What is Holistic Nutrition?
Proper Nutrition is the basis for optimum health and well being. Holistic nutrition is the modern natural approach to developing a healthy balanced diet while taking into account the person as whole. Holistic nutrition is considered to be part of holistic health.
Holistic health is an approach to treating a person’s well being by taking into consideration all aspects of life. A long term course of action includes emotional and spiritual health along with the physical body. Modern medicine focuses on treating a symptom rather than the root cause. If a person is experiencing a symptom or chronic condition, the problem has most likely been developing for some time. The goal of holistic nutrition is to facilitate a health recovery plan as well as build a strong foundation for long term optimum health.
Holistic nutrition focuses on:
- Educating yourself on basic nutritional terms
- Incorporating natural and organic foods
- Overcoming obstacles in practicing holistic nutrition
- Creating simple holistic menus
- Developing a customized holistic diet
- Addressing the role of natural holistic supplements
- Reviewing the latest nutritional studies
- Addressing chronic health conditions with holistic nutrition
The basics of holistic nutrition:
Food not only provides the energy needed to function in our daily lives but constantly supplies the nutrients which are required to build and regenerate body tissue, bone, muscle, fat and blood. The nutrients in food are also necessary to produce substances for the chemical processes that take place in our bodies millions of times a day.
A healthy diet may be broken into 3 categories:
- Macro nutrients which include carbohydrates, protein and fats
- Micro nutrients which include vitamins and minerals
- Fiber, which is technically not a nutrient but is part of a holistic diet
Become familiar with basic nutritional terms.
Develop an understanding of the basic nutritional terms such as: calories, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fiber, cholesterol, and saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Develop a plan to choose wisely between organic, natural and conventional food products.
There has been a huge increase in the amount of organic and natural food products available today. While going strictly organic sounds great, most shoppers must be practical and take into consideration their personal budget. Understanding which food products are affected the most by conventional food growing or processing methods will help create a balanced food budget.
Create healthy, holistic, fun menus.
One of the major obstacles in achieving good health today is having to cook for yourself. Healthy cooking for one and healthy cooking for a family can be challenging. A fundamental problem with society is the dependence on fast or convenient food products. Finding simple ways to prepare meals for yourself or your family will not only lead to improved health but can save you money as well!
Holistic Nutrition Programs
There are great advancements being made toward understanding the human bodies delicate balance and the way our health, diet, and nutrition are all connected by the most elemental form of energy. Some of today's most respected doctor's and scientists are finally collaborating in what often is referred to as integrative medicine. To further educate yourself we would suggest referring back to this site for future information, consulting a variety of possible education plans and researching the numerous publications that are available online and in print.