Listen to Your Body: It Knows Best

I believe that your body gives you signs, both positive and negative. It tells you when your systems are balanced; it tells you when they’re not.

Since food is how we get most of our body’s building blocks, it’s best to tie what your body is saying to your food choices. That notion is kind of unheard of or not talked about in doctor’s offices that much, but the notion of diet impacting health is gaining more traction.

I’m a big believer in you are what you eat. If you’re not eating enough of the right foods or none of them at all, your body will talk. It’s your job to LISTEN.

For example, let’s talk B Vitamins. Ask yourself:

• Do you have enough energy throughout the day?
• Is stress an issue?
• Are you increasingly grumpy/moody?
• Are you having more and more trouble sleeping through the night?
• Are you eating a strict vegan or vegetarian diet?
• Are you having trouble focusing?

If you’ve answered YES to any of these questions, you may not be eating or absorbing B vitamins. Granted, there are LOTS of reasons we don’t sleep or don’t have enough energy throughout the day. But food could be one of the reasons. And food changes are an easy, low impact way to get what the body needs. Food swaps can help you feel more energized, less stressed, less grumpy, better rested and/or more focused.

All of these deficient qualities are due to lack of B Vitamins. Yup! The B’s (there are 8 of them) give us a feeling of wellbeing, help with stress, energy, sleep and focus.

How to Eat More B Vitamins
(Thank you Healthline for help with this info.)

Salmon (3.5 ounces)

• Thiamine (B1): 18% of the RDI
• Riboflavin (B2): 29% of the RDI
• Niacin (B3): 50% of the RDI
• Pantothenic acid (B5): 19% of the RDI
• Pyridoxine (B6): 47% of the RDI
• Cobalamin (B12): 51% of the RDI
• Salmon is also really high in O3’s

Eggs (one large)

• Riboflavin (B2): 15% of the RDI
• Pantothenic acid (B5): 7% of the RDI
• Biotin (B7): 33% of the RDI
• Folate (B9): 5% of the RDI
• Cobalamin (B12): 9% of the RDI

Chicken Breast (3.5 ounces)

• Riboflavin (B2): 7% of the RDI
• Niacin (B3): 69% of the RDI
• Pantothenic acid (B5): 10% of the RDI
• Pyridoxine (B6): 30% of the RDI
• Cobalamin (B12): 6% of the RDI

Sunflower Seeds (1 ounce)

• Niacin (B3): 10%
• Pyridoxine (B6): 11%
• Pantothenic acid (B5): 20%
• Folate (B9): 17%

This is just ONE example of how to eat your building blocks to impact how you feel. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be highlighting the different nutrients we get from food and how it makes you feel. Follow along and listen to your body to draw a bigger, broader line from well-being to food.

Schedule a free 20-minute consult with a Healthy Nest holistic nutritionist. Let’s chat vitamins, supplements and natural weight loss.