[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Integrative Wellness: Personal Growth ©2023]

Next, we turn to nutrition. And here, we look at diet, hydration, fasting, and supplements.

But first: how do we view nutrition through an integrative lens?

As mentioned, while diet and adequate hydration are biological and clearly associated with physical health, they have a great deal to do with our mental and emotional health as well. Most medical doctors are not well trained in nutrition, mental health specialists even less so; yet, research is especially clear that nutrition plays a major role not only in physical but also psychological health.

For optimal mental health through diet, we must eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, as well as to have protein at regular intervals throughout the day – though this need not be meat-based but can be better gained through food combining and plant-based proteins such as legumes (in particular soy, lentils, and chickpeas), whey (if you’re not dairy-free), and certain grains such as quinoa, millet, and buckwheat. Processed foods, on the other hand, have long been known to be detrimental to one’s mood and overall mental function, and while the brain requires glucose to function, refined sugar is harmful to the brain.

And so, it’s essential for health in all aspects that we have the healthiest diet possible, and that we integrate it into an overall healthy lifestyle.

We all tend to know a fair amount about what foods are good for us and what our diet should look like for a healthy outcome. Nutritional science is somewhat changeable, it must be said; one moment, it seems, eggs or coffee are bad for us, while a later study shows that in fact they’re beneficial after all. Nevertheless, we all know the basics.

One aspect simply cannot be overstated: for our own health and that of the planet, we need to strongly consider a plant-based diet.

Here, a harm reduction model tends to be helpful. Perhaps you’re already vegetarian, or even strictly vegan. If not, and you can’t (yet) imagine a meat-free life, think in terms of harm reduction instead. How about having meat only one day a week? What about soy-based meat substitutes? Perhaps you don’t become totally vegan, but keep eggs in your diet, or cut out all dairy apart from yogurt for its fermentation benefits? Or continue eating fish but make certain that it’s farmed rather than wild-caught – again, for the sake of your own health (no mercury or pollutants) and also that of our planet (to ultimately eliminate drag-net fishing, for example)?

Certainly, for health we also need to avoid processed foods altogether, and stay as close to whole foods as possible; sea vegetables are especially nutritious, if you’re in a coastal area and have easy access. A whole food diet is sometimes identified as a matter of privilege, but in reality, fruits and vegetables, dried legumes and whole grains are some of our least expensive foods – though basic cooking skills are necessary. The closer to its original plant form, the better. (As to the question of organic, that’s rather more complicated and I’ll leave that alone for now.)

Moderation and compromise. Harm reduction. (And possibly, you may find yourself beginning to skip that meat night.)

In the introduction, I mentioned healing myself from hypoglycemia through a nutritional approach. In my early 20s I was severely hypoglycemic, as many young women are, fainting on trains while commuting to work and much more, and confirmed by a 6-hour fasting glucose test. With a family history of diabetes, I knew the trajectory; either I got control of this, or my pancreas would simply wear out by midlife, and I’d seen how devastating diabetes had been for my beloved grandmother.

My diet was fairly good; I had a general understanding about nutrition, loved to cook, and wasn’t interested in junk foods. Nevertheless, I set out on a quest: for a year I would have a strictly regimented vegan diet, no sugars or starches of any kind (no alcohol either, nor caffeine; I wanted zero spiking of blood sugar), even eliminating all but the most fibrous fruits. This was a healing endeavor which I took quite seriously, with no cheating; I can do anything for just one year, I thought, and included meditation and exercise, received body therapies, and more.

At year’s end, another 6-hour test showed normal results. I’ve had no issue since, all tests negative for nearly 4 decades. I felt so good after 12 months that I continued my healing regimen for an additional 6-month insurance, before relaxing it a bit (to include occasional bread or pasta, for example), though I’ve not strayed far from it in these many years since.

Let’s also talk about hydration which, again, is widely recognized as beneficial. This is perhaps one of the very best things you can do for your health. If you aren’t keen on drinking water (or even if you are), consider brewing a range of herbal teas each day instead, as whole plant as possible and by the pot, cooled and consumed throughout the day just as you would water. In this, you get the double benefit of whatever micronutrients that plant may have to offer.

Chlorophyll tincture in water is all the rage at present; following on trends of wheatgrass juice and blue-green algae or spirulina, we’ve known for some time (and in the case of sea vegetation such as the latter two, coastal indigenous peoples throughout the world have been consuming for aeons) that these highly nutritious greens are beneficial, though in moderation as with all things. We want our nutrients always to be in balance with one another.

As with nutrition, hydration is as essential for brain function, for psychological benefit, as it is for physiological. We humans are largely made of water, and when we don’t take in sufficient hydration, all manner of imbalances occur. This is especially true as we age; many ‘old age diseases’ relate in some way to insufficient hydration.

Fasting is currently in vogue, for overall health and for weight reduction, with a range of approaches. Rather than debate the merits of those methods, I’ll share with you my own. We may first wish to consider that animals often skip a day of eating here and there, as short-term fasting is very natural and gives the digestive system a rest. While it’s now commonly known that the gut and its microbiome are essential to overall health, recent research has shown that digestive problems are linked with higher risk of anxiety and depression. Again, body and mind are one.

My personal fasting process, for a few decades now, is to engage in a 3-day fast at 4 intervals each year: times of seasonal change (in temperate zones). When the climate is in flux, so too is the human body, as seen in a range of indigenous medical systems, and a good time for internal cleansing – notably as we shift from winter to spring. (If you’re not in a temperate zone, this would simply be once every 3 months for an evenly spaced interval.)

I’ve always approached these 3-day fasts as a mini-retreat of my own design, sequestered from the world (these days, also a cyber blackout). With plenty of hydration, ideally plant-based teas, but no solid food, the body has an opportunity to rest, and detoxify itself. A soft reentry is essential; after 3 days without food, the first day of eating must include soft foods only.

Meantime, I frame this ‘retreat’ as a sacred, healing, or other meaningful event (which also helps with motivation); I engage in meditation, journal-writing, song, dance, ritual, or whatever seems significant to me at the time, and plenty of rest. A 3-day healing retreat, a deep rest away from the world, and a time of transformation. Doesn’t that sound lovely?

Naturally, if you have any current health concerns or are on medications, you must consult your physician before fasting.

Finally: supplements. I’m not a fan.

Many years ago when in my New York clinic, I often collaborated with the one person I knew then (there may be more now) who was degreed in both western pharmacology and Chinese herbal medicine. Her knowledge of a wide range of supplements, and how they interacted with standard medications, was renowned. She told me how the most health-oriented people would come to her for advice, carrying in a box of all the supplements they were taking; she’d look them in the eye and simply state, “Pick just one.” After they got over the shock, she’d explain to them that even natural supplements interact with one another, and the liver has to process all of it, which can be overwhelming.

We know that our foods are often nutrient-poor, due to overworked farm fields and repeated use of toxic chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides. (The organic issue is that, unless all farmers within a large radius are also organic, the toxins others use leach into the common water table.) Supplements all come with great claims of health benefits, and surely we need a regular intake of certain vitamins and minerals. They tend to be highly overpriced, and often aren’t readily absorbed by the body. I suggest one good quality multi-vitamin/mineral only, effervescent type for best absorption (and bonus hydration as you dissolve it in water).

And so: nutrition, for physical and mental wellbeing.