We are in need of a serious nutrition recovery.

This is a broad topic, yet it is much aligned with our current state of obesity, cancer, heart disease, depression, anxiety, the list is endless.

While paying strong and vital attention to one’s diet and nutrition intake, must coincide with what each individual’s health is telling them to do. Pay attention. This is the message.

Laziness has now taken a back seat to proactive choices in what is being put into our bodies. The message is out there. The time is now. If we don’t show up and be responsible for the nutritional choices at this, or any stage of our lives, we will suffer the consequences. Whether you choose to be gluten-free, dairy free, vegetarian, vegan or any other dietary lifestyle choice, we are in a transformation year where nutrition and food needs to be a major focus.

It would be too easy to fall into habits and patterns that may have suited a lifestyle back when food was plentiful, fresh, inexpensive, real and was created and cooked at home. Today, one has to work for their health from the inside out.

The nutrition movement has taken on some rather unimpressive twists and turns, and one fad after another hit—one more food source became more processed than ever, our farmers were spraying pesticides on everything, the oceans became very polluted, the land is environmentally not the same as it was 30 years ago, and the FDA and USDA has eased off on some regulations (where they should have enforced more proactively), and placed more strict regulations on foods and policies of dietary guidelines that have no business being in our society. Labeling and packaging is confusing and ironic and sad. The organic movement is being scrutinized as not a valid way to eat, yet studies upon studies show that the closer to a grower’s backyard you can dine from, the better off for your overall health.

Consumers are reading studies on everything from the benefits of red wine, to the controversy surrounding coffee, to the wonderful anti-inflammatory aspects of turmeric, to every diet under the sun that can cure all diseases, illnesses and offer a quick fix. It can be very dizzying for the average person, and possibly even more disenchanting for the wellness professional wanting to dispense proper information.

At this stage of the 21st century, we are in need of a serious nutrition recovery.

Nutrition recovery can have several connotations. For the person suffering from a long history of disease such as cancer, broad lifestyle changes and a serious dietary overhaul would be suggested. Getting back to basics, cleansing the processed food habit, and eating more quality and real foods needs to be front and center.

With a child returning to school after a long summer break, parents have to commit to paying attention to the school lunch program. This nutritional epidemic often begins at the scholastic level is detrimental to a child’s learning and healthy growth. Many schools are beginning to embrace the addition of more fresh vegetables and fruits to the school lunch programs and eliminating soda machines, yet it has to start at home. How a child eats at home, and what a child eats at home, can directly affect his choices at school. That is a parent paying attention.

Another example of nutrition recovery is the addict. Not just an alcoholic or drug addict, but people addicted to everything from exercise to food. Ironic at best, but this type of addiction can translate into very unhealthy dietary choices. Again, this is a broad term because it might encompass the anorexic and bulimic who battle control over his or her weight issues and food choices, only to be addicted to the very source making them sick. The serious fitness enthusiast may appear healthy, but actually is lacking nutritional variety. He or she may be on strict diet and taking numerous supplements, but also tends to overtrain and may be at risk for heart disease later on.

It can be a vicious and unhealthy cycle, yet now is the time to take stock of nutrition and how it plays the most vital part in recovery from all the above mentioned situations.

There is so much promise in our society to transform what is current and not working in our lives nutritionally. We have the choice to becoming aware and restoring our health, but we have somehow lost sight of the importance of what we are feeding ourselves and children. It affects every living cell in our bodies to eat properly. It affects the environment on how we treat our food. It affects the world on how we relate to each other based on the quality of our interactions with a healthy and sound mind. All of this can come about with nutritional recovery.

The time is now. The opportunity is here. Pay attention. There is hope. Eliminate GMO’s. Eat fresh, wholesome, real food. Love what you eat, and it will love you back by giving you a body that is healthy and happy.

Ed: Brianna Bemel