In part one of Nutrition and Muscular Health, we looked at how the body digests and absorbs nutrition. In part 2 below, Director of Clinical Services at Lifestart Grace Iberle and I discuss ways in which we can impact the process to optimize results.
From a nutritional standpoint, what can I do to increase my body’s ability to absorb and utilize nutrients?
Grace: First, consistently eating a well balanced diet is the best approach to ensuring you’re consuming enough vitamins and minerals. Aim for 2 servings of fruit per day and 2-3 servings of vegetables. We also want to ensure you are eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and eating the rainbow. Different colors have different nutrient profiles, (red and orange have lots of vitamin A, green veggies have lots of B vitamins, C, calcium, iron), so we want to ensure we consume all of the different nutrients. To continue to focus on eating a balanced diet, the goal is to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables, ¼ with lean protein, and ¼ with quality carbs full of fiber, and a small portion of healthy fats. Our fat soluble vitamins need fat in order to be absorbed. Focus on plant-based, healthy fats such as nuts and seeds, avocados, non-tropical oils that are liquid at room temperature, as well as fatty fish including salmon, tuna, herring, lake trout, and mackerel. I always encourage clients to include vegetables as part of the main course and sneak them in whenever possible. Whatever a recipe calls for, double it!
Can I use probiotics to help?
Grace: Eating a well balanced diet can help with having a diverse and healthy gut, which is beneficial to breaking down food so a variety of nutrients can be properly absorbed. The ratios of bacteria like prebiotics and probiotics influence the intestine’s ability to draw out nutrients, and are most helpful when in a balanced ratio. Prebiotics are the foods the probiotics feed from and come from many different fiber sources: think fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes. Probiotics are live bacteria, these come from fermented foods such as yogurt, kimchi, miso, kefir, sauerkraut are all examples. When bacterial ratios are out of balance or in the wrong place in the intestine, it may cause inflammation, drive inflammatory bowel conditions like IBS, and produce uncomfortable symptoms such as abdominal cramping and bloating.
Is juicing a solution to easier absorption?
Grace: Juicing can be beneficial to reach your micronutrient needs, however it is not the only approach. We do not want all of our fruits and vegetables to be consumed strictly through juicing because then you are missing out on the fiber in the produce. It takes about 2-3 lbs of produce to create a 12 oz glass of juice. That’s why it can be expensive as well! Juice can certainly be included, but stick with an 8 oz serving to count towards one of your cups of fruit. When purchasing juices, look for 100% juice with no added sugars. Cold pressed juices are also beneficial as they use minimal heat, which keeps nutrient content high. If you were to participate in a 3-day juice cleanse, there’s a good chance your diet will be lacking in protein, fiber, and healthy fats, which can cause other implications.
Supplements are another area to encourage consistent intake of nutrients and fill in the cracks. If you choose to use supplements, you still want to focus on eating a well balanced diet. Supplement use is very individualized to the person, so I recommend working with a registered dietitian or your doctor to find what supplements you may need.
I would also like to touch on inflammatory foods. Inflammation is the underlying cause of many chronic diseases. It also has an effect on our digestive system, altering digestion, absorption, and barrier function. It can impact those villi I mentioned before by reducing their height and creating less area for absorption. Foods that promote inflammation contain highly refined and processed foods, including sugars, sugar sweetened beverages, desserts, saturated fats found in animal products, trans fats, fried foods, and alcohol. Focusing on consuming the well-balanced diet I discussed above can be anti-inflammatory and continue to promote a better intake of nutrients and absorption.
From a therapy standpoint, how can I help my muscles and organs better distribute nutrients and water?
Kate: There is more and more information coming out about the benefits of using pressure and shear into soft tissues to address problematic areas of densification, fibrosis, and dehydration.
In our clinics, we provide an accurate & strategic application of pressure and shearing forces into tight, sensitive, and bound up areas that cause discomfort for our patients. Guided by Delos Therapists’ attention to discrete myofascial changes, our treatment compounded over a short period of time works to restructure dysfunctional fascia back into a state of pliability and health, and consequently support the connecting systems.
How does absorption tie into healing?
Kate: As Grace mentions above, chronic inflammation is in the recipe for disaster and paying attention to what we consume plays a big part in lowering levels of inflammation. Inflammation is a crucial process for healing wounds and getting rid of toxins, but is harmful if left running for a long time. When inflammation is present due to a constant input of problematic foods like refined sugar, internal scarring of fascia starts and spreads over time, and can alter gene expression. Chronic inflammation and genetic shifts support the potential for fascia and the anatomy it holds to move further into dysfunction and pain, and lays the groundwork for many common diseases.
Because we can use insight from things like genetic markers to understand the effects of imbalanced inflammation, we can make choices to pivot in the opposite direction. By modifying our day-to-day choices, we can support systems of health and balance and enable cohesive function of our digestive and fascial systems. Supporting health systems involved in nutrient absorption allows us to reap the benefits of body-wide nutrient utilization and helps our bodies to grow, move better, age slower, heal quickly, and protect against diseases.
Overall Takeaways
- From a nutrition standpoint, always focus on consistency and the big picture when it comes to your eating routine. Ask yourself, what am I doing most of the time? Eating a single salad doesn’t make you healthy, but the same is true that eating a single cookie doesn’t make you unhealthy.
- Focus on bringing more color to your plate whenever possible to ensure you are eating a variety of nutrients and giving your body plenty of nutrients to absorb.
- Remember to build your plate with multiple food groups to focus on eating a balanced diet. The goal is to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables, ¼ with protein, and ¼ with quality carbs full of fiber, and a small portion of healthy fats.
- Stay hydrated. It’s such a simple solution, yet can sometimes be a more difficult task. Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. Start your day with a large glass of water, have a water bottle with you. In sight, in mind!
- In the same way that a single whole food meal doesn’t constitute a healthy diet, a day of stretching does not produce any long term effects for your muscular health. You are what you eat but you are also “what you move”.
- Understand your current muscular and soft tissue health. If the tissue is hard and can’t move, consider that it might not be fully absorbing the water and nutrients you give it.
- Assess your recovery and be honest. Are your self care and recovery strategies effective in creating pliability and lowering any discomfort? Or are you finding that you are needing to stretch and foam roll, buy more tools, and do more to get the relief you need? If what you’re doing works for you, great, keep it up! If not, shift your strategy.
- You can help the body break down densified and hardened sections of fascia with pressure, or by using shearing forces to draw in hydration. This will help your body fully distribute and utilize the nutrients from a well balanced diet that you put in place. It will optimize your health.
- Nutrition & Muscular Health: The Missing Link in Absorption, Part II - September 17, 2020
- Nutrition & Muscular Health: The Missing Link in Absorption, Part I - September 10, 2020
- An Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Muscular Health - July 7, 2020