Find out how to improve your diet to support a healthier life.
Have you heard the phrase “You are what you eat?” Chances are, you have. This simply means that what you eat impacts who you are and how you function. Food can be medicine, but the wrong foods can also harm your health. Here at Natural Health Center in Rome, NY, our Preventive Medicine physician Dr. Camille Dillard is dedicated to protecting your health and well-being by ensuring you have all the tools needed to lead a healthier life. Healthy eating is a huge part of leading a healthy life. Here are some tips for eating healthier,
Read Your Nutrition Labels
Reading and understanding nutrition labels is important to know what’s in the foods you consume. Labels are typically reserved for boxed or packaged foods, which should be consumed sparely, as many of these foods contain additives, preservatives and high amounts of sugar and sodium, which can impact the gut, blood sugar and more.
Know What Foods Support Good Health
One helpful rule to live by is to choose foods at the grocery store that don’t have nutrition labels. Why? Because this typically means that they are fresh, unprocessed foods that don’t contain a host of ingredients and chemicals, some of which can be harmful. Whether you eat meat or not is a personal choice; however, if you do, we highly recommend consuming wild-caught fish over farm-raised and grass-fed, grass-finished meats, which reduce your risk of ingesting chemicals, pesticides and antibiotics.
When “Healthy Foods” Could be Harmful
While we know the benefits of consuming a diet rich in healthy fats (think avocados and olive oil), nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables and grass-finished and pasture-raised meats, we also know that some foods don’t work well with your body. Take nightshades, for example. You may love tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant. They may be superfoods for some people, but they can lead to digestive issues, fatigue and headaches for others. So this relatively healthy food may not actually be healthy for you. This is where our team can come in and determine which foods to avoid and which foods are your “superfoods.”
Understand the Best Healthy Diet for You
Most people hear “diet” and worry about restriction or calorie counting, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Here at Natural Health Center, our goal as your Rome, NY, Preventive Medicine team is to make sure you understand that when it comes to eating healthy, a lot depends on your own body, health and genetics. We can work with you to determine whether Keto, paleo, vegetarian, plant-based or Mediterranean diet works best for your body and health. What works well for one person may not work well for you, so just because all of your friends are jumping on the Whole30 bandwagon doesn’t mean this is necessarily the best option for you.
If you are concerned about your current diet and how it could impact your health, our Rome, NY, Preventive Medicine physician Dr. Dillard and the Natural Health Center team can help map out a healthier diet that enables you to feel and function at your best. Call 888-338-WELL today.