Food Is... Intel
Food is so much more than calories, and humans are more than calorie-burning machines. Food is intel.
Great health, including safe and sustainable weight loss, involves far more than balancing the thermodynamic equation (calories out > calories in). All too often burning more calories than we consume does not lead to fat loss. Food is sub-cellular, bio-electric energy. Far more than thermogenic heat energy, it influences the totality of our genetic makeup and mitochondrial function, the heart of our subcellular makeup. Phytonutrients influence genetic expression. All calories are not created equal; calories from avocado have a completely different metabolic impact than calories from a donut. A calorie is not just a calorie.
Most plant foods fall into the carbohydrate category, or what I refer to as slow carbs, which are low-glycemic and don’t spike our blood sugar or insulin (the fat storage hormone). Slow carbs come loaded with nutrients, fiber, and amazing molecules called phytochemicals. Colorful plants are the number one superfood. When you eat a veggie-loaded diet, focusing on these low-glycemic-load plant foods, your weight normalizes. You feel better without the sugar crashes. You reduce your risk for numerous diseases. Food isn’t just like medicine, it is medicine.
Food is color. Colorful food leads to more colorful food, and color can change mood. Mood, of course, impacts behavior, performance, and whole body-mind health. Count colors, not calories! And the greener, the better. Chlorophyll is plant blood, identical to human hemoglobin except for one central mineral difference (magnesium in place of iron). It is one of the few substances on the planet that can simultaneously nourish and detoxify. Even the lowest calorie diet, in a sluggish metabolism and toxic body, will not result in sustainable, healthful weight loss.
Food is the most powerful drug on the planet. It can improve the expression of thousands of genes, balance dozens of hormones, optimize tens of thousands of protein networks, reduce inflammation, activate enzymes, and optimize your microbiome (gut flora), including those beneficial bacteria responsible for burning fat! Our microbiome also determines how much brown fat the body produces, which is the healthiest, and most metabolically active.
Dietary diversity matters. A healthy diversified diet promotes a healthier diversified microbiome, which in turn promotes better overall health. Next time you’re in the produce section, consider what new food or different color you’re going to try that will build better biology.
It’s never just one thing. Nutrition is nuanced and the human body is complex. Two overweight individuals can have two completely different root causes and require two different diets and treatment protocols. Just as a one-size diet doesn’t fit all, a one-size oversimplified approach to weight management doesn't fit all. We need a new approach, an understanding that nutrition can and must be personalized. Bio-individuality rules. Personalization is key.
For effective weight management and improved health, count colors, not calories. The right stuff can help you lose weight, even with equicaloric intake. This is because food is far more than calories, it is intel that programs our metabolic machinery, for better or worse! With each bite, we either feed or fight disease.