A Balanced Spectrum
The natural colour of food gives us the full rainbow spectrum. This antioxidant rich program of whole foods will help you to love healthy food.
This holistic approach makes nutrition practical, defines what to buy at the grocery store and how to minimize allergic reactions to foods by consuming them in their whole natural state in all colours, successful in graduating the patient to a healthful lifestyle. Discover how to substitute food colourings for the benefit of naturally coloured foods, providing a balanced rainbow to the body and to the palate.
Use the Rainbow Program in support groups, health food stores, hospital programs or counseling. It works well with both children and adults, and is designed to cross language and cultural barriers.
Eating Healthfully
The contest between being thin and being healthy is a long one that has spanned many decades. These two goals seem to oppose each other, yet you will find through this method of healing eating disorders, used in highly successful eating disorder clinics in both Canada and the United States, that both can be achieved. An anorexic, bulimic, a compulsive overeater or obese person, will be able to follow this journey to health and be at a normal weight in the end. They will shed their eating disorder like an old construct for a new food plan that will work for a lifetime. And here, I will share with you the means to that journey, the foods to eat and when.
On this site we will learn why a person must have a high metabolism to be at their best weight and maintain health. This prevents overweight and reassures the client that they will be able to eat all the necessary nutrients.
What should we eat?
Healthy snacks: these are not an opportunity to eat junk food but an important chance to get needed nutrients.
Believe it or not, a child must learn to feel hunger and harness up their hunger to their advantage. In this analogy, hunger is like a wild horse. When we teach children to eat appropriately, to select healthful foods, and eat on a regular schedule we are harnessing up the potential of hunger to benefit them through their lifetime.
Children can learn to regulate their weight based on eating when they are hungry and staying naturally thin. They can learn to love healthy food. Where does that love begin? I believe it starts with modeling the correct solutions around food, and hands on nutrition education.
Therapeutic Diets
Therapeutic diets vs. Fad diets
It is necessary in our society, in identifying destructive patterns in dieters, to be able to identify what is a therapeutic diet and what is a fad diet.
A therapeutic diet is a special diet that has been prescribed by a health professional such as a doctor, naturopath, dietician, or nutritionist. This diet may be designed to treat or prevent allergies or the symptoms of a disease. In any case, a therapeutic diet is as important to the person as medication is coming from a physician. It can, and should be adhered to.
Therapeutic diets can avoid scary consequences, such as a child ending up in the emergency room from eating something they are allergic to. They help us realize what nutritional behaviors should be integrated into the social setting. People who have to eat gluten-free, for example, may choose not to eat certain foods, but if you desire, you may also have a gluten free alternative for them. It helps to note that many people these days have sensitivities to foods that cause unpleasant symptoms or are associated with diseases, and they must follow their therapeutic diet to live a normal life. This enables them to go to work and school with other people. They should not just be viewed as finicky or fussy eaters.
A fad diet is a diet that is found in a book, magazine, or on the internet that sounds like the next “big thing” that is good for weight loss, etc. It is not created for an individual with their health history, condition, and nutrient needs in mind. It is usually self-prescribed and may be the result of wanting fast weight loss that could be harmful. A fad diet should be observed with caution, as it may promote vitamin or mineral deficiencies. The far end of a fad diet is the person may be severely restricting caloric intake, all carbs or all protein. In response the body may feel severely restricted, and eating disordered behaviors and thinking may emerge. You may wonder if a person can start to think like an anorexic if they loose too much weight. It is true that if a person falls too far below their ideal weight, they may start to fear gaining weight, eating, or have anorexic thoughts.
A fad diet can be disregarded for more traditional ideas such as following a balanced diet if deficiency occurs. A therapeutic diet will balance and promote well being over the long-term if adhered to with supervision.
What is a balanced diet?
Following the Canada Food Guide doesn’t mean eating all five food groups at one meal, as it used to. Quite the opposite. You can obtain all the nutrients you need by eating three meals and three snacks in a day. Having healthy food available to kids helps them realize when and what they are hungry for. Kids actually love brightly coloured, crunchy and chewy foods with interesting textures and tastes. What an opportunity to help them get the required amount of fruits and vegetables in a day instead of eating sugary foods coloured with food colouring.
