How easy is it to achieve a healthy BMI? Is it even possible?
In all honesty achieving and maintaining a healthy BMI is easy peasy but without a good grasp of basic nutritional knowledge you’d find yourself running in loops.
First understand these fundamentals
- Nutrition is not an exact science
- Herbs are an integral part of nutrition
- You feed for nourishment and not for taste
- Doctors are great and western medicine has made huge advances in medicine but with nutrition I got my reservation read my personal encounter
Now let’s define nutrition
Good nutrition implies consuming the best type of nutrients to sustain the internal human microbial colony. Good nutrition should prevent disease and promote optimal health. Any dietary plan that is lacking in real food & beverage is most definitely not a good nutritional plan
To truly understand a subject or topic a grasp of its fundamentals are essential. Nutrition is no exception. If you listen long and hard enough you will soon discover a lot of people have zero knowledge of what good nutrition is; I had a poor knowledge until I started to listen to my body, pay attention to what I consumed as both food and beverage and started studying basic nutrition, I soon understood the correlation between disease and nutrition.
Healthy nutrition and BMI
A healthy body mass index range is said to be between 18.5 & 24.9. Know that a BMI result serves only has guideline and shouldn’t be construed to imply healthiness.
Recent studies have shown that what we (or fail to) consume as food and beverage largely affects our intestinal ecology and in effect our overall well-being suggesting a symbiotic relationship between human host and gut bacteria. When the bad guys over-run the good guys we have what is known as Dysbiosis: a state of microbial imbalance and if unchecked can lead to metabolic disorder which is a cluster of medical conditions; cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type two diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Excess body weight or fat presents a risk to health and the healthiest and simplest way to achieve a healthy BMI is by way of good nutrition. Without a BMI calculator a truly overweight or obese person can tell by looking in a mirror.
It is also not fun when as a result of weight problems you can’t run along with your little child or dash up a flight of stairs if you need to. According to WHO’s global health observatory data 39% of women and 39% of men aged 18 and over were overweight in 2016. Statistics presented by renewbariatrics reveal that approximately 14 million Nigerians or 11% of the population are obese.
For optimal health, dietary choices must include a wide range of plant based foods as fad or restrictive diets are not sustainable in the long term. The habitual pattern of consuming denatured foods IE high calorie, zero nutrient foods leave a vast number of people craving more of the same bad foods leading to a vicious cycle of cravings that can never be quelled.
Denatured foods are deficient in the type of nutrients that the human gut microbes need to flourish so an imbalance occurs, the gut microbes go crazy from starvation, and send scattered signals to your brain.
So what to do to keep your weight in check
whole fruit cut at home is nutrient dense
Eat strictly whole foods and consume less of manufactured foods to clarify canned pineapple and whole pineapple do not have the same nutritional value one is devoid of all beneficial nutrient and the other is teeming with live vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that are beneficial to both you and your gut microbes.
Choose your food wisely In so far as it is possible buy fresh produce only. Studies show that when indigenous cultures adopt western foods (manufactured) in place of their traditional diets rich in whole grains, vegetables & whole fruits incidents of ill health increase sharply
factory produced foods are devoid of all nutrients. IE they are denatured
What about beverages
As with foods home brewed fermented beverages are beneficial to both you and your guts microbes as they carry bacterial strains that are beneficial to your gut and hence should be your drink of choice, commercial brand beverages are a burden to you and your health.
Herbs
You must use herbs generously both culinary and medicinal as herbs are an integral part of good nutrition, this may come as a surprise but it is what it is. Herbs are vital to health research shows that herbs carry the highest value of anti-oxidant and antioxidants are invaluable in the prevention of oxidative damage throughout the body.
Cook your fresh produce with a generous amount of fresh and dried culinary herbs, bitter herbs like arugula should feature prominently in your meals. Our taste receptors are equipped to detect taste; salty, sour, bitter, sweet and savoury. There is a reason for each of those receptors ergo, makes no sense to avoid bitters it has its place in nutrition. So learn to enjoy bitter foods and beverages and incorporate home made sour foods too. Your microbes will reward your effort.
How safe are herbs
Often what makes it to the headline section of major news outlet is the occasional one off incident that results from inappropriate use or misidentification of herbal remedies. Sensationalism sells that’s what I put that down to. Never mind that Nsaids on the other hand kill routinely and no one bats an eyelid must be that we have come to accept that as norm. Invariably you find those who bash herbal remedies generally lack herbal knowledge, in other words know nothing about herbs.
Efficacy of herbs.
Herbs aren’t just plants but contain a myriad of chemical compounds such as alkaloids, terpenoids, organic acids etc. ergo if administered inappropriately can prove fatal interestingly it is the synergy of these chemical compounds that gives herbs it’s potency setting it apart from pharmaceutical drugs and synthetic herbal supplements.
The holistic interplay of the numerous chemical compounds creates a synergy, facilitating healing on physical, mental & physiological levels. Yoruba people of West Africa call certain herbal remedies ‘awogba arun’ loosely translated to mean ‘able to cure 200 ailments’ for obvious reasons. Herbal remedies work to restore balance in the whole organism.
Herbs have the power to tone, nourish and strengthen human tissues, organs and cells.
culinary & medicinal herbs are rich in anti-oxidants
You have much to gain and nothing to lose with 100% herbal nutrients or remedies and herbs as with everything are best purchased from trusted sources.
A handful of herbs both culinary and medicinal can be grown around your home you don’t even need green fingers to get going.
To give your goal of a healthy BMI a boost we offer you our simple DIY extraction method neatly compiled into a 12 page E-guide follow the instructions carefully and watch all that excess weight around your waist and belly (beer belly) melt away.
Be well!
egbe adeta
Egbe is an unrepentant herb user, a health enthusiast and an avid reader who loves to share her commonsense approach to nutrition.
