Why Eating Healthy is an Investment, Not a Cost
She was right.
Our diet and nutrition have a direct impact on our physical health, but they also have a direct impact on our mental health and energy levels.
Getting 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day is one of the finest ways we can ensure great energy levels, great mood, and sustained motivation.
For instance, did you know that magnesium plays a direct role in energy production. Magnesium is directly involved in mitochondrial methylation and ATP production. These are the complex processes taking place in each one of our cells. How efficiently these processes go determine our energy levels, including how we feel, think, and act. Magnesium is found in many different fruits and vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables, blackberries, and raspberries.
Vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, such as antioxidants, play a primary role in the quality of our lives.
Do you want to experience wellness, high performance and fitness, constant energy, and mental clarity? Then you need to eat a healthy, diverse diet; especially one that includes fruits and veggies.
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
The key to good health is being proactive, not reactive. If we wait until we are sick and incapable to improve our diet and nutrition, that’s no way to live. We need to take life by the horns and steer it in the direction we want to go. If we want longevity, good mood, and healthy digestion, then the key is to stop waiting and start working.
If you’re struggling just to get off the ground with this whole nutrition thing, then getting just one extra serving of veggies every day would be a good first step. Exercise has a major impact on your health too. Going on a walk or bike ride 3 times a week for 15 minutes would be a good first step as well.
What is your first step? Or, perhaps, your next step? Determine what it looks like for you. An ounce of prevention through improving your health now can save you from a host of health challenges in the future.
If you have a hard time getting started, Ruvi can help you get the fruits and veggies you need each day. No more regrets. It gets your body 4 servings of pure fruits and veggies in every packet. With the Ruvi Starter Kit, you’ll get 30 different fruits and vegetables. There are no additives or fillers, and it is very easy and convenient to use. Just pour, mix, drink.
Sustained Energy
Energy drinks, coffee, and caffeine. What do these all have in common? They give you energy.
But what else do they have in common?
The crash.
The problem with caffeine is that it is not a sustainable source of energy. It leaves you in the dust, causing you to crawl back for more. Caffeine creates dependency, and so it is best to avoid it.
But what about the “natural” sources of energy in things like energy drinks? Like B vitamins?
B vitamins are central to energy levels. Energy drinks like Monster often tout using natural ingredients like B vitamins as their source of energy.
While these energy drinks may contain ‘B vitamins’, not all B vitamins are created equal. Synthetic B vitamins, like folic acid (B9), are often less bioavailable (not easily absorbed by the body), and so are a challenge for the body to use.
This is because they are not combined with other nutrients that are necessary for absorption. For example, in order for the body to use synthetic folic acid (B9), additional vitamin C, niacin and vitamin B12 are needed. (1)
This is also because synthetic vitamins are often only a piece of the full, complex vitamin. For instance, synthetic vitamin E (often under the name dl-alpha tocopherol) exists in nature combined with 7 other vitamin E compounds: 3 other tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols. (1)
In nature, nutrients the body uses for energy, such as vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and antioxidants come in their full, complex forms and are often naturally combined with other micronutrients needed for them to be absorbed correctly.
When it comes to energy, many rely on caffeine to get their daily dose of focus and energy. Unfortunately, caffeine is highly inflammatory and causes many individuals to experience stress, anxiety, and to have trouble sleeping.
With natural vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients found in fruits and veggies there are no downsides. You can experience long-lasting energy with no come down.
With nature, it’s easy to increase your energy the right way.
Mental Clarity
Your mental clarity has everything to do with your diet. If you want to have a solid attention span, quick thinking, and to avoid issues like brain fog and memory recall issues then you need to eat a clean diet filled with nutrient-dense foods.
Some vitamins and minerals that are very powerful for increasing mental clarity are:
- B vitamins such as pyridoxine (B6), folate (B9), and cobalamin (B12)
- Vitamin D
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Zinc
It is also important to get enough Omega-3’s and MCTs in your diet if you want to improve mental clarity. These are healthy fats clinically shown to boost mental clarity and fight mental illness.
Healthy nuts and seeds contain a lot of Omega-3’s. Coconut oil is an excellent source of MCTs and other powerful antioxidants. Clinical studies have shown coconut oil to be a potential treatment for depression and even Alzheimer’s. (2, 3)
Probiotic, fermented foods such as kefir, kombucha, and kimchi can also be highly beneficial for mental clarity, as they contain good bacterial populations. Good gut bacteria are heavily involved in the production of hormones and neurotransmitters, so consuming probiotic foods to build these beneficial populations can have a profound effect on mental health.
Motivation
When it comes to being motivated to exercise, accomplish goals, and spend your time being productive, nutrition and diet are number one. If you don’t get that right, the chances of you feeling motivated to be active are far lower.
This is because nutrient-dense foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, and legumes fill your body and brain with tons of micronutrients that interact in complex ways with your entire body. Many of the vitamins and minerals in these foods are also involved, just as probiotics are, in making neurotransmitters and hormones. If you don’t give your brain and body the building blocks, it won’t have the fortifications necessary to press forward.
Want a tip?
You can get started on the right foot by making a smoothie in the morning filled with some leafy greens, a banana, Ruvi, and a healthy protein powder (such as collagen protein powder). When you start your day this way, you’ll get vitamin C, iron, and magnesium from the leafy greens, B vitamins and potassium from the banana, a grunt load of diverse micronutrients from Ruvi, and important amino acids from the collagen protein powder that help build your organs and create hormones and neurotransmitters.
Whew! Talk about a powerhouse!
Start the day with the right nutrition and you’ll see that you are more motivated to exercise, stay active, and continue eating right throughout the day.
Smooth Digestion
When it comes to digestion, fiber is the name of the game. Fiber feeds your good gut bacteria, which are absolutely essential to quality digestion. Fiber also cleans out your GI tract, scrubbing out your insides and leaving them squeaky clean (in a gross, slimy intestinal kind of way).
Fruits and veggies contain a lot of fiber and different types of vitamins and minerals. The more diverse healthy plant foods your diet contains, the better. Studies show that having variety in your diet is one of the most important things you can do for digestion and health. According to research, it is best to consume 30+ different plants per week for optimal gut health and digestion.
Ruvi contains 30 different fruits and vegetables between all 4 flavors, making it easy to get a diverse range of different plants in your diet.
Fall Asleep Easier
When your digestion is working optimally and your body is able to detoxify properly, you will likely have an easier time falling asleep.
A body and brain filled with toxins is not a relaxed one. When you fill your diet with fruits and vegetables, you’ll be consuming antioxidants that will help your body to detoxify and get rid of the bad stuff so that inflammation in your body and brain can decrease.
When your body is properly detoxing, you’ll likely fall asleep easier.
An interesting tidbit about neurotransmitters
Melatonin is the main neurotransmitter involved in falling asleep and staying asleep. We need adequate amounts of melatonin in order to sleep well. Did you know that melatonin is derived directly from the amino acid tryptophan? Getting enough tryptophan is important for sleep.
But guess what? The body also converts tryptophan into serotonin in the gut, which is one of the number one neurotransmitters responsible for mood and mental health.
How does this work?
When tryptophan interacts with vitamin B6 and B9, it is converted into serotonin. When tryptophan interacts with zinc and magnesium it is converted into melatonin. The process is far more complex than that, but it is interesting to know a little more about how the body works, right?
Vitamins B6 and B9, as well as magnesium and zinc, can be found in abundance in many different healthy foods including fruits and vegetables.
Wake Up Easier
Eating a healthy diet low in pro-inflammatory foods and high in anti-inflammatory foods can be an excellent way to make it easier to wake up in the morning. When our body and brain are filled with inflammation, we can feel foggy, groggy, and cloggy in the morning. (Yep, cloggy. It’s a word.)
When we are filled with inflammation, our face may feel puffy and we may feel ‘stuffed up’ when we get up in the morning. We may also experience pain in our feet when we first wake up. Another symptom of inflammation in the body and brain can be stress and anxiety. Feeling this in the morning can make it a challenge to get up and face the day.
Getting away from inflammatory foods and consuming more anti-inflammatory foods is key.
Pro-inflammatory foods include:
- Conventional dairy
- Sugar
- Artificial sweeteners
- Gluten
When we consume these foods on a regular basis, we may experience physical and mental health issues, and waking up may not be on our list of favorite things to do every day.
Anti-inflammatory foods include:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Herbs
- Mushrooms
- Natural spices (such as turmeric)
- Lentils
- Cacao
If you want to wake up easier, minimize your exposure to pro-inflammatory foods and increase your intake of anti-inflammatory foods like fruits and vegetables.
If you struggle with this, one easy goal could be to add a serving of one vegetable to every meal. Or, you could decide to eat one or two servings of fruit as an afternoon snack. It is easy enough to simply pack an apple or banana in your bag on your way to work.
Increase your daily intake of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods to see a significant difference in your fitness, mood, energy, and sleep. If you have a hard time getting your daily fruits and veggies, Ruvi makes it easy. It’s made with freeze dried fruits and vegetables, and nothing else. No preservatives, additives, or extra sugar. With Ruvi, you feel the peace of mind knowing you're getting real, whole nutrients in every pouch. Just pour, mix, drink. It’s that simple.
Sources
- Serious Dangers of Synthetic & Unnatural Vitamins. MAF. https://philmaffetone.com/serious-dangers-of-synthetic-unnatural-vitamins/
- Antistress and antioxidant effects of virgin coconut oil in vivo. NCBI. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4247320/
- Coconut Oil for Mental Health. The Grapevine Center. https://grapevinecenter.org/2017/02/28/coconut-oil-for-mental-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil-alzheimers-brain-function/