Why Keeping Nutrient Density High Is Key
What is nutrition?
Nutrition is the science that interprets the nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. Nutrients are substances required by the body to perform its basic functions. Many bodily functions, like digestion, use nutrients for energy, growth, and cell repair. Nutrients are used to produce energy, detect and respond to environmental surroundings, move, excrete wastes, breathe, grow, and reproduce.
What is nutrient density?
Nutrient density refers to the amount of nutrients you can get from a certain food, compared to the number of calories it contains. It’s a simple way to connect nutrients with calories because nutrient dense foods give you the most nutrients for the fewest amount of calories. In other words, nutrient dense foods give you the biggest bang for your buck. You get lots of nutrients, and it doesn't cost you much in terms of calories.
While limiting your calorie intake could sound like the best part, there are other benefits to eating nutrient-dense foods that are more important. Nutrient-dense foods also give you all the nutrients you need in order to eat a healthy lifestyle.
What do nutrient-dense foods do?
Nutrient-dense foods have a lot of benefits that come along with them. However, there is one important benefit of nutrient dense foods that is vital for your body, especially in times like these.
Nutrient-dense foods are essential for keeping your nervous system happy and keeping your serotonin levels high, and there are specific nutrients that can help:
B Vitamins
Antioxidants
Omega 3 fatty acids
Fiber
These highly dense nutrients can be found in almost all of the food groups essential for health and wellness.
Nutrient-dense foods
When trying to decide which foods to include in your diet, and which foods will be the most nutrient-dense, it might be difficult to decide what to choose. So to be more specific, here are some food groups that are high in nutrient density, and examples of the nutrients they contain.
In addition, there are examples of the types of food under each food group that you could introduce into your diet, along with Low-FODMAP alternatives:
Vegetables & Fruits
These are the power houses of nutrient dense foods. Vegetables and fruits are packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. Some examples include:
Avocados, Lemons, Strawberries, Blueberries, Broccoli, Carrots
LOW-FODMAP OPTIONS
Zucchini, Spinach, Squash
Proteins
Lean meats, seafood and poultry are excellent sources of protein, B vitamins, iron, and zinc.
Protein is an important nutrient for muscles and skin and also can help you feel satisfied and full. Some examples include:
Ground beef, Steak, Liver, Shellfish
LOW-FODMAP OPTIONS
Salmon, Pork
Whole Grains
Whole grains, like fruits and vegetables provide a variety vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and are an excellent source of fiber. Choose products in which “whole” is one of the first words in the ingredient list, to get the most nutrition from your grains. Some examples, that are also Low-FODMAP, include:
Oatmeal, Brown rice, Whole wheat grains
Nuts & Beans
Nuts and beans are great protein alternatives that are packed full with nutrition. Nuts are a great source for healthy fats and beans are a great source of fiber. Some examples include:
Kidney beans, Bean sprouts, Lentils
LOW-FODMAP OPTIONS
Flax seeds, Almonds
Dairy
Low-fat dairy products provide calcium and Vitamin D for strong and healthy bones. They are also a great source of potassium and protein as well. Some examples, that are also Low-FODMAP, include:
Egg yolks, Low fat yogurt
Lifestyles that would benefit from a nutrient dense diet
While anyone can benefit from a nutrient dense diet, there are certain lifestyles that would far greatly benefit from it. Once you recognize that you fall within one of these lifestyles, you can begin your experience and be one step closer to a healthy lifestyle. However if you don’t relate with one of these lifestyles, you might find that you could still benefit from including these nutrient dense foods into your diet.
Work from home
Those who work from home, and don’t typically leave their house often, are more likely to benefit from a nutrient dense diet. If you work from home, it’s likely that you don’t get as much outer nutrition as you should. Outer nutrition consists of sunlight, physical touch, and community atmosphere. So if you work at home, there is definitely a high chance that you are lacking these outer nutrients, which means you need to get them from within.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
If you do work from home, and you find that you are lacking these outer nutrients, there are ways to get dense nutrition from inner nutrients like foods. Try incorporating more nutrient dense foods into your meals, like fruits and vegetables or more leaner cuts of meat. And if it’s a nice day out, take advantage of taking a walk in the sunlight for a portion of your lunch break.
COVID
Those who are affected by the restrictions of COVID, like being under lockdown, are more likely to benefit from a nutrient dense diet. With regards to the times we’re living in, it may be harder to get those outer nutrients than it would be if the circumstances were different. Those who find themselves affected from COVID restrictions or under lockdown, might find it more difficult to get both the outer and inner nutrients needed for a nutrient dense diet.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
If you are under lockdown, or affected by COVID restriction, try stocking up on the nutrient dense foods when you go out food shopping. And while it may not be the same, try getting all of your friends together one night for a zoom call. It won’t feel the same as being together in person, but it might bring a small sense of community, which is a strong outer nutrient.
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Nutrient-dense foods are rich in nutrients relative to their calorie content. These include various healthy foods such as whole vegetables, fruits, cocoa, seafood, eggs and liver, and once you begin to add these foods to your diet, you can begin to live a healthier lifestyle.
Extra nutrition tips
There are six classes of nutrients; carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Many of the nutrients within these classes contain highly dense nutrients.
Include vitamins and minerals, like vitamins C, E, and selenium, into your diet. Many foods, like Salmon, have vitamins C and E, which are high in nutrient density.
Dietary fats help your body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and even support your muscles, brain, bones and skin.
Strategies To Fight IBS
What is IBS?
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a gastrointestinal disorder that affects the small and large intestines. IBS is referred to as a functional disorder. This means that there is nothing wrong with the actual structure of your bowel, rather the problem lies with how it works. While IBS can be uncomfortable and distressing at times, it does not permanently harm the intestines or lead to a more serious condition. There is no cure for IBS but it can be well managed so it does not interfere with your overall health and quality of life.
Symptoms of IBS
Before you can begin to manage your IBS and practice the strategies to help fight it, it’s first important to understand what the symptoms of IBS are. No one is the same, so some may experience only one to a few symptoms while others may experience all of the symptoms.
IBS symptoms usually include:
Abdominal pain and cramping that are related to abnormalities in bowel movements, such as constipation, diarrhea, or both
Constipation
Diarrhea
Alternating constipation and diarrhea
Bloating and gas
The urge to move the bowels, but an inability to do so
Lifestyle causes of IBS
While there is no definitive proof to it, there are certain lifestyle types and choices that are more likely to develop and suffer from IBS. So if you are experiencing symptoms of IBS, it’s important to recognize your lifestyle choices and if they could be the root cause. And if you are experiencing IBS symptoms but don’t feel that you fall under any of these categories, it doesn’t mean it’s not IBS.
Someone who is a workaholic
Someone dealing with social anxiety
Someone who fears food controlling them
Someone dealing with uncertainty
COVID
Like anything, there are certain lifestyles that could be making your IBS worse or could be causing it in the first place. While it’s common for anxiety and IBS to go hand in hand, it doesn’t have to be a toxic relationship on your body. It’s possible to break the tie. Your thoughts and emotions play a huge role in what triggers your IBS symptoms, so putting yourself in a good mind frame is essential.
For workaholics that could be cutting down your hours little by little each week and doing something you consider fun (outside of working) with friends and family.
For someone dealing with social anxiety, break down social situations you find challenging into smaller parts and work on feeling more relaxed part by part.
For someone who fears food, try to practice mindful eating so you can try to take control of your sensations.
For someone feeling overwhelmed by uncertainty, try adding a ‘stability rock’. This adds something reliable to your life when it feels like things are spinning out of control and can help remind you that there are some things that are within your control.
In regards to COVID, it’s important to remember that very little about our lives are totally certain, and while we have control over many things, we can’t control everything that happens to us.
And it’s important to remember that you are not alone in this.
Lifestyles that may cause stress or anxiety are the biggest trigger to IBS symptoms, and though we might not be able to cut out this stress entirely, there are ways of managing it.
Strategies that help fight IBS
Some strategies that could be helpful to those who have IBS include special diets, stress relief and exercise. Finding a strategy that works may take time and experimentation. However once you find what works best for you and your body, it’s best to begin to develop a routine so that your symptoms can begin to be relieved. You can also avoid flare-ups by starting and sticking to a routine that works for you.
The following strategies can be useful and beneficial to any of the IBS symptom lifestyles mentioned earlier, or for anyone experiencing IBS symptoms in general.
Low-FODMAP diet
The FODMAP (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols) Diet focuses on eliminating certain types of carbs and sugars, as they are known to bring water with them through your bowels, resulting in more gas, bloating, and diarrhea. The principle behind the diet is to give the gut a chance to heal, and by cutting these from your diet, you are likely to see and feel a dramatic improvement in your symptoms.
Low FODMAP foods include:
Vegetables (zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant, green beans, cucumbers, potatoes, olives)
Fruits (oranges, grapes, bananas, lime, lemons, blueberries, grapefruit, strawberries)
Dairy that is lactose free (including hard cheeses like feta and brie)
Proteins high in lean (beef, pork, chicken, eggs, fish)
Gluten free pasta and breads
Stress relief
Reducing your stress can help reduce the frequency and severity of your symptoms, as stress can sometimes be a main cause of IBS attacks. It may be helpful to take a step back and see what could be causing the stress in your life. This makes it easier to try and eliminate or reduce them. Once you’ve identified your stress, there are a number of stress relieving activities you could try.
Some activities to try include:
Physical exercise (walking, running, bicycling, swimming)
Breathing exercises
Yoga
Meditation
Mindfulness training
By practicing mindfulness, you can begin to focus your attention on the sensations that you feel in the moment, instead of becoming stressed about those sensations after they’ve passed and worrying about what they mean. Through mindfulness, you can develop awareness of your mind and body and relax, which may help to reduce your IBS symptoms and increase your own well-being.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with IBS. However by trying these different combinations of diet, stress relief, exercise and mindfulness, you should be on your way to reducing your discomfort from symptoms of IBS.
How Breathwork Can Alleviate Your IBS
What is breathwork?
Breathwork describes a group of exercises that teach you to manipulate your breathing rate and depth with the goal of bringing awareness to your breath and ultimately providing the same benefits you might get from a meditative practice. It can even influence a person's mental, emotional or physical state.
Various breathing practice have been around for centuries, and some can even help reduce symptoms associated with anxiety, food cravings, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. And while there are many different breathwork exercises, there are just two ways we breathe.
Chest breathing vs abdominal breathing
There are two ways we breathe, either through the chest and through the abdomen. Chest breathing is shallow, and the shoulders rise with each breath while only the chest expands. With shallower breaths, less oxygen enters the blood, and in turn then hurts the digestion process. Shallower breaths also tend to increase heart rate and cause your muscles to tense up. Chest breathing is most common when you’re feeling stressed, anxious, or are in pain.
Abdominal breathing is natural breathing, like that of newborn babies and sleeping adults. It relaxes the belly while you are taking slow, deep breaths, and your stomach expands as the diaphragm moves downward to allow air to fill your lungs. When you breathe through the abdomen, it will feel like a balloon is gently expanding with each breath in and then contracting with each breath out.
What are the benefits of breathwork?
When you often think of breathwork, it’s typically associated with relaxation, nervous system regulation, and amplifying your lung health. And while these are all extremely important and valuable benefits of breathing, there is a more unknown benefit of breathwork; digestive health.
Breathwork and digestion
In traditional Chinese medicine, the lungs and digestion are a yin-yong pair, with the lungs being the yin and the large intestine is the yong. When breathing was labored and shallow, it was seen as not being ‘clean’. So because the lungs and the large intestine were seen as a pair, this meant that the yong would then have a hard time becoming clean.
The issues of fluidity and cleansing that the large intestine would come across could cause you to experience:
Constipation
Diarrhea
Excessive gas
Urgency to go
And these issues, which are gastrointestinal symptoms that IBS could cause, often comes from your breathing not being as clean and clear as it should be.
Breathwork techniques to help IBS
There are several breathing techniques that have been shown to help restore the balance in your mood, hormones and digestion. Here are a few techniques for you to try if you find yourself struggling with IBS and/or anxiety, since the two are known to go hand-in-hand:
Alternative nostril breathwork
This method comes from yoga and is known for its ability to clear negative energy. It has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety and increase mental clarity. Keeping stress under control can help control cortisol levels, which can trigger food cravings.
In order to perform this breath, first sit comfortably with your legs crossed. The point of this breathing is to improve your metabolic functions. Here are the steps:
Exhale completely and then use your right thumb to close your right nostril.
Inhale through your left nostril, then before exhaling, close off the left nostril with your fingers.
Remove your thumb from the right nostril and exhale through the right side.
Inhale through the right side, then close off this nostril.
Exhale through the left nostril and inhale, then switch sides before exhaling again.
You can do this as many times as you want, but always finish by exhaling on the left side.
4-7-8 breathing
This is a great technique for balancing digestion, seeing as the body is best able to digest food when it is in a calm state. Being highly stressed while eating can lead to speeding through the meal, not chewing thoroughly enough, which causes digestive problems such as acid reflux. Try this technique either before or during your meals, especially if you are sitting down to eat after a long stressful day.
In order to perform this breath, you should be either sitting or lying down. The point of this breathing is to help your body relax. Here are the steps:
First, through parted lips, exhale completely through your mouth making a whooshing sound.
Next, close your mouth and inhale through your nose while silently counting to four.
Hold the breath for seven seconds.
Make a whooshing exhale through your mouth for eight seconds.
Repeat the process at least four times, working your way up to eight cycles.
Relax and eat or fall asleep.
Diaphragmatic breathwork
Abdominal breathing, also called diaphragmatic breathing, is one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce muscle tension and stop stress from interfering with your digestion. In order to perform this breath, you should lie in a flat or reclined position. The point of this breathing is to take slow, deep breathes that create a “relaxation response” to calm the mind and body. Here are the steps:
Place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your chest.
Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose into your abdomen to push your hand up.
Breathe only as deeply as feels comfortable. Your chest should remain still or move only slightly.
Exhale through your mouth, making a quiet, relaxing whooshing sound as you gently blow out.
Your abdomen should rise as you breathe in and fall as you breathe out.
When you feel comfortable with this technique, count “one” as you breathe in and say “relax” or “calm” as you breathe out.
Focus attention on the relaxing word and tune out any other thoughts or sounds.
Repeat the steps until you count up to 10.
All three of these techniques can be done at any time during the day, depending whether you need a boost or to ease your digestion and anxiety. Their ability to modify how your nervous system is reacting can in turn help improve your digestion and even balance your hormones.
Types of lifestyles more susceptible to IBS and anxiety
While anyone can be susceptible to IBS and anxiety, there are certain lifestyles that are more likely to attract their symptoms and digestive issues. Once you recognize that you fall within one of these lifestyles, you will be one step closer to conquering and taking control of your anxiety and digestion. However if you don’t relate with one of these lifestyles, it does not mean that you still can’t take control.
Too busy for regular meals
Those who believe their daily schedule is too busy for regular meal times are more likely to suffer from IBS and anxiety symptoms. These lifestyles are usually controlled by work or personal reasons and instead of having regular meals, results in eating one extra-large meal or grazing on food all day long, which may be triggering your symptoms.
HOW BREATHWORK CAN HELP
The 4-7-8 Breathing technique is best suited for this lifestyle. It allows those who eat at a faster and more stressed pace to eat with a more calm state of mind. A regular meal schedule can also help decrease symptoms.
High-stress environments
Those who live in environments of high stress, whether related to work or their personal life, are more likely to experience IBS and anxiety symptoms. Stress and IBS are two toxic partners that often go hand-in-hand. While it’s typically best to cut out all the things in your life that are causing you stress, sometimes removing yourself from a stressful environment is unfortunately not an option for you.
HOW BREATHWORK CAN HELP
The Diaphragmatic Breathing technique is best suited for this lifestyle. Not only does it reduce muscle tension, allowing your body to relax, but it also alleviates stress so that it does not interfere with your digestion. Practicing mindfulness can also be helpful.
Eating disorders
Those who suffer from certain eating disorders like emotional eating, binge eating and compulsive eating are more likely to experience symptoms of IBS and anxiety. These eating disorders are typically run by emotions like stress and anxiety, and result in a vicious cycle of indulging in cravings, feeling guilty, and repeating the process.
HOW BREATHWORK CAN HELP
Alternative Nostril Breathing is the technique best suited for this lifestyle. By keeping your stress under control with this breathing exercise, it can help control your levels of cortisol and help alleviate your food cravings.
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Mental health and physical symptoms are one in the same, and though healing yourself from IBS may be a long road, it is one worth traveling down. Just remember that everyone’s bodies are different, which means your experience and process with breathwork will be unique. You might find that only one works best for you, or you might even find that a combination of all three works best. Either way, breathing well will change your life.
Extra tips for digestion
Practice a breathing technique for 10 minutes one or two times a day. Do them in a quiet, private area where you will not be disturbed. But do it during a time in the day that you are alert because you don’t want to get so relaxed that you fall asleep.
If you are not already on the Low-FODMAP diet, try switching over to it. The Low-FODMAP diet will provide you with a variety of foods that can help lessen your IBS symptoms.
Try yin yoga techniques for digestive help.
Additional Reading
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