Food is Medicine: In our world today, knowing what and how to eat can feel like a daunting task. And the plethora of dietary theories and dogma only serve to create more confusion and health problems.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years as a practitioner of nutritional therapy it is this: what’s good for the body isn’t necessarily good for the brain (thank you, Dr. Mensah). In other words, feed your brain first so that your body can follow.
This truth hit me hard after a couple of years on a strictly plant-based diet in which I was consuming a lot of high copper and folate-rich foods, where I couldn’t for the life of me understand why I suddenly felt so terrible.
I mean, aren’t avocados and kale good for me?
Imagine my surprise when I found out that all these healthy foods were actually turning on deviant genes inside my body making me feel depressed, anxious, and tired. The worst part for me was the return of a very disordered relationship with food that I developed as a child. Only this time it was back with a vengeance.
This is the power nutrients have on gene expression.
Now I want to share with you this fundamental truth: we are all biochemically unique, which means that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all style of eating for everyone.
Food is Medicine Nutritional Tips:
As a patient of Drs. Mensah and Bowman, I know the advanced nutrient therapy journey well, and want to share with you a few things to keep in mind:
- Nutrient efficacy can be diminished with a diet that is inappropriate for your biotype.
- Extreme juice cleanses, detox programs, and restrictive diets overload or depletes the body of nutrients, leading to cognitive dysfunction, and stressed-out organs and glands that don’t work properly.
- Plant-based diets alone do not supply all the nutrients required for balanced methylation and glutathione synthesis (the body’s master antioxidant).
- Plants have inherent chemical defense systems or anti-nutrients that can make humans and animals ill (this is their claws and teeth). Some of these defense systems come in the form of chemical compounds such as oxalates and salicylates that can create inflammatory responses in sensitive individuals.
- Behavior and thought processes are greatly influenced by the kind of foods you eat, even foods deemed healthy such as spinach.
- Overmethylators thrive on folate-rich foods, while undermethylators need to be very mindful of them.
- Both over and undermethylators can have food and chemical sensitivities, this is the case with autistic individuals, most of whom are undermethylated.
- Testing for methylation status via looking at whole blood histamine does not mean a low-histamine diet will correct the imbalance. Some folks are sensitive to high histamine foods, while others are not.
I currently work in partnership with Drs. Mensah and Bowman providing dietary programs that complement their advanced nutrient therapy protocols for learning, behavioral and mental disorders.
Samantha Gilbert
Samantha Gilbert is a Nutritional Therapist and Certified Holistic Nutrition Practitioner who works with Mensah Medical patients on dietary plans that compliment patient biochemistry results. Samantha’s new clients receive a 1 hour comprehensive assessment from her. She provides them with an online assessment to complete prior to their initial phone consultation with her where patient health history, emotional traits and triggers, and environmental influences are discussed with her. Mensah Medical patients who become clients of Samantha Gilbert get a customized dietary protocol based on their biotype and nutrient protocol from Drs. Mensah and Bowman. She will also provide her clients with recipes and supportive action guides. All Mensah Medical patients receive a special rate.