Are wellness trends leaving you exhausted or stressed? @danamonsees_cns discusses on the Are you menstrual? podcast how neutral nutrition offers something different.
The main principle behind neutral nutrition is that there is no food that is inherently good or bad, but foods do have different nutritional value. For example, an orange has more vitamin C than a Kit Kat bar. You are not a good or bad person if you eat certain foods!
If you have a chronic health concern you’re working on, it is helpful to add more nutrient-dense foods to support your body, but we don’t have to eliminate less nutrient-dense foods. Attaching morality to foods only adds to stress and eventual burnout.
If you are experiencing burnout as a result of a negative relationship with food, it’s important to deconstruct what you think you know about food. Those with health struggles often have a lot of rules around foods they “should” or “should not” be eating. Understanding the thought process behind these biases and breaking them down can help neutralize that food for you.
For example, many women limit carbs because they think they are going to make them gain weight and lead to high blood sugar. Let’s deconstruct this: carbs break down into glucose in the body, which is our body’s preferred fuel source. Therefore, avoiding this macronutrient altogether will not benefit our health. We can now see that carbs are not bad!
Keep in mind, neutral nutrition is not the same as intuitive eating. Intuitive eating tends to neglect people that are in larger bodies or those who have chronic health concerns. It can be difficult to rely solely on your body’s hunger/fullness cues when you suffer from metabolic or hormonal conditions and have forgotten what it feels like to feel good. We can eat foods that we know have specific health benefits without obsession and give ourselves permission to enjoy other foods as well.
If you want to learn more about this topic you can listen to the podcast episode here.
I also talk about how to create a nourishing nutrition foundation in this podcast episode, which you might also find helpful.
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