By Richmond Natural Medicine

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May 15, 2019

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Within the world of nutrition, it can seem like there is a lot of overwhelm regarding what the “best” diet to follow is on any given month. With near constant blog posts, social media influencers, and health headlines coming across our feeds about keto, vegan, paleo, IFM, whole 30, alkaline, and intermittent fasting diets (the list goes on and on), which one is best for you? How do you choose? It’s very common for all of the diet fads and trends to present with conflicting information, leading to further confusion about what you should and should not consume. This is where educating yourself about your own nutrition needs really pays off. Creating an individualized diet – often with the help of a trained nutritionist – is almost always a more sustainable, affordable, and health aligned choice.

Keep in mind when hearing about a new diet fad:

• Who is promoting this? Are they benefitting from the “sale” of anything within this diet such as supplements, meal packages or subscriptions? And are they a trained professional within the nutrition profession? (Social media influencers and some “wellness” bloggers usually are not).
• What is the research? Where is this diet information coming from, and how was this information gathered? Make sure that any nutrition protocol has legitimate research to back it up, ideally with 10+ years of human use and documentation.
• Is it sustainable for you? Is this a diet that you can reasonably keep doing in order to maintain your health goals?
• Does it absolutely meet your required nutrition needs? The #1 issue with fad diets is that there is no one right diet for everyone. Every single person requires different things to balance our health, and following a popular diet that works for one person may not work for you.
• Are they only focused on calories? Calorie counting diets alone are not a sustainable diet solution. Calorie counting does not take into account food nutrient quality, and that’s a huge problem.

The Benefits of a Personalized Nutrition Plan:

• All of your specific micro and macro nutrient needs will be met. This can often be done through a thorough nutrition assessment from your nutritionist, or through appropriate testing so you know exactly what you need, and how much.
• Any issues with food allergies or food intolerances will be taken into account, and avoided. If you’re continually consuming foods you may be allergic or intolerant to, this can lead to other issues stemming from inflammation and/or digestive imbalance. Getting the appropriate testing for these will greatly enhance your long-term, individualized nutrition plan.
• Other aspects of your health are addressed nutritionally, including hormone balance, metabolism, activity level, blood sugar support, applicable family history, weight support, cholesterol support, and digestive health. Your individualized diet plan can serve as a truly therapeutic key to your overall health when created just for you.
• A nutrition plan will be created for you that is sustainable. It will meet your current health goals while being possible to maintain long term, so there’s no “falling off the wagon” once you’ve reached your goals.
• When working with a nutritionist for an individualized diet, you can expect this diet to change as your health changes. This is an excellent benefit, because your health is never stagnant, and nor should your diet be either.

Remember, “food is medicine”, and each person’s medicine should be as unique as they are individually. Fad diets are often always based on a single principle or goal, which is usually reductionist specific (i.e, lose weight by burning ketones, or increase energy by fasting longer, for example). A holistic, person- centered diet should always be enhancing to whole body health, not depleting by focusing on a single goal and ignoring the other areas of health support or ignoring the synergy of the body. Food can be amazingly well suited and tailored for each person, and with the help of a nutritionist, an individualized diet can be created just for you that not only addresses your specific health goals, but can be supportive of your individual needs.

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