For survival, says Colleen Sanders-Symanski, our bodies need water, sleep, movement, closeness (love), protein, choice carbs and healthy fats, most health professionals would agree.
But the double-edged sword that is the American food industry offers such an overwhelming array of edibles, from super fat, calorie- and chemical-laden fast food to nutrient-rich, organic produce, that finding the proper foods for our individual bodies, tastes and lifestyles can be daunting.
Sanders-Symanski, a registered nurse, is the executive director of a Sebastian non-profit, Diabetes and Health Education, Inc. “We are the only diabetes program in Indian River County accredited by the American Association of Diabetes Educators,” she sayd.
Because people don’t always see past the word “diabetes,” the organization is more frequently called “A Healthier Me,” and its goal is, simply put, “making being healthier easier,” Sanders-Symanski says.
“We’re given Rolls Royce bodies and we often treat them like junkers. We wouldn’t dream of putting watered down gas in our car, but we eat packaged fast foods.”
With a background in public health, Sanders-Symanski has seen first-hand how changing to a plant-based diet can makes a huge difference in an individual’s overall health.
Laura Petersen, one of the non-profit’s board members, also knows first-hand. Her husband, in his late 70s at the time, had been chronically tired and feeling well below par for a long while, before he decided to make a change. Working with Sanders-Symanski, over a period of a few months, he learned how to shop and eat in a way that far better filled his body’s needs. “It turned his life around,” says Petersen, “and it was actually fun.”
Sanders-Symanski’s own personal experience, has also further convinced her how important – even, literally, lifesaving – such very basic changes can be. Her husband had been gravely ill and undergoing treatment at the Mayo Clinic for weeks.
At last, all recourses exhausted, the couple was given no further hope, and told to go home. She gathered as much information as she possibly could – “I read and read and read” – and, systematically studying each of her husband’s health issues, began to figure out what sorts of foods had positive and negative impacts. She methodically put together an “eating to heal” plan, which her husband undertook. As time passed, he began to feel better, stronger, and was able to be taken off the transplant list.
Perhaps as a backlash from the fast food and beverage industry’s influence on our fast-paced lives, a growing number of Americans are discovering, or re-discovering, the power of fruits and vegetables, in their original forms. Sanders-Symanski talks about the multiple benefits of a vegetarian or, at least, a plant-based diet.
For starters, she says, the familiar food group pyramid is a thing of the past. In its place, according to the Food and Drug Administration, is The New American Plate which, simply put, recommends a daily intake that is two-thirds, or at least half, plant-based, with the remainder split between protein and starch. Today’s national nutrition guidelines “emphasize consumption of powerhouse, or nutrient-dense, fruits and veggies – which are most strongly associated with reduced chronic disease risk. Items at the top of this group include foods in the cruciferous (cabbage) family, which includes watercress, kale, cabbage, collard greens, and arugula, and the green leafy family – chard, beet greens, spinach, chicory, leaf lettuce. At the bottom of the list are carrots, tomatoes, winter squash, sweet potato, scallions, leeks, citrus and berries. All good, but the higher the nutrient density, the better.
Sanders-Symanski says that the body “wants to heal” and has a far better chance of doing so if provided with the “tools’ it needs, with proper nutrition being one of the most important. A plant-based diet can be a key factor in gaining and maintaining health. And “it’s never too late or too early to start.”
But doesn’t everyone need meat? It’s a common question. Not necessarily, she says, as long as the nutrients lacking in a vegetarian diet are replaced. Some vegetarians avoid only red meat but do allow eggs, dairy products, chicken and/or fish. If not, good sources of protein include vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.
A vegetarian would also need to regularly monitor his or her B12 and iron levels, typically done with a blood test, at least once or twice a year. Supplements can be ingested via inoculation on sub-lingual. Cooking with a cast-iron pot or pan is another good way to add iron. To fill the requirement for healthy fat, Sanders-Symanski explained, avocado, nuts, grapeseed oil or olive oil, are all good sources.
She emphasizes the growing importance of choosing locally grown, organic produce, whenever possible, and warns that simple rinsing is by no means always a protection from the various chemicals and pesticides that find their way onto and into our food.
There is, said Sanders-Symanski, a very enlightening list, published each year by the non-profit advocacy agency, the Environmental Working Group. It is EWG’s Dirty Dozen Report, which uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Dirty Dozen are, she explained, the current 12 most pesticide-heavy fruits and veggies, domestic and imported. These are foods heavily sprayed with pesticides, which can seep through the skin and into the interior of the fruit or veggie, making a simple surface washing virtually useless and exposing the consumer to all sorts of harmful pesticide residue.
Some foods such as bananas aren’t vulnerable, but many are. On the current list, once again, apples lead the way, with 99% of the samples testing positive for at least one pesticide. No. 2, strawberries, tested positive for 13 different pesticides. No. 3 – a single grape sample contained 15 pesticides. No. 4 – Celery, with 13. No. 5 – Peaches. No. 6 – Spinach. No. 7 – Sweet Bell Peppers. No. 8 – Nectarines. No. 9 – Cucumber. No. 10 – Cherry Tomatoes. No. 11 – Potatoes. No. 12 – Snap Peas.
Benefits, no matter what an individual’s age, can include: reduced risk of disease such as cancer and diabetes; reduced risk of high blood pressure; support for optimal functioning of the whole body; better sleep; increase in energy.
The more efficient functioning of the body, overall, which such thoughtful, plant-based eating supports, can be a major factor in dealing with stress, even grief.
Sanders-Symanski says consumers should, realistically, “go for progress, not perfection” and should “choose their battles.“