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STYLE | report 23<br />
So many people tell me that they feel like<br />
their bodies and their tastebuds betray them.<br />
They tell me they know what they should<br />
be eating but they just aren’t doing it, either<br />
because they feel they can’t resist certain foods<br />
or because they don’t have time to prepare<br />
properly nutritious meals. There are countless<br />
others who regularly experience issues with<br />
their digestion – and overall health – yet put<br />
up with it because they think it’s just ‘normal’.<br />
These things are common, but they are never<br />
normal. They are our body telling us that we<br />
need to change something. That something is<br />
often foods that we are eating that don’t agree<br />
with our constitution.<br />
So, in this sea of often conflicting information,<br />
how do we know what we’re supposed to<br />
eat? In my 20 years of clinical practice, I have<br />
never found that one way of eating works for all<br />
humans – and there is a simple reason for this.<br />
We’re all incredibly different. While the human<br />
body is most commonly structured the same<br />
way, there is an element of bio-individuality that<br />
plays an influential part.<br />
For example, all of us get nourishment from<br />
swallowing food and having it broken down by<br />
the acids and enzymes present in our stomach<br />
and small intestine. That overarching process<br />
is much the same in all of us. However, our<br />
individual gut microbiome (the ecosystem of<br />
gut bacteria we all have in our intestine) will<br />
influence how well we absorb nutrients and<br />
whether we react to particular foods or break<br />
them down easily. Some people do well with<br />
more or less carbs than others, and this is in<br />
part due to the bacterial species living in our gut.<br />
Our stress levels, amongst other things, will also<br />
impact on the quality of our digestion and the<br />
integrity of our gut microbiome. The variables<br />
are countless, meaning that what works for one<br />
person won’t necessarily work for another.<br />
The way you are supposed to eat is also<br />
influenced by numerous other factors, one of<br />
which being your heritage. If you have grown<br />
I have never found<br />
that one way of eating<br />
works for all humans<br />
– and there is a simple<br />
reason for this. We’re all<br />
incredibly different.
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