You are what you eat BUT most importantly, you are what your body can assimilate and absorb!

Enjoying good health is also therefore dependent upon how well you eliminate the toxic by-products following ingestion, digestion and the assimilation of foods eaten.

A good diet is the basis of all preventative and corrective medicine and nutrition is the first step towards maintaining good health or fighting off ailments and disease. Poor nutrition is in most cases the basis of most non-infective diseases.

These include ailments such as arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, blood pressure problems, skin complaints such as eczema, digestive system problems i.e. bloating, excessive flatulence, indigestion, reflux, constipation, irritable bowel, diverticulosis etc.

No one diet suits everyone, as our nutritional needs are different and as personalised as our fingerprints. Your dietary and nutritional needs will vary according to age, lifestyle, past illness, stress, gender etc.

Most importantly though, structural and enzymatic differences which are partially determined by genetics, determines how well you break down foods and absorb these essential nutrients found in them. What this means is that you may be eating what you consider a well balanced and healthy diet but continually be urinating away a nutrient (example calcium, zinc, magnesium) simply because …

• you have a low renal threshold for it OR
• you may already be deficient in another nutrient which helps it's absorption OR
• your intestinal / friendly bowel flora may be insufficient to ensure absorption or manufacture of certain nutrients.

As we are all so different, the foods you choose to eat for your body is vital. Food intolerance, food allergy and the lack of certain digestive enzymes can cause bloating in the stomach, headaches, low energy and an itchy tongue just to mention a few unpleasant symptoms.

Digestion begins in the mouth and so is chewing the food sufficiently. Saliva and the enzyme ptylin is secreted in the mouth.

Ptylin breaks down starch such as bread, pasta, potatoe and rice. Chew for long enough so that the food become a liquid pulp before swallowing it. If you gulp your food, it will not be properly prepared for the stomach - the next stage for the digestion on food.

Try not to drink 30 minutes before, during and up to 30 minutes after a meal as this tends to water down the natural digestive enzymes found in vegetable, fruits and greens. Drink plenty of mineral water between meals.

As already mentioned, the correct breakdown and assimilation (absorption and use)  of foods and nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, trace elements and fiber is critical to overall health. We eat because we have to have specific nutrients in order to live.

Good health and ideal weight control is not only about calorie consumption and exercise - it is the retention of nutrients in order for your body to carry our critical functions.

There are many people who eat well, take countless vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements and yet still feel unwell. This is because some organ, system or gland is not functioning properly and it is affecting the body's metabolism.

Click here for a sample meal plan.