Nutritional Therapyy in Kingston

How to Explain Nutrition to Your Child or Teen

An adult body is mainly in a repair and maintenance mode. An adult’s nutrition is geared towards balancing physical demands, stress and hormonal fluctuations. Adults get in trouble when an imbalance is quietly left to build. Adults frequently get a real fixer-upper to build. Then they have to unlearn a whole bunch of bad habits that took them down a bad path. As long as there is life, though, there is hope.

Nutrition in a child’s or teen’s body is very important and sometimes tricky. Your body is building everything; miles of blood vessels, strong and springy bones and perhaps most importantly, brain and nerve tissues — all inside of a stretchy coating called skin. There is skin on the outside, which you can see, but there is also skin on the inside, along your digestive and urinary systems. If the skin on the inside breaks up a bit it is called a leaky gut, which needs a certain diet and special care to heal. Otherwise what is in your bowel seeps into your bloodstream, and that is not good.

The nutrition you take in (food with protein, good fats and phytonutrients from plants AND water) are the building blocks — the bricks, mortar, boards, wires and the parts that join together to make YOU and the body you see. If you do not bring it the right building materials in the right quantities, then you will build a wonky body. Different parts of you are made from different things.

Yes, you need to eat vegetables and lots of protein. Yes, you do need to drink water to build the different parts of you. Maybe most surprisingly, you DO need to eat fats – good fats. This is what your brain and nerves are made from. Without the good fats you cannot think as well – not good for school or staying sharp to socialise with your friends.

There is a lesson in the story of the three Little Piggies. Do not build your body out of straw or sticks like easy-to-find carbohydrates, junk food, sugar, sweets, white flour, salt and bad fats, because your house will not stand the test of time. You will then have no place to live, or it will be very unpleasant and you cannot exactly run over to your neighbour’s body.

Here is where it gets even more strange. Let’s say you did eat all of the good foods and drank enough water BUT you did not move about (A LOT) or exercise. Oh dear- you would still be in trouble. Our body plan is made sleek and sumptuous by movement. If you have trouble moving comfortably or do not know what to do, see your Chiropractor. If it hurts to stand or run on your feet, if your knees and feet do not point in the same direction, see the Podiatrist. The problem is that if you do not move enough, your body will still seem wonky because it is not set up with the correct organisation. This improper setup not only changes how you move but how you think and especially your ability to memorise. Movement develops the part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is the seat of your memory. M=M or Movement = Memory.

But not is at all lost. Your body is really smart, provided you give it all of the correct nutritional blocks to grow. When you exercise, it will will straighten out all of the bits and repair and reorder all of the parts, because your body would prefer to follow the correct blueprint. You have your own individual blueprint that can only make you, and you to look like you. That blueprint, your genes, carries the information and design for every bit of your home – your body which carries you about. What can your genes build for you?

To read the blueprint, you have a part of your genes that works like the driver on the bus or a contractor when he reads a blueprint. They decide which part of the gene is used – or where and what reaction your body is gong to make. This is called the epigenetic influence. It is very important so that when you are cold, you will shiver or when you get a sliver, the area gets hot and swollen – your body is actually trying to get rid of the sliver.

Let’s say you get the flu and a fever comes on. Your body is actually trying to cook the invader out (they cannot stand the heat). Or you eat some food that has gone bad and get ill – your body wants the nasty stuff out, and fast. Your body is really smart and will try to do its best to keep you well. Only after awhile of mistreating it by exposing it to things that are not good and not giving it what it needs will problems start. Some people cannot eat certain foods, and you can tell when the area under their eyes looks dark, their tummy hurts or there is toilet trouble. If this is you, then absolutely see the Nutritional Therapist or the Functional Medicine practitioner.

Epigenetics and your nervous system control EVERYTHING. They especially like phytochemicals, which are things from plants. Feed your contractor (epigenetics) good food, water and exercise. Maybe you do not exercise or eat too much sugar and bad fat. Then, your body is going to try to help by hiding leftover calories in your fat cells, and your body will change shape as the extra cells fill up and in. Shortcuts of not eating or being ill are very bad – if this sounds like you, then see the cPNI practitioner. They help people to figure out their body shape and how that relates to emotions and eating. Just like adults, sometimes young people have to learn to think about things differently. The cPNI practitioner helps all the way through this process.

Your contractor, your epigenetics, tracks and controls your repair process that happen mostly when you are asleep. Let’s say you have a bad fall, and you get a bit of a jumble going on. The skin on your knee will heal, a broken bone will mend without you having to worry – but if you messed up your back, you may have to visit the Chiropractor. They can get your nerves to work and communicate correctly, but mostly your system reads your blueprint and sends out the repair teams. Remember, though, you need to keep your epigenetics functioning well. You also need to give your body the building block to make good repairs and the sleep required to allow the process to happen.

You may have the genes to be on the right side of the photo but may wind up living on the left. Make the right choices. Live on the right. Do the right things and remember, we are here to help you find your right path anytime you need us.