45. Food as Medicine

Episode Summary

If you want to feel and look your best or even prevent or even reverse chronic diseases, we have to talk about diet. Your dietary pattern—what you eat day after day, month after month, year after year—is more predictive than genetics and family history for developing chronic diseases and dying early. Even though most people understand they should eat healthier, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is rich in calories and poor in nutrition. It’s characterized by consuming high amounts of baked goods, fried foods, sodas, and packaged foods full of high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, food dyes, partially hydrogenated oils (trans fatty acids), preservatives, and other additives. Learn what you can do instead.

Key Takeaways To Tune In For

• [00:54] What you eat every day is more predictive then genetics for developing chronic diseases and dying early
• [01:35] The standard American diet wreaks havoc on your health 
• [03:35] Examples of why processed food lack nutrients
• [06:20] More than 66% of US adults are overweight or obese  
• [07:05] What is our biochemistry 
• [08:35] How the mineral magnesium helps your body function better 
• [10:55] Two major classes of fatty acids you should be aware of
• [12:20] How inflammation ages you faster 
• [14:59] The standard American diet is pro-inflammatory
• [15:40] How refined carbohydrates affect your biochemistry    
• [17:06] The Mediterranean dietary pattern promotes health and reduces disease
• [18:05] Health benefits from following the Mediterranean dietary pattern  
• [19:10] What is epigenetics 
• [20:30] Examples of how food influences genetic expression  
• [22:50] How the standard American diet is different from what our ancestor’s diet
• [23:39] 93% of all Americans consume less vitamin E, C, magnesium, and zinc then the standard requirement 
• [26:15] Research shows that improving your diet can actually cure disease
• [27:00] How a whole foods plant-based diet can reverse heart disease 
• [31:15] Following the Mediterranean dietary pattern has proven to increase bone density 
• [31:48] What can you do

Resources talked about in this episode

• Blog mentioned – Dr. Neustadt’s 3 Steps to Eating for Life
• Blog mentioned – Food Matters

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