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Kimberly Burns, OTR/L, CLT – Perspectives – REAL Health

Road to Wellness, Part 2, Finding Nutrients

By Kimberly Burns, OTR/L, CLT

Getting the most nutrients out of food can be a challenging job when what you eat needs to provide your body with the substances that will allow it to function at an optimal level. Just what is functioning at an optimal level? It has a variety of meanings; to me it reflects achieving internal balance and managing a gene to keep its influence under control. Learning a food style is a big part in learning to manage a disease process. Your genes can control what types of food your body will tolerate. You have to become knowledgeable on multiple factors that are influencers to health before you are able to put together a selection of foods and drinks that will be used to change the microbiome in the body making the goal of balancing internal systems achievable.

An important factor to consider in your food style choice is your bloodwork and results. In part 1, the initial step was to get a complete work up and review with a Healthcare Practitioner. This will give you a base line of what your body is lacking. Become educated in how levels relate to each other and how raising one may increase or decrease another.

Once you know what your needs are, finding the nutrients isn’t the difficult part. Being able to utilize them and maintain their nutrient bioavailability for the highest possible use is where the obstacles arise. With so many fast food options and the scarcity of health food restaurants, it’s no wonder why our society has such a difficult time trying to modify their diet. Luckily, there a few delicious go-to restaurants in Sarasota that I know I can get a delicious and healthy meal prepared with maximal nutritional use in mind. Beauty of Sprouts, run by Rano Halikova, serves up a thirst quenching homemade Hibiscus Tea. It is often used as medicinal tea addressing digestive, immune and inflammatory concerns. Rich in absorbic acid, aka vitamin C, Hibiscus Tea could help absorb up to 300% more iron by having it with meals that include wheat bran, soybeans, pinto beans, kidney beans, navy beans, and peanuts. The phytates in these foods are the culprit to hindering iron absorption. Thank goodness for Vitamin C!

In looking at what types of food to choose, eating Organic foods provides nutrient seekers with 5-15% more nutrients than conventional food and higher concentrations of antioxidants! Just think how many chemicals you are avoiding by choosing organic. When you are keeping a disease progression under control and food is your medicine, the least amount of ingredients not beneficial to the body the better. While it seems that organic has a hefty price tag, due to its nutrient boosted power, you will have more ability to utilize the pure and fresh nature of these beauties.

Food preparation plays a HUGH role in the amount of nutritional offering when presented to you for consumption. Where it was grown, how long it has been in storage, and what it went through to end up on your plate all has a part to play in what impact this scoop of paradise has on getting to your optimal level of functioning. I love to use tomatoes because they are extremely versatile. Cook them up and voila! If you have cooked them to at least 88 degrees for 2 minutes, you have just boosted their lycopene content by 54%! Keep cooking and after up to 30 minutes you are at 167%. Cooking does sacrifice vitamin C and total antioxidant level. Notice the low temperature used to get these results. That’s why I like utilizing a raw version and a simply heated version of the food. I love discovering new ways to cook foods for it highest nutritional value.

Your food style should also include some attention to enzymes, bacteria and other natural processes that aide in supplying necessary synergy for your ability to actively participate in the day. Profound changes can occur if you have the right catalyst. Just chewing your food starts the enzymatic process rendering nutrients bioaccessible to our small intestine. The foods you start with and how you present them to your body is all part of a process that requires the effort of a series of complex interactions. You can be the influence throughout the whole process. by reading ingredients. If it looks and sounds like a tongue twister, then most likely it is not something that is beneficial to your body. “Learn it and Live it”. Embracing a new food style starts with small changes that WILL lead to wellness for you and optimal functioning.

If you are out, Beauty of Sprouts is located at 1474 Fruitville Road, Sarasota. Tell Rano you read about her HERE!

Like what you read? I would love to hear from you! What are you interested in hearing more about?

Kimberly Burns, OTR/L, CLT, is an Occupational Therapist with over 14 years’ experience working with clients ranging from infants to the elderly. She has always had passion for wellness and what she could do at home for herself to manage pain and delay disease processes. Her recent certification in Lymphedema Therapy has provided her further incentive to focus her business around preventing disease and halting its progression. Kimberly Burns, OTR/L, CLT – (215) 499.0444 – Kim.Burns@SensoryIntuition.com – www.SensoryIntuition.com.