Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food. ~Hippocrates~

Diet and Nutrition play an essential role in promoting and maintaining health. 

Each day our bodies turn over 6 billion plus cells. With this many physiological and biochemical processes taking place; including cell destruction and reconstruction, it is essential that we support these physiological functions by providing our systems the key nutritional building blocks and metabolic co-factors to support healthy cellular, organ and metabolic functions.

Without proper nutrition, our bodies rapidly use up our reserves and daily metabolic pathways can be altered due to these nutrient deficiencies. This in turn can alter the genetic expressions of our genes and lead to diseased states. This is the underlying principle behind the emerging science of epigenetics and the core foundations of how diet and nutrition become very real determinants of health.

Nutritional needs can change throughout our lifetime and many disease conditions have specific additional requirements and or dietary restrictions.

At Evolve Naturopathic Vitality Centre, we apply various naturopathic philosophies in the determination of proper food selections.

From a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) approach, we shift the diet to help support the healthy functioning of  organs and organ systems using the energetic principles of food. For example, someone with a Spleen Damp Condition should avoid damp forming foods in order to best support the treatment process by eliminating those foods that aggravate this underlying condition.

From a clinical nutrition approach, we must also assess the phytochemical benefits of specific foods in relation to the underlying conditions in order to support proper and healthy metabolic pathways and liver detoxification and to ascertain that all the essential nutrients, whether they be amino acids, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and a multitude of other phytonutrients are sufficient enough to the treatment process in the works.

It is equally important to support and maintain dietary needs and therapeutic nutritional protocols in both the treatment and prevention of disease. 

Diet and nutrition play a key role of balancing and supporting the system while we work towards regulating the physiological changes needed to restore health.

Here are some examples of how diet and nutrition can apply:

• Addressing prenatal requirements
  
• Healthy Food Introduction schedules for babies and infants
  
• Altering nutrition for metabolic changes & disease processes
  
• Understanding nutrients & food labels for healthier educated dietary choices
  
• How to avoid food allergens & sensitivities hidden in food sources
  
• How to avoid preservatives, colorants, chemicals and artificial sweeteners in food
  
• Implementing proper dietary habits for specific conditions
  
• Choosing appropriate foods for nutrient deficient conditions
  
• How to implement safe nutritional dietary changes to cleanse and detoxify
  
• How to implement proper nutritional supplementation
  
• How to avoid inflammatory dietary triggers
• Condition Specific Diets
• Specific dietary modifications for condition specific ailments
  
• How nutrition can benefit hormonal health
• How to eat right for your constitution
• Applying the Chinese Medicine Principles and the correct foods for your diagnosis
• Nutritional needs for the aging individual