Nutrition. It’s not a very big word, but it’s one that can lead to misconceptions and arguments.
The way most people think of nutrition is what can be called the factory model of food: the calories, fats, carbs, sugars, and proteins (so familiar to us from labels on boxes) are the “inputs.” These inputs, in measured doses, are the raw ingredients that go into manufacturing the “outputs”, i.e., our bodies. Bingo, follow the formula and you will be thin, energetic, and healthy! Unfortunately, humans beings are not that simple.
A system for making healthy people that relies on these kind of calculations would be fine if we were sneakers or robots, but we are not. We are organisms, comprising ecosystems of bewildering complexity, and what’s more, each of us is different. We are the products of eons of evolution within a world that is also immensely varied in its climate, geology, soil and water, and the fruits of that world are not the same all across the globe. What might be wonderful, nourishing food for you might incapacitate your best friend, and vice versa.
At the Mountain Centre for Healing we do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to our client’s nutrition. We do not follow current fashions in “healthy” foods or subscribe to the “food pyramid.” We refuse to condemn those foods that have sustained people for millennia; butter, red meat, salt, or bacon, anyone? Yes, please! Remember when a humble breakfast of eggs was considered by most doctors to be the fastest route to a heart attack? Or when coconut oil was condemned? One day fats are out and carbs are in, the next day fats are in and carbs are out… the fact of the matter is that everyone responds to food differently. There is no one single diet, food, or nutrient that will suit every person on the planet.
Here at the Mountain Centre we define “nutrition” to include all that which makes you, an individual, thrive: specific food, specific supplements, prescription medicine in some cases, even activities such as sun-tanning or dancing. Because our bodies are always changing along with our environment, our needs at different points in our lives may also change. Sometimes the stress of life events can alter our chemistry, so that we need certain nutrients to regain or maintain a state of wellness.
In general, Pati has found that the nutrient-dense traditional diets followed by our ancestors make the most sense and offer resolution for most chronic illness today. The Weston A. Price Foundation provides detailed and referenced articles, recipes, and books to support this pursuit. The Mountain Centre recommends that our clients become members to take advantage of the education and dietary guidance they provide.
Within the framework of traditional diets, Pati also suggests guidelines for curative diets, such as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (helpful both for celiac sufferers and those needing a completely gluten-free diet), and also the Ulcer Diet, Auto-Immune Diet, Candida Diets, and the GAPS diet.
Pat’s expertise lies in determining what specific nutrition will be best for you at this point in time, for this set of circumstances. Nutrition then becomes a roadmap. Follow the guidelines and you will arrive at your destination: vibrant health!