolic tune up.

There are many reasons why the foods we eat no longer contain the nutrient levels we require for optimal health. Crops are raised in soil where nutrients have been depleted. Plants are treated with pesticides and other chemicals so they no longer have to fight to live, which further diminishes their nutrient levels and their phytonutrient content -- not to mention the toxic exposure we receive from such chemicals.

Animals are cooped up in pens or giant feedlots instead of roaming free and eating the nutrient-rich wild grains and grasses they once consumed. Since cows' stomachs are adapted to grass instead of corn, they must take antibiotics to prevent them from exploding.

To complicate this further, all of us are exposed to hazardous toxins and chemicals that poison our bodies; we live with too much stress; we don't sleep enough; we don't exercise enough; and we are inflamed -- making the nutritional demands on our bodies even greater.

The question is not how much of a certain nutrient or vitamin we need to not get sick, but how much we need to be optimally healthy! In fact, lower amounts recommended by the government may NOT be enough.

Most people can get what they need by taking the following essential supplements every day:

• A high-quality multivitamin

• Calcium-magnesium supplement

• Fish oil

• Special B vitamins (folate and vitamins B6 and B12).

I have tested thousands of patients for vitamin and nutrient deficiencies and found that by correcting them, people feel better, their mood, mental sharpness, memory, and ability to focus improve, they have more energy, and they even lose weight. It also helps prevent disease.

In my 20+ years of practicing medicine with thousands of patients, I have seen depression, anxiety, bipolar disease, autism, ADHD, mood swings, Parkinson's disease, and dementia go away or dramatically improve when people get the right nutrients.

In today's world, everyone needs a basic multivitamin and mineral supplement. The research is overwhelming on this point.

So what are the takeaways here? What do you need to do to optimize your nutrition?

Here are some simple steps you can begin taking immediately:

1. Eat whole, real, fresh, organic, unprocessed food. If it comes in a box, a package, or a can, avoid it. If you do choose to buy prepackaged foods, read the labels carefully and avoid foods that contain long lists of ingredients you don't understand.

2. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables full of colorful phytonutrients. That means eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Choose a wide variety and you will do much to support your health.

3. Eat foods with plenty of fiber. Think whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and millet and vegetables like celery, asparagus, and leeks. Fiber is essential for balancing blood sugar and maintaining a healthy bowel.

4. Eat foods containing omega-3 fats. I recommend eating protein at every meal, and some of the best sources of protein have an abundance of these healthy fats, which are essential for building every cell membrane in your body. Try cold-water river fish like salmon, sardines, and halibut; eat omega-3 eggs; and eat plenty of nuts like almonds, macadamias, and walnuts.

5. Take the essential supplements outlined above every day. They are the basic workhorse team needed to support every biochemical reaction in your body.

Now I'd like to hear from you ...

What do you think about the quality of our food supply?

Do you think supplements are effective?

Do you have any tips for others on how to more easily eat real, whole foods?

Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

Mark Hyman, M.D., practicing physician and founder of The UltraWellness Center, is a pioneer in functional medicine. Dr. Hyman is now sharing the 7 ways to tap into your body's natural ability to heal itself. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on Youtube and become a fan on Facebook.

Follow Mark Hyman, MD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/markhymanmd

Comments

[elatas]

The one other supplement I've been hearing a lot recently is 1000 IU of Vitamin D per day. That means every day for about 10 months because during the summer, your body should produce enough vitamin D by getting outside. For people in colder climate or those who venture little outside, then they should take it all year-long.

[pagelove]

As a registered dietitian and nutrition expert, I am surprised by a comment in your otherwise helpful article: "There is NO role in our diets for foreign molecules such as trans fats and high-fructose corn syrup, which interfere with our biology at every level." High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is not some mysterious concoction that people should avoid. We need to limit intake in the same way that we limit intake of ANY sweetener. Here are the scientific dietary facts:
-- HFCS is nothing but a kind of corn sugar that is nutritionally the same as table sugar. It is made from corn, a natural grain product.
-- Sugar, honey and HFCS all contain the same number of calories (four calories per gram). Like sugar or honey, HFCS has calories. Excessive calories, from whatever source, can promote weight gain. But replacing high fructose corn syrup with sugar will not reduce obesity or improve health. They are nutritionally the same.
-- The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”
-- No single food or ingredient is the sole cause of nutrition issues – rather, the primary cause is unbalanced diet, too many calories and too little exercise.

Let’s strive to educate the public truthfully, allowing them to take informed responsibility for their nutritional needs.

Page love, MS, RD, LD, Owner, Nutrifit, Sport, Therapy, Inc.

[Pearlswan]

I wonder about the multivitam­in/supplem­ent use if the diet is made of whole and unprocessed foods. Aren't multivitamins and supplements processed dietary aids? How can you know how potent they are and whether the body is actually absorbing any of these processed vitamins and minerals? What's the best time of day to take them? How do you know if you are deficient since doctors don't test for deficiencies in diet? Sometimes you can eat enough vitamins and minerals but your body doesn't absorb them properly so you still end up deficient. Doctors don't seem to know much about diet and nutrition and they aren't the best role models either. I don't trust them. Aren't there any nutritionists who could be more focused on diet/nutrition and trained specifically to spot or test for deficiencies due to dietary intake and biological absorption? It seems medicine has gone in the direction of pharmaceuticals, not nutrition. Most of the time, I find I know more than my doctor about these things and that just makes me look like a pain in the a** to the doc. Doctors are of little help when it comes to vitamin/mineral deficiencies. They fail to spot them on the blood chemistry tests because they are focused on normal ranges, not changes from one test to the next in the same person.

[jown]

I find Dr. Hyman's work to be in harmony with the recent findings of the low-level panel sent to the kitchen of the Secretary-General to Café Cafo: namely, that the world is, by definition, constipated.

You can read the report here: http://www.cafecafo.com/we-are-constipated.html

In sum, it purports that our diet and our digestion is ailing not only our personal health and physical systems, but is also contributing to less love, less affection, and less generosity (despairing, 'blocked', mental states).

Thank you; may great inspiration, love, health, and energy bless all.

Sincerely,

jown
Assistant to the Secretary-General, Café Cafo

[kkdc]

Hopefully this will clear up the blog thing.

[Ohsherri]

Ask yourself before your next meal...
Am I really eating ...or just 'filling the hole'?
Meaning that I could eat two pounds of notebook paper and be full...
But does that mean I'm nourished?....Does that mean my body has been "fed"?
I've heard so many people brag about their Mr. Noodles and Mac and cheese diets...
You might as well eat the packaging they come in.

[RMankovitz]

"Carbohydrates are the single most important food for long-term health and well-being."

Carbohydrates are not a food. Of the three macronutrients, fats, protein and carbs, only carbs are non-essential. Our body can make all it needs.

" Most of the food consumed by humans since the beginning of time has been carbohydrates…
Eat real whole food as it came from the earth: fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, eggs, and lean animal protein like fish and chicken."

The beginning of time? Hominids have been around for about 2.5 million years, whole grains for 10,000 years. Humans cannot eat grains as they came from the earth - they are indigestible without human processing. Nuts, beans, eggs and fish are on the list of the most allergenic foods in the world.

" The bonuses in plant foods are phytonutrients -- colorful healing compounds made by plants to protect themselves..."

Yes, many plants make compounds (natural toxins) to protect themselves - from being eaten by us! They work well by making us ill. These natural toxins include the most powerful poisons in nature, and can easily offset any phytonutrient benefits.

For those interested in an eating plan designed by Nature, not the medical community, ask your librarian for a copy of "The Original Diet - The Omnivore's Solution." I am the researcher/author. It contains hundreds of references supporting my statements.

Roy Mankovitz. Director
www.MontecitoWellness.com

[Henry Bales]

Great article for us all .. pass along to family and friends .. we can do it!

[baronmerlot]

Thank you for sharing this valuable information. I wish that more people had access to it, so they can make the changes necessary to improve their lives and those of their children.

We here in the U.S. tend to treat health problems after they occur rather than taking preventative measures and avoiding a lot of grief down the road. It's amazing to me, like going out into the sun without sunscreen knowing that you could get skin cancer.

I buy mostly organic produce, but after having read "The Omnivore's Dilemma", I realize we're not getting what we expect when we buy organic. So I do the best I can, buying local and fresh when I can, frozen organic when I can't find fresh.

[mzrecycle]

I've been a Physician Assistant, now a holistic practitioner. You cover what we need to eat very well, but didn't mention Vit. D in the list of supplements. Almost no one in the country, especially those in the northern parts of U.S. get enough D. Called a vitamin, it's actually a hormone that influences 10% of our genes. Breast and colon cancer, MS, and many other big time diseases can be avoided by getting enough D. My former husband (MD), who doesn't communicate with me much sent an email urging me to start taking D. My own Doc has also urged me to start taking more than the 1000u of D that I was taking.

I went online, avoiding those sites that were selling a product, and learned that to begin with, everyone should start taking 1000u per every 33 lbs. of wt. More if obese. Take for 3 months, then get a D level. At that point, your Doc will be able to indicate how much should be taken from there.

We've learned that the sun (source of natural vit. D) ages and causes skin cancers, so most people have reduced the time in the sun. We need to spend about 20 minutes in the sun, then put on the sunscreen and the sunhats. In the winter, the majority of Americans only have the weekend to even see the sun, much less be out in it.

[kkdc]

Mark's all over D in all his books and quotes Holick all the time.

[Kristin Heslop]

Great practical information. I am a huge proponent of healthful food, and highly recommend Huffington Post columnist Dana Joy Altman, as well. Additionally, I believe that when we pay close attention to what our bodies our telling us, we will find ourselves being attracted to healthful, wholesome, natural, and real foods!

[kkdc]

Check out Alison Rose Levy too, she follows integrative healthcare, she's on the Huff too

[kkdc]

Dr. Hyman, love the work you're doing to transform healthcare. I am also a ( 3 time) graduate of AFMCP, the Applied Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice. I just couldn't get enough! I have been in chiropractic practice for over 30 years and have been doing the Functional Medicine protocols with my patients for many years. I go over the UltraMind Solution with patients all the time. Loved your blog on what Obama should do to change healthcare, by changing the indoctrination process in medical school to the Functional Medicine model, as well as getting a national Institute for Functional Medicine on a government level. I agree with andrewsmarilyn above about the Vitamin D. Since I heard Dr. Holick speak at the IFM symposium in Palm Springs several years ago, I test all my patients. Nearly everyone, even out here in sunny California is suffering from the many effects of Vitamin D deficiency diseases. I don't think I've found but one or two normal or optimal levels in the last 3 years. One was lifeguard who didn't use sunscreen! Keep up the good work. We admire you for impacting how people think about healthcare, using the matrix approach. You can find me at kjkdc on twitter, or www.synergyhealthgroup.com, my practice website.

[PrehensileOne]

"Try cold-water river fish like salmon, sardines, and halibut..."
What? This dude ain't a fisherman.

[gallon]

True, but we'll give him a pass on this point, ok?
Dr. Hyman, for the record, halibut are cold water deep sea fish from the waters off Alaska, sardines are ocean fish, and salmon live most of their lives in the deep sea. I believe these days that we also haul a major catch of pollock from the cold Alaskan seas.

[PrehensileOne]

...speaking of processed food. Seen any good recipes for fresh pollock lately?

[PaPaPeng]

(Part II):
In my theory all my problems could be blamed on the lack of restful sleep. The simplified explanation is intolerance foods needed to be detoxified by the body’s immune system. That means elevated metabolism and the body was never allowed to descend to its basal metabolic level. I could not achieve REM sleep. A long term sleep debt causes serious health problems.

I experimented with reintroducing the regular foods and was able to identify that I am intolerant to soy, gluten, phytoproteins in legumes (peas and beans, cabbage), a few other plant products as well as liver and kidney – everything which I enjoy eating and still do on occasion. A visit to the restaurant and my urge for tasty food is satisfied and any ill effects clear within two days. Allergies are easily identifiable and testable. Food intolerance involves very much the same allergen foods except no visible symptoms appear and food intolerance is not testable. The complaint (eg. bloating etc.) is self reporting and you have to figure out that fuzzy discomfort yourself as well as determine if your wellness improved by avoiding the food item over an extended time. As the doctor said avoid processed foods as they contain a lot of “intolerance” salt and soy and gluten as binders and meat extenders.

[PaPaPeng]

[Fresh veg/ whole foods means constant shopping and cooking. How do you advise someone who is unable to do that? or doesn't know where to start with little time or money? I have multiple health problems but very little money or energy to cook fresh foods everyday.]

Yours and the related anecdotes pretty much describe the story of my life for the first 50 years (I’m 67.) One day I doubled over from very painful GI tract spasms after snacking on soy protein patties (I’m oriental). I already had long standing suspicions of problems with food and decided to eliminate any that gave me discomfort (bloating, indigestion, throat inflammation, irritable bowel, ill defined unease.) I started with eating plain steamed rice or noodles with just veggies and a meat. Just throw everything into the pot and bring to boil. No sauces, very little salt, no shortening, no fuss. I took multivitamins occasionally to make up for anything missing. I’d go to a nice Chinese restaurant once a week to make up for the bland diet. Nothing much changed except I noticed that I slept very well something I had not enjoyed for years. For that alone I was more than willing to continue this diet. My wellbeing improved dramatically. Look up the links to chronic fatigue syndrome for a detailed description of the ill effects I experienced but had not suspected I had.

(cont. Part II)

[Lynne2363]

I cook for myself, only organic, unprocessed foods are used. But, I'm also lazy and don't enjoy cooking everyday, so here is how I've solved the problem. I cook kitchari in large batches, just the beans and rice, no spices, and freeze in quart glass containers. I also freeze chopped kale, collards, mustard greens etc in quart glass containers. Then, when it comes time to eat the one meal per day, I start by sauteing onions, fennel, and cashews (all my favorites) in coconut oil along with spices. I vary the spices so that the ultimate flavor is different. Then I add the kitchari and then the chopped green veggies. The other food I eat during the day is often a piece of fruit along with either a hard boiled egg or piece of raw milk cheese. This is almost an effortless way to eat.
I also make pureed soups such as carrot-coconut milk-cashews and freeze. I can eat the soups as is, or add when warming navy beans or chopped veggies. I have no cravings for all the junk out there and often wonder why Americans take better care of their cars than their bodies.