Nutrition & Eating Real Foods

Eating well shouldn't be difficult whether it’s to maintain your health or to help reverse a chronic disease.

Michael Polland's simple message, is a good first start:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

It makes a lot of sense to focus on real foods while avoiding processed foods, matching your calorie intake based on your health goals and exercise regime, and always making sure to eat your fruits and veggies.
It is important to be even more specific and to help people navigate the "wild west" of dietary regimes. Present-day food trends or food fads are geared to address only one specific aspect of our health and provide short-term benefits at best (e.g. temporary weight loss). For many, such narrow approaches dramatically increase the risk of health problems down the road. When someone has a chronic disease, it important to help people feel better, while also looking at body-wide implications over the short-term and avoiding negative outcomes over the long-term.
Dr. Martin Gleixner ND recommends a physiology-based approach: a nutritional plan suited on how your body truly functions. As a patient you will again a better understanding about human physiology (i.e. how organs and cells work in the body), so that you become able to filter out food trends that are misguided and misinformed. A nutritional plan should be designed to optimize every aspect of your health. As discussed in an article, a diet that places special emphasis on improving your digestion and liver function is sound advice for all human health problems and is also recommended for anyone who wants to stay healthy or prevent future disease.

Other basic tips include:

Enjoy home cooking using fresh ingredients.
Determine & eliminate foods that are involved with inflammation: consider doing a diagnostic test for gluten, dairy and eggs.
Match your intake of food-derived vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals based on the severity of your chronic disease.
When consuming proteins, be conscious of the quality and fat content.
Limit refined grains & sugar.
Focus on foods that are free of heavy metals, other toxins, food additives, etc.
Exercise to help metabolize foods.

Both Dr. Gleixner ND and Dr. Weeks ND are passionate about nutrition because their patients get better when they adopt dietary changes that are designed specifically for them. Book an appointment with our doctors so that you can find out how eating well can optimize your own health.

 

For local info, check out the following links:

 

Where to shop for food

 

If you're a local food merchant and you're not on the list please email monctonnaturopathic@gmail.com to add you on the list.

Marché de Dieppe and Moncton Market – a great way to eat locally and seasonally.

 

Dieppe Market:

  • Seasonally: choose among an amazing selection of organic local farmers - best veggies in Moncton area.
  • Hofer’s German Bakery: offers a wide range of wheat alternative breads and bake goods made from organic spelt, kamut and rye flour (note: none of their options are gluten-free).
  • Jamieson Beef (owned by Garry): free-range beef (antibiotic/hormone-free; but not organic) - excellent lean filet mignon and lean ground beef.
  • Joe Caissie Seafood: great local Atlantic shrimp/scallops/crab/haddock.
  • Nico's Bakery: gluten-free buns and whole grain gluten-free bread (note: some products contain dairy).
  • Portage Pork Plus (owned by Arndt & Gabriele Becker; 577-4709). Grass-fed lamb. Naturally raised pork (antibiotic/hormone-free; but not organic).
  • Spring Brook Farm  (506) 523-6432: turkey breast; chicken; apple-finished pork (all products are antibiotic/hormone-free; but not organic).
  • Vital Source Nutrition (see info below): organic sprouts (great for sandwich toppings).
  • Others…see Dieppe Market website for more venders.

Moncton Market: lot's of different food venders.

Cackling Goose Market Bakery Café. 38 York Street, Sackville. Produces gluten-free artisan hand-crafted organic foods. Their dedicated kitchen is exclusively gluten-free.
Codiac Organics: Excellent organic produce and more. Urban Farm in Moncton: 1176 Ryan, Moncton, NB. Order online via virtual market (https://codiacorganics.square.site/) and pick-up produce at farm located in Moncton!

Costco: organic olive oil, organic chicken, organic ground beef, frozen wild Alaskan salmon, organic Sumatra coffee (as coffee is high in pesticides), almonds/pecans/walnuts/hazelnuts (although not organic), gluten-free pasta, gluten-free crackers, organic salsa, pesticide free frozen blueberries, Epson salt, etc…

Corn Crib (Health Food Stores): health conscious foods (organic, gluten-free, less processed, etc…). Great choices here include: gluten-free flours, quinoa pasta, miso spread, organic spices, organic whole flax & pumpkin seeds, etc...

David & Murray Bunnett Family Farm: organic grass fed beef, free-range organic chicken and turkey. Can make individual orders: 506-534-2262 or greenmeadowsorganics@gmail.com. www.davidbunnettfamilyfarm.com. Every 1 month they drop off your order at Dolma Food Store in Dieppe.

Dolma Food Store (Moncton): great choices for local and international foods. Organic produce (seasonal), pre-prepared meal options and locally derived meats are available.

Local by Atta: great choice for sprouts sold at Dieppe Market and health food stores.

Nico's Bakery Café (204-7035, 19 Biggs Drive, Riverview; or at Dieppe Market on Saturdays): a good whole grain gluten free bread.

Old Fashion Meat Market (858-8718, 1855 Mountain Rd, Moncton): buffalo meat.

Sequoia Whole Foods (Health Food Stores): health conscious foods (organic, gluten-free, less processed, etc…). Fresh organic veggies arrive at the store on Tuesday mornings (call ahead as shipment may be delayed).

Superstore & Sobeys: rice wraps (organic freezer section), goat cheese/yogurt, non-dairy milk, organic teas, organic pumpkin/flax seeds, organic pumpkin seed butter, organic veggies & fruits (hit & miss; but usually carrots, apples, bananas are available), other health conscious foods (organic, gluten-free, less processed etc…), canned wild salmon Raincoast Trading (in organic section), etc...

The Farmers' Truck: mobile famers market selling all fresh and local produce and products according to the seasons. Organic selection available. Check out their website for more info and truck locations. www.thefarmerstruck.com

 

Internet links


Recipes
Cookus Interruptus:  how to cook fresh local organic foods despite life's interruptions: Cookus Interruptus.
Nourishing Meals: healthy whole foods recipes (many gluten-free).
Against All Grain: excellent grain-free and gluten-free cooking.
The World's Healthiest Foods and The Whole Foods Market have lot's of recipes.

Other

Fill out a diet diary via the Doc's Diet Diary (free iPhone and Android app).

Record your day's diet in a free URL like myfitnessplan.com, my daily plate from livestrong.com, or many others, and see exactly how much calories, carbs, protein and fats you are truly ingesting.

Also check out these iPad or iPhone apps: Nutrition Facts, What's on my food?.

Dairy-free diet: foods/ingredients that contain dairy.

Gluten-free diet: foods/ingredients that contain gluten are listed in the Canadian Celiac Association and the celiac.com websites.

Fish & seafoods to avoid that are high in mercury: see this Mercury in Fish Wallet Card.

The True Food Shopper's Guide to Avoiding GMOs

 

Books about healthy eating

 

Great cookbooks sold at our clinic

  • The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook: Whole Foods Recipes for Personal and Planetary Health, by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre MS CN.
  • The Nourishing Meals Cookbook. Also by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre MS CN.
  • Wheat-Free Dairy-Free Recipes. By Rita Mustafa, a local holistic nutritionist.

Great books about food choices

    • In Defense of Food; An Eater's Manifesto. By Michael Pollan.
    • The Omnivore's Dilemma; A Natural History of Four Meals. By Michael Pollan.