Do you ever wonder why you feel so tired? When you’re doing your darndest to eat right, exercise, follow the doctor’s orders?
It’s not your fault. Despite our “focus on health” as a nation, something is terribly wrong. I’ve been on a journey to discover exactly why I got sick, when I was so “healthy” by every standard we use to measure health.
Here’s what I discovered. I was poisoning myself. And so are you.
I don’t say this lightly. And it was validated by a favorite wellth read, The Micronutrient Miracle, which is where I learned the 10 miracles that have completely changed the way I think about what I put in and on my body.
Miracle #1: I’d like to introduce you to my friend, Micronutrient
I’d heard the word “micronutrient”, but I didn’t know what that meant until Mira and Jayson Calton explained it on a Dave Asprey Bulletproof podcast.
Our culture’s focus is on macronutrients – fats, proteins and carbs. That’s what every conversation on diet is about, be it Paleo, Mediterranean, Vegan. The body can adjust to macros. We know this just by watching the cycle of diet fads over the years. From all carb/no fat to all protein/lots of fat!
In all the macro-talk, what is missing completely is a discussion on micronutrients. We need micronutrients in minute quantities, but they are essential to good health. They include vitamins (we get these from plants and animals). Minerals (from the soil). Essential fatty acids (like omega 3s). And amino acids (the building blocks for proteins).
If you don’t have the micronutrients, you can’t function. It can show up as feeling lethargic, depressed. And eventually, it creates the perfect environment in your body for disease.
Miracle #2: Your health and vitality are DETERMINED by your micronutrients
That health is determined by micronutrients is a missing conversation in the healthcare industry. The perfect example of this is my friend Mira Calton. Calcium levels can be perfectly normal in a basic blood test. But despite her optimal bill of health, Mira was diagnosed with severe osteoporosis at age 30. How? Because the body is designed to maintain “normal” levels of calcium in the bloodstream.
So while her blood calcium looked normal, her body was leaching calcium from her bones to keep her blood chemistry “in balance.” The end result? She had the bones of an 80-year old woman at age 30. A fact that wouldn’t show up in the battery of typical annual tests – until it was so progressed to become obvious.
Most illness and disease states can be directly related to micronutrients. Osteoporosis is a lack of vitamin K. Depression is a lack of vitamin D. Micros are the first thing to test when something is wrong. Or even when it isn’t! And they are the first place to go to regain health. Mira and Jayson completely reversed her osteoporosis – without pharmaceuticals – in two years by rebuilding her bones with the right micronutrients.
Miracle #3: Ditch the diet. Go “micro.”
No matter how healthy you are, you’re missing essential micronutrients. Especially if you’re strict with any macro diet (like I was), whether it’s Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo or the next big thing.
By virtue of my 20 years as a Pescatarian (veggies and fish only – seems healthy, right?), I was missing a truckload of micronutrients. When I got sick, my body was so depleted, I didn’t have the strength to fight off what was killing me.
The only way to get micronutrients is through your food or supplementation. I wasn’t getting them through my food (neither are you – more on that in a moment!). And I wasn’t taking supplements. But up until the week I got sick, I felt amazing. Never better. It took 8 months after that fateful week just to begin my journey back toward health.
This is tragic once you realize how simple health is. That tweaking something as tiny as micronutrients can make a 100% difference. You may not need those statins or insulin or all those side effects that take pages of microscopic print.
Miracle #4: Get your micronutrients tested.
In the U.S., 98% of us are low or completely missing many of the micronutrients that are the essential building blocks of health.
How do you find out if you’re deficient? My doc has told me it won’t show up in a standard annual blood test.
Have your doc prescribe a Spectracell test. That will tell you exactly what you’re low on. Then you use food and supplementation to build back your micros to optimum healthy levels.
Miracle #5: Avoid micronutrient depleters.
What’s scary is how many things out there are compromising your health – even when you’re feeling great. You just won’t notice until it catches up with you.
First, there are external “depleters.” Like pesticides. If you eat an apple but the apple is sprayed with Roundup (which has the added benefit of being a carcinogen), the Roundup kills the micronutrients in the apple. Just like it kills the micronutrients in the weeds.
In addition, most of the chemicals in your house are huge micronutrient depleters. So all those things you hear about “going green” with cleaners – start listening. It’s a life saver.
Internal factors also deplete micros. Like stress. And what you put in (and on) your body. Sugar. Gluten. Soy. Dairy. Artificial coloring. That’s why you want to minimize those things in your diet and in your products.
Once you’re conscious of the depleters, they are easy to avoid.
Miracle #6: Replenish micronutrients.
How? Get your Spectracell test! That will tell you exactly what you need to be replenishing.
In the meantime, you can replenish with the foods you eat – as long as they are organic, whole foods (not full of pesticides or processed!).
You can also supplement. Just do a little learning on what micronutrients are commonly missing from your diet (like B12 for vegans). And be wary of many store-bought brands (supplements are not closely regulated, so the quality and effectiveness varies greatly). Many popular supplements pass through the body without being used because they’re in a form that can’t be broken down or absorbed. Or the capsules and fillers cause issues with your stomach lining.
Great brands I use for individual supplements are Pure Encapsulations, Xymogen and NuMedica.
Miracle #7: Why organic isn’t a luxury.
Micronutrients are so small, yet so powerful, that being deficient in even one can kill you. So it matters a great deal if most of the food you eat is depleted of these essential building blocks of life.
And the reality is, your food is woefully micronutrient deficient, because of our nation’s farming practices. Unless your labels say Organic and Non-GMO, you’re eating genetically modified foods that are sprayed with Roundup, also known as the herbicide glyphosate. GMO crops are referred to as “Roundup Ready.”
Roundup kills weeds by latching onto the essential minerals they need to live, thus starving them of micronutrients. The problem is, it also starves the crops. And these micronutrient-depleted crops starve (at a micronutrient level) the animals and humans who eat them. In addition to killing micronutrients (that you need to battle every known disease and condition), the World Health Organization published a report showing that glyphosate is carcinogenic (it causes cancer).
Glyphosate (Roundup) is used on 100% of crops that aren’t organic. So whether it’s your produce, meats or packaged food, buy Organic and Non-GMO to be healthier, get far more vitamins and minerals for your buck, and stop loading yourself and your family with carcinogens.
Think it’s too expensive? Health care is FAR more expensive, which is what you’ll be spending on if you don’t invest in healthy habits now. So trust me, your wallet will thank you down the road.
Miracle #8: You are what your food eats.
Everything you eat is tucked away in your tissues – especially the bad stuff your body wants to get out of circulation. Fatty tissues – like your brain – absorb the most toxins. (You know. That organ that runs 100% of your body.)
That alone should be motivation to eat clean! But what you may not have been told is that all the junk that animals eat is getting into your brain, too!
Just like you, animals are designed to eat natural foods. Cows naturally eat grass. Fish eat algae, plankton or other small fish.
Instead, farm-raised cows, chickens, pigs and fish are getting fed (I’m not exaggerating in the least) GMO, moldy grains and corn pellets (grown with Roundup), stale candy and chocolate, goose feces. They’re getting getting pumped with antibiotics and hormones. And no wonder. Because they’re living in environments filled with manure, disease, and absent of natural light.
I’m not a member of PETA. So I’m not making a case for animal welfare (although I’m tempted to after learning all of this). I’m making the case for YOUR HEALTH.
Unless you’re eating grass fed beef, organic pastured chicken and eggs, pastured pork, and wild caught fish, you are eating animals that are eating bad stuff and living in horrific environments. So your food is devoid of the micronutrients you need to live. And full of garbage.
Think you can’t afford it? See #7!
Miracle #9: Food is not a religion.
We tend to eat in a daze, shoving food down our throats to satiate hunger as we sprint through our busy lives. It’s time to stop. Food is a source of of wellness and vitality, life and health. And as a result, a source of wealth.
But food is not a religion. People get so dogmatic about their macro diets: Bulletproof, Paleo, Vegetarian. I was, too. I was a religious Pescetarian. As a result, for decades I was missing a whole host of essential micronutrients that finally broke me down. My body held on as long as it could, but when I got sick, I didn’t have the nutrition I needed to battle disease and get well. My food religion almost killed me.
I’m now a convert. I’m a Nutrivore! What I learned (thanks to Mira and Jayson Calton) is that it doesn’t matter what the diet is, as long as you’re getting your vitamins and minerals.
Here’s the key. Understand what’s lacking in your way of eating, so you can supplement for anything you’re missing. If animal cruelty is a critical issue for you, I’m the last person who will try to convince you to be Paleo. But I do want to convince you to eat organic, non-GMO veggies and to use essential supplements, so you can get all of the life-giving vitamins and minerals you need.
Miracle #10: Get a plan.
As I’ve shared, my life-chan
ging a-ha on food came from two things. My own brush with death. And learning about micro-nutrients
My nutrition journey was decades in the making. I read it all. Tried it all. Got sick. Started to recover. I just wish I’d known about micronutrients a lot earlier. And that I’d had a real nutrition plan years ago. It would have made my journey shorter, less treacherous and cost a lot less money!
So start now. Put your plan together to:
- Clean your pantry…there will be a psychology to that!
- Select nutrient-rich foods at your next trip to the grocer.
- Stress less, and enjoy life more.
- Eat so you really satisfy all of your cravings.
- Choose the right supplements.
To learn more about the miracles of micro-nutrition and build your own plan, visit caltonnutrition.com.
