00. Removing Blocks to Nutritional Changes Protocol
One of the hardest aspects of healing is making the necessary changes in your diet. On some level, we intuitively know that fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, wild foods and herbs are inherently the healthiest food options for us. However, the reality is that we modern humans have some serious food issues where our ability to actually follow through with such a diet is limited. Physiological and emotional food addictions are real and unfortunately there are more cases than not where one will choose to continue with their dietary habits and suffer ill health and even early death over changing their dietary patterns.
Physiological food and beverage addictions can involve caffeine, alcohol, salt, processed sugars, additives, gluten and dairy which all promote inflammation. When we crave certain foods one must ask, “Is it truly me who wants this substance or perhaps pathogens perpetuating persistent pro-inflammatory processes? Alcohol and sugar cravings can be due to not having adequate glucose and glycogen reserves in the body, particularly the liver. Caffeine and chocolate addictions can indicate issues with adrenaline. Salt cravings can be related to electrolyte/mineral deficiencies or adrenal fatigue.
When experiencing emotional stress we will often turn towards foods that give us an adrenaline hit (such as caffeine or fat) to boost our mood and energy, provide emotional comfort or distract us from underlying stressors. Many foods we gravitate towards go back historically to times in our life where we felt safe and nurtured within our family and thus we sensorily positively associate them with this experience.
Therefore, when starting out on a nutritional journey, it is encouraged to set small reasonable goals and build from there. For some this may be drinking 16 oz more water/day while for others it will be an entire dietary overhaul. Generally, as one begins to clean up their physiology, it becomes easier to keep up with healthier dietary patterns.
If someone is really blocked with making changes in their eating habits, they likely are up against certain underlying dietary beliefs and/or emotional attachments that will not permit them to make any or all of the changes that would best support their health and well-being. In this case, an approach focusing more on the emotional-mental and even spiritual realms may be necessary.
This protocol helps address any blocks you may have from making the best nutritional choices for you to authentically resonate health.
There are 5 phases to this protocol, each 2 weeks long with the average total duration taking approximately 10 weeks.
- Depending on your unique baseline status, you may require more or less time to successfully complete each phase. Take the amount of time you need.
- Ideally, you would perform all components of the protocol but if this is not feasible for you, simply do what you can.
- Use your journal, accessed at the bottom of the page, to chart your progress and take notes.
- Sample schedules are included for you to follow throughout each phase. Our outlines suggest returning to knowledge items every other day, but you may take whatever time you need to explore.
If you prefer to perform the components of this protocol at your own discretion and/or use your testing technique to determine which parts are priority for you, here is the full Master Guide item list that compose this protocol:
