Being ‘seen’ can be as painful as it is therapeutic. In this case, as nutritionist Ryan Carter takes to Instagram to share an inflammation lesson as damning as it is common, it’s both.
The British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle medicine qualified nutritionist (and social media nutrition coach) posted an image on Friday many of us can relate to, detailing why you don’t feel good after a junk binge.
It also pointed out some of the modern habits that keep us from living ‘realised’ nutritional lives, such as eating out of circadian rhythm and environmental chemicals pulling strings in our microbiome and endocrine system.
View this post on Instagram
The words that hit hardest? For our money it’s: “hyper palatable psuedo food.” Ouch.
Other sentiments that hit home – and that we can all learn from – are eating foods high in excessive rancid pufa (polyunsaturated) oils, eating whilst rushed or on the go, and eating food “void in calories.”
Carter captions the image as follows:
“A recipe for inflammation. A sure method to serve up insult to your body via food to your gut and brain.”
“If you want an easy recipe to feel like crap doing this consistently is a sure way.”
- Eating round the clock
- Eating indoors or not seeing bright natural light affects fasting and post prandial blood glucose and triglycerides
- Eating on the go – increases stress activation via the autonomic nervous system, down regulates digestive capacity and blood circulation
- Throw in a sprinkle of xenobiotics to the mix
- Add in a jackpot stimulating effect of hyper palatable food which is easy to over-consume
- Oxidised fatty acids, sugars and charred meat or pseudo food like products
- Then void of goodness for yourself and microbiome
According to Carter this is all, “A recipe for inflammation and disaster.”
“Sure occasionally eating this type of food might be cool, if that’s your thing,” Carter writes. But you can still do your best with other components. Carter then leaves a list of actionable things you can do to improve your situation.
- Eating in daylight hours, getting outdoors or better yet eat outdoors in nature
- Eating real food more often
- Single ingredients
- Sourcing the best food you can get your hands on
- Taking your time when eating and being present
“This should become before worrying about what macronutrient ratio or micronutrients etc.
Sure there is more to inflammation than this and food but this helps on a fundamental level.”
View this post on Instagram
You also don’t want to become obsessed with clean eating. As Healthline explains, this condition – orthorexia – involves an extreme fixation with the “purity” of food, as well as an obsession with the benefits of healthy eating.
“Although you may begin a diet simply intending to improve your health, this focus can become more extreme.”
Food for thought.
View this post on Instagram