Words by Dr Elen ApThomas HOLISTIC MEDICAL DOCTOR

What do we think of when we think of luxury? Pampering, rejuvenation, relaxation? This is exactly what our cells need to experience every day to function the most efficiently.  

In order for cells to feel nourished they need to be high in macro nutrients such as protein and micro nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and low in toxins and inflammation. It is well known that the average western diet provides food high in calories but low in actual nutrients, coining the phrase “overfed but undernourished”.

Even those people eating a healthy nutrient rich diet can also have problems because many of us especially those with gut issues like irritable bowel syndrome actually don’t absorb much of what they eat. We’re not what we eat but what we absorb.superfoods

This difficulty in absorption occurs because stress sends a signal via the nervous system to the immune system in the gut creating an inflammatory response. This changes the function of the immune system and the bad bugs in the gut increase in numbers creating a thick biofilm of mucus that becomes a barrier to absorption. We also know that bad bugs in the gut also use our food as their food source and eat our nutrients. They repay this favour of us providing them a feast by dumping their acidic waste byproducts into our blood stream increasing our inflammation levels and adding to our toxic load. Very non luxurious!

How do we fix this common problem? The most efficient way of getting our cells back to a luxurious state of functioning is to provide them with the most nutritionally dense foods (super foods) that are able to be easily absorbed and also provide good bacteria and live enzymes to break up these toxic biofims in the gut. Most superfoods such as spirulina and quinoa are very high in nutrients but often poorly absorbed by the body which negates their benefits. To overcome this obstacle these superfoods can be fermented by healthy bacteria (like making yoghurt and sauerkraut), this not only predigests the nutrients making them easily absorbed but also provides healthy bacteria and live enzymes. Fermented superfoods are even better if they are organic such as in the wise nutrients range. Most people find that a dose of ½-1 tsp daily of these fermented super foods helps improves their energy and digestive health. It’s like a pampering treat for your whole body.

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