A few years ago Hoffman graduate Joan Borysenko and her husband went on an ultra low fat vegan diet to combat health problems only to find their symptoms worsened. Although more known for personal development work, Joan has been interested in nutrition since studying cell biology at Harvard. Her curiosity was piqued – how could following the best advice make things worse? She spent the next 3 years reviewing the latest literature on nutrition and recent discoveries in epigenetics. (simply put, epigenetics studies the factors which influence whether we activate our genetic tendencies – if your family is historically overweight, for example, does this mean that you will be too?). In her new book The PlantPlus Diet Solution: Personalized Nutrition for Life Joan shares her insights and helps you find out what nutrition works for you.
One Size Does Not Fit All….
‘One thing I discovered early on was that my husband and I belonged to a sector of the population who don’t do well on carbohydrates. Everyone’s metabolism varies and we don’t all process carbohydrates in the same way – you can find out your own profile through a simple blood test. So one aim of the book is to show you how to personalise what you eat in a way that suits you best. Each chapter also increases your nutritional literacy by giving short ‘science bites’ which help you understand how to rewire your brain to reduce cravings and gain more pleasure from food.
The first four weeks of the diet are designed to curb sugar cravings, then you can begin to add back foods such as grains, beans and soy and see how you react. A colleague of mine at Harvard has devised a checklist for readers to track changing moods and symptoms so that you get constant physical and emotional feedback.
Even if you don’t follow the diet straight away or even at all, there are two steps that you can take that will make a huge difference:
- eat a pound of fresh vegetables a day
- cut out processed food
Nature or Nurture?
So how much are we a product of our inheritance and how much do our lifestyle choices decide our physical health and weight? One exciting discovery is that the food you eat causes epigenetic changes. That is to say, it can cause certain genes to switch on or off, changing your mood, your brain chemistry, your behaviour and the state of your health.
What’s become clear is that there’s an interdependent relationship between nature and nurture. For example if you’re feeling anxious or depressed one approach may be to try resolving unhealed emotional issues in your past, but making changes to your diet could also play an important role in that. We need to eat food which nourishes our gut bacteria because this is what fires our neurotransmitters, which in turn affects our mood.
Interestingly, according to a new survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, the millennial generation is the most depressed and anxious current living generation and it’s the one which eats the most processed food. There’s also a change in how we consume our food. It’s become the norm to get a takeaway, eat out or put a ready meal in a microwave to eat in front of the TV. Yet the simple act of preparing your food and sitting down to eat it with your family can be very grounding and nurturing. Once you begin to eat in a way which supports you and optimises your gut microbes you could find this has a tremendous effect on your stress levels. What we pass on down our family line is not only a pattern of anxiety for example, but a way of eating that supports that state.
The Importance of Awareness – Cravings and Addictions
I’ve done a lot of work with addictions and what I often see is that addicts are trying to change deeply-ingrained habits without understanding the link between diet and behaviour. Changing your nutritional habits as part of a recovery programme can make a vital difference.
Sometimes when you respond to a food craving you may be on autopilot, prompted by a deeply-ingrained habit, or you may be reacting to a physical imbalance originating in your gut. This can become a vicious cycle and the way to break it is by bringing a new level of awareness to your relationship with food.
There is an entire chapter in the book dedicated to helping you develop this key skill of noticing your behaviour patterns – something which is also a foundation stone of the Hoffman Process. The Process boosts self-respect and encourages greater self-care so improving your nutrition tends to move higher up your list of priorities by the end of the course.
Finding Freedom – The Hoffman Process
In fact the energy of the Process starts a ball rolling which you can keep going with positive changes in many areas of your life. Personally I found that the course gave me a road map. It showed me how it all fitted together; what it means to be my best self. We’re all in our best self from time to time but we also go into our ‘patterned’ self. Most of the time we’re somewhere between the two. If you imagine that your best self is a number ten and your most unconscious patterned self is number one it can help to notice as you go through your day where you are on that scale – and what makes the difference. For example eating certain foods, listening to music, taking exercise, the people around you – these can all change your experience. The next thing to notice is: did you work with your patterns when you became aware of them. You’re not looking to beat yourself up – you’re just looking for progress.
I feel that’s what the Process is all about – freeing yourself from the patterns that otherwise control you. What Hoffman refers to as your spiritual self or your ‘best’ self is always there, in the same way that the sun is always in the sky but sometimes it can be obscured by clouds – the Process is a great cloud-clearer!
To read sample chapters of The PlantPlus Diet Solution: Personalized Nutrition for Life and for regular nutritional tips visit www.joanborysenko.com
Interview with Nikki Wyatt
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