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Eating For A Purpose
Many people eat for pleasure in the moment, whether the food offers a sweet or salty taste, this temporary pleasure can keep many people coming back to it time and time again. However, others view food as something to consume for fuel and health and thus evaluating what foods serve us best in those areas trumps the temporary taste in the moment. I caught up with Dr. Lindsey Mathews of BirthFIT about the food pyramid as well as issues related to nutrition.
Who is Dr. Lindsey Mathews?
Image provided by Dr. MathewsLindsey Mathews is a chiropractor that specializes in the biomechanics of the body and balancing the musculoskeletal system. She focuses on women’s health, prenatal and postnatal chiropractic, and pediatrics. Lindsey aspires to create purity in pregnancy in today’s modern world and empower women to become “birth fit.” She has doctorate of chiropratic. Lindsey is also trained in the Webster technique and as a D.O.N.A. doula. She is also trained in energy healing, the graston technique, kinesio taping, laser therapy, and specific myofascial therapies.
Lindsey was born in Houston, Texas. She grew up on the river in New Braunfels, Texas. During high school, Lindsey participated in cheerleading and played soccer. While in college, she played intramural soccer and maintained her gymnastic skills while working at the Center for Student Athletes at Texas A&M. She is the proudest member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2005.
While on a medical mission trip to Tanzania, Africa, Lindsey decided that she wanted to enhance people’s lives in a natural way. Lindsey decided to become a doctor of chiropractic. She moved out to Los Angeles and completed her doctorate at the Southern California University of Health Sciences.
Lindsey worked at the International Sports Performance Institute from 2009-2012. She now sees patients at American Health and Performance Center in Beverly Hills, CA. Lindsey has started BirthFIT which is designed to empower and educate women on the natural birth process. Lindsey has treated numerous active people such as Olympic and professional athletes, Crossfit athletes and Crossfit moms, and traveled the world to be on set for demanding stunts in film and television.
Lindsey practices what she preaches. She eats a paleo/primal diet, exercises five to six times a week, gets adjusted, and takes fish oil. She currently is enrolled in and donates one weekend a month to the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). She is immersed in research and is relentless in her mission to naturally improve the lifestyle of women, mothers, children, and others.
You can read more at her website at BirthFIT and find her on Twitter at BirthFit.
So, Just Had To Ask ... (Interview Section)
1. The food pyramid, the official guideline promoted by government agencies, encourages a nutritional view high in carbohydrates while recommending low protein and fat intake. What, if anything, is wrong with this view?
Many people in the world of human nutrition agree that there are many holes in this current plan. To me it feels like the government took a stab at a growing problem that was cardiovascular disease in America. I think it was an honest attempt at making a healthier nation. However, it was wild guess, at best. We now know that saturated fat and cholesterol are not the evils that we once thought. Instead, foods that drive systemic inflammation and abnormal insulin regulation are the culprits. Yet, the food pyramid remains unchanged, even with numerous amounts of research available. Why not flip the food pyramid upside down?
2. From a macronutrient perspective, how would you advise a person when it comes to fat and protein intake (I think that the current recommendations are around 50g of protein and 65g of fat per day)?
In my experience, prescribing portions, ratios, or any numbers and math in regards to nutrition steers more people away from success than otherwise. That’s not to say there is value in doing so. Nutrition tinkering is a process that never ends. I’d be open to talking about specific quantities and ratios after one’s diet is cleaned up.
I prefer to focus on increasing the quality of food such as animal source protein (i.e. grass fed beef, eggs, wild caught fish) and quality fats (i.e. avocado, coconut, olive oil, nut butters). In the past six months, I’ve really modified my diet to only include protein and fat with very little carbohydrates, mostly from fruits and vegetables. I’ve never felt better. To me everyone is different, so you, as an individual, must figure out what makes your body function optimally.
Protein and fat are essential to life. I’d advise a person to build meals around adequate protein and fat sources. Protein is needed for the immune system to function properly, for growth and repair in the body’s tissue and muscle, and also DNA replication. Fat is used for a source of heat and energy, support system for the organs, absorption of fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K, and as a source of fatty acids that affect the adrenal and sex hormones production. Without adequate amounts of protein and good fat, these functions of the body are significantly impaired.
Start to think of food as a fuel for your body. I aim to consume the most nutrient dense food possible at one sitting.
3. What are some popular misconceptions about health and fitness that you would like to see addressed more in the medical community?
Somewhere along the way someone made fat the enemy, so labels boast things as “low fat” or “fat free” and pride themselves on being low calorie options. The result has been high glycemic processed foods with low nutrient density and Americans are fatter and sicker than ever before.
I’d rather see us let fat off the hook and begin fighting a war on insulin abuse and inflammation.
Editor’s Note:Awesome stuff! And she's not alone in this statement; some of the others I've interviewed also have positive things to say about fat:
Dr. Layne Norton on Health and Fitness
Christine Cronau on Saturated Fat
Dr. Carlos Munoz on Health Topics
Dr. Cate Shanahan: Food, Genes and Our Behavior
The verdict seems to be similar: fat is not the enemy, but our dietary focus on too much carbohydrates - which might be increasing insulin resistance - could be a problem.
I believe the two big fitness issues are divergence from functional training and a worldview that views fitness as a Band-Aid. I think it’s a big mistake to seek out fitness as a response or a reaction to poor health, fatness, or vanity. Much in the same way that we are quick to medicated and dose our way out of poor health, fitness is too often viewed as only a rebuttal to poor health. True fitness is neither quick nor easy, and to sell it in any other fashion is a mistake in my mind that further ingrains this unfortunate worldview that I’ve described.
Today’s average person doesn’t go to the doctor until something is broken whether it be an ankle or an appendix. It blows my mind the type of investments people are willing to make outside health and wellness, i.e. jewelry, cars, vacations, pets, but when it comes to health and wellness, people are only willing to go as far as their insurance deductible.
4. How is the role of insulin sensitivity important for people and what ways can a person increase their insulin sensitivity?
In general, majority of people have abused their insulin regulators in their body. They are numb to the regulation effects of insulin. Insulin is the major director in carbohydrate and fat metabolism. Much like a sponge getting saturated with water, people that continue to consume high glycemic index foods and processed foods are mishandling their insulin regulation in their bodies. People that have insulin sensitivity issues should completely reset their body and hormone levels. For thirty days or more, eat foods that are substantially low glycemic index foods, no grains, or artificial sugars.
