How Foods Affect Your Physical and Mental Health

You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.

 

In today’s ever-evolving diet culture, personalized nutrition is often lost.  Personalized nutrition recognizes that what may be considered healthy for one person may not necessarily be the same for another.  It acknowledges how foods affect your physical and mental health. Eating right isn’t a universal truth but a personal journey deeply influenced by our body’s unique needs.

In my private coaching sessions, I guide my clients on a journey to discover the profound impact of food on their overall well-being. While “eating right” is often touted, what does it truly mean for your unique body? The truth is a food’s healthiness is subjective and can vary from person to person. Our bodies are unique, each with its own set of needs and responses to different types of nourishment.

Imagine a scenario where you and your partner sit down to enjoy a meal of seemingly health chicken breast. While your partner feels nourished and content, you find yourself struggling to stay awake, feeling foggy-headed instead of fulfilled. It’s as if you’re wearing shoes that just don’t fit right – they may be comfortable for someone else but not for you. The difference in reactions emphasizes the importance of understanding our bodies’ unique responses to different foods.

To illustrate this point, I’d like to take you back to a pivotal moment in my own wellness journey.  It was about ten years ago, and I was navigating the aftermath of my burnout.  Despite making considerable progress in my recovery, I felt like there was still a missing piece to my health puzzle.  At the time, I was already eating a diet that most would consider very healthy. Still, I decided to experiment with food based on my metabolic type. Steering away from common meats like chicken, beef, and pork, I played around with less conventional choices such as ostrich, elk, and venison.

Enter the infamous elk steaks paired with a side of artichoke. What began as a delightful meal took an unexpected turn. Within moments, a surge of heat seemed to rise through me. An anger that bubbled up like a cartoon character about to explode. I had to warn my husband of the emotional rollercoaster I was experiencing, feeling on the verge of flipping the kitchen table in a Hulk-like frenzy. Thankfully, for my husband’s sake, I was able to keep it under control. But if I’m being honest, it wasn’t easy. After some time, the feeling faded, but I was definitely on edge for a while.

Eager to figure this out, I set up an experiment. I began by isolating the artichoke, experiencing no adverse reactions. A few days later, a cautious few bites of elk reignited the same fiery response—a surge of heat creeping up my body, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of anger. It was clear elk wasn’t on my “healthy” foods list. While my husband indulged in the same meal without repercussions, I learned there was nothing wrong with elk but rather my body’s unique response to it.

Beyond this dramatic encounter lies a larger truth: our bodies communicate with us in subtle – or, in the case of the elk, not so subtle – ways after a meal. Some might experience persistent hunger even after eating, headaches, drowsiness, or mental fog. Often, we overlook the importance of understanding these reactions, dismissing them as normal or unrelated. But they carry significant implications for our overall well-being.  We don’t know how good we can genuinely feel until we feel it.

I invite you to become your own health detective by paying closer attention to how food affects you. Start by maintaining a food journal, noting how you feel before and after meals. You might uncover invaluable insights into how specific foods impact your physical and mental state.

Unlocking your unique nutritional blueprint can be a game-changer in a world where generic diet advice dominates. By recognizing and honoring the individualized needs of your body, you pave the way for a holistic approach to health and wellness. Personalized nutrition is not a one-size-fits-all solution; it’s a dynamic and evolving process that empowers you to make informed choices aligned with your body’s distinct requirements.

If you want personalized guidance to uncover the right foods for your body and experience how amazing you can feel, I invite you to book a Back-To-Balance Breakthrough Call with me.