Nutrition Counseling

One of the most powerful substances you can consume daily is the food you eat.  Once broken down into its basic components: amino acids (protein), glucose (carbohydrates), and fatty acids and absorbed into the bloodstream, food has a significant impact on your body and health status; more than nearly any drug that could be prescribed.  Unfortunately, we cannot get all of the necessary nutrients for optimal health from our food alone.  High quality nutraceuticals, containing antioxidants, enzymes, minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, polyphenols and vitamins should be part of everyone’s daily regimen.

The Mediterranean diet has consistently been shown to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.  Based on the traditional diets of Greece and Southern Italy, the Mediterranean diet emphasizes fresh, natural foods rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids rather than the processed-food diet favored by many Americans that contains high levels of sugars, artificial sweeteners, unhealthy trans-fats and excess salt.  Carbohydrates comprise 50%-60%, proteins 15%-20% and healthy fats 30% of the total calories in the Mediterranean diet.  The focus on plant-based, natural foods is in sync with Alternity Healthcare’s successful age management medicine approach— but for truly optimized health, we strongly recommend a low-glycemic nutritional plan instead.  Here’s why. Low-glycemic nutrition uses a 40-30-30 approach, reflecting 40% quality carbohydrates, a higher-protein percentage of 30% (rather than the 15%-20% found in the Mediterranean diet) and 30% healthy fats.

There is mounting scientific evidence to support the health benefits from a healthy, low-glycemic diet consisting of:

  • eating six smaller meals each day
  • moderate amounts of protein from lean or grass fed red meats, fish, free- range poultry and eggs (see “Eggs Have Gotten a Bad Rap”)
  • low-glycemic carbohydrates primarily from organic fruits and vegetables
  • moderate amounts of healthy monounsaturated fats
  • drinking adequate amounts of water

Avoid

Advantages of a Healthy Diet

Properly balanced meals will keep the hormones influenced by your diet in a range consistent with optimal health.  Three of these important hormones are: insulin, eicosanoid hormones and cortisol.

  1. Insulin control is maintained through the appropriate balance of protein and carbohydrates at each meal resulting in stable blood sugar levels.  Adequate dietary fiber is also necessary. A disproportionate consumption of carbohydrates, refined sugars (such as high fructose corn syrup), will provoke excess insulin secretion.  That ultimately leads to insulin resistance, elevated blood sugar, increased production of inflammatory-producing hormones, and increased body fat.
  2. Eicosanoid hormones can be either anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory (inflammation producing).   Ultimately, the balance of the two types in your bloodstream determines the level of silent inflammation, which can be measured by the Silent Inflammation Profile (SIP) or Omega-3 index.
  3. Increased cortisol triggers a cascade of events that leads to increased insulin, decreased testosterone, impaired memory and adrenal fatigue.  Constant stress can cause persistently elevated secretion of cortisol and chronically increased insulin levels which leads to increased visceral (abdominal) fat.  All of that results in increased silent inflammation, increased risk for diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, and accelerated aging.

Dangers of Silent Inflammation

Silent inflammation has been implicated in the causes of chronic and degenerative diseases including, heart disease, type-2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, autoimmune disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and cancer. Numerous worldwide studies demonstrate overwhelming evidence that ultra refined, high-grade fish oil, rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids is our most powerful weapon for controlling silent inflammation.