There’s More to Health Than Just Eating the Right Foods

Proper food and nutrition can go a long way to help manage many health concerns but for certain conditions diet alone may not be enough to reach the level of health one desires. There’s more to health than just eating the right foods. As much as I’d like to advocate that eating an unprocessed, whole foods diet will help support your condition, in some health situations being open to adopting a more holistic perspective may benefit you in the long run.

Let’s take a deeper dive into one particular health condition so you can get a better understanding of what I mean exactly.

Acne

Though medical doctors may not fully acknowledge that diet plays a role in acne prevention and maintenance, there are a variety of nutrients that play a factor in maintaining optimal skin health and helping to keep this condition from worsening.

The Nutrient/Diet Approach:

Some micronutrients that are important in maintaining healthy skin are: zinc, vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C. Ensuring that one is attaining these nutrients from food sources would be a great start if you suffer from acne.

Solely focusing on diet to help manage this condition may not be enough to yield optimal results. Though food may play a major role in nourishing skin health, there are other holistic approaches that are worth considering such as:

• Stress Management — Say you’re obsessing over eating the perfect diet, devoid of all the trigger foods (allergens or foods you are sensitive to) that exacerbate your skin condition. You’re doing your best to stick to a strict protocol meanwhile you are stressed beyond belief. Fraught just thinking about what to eat, anxious and drained over your long work days and plagued with financial issues. Your acne is not improving and you’re beginning to wonder if your stress load is making it worse? Of course it is! Chronic stress has been shown to increase cortisol (a stress hormone) in the body which could also lead to inflammation. Think of acne as a form of skin inflammation. Learn more about cortisol here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol
  

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• Sleep Quality — This one is simple. Skimp on the sleep and your body suffers the next day. We’ve all been there. Shaving a few hours of rest off of each night leaves you struggling to get through the next day functioning at your best. Add a few cups of coffee or a caffeinated beverage to get you through the day and falling asleep at bedtime soon becomes more difficult. You see the cycle, don’t you? But how does lack of sleep cause acne? Though lack of sleep may not be scientifically proven to be the underlying cause of acne, lack of adequate rest and rejuvenation overnight may interfere with normal hormonal functioning resulting in a variety of health concerns, one of them including acne.
  

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• Exercise — If we’re taking the example of acne and looking at holistic measures to manage it, ignoring exercise would not be wise. Improvements in diet and that alone may not help correct the problem, however incorporating exercises such as hiking, jumping on a trampoline, or cycling may help by increasing blood flow, improving lymphatic circulation, supporting the detoxification process, and by reducing stress.
  

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• Improving Digestion — This one sort of falls into the diet category, however I’m classifying it as a separate strategy. For instance, it is not just about which foods you eat or don’t eat that affect your digestion (i.e. avoid dairy if it causes you bloating), but also in which type of environment you choose to eat. Are you devouring your meals in front of the television? Are you fully engaged in meal time or are you distracted while multitasking trying to complete a work project? Are you rushing around one hand on your cell and one hand on your sandwich, not really putting any thought or effort into your chewing? These are all things to consider and when I refer to improving digestion, taking the time to eat in a relaxed manner, away from stress and fully focusing on the meal can make a huge difference.
  

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Ok, so this wasn’t intended to be a post on acne management but rather a lesson in how there are other factors (components of health) besides food/nutrition/diet/eating which should be at least considered and addressed when aiming to improve your health or a particular condition. Diet and what you chew can be very impactful and help improve quality of life for many, however certain illnesses and conditions may be best tackled through the lens of a true holistic viewpoint.

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Do you incorporate other holistic lifestyle regimens such as exercise and stress management into your daily life to help you in achieving your highest level of health? If so, what is your favorite?

If you found this post helpful, please share with a friend!

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Please note:

I am a nutrition educator/consultant and not a physician.  As such, I do not diagnose or treat disease, rather I support lifestyle balance and health with my work.

Please understand that any information provided on the relationship between nutrition and health is not meant to replace competent medical treatment for any health problem or condition.

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References:
Murray, M. Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1996.
Talbot, S. The Cortisol Connection. Berkeley: Publishers Group West, 2002.