Spotlight on Micronutrients

One of my favorite analogies for reaching wellness goals goes something like this (a la Jerry and Esther Hicks)…

If you’re in Phoenix, Arizona, and you want to get to San Diego, California, you need to look at a map and plan your course. When you start your journey, you face in the direction of San Diego and start heading that way. As long as you’re moving toward San Diego, you’re on your way. If you change directions, change your mind, ignore your map, or turn back toward Phoenix and then back to San Diego and then back to Phoenix again (you get the picture)…you aren’t on your way and you won’t get there.

Rest assured, if you face toward San Diego and move a little bit each day, you will eventually get there. It’s more important to head the right direction than to make big sweeping leaps all at once (and often with big leaps, you end up broke and back in Phoenix anyway!).

It applies to wellness quite easily. Decide what goal you want to reach, and day by day, step by step, inch toward your goal. If you experience indecision, lack of determination, or unclear values…you’ll find yourself confused, frustrated and back at square one.

I see this phenomenon in my own life, and also with clients and students. If we can resist the urge to make leaping sweeping changes, and just go with our values and head in the right direction, we feel better and are more likely to succeed in reaching our goals. Over the past seven years, I’ve done some inching and I’ve done some leaping. The leaping has had its own value, but the real progress has happened slowly and in little bits with a positive attitude and lots of strategy. Personal wellness is at least a part-time job.

My understanding of nutrition continues to evolve. I’m currently reading The Gerson Therapy, just finished Kimberly Snyder’s new detox book, watched two health documentaries (Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and Food Matters), and have been teaching several classes on nutrition and supplements…

My current understanding revolves around Micronutrients. Of all the times I’ve focused on the macronutrients (carbs, fat, and protein), I’ve ended up looking too much at calorie intake. The restrictive and deprivation mindset is uncomfortable and ineffective for most people.

However, the idea of adding quality foods (high in micronutrients–vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and more), with specific goals, is turning out to be groundbreaking for both myself and several of my clients. Regardless of the method of micronutrient enhancement (juicing, blending, eating lots and lots and lots of salads…) the end result is the same.

Better body, better thoughts, fewer health complaints/symptoms, and no more disease. For some people, the effect shows up more in their energy level, and for others it shows in measurable numbers (weight, body fat, cholesterol, blood pressure)…truthfully, I think micronutrient loading will always address both the quantifiable and qualitative aspects of wellness.

I’m currently doing my own micronutrient loading through green juice (and I’m drinking kombucha too because it feels like a big treat). In less than three days, I can already tell a difference in the way my body feels and through my increased energy level. I’m working on this micronutrient perspective as a foundation for working with clients, and have a couple people already chomping at the bit to do it Cleanse-Style (i.e. leaping instead of inching!). I’ll be a facilitator for both methods because it will yield results either way.