Therapeutic Foods By Christine L. Foutch
Dr. Christine Foutch is a holistic physician practicing in Rock Island, IL. The practice of holistic medicine integrates conventional and alternative therapies to prevent disease, treat disease, and most importantly promote optimal health.
The Suggestions We Have Heard
We have all heard to eat a colorful diet, watch your weight, and exercise. First, you should ask yourself, "Are the foods I choose quality and nutrient-rich?"
The Nutrients Our Bodies Need
We need nutrients for the maintenance, repair, and growth of our structure. Whether for maturity or as we grow older in age, or repairing from daily activities.
Ancestral Diets
Ancestral diets were rich in fiber, as well as plant protein. You can surely trust that throughout human evolution there has been large amounts of plant foods consumed.
Phytosterols
Plant sterols are a natural part of the plant cellular membranes; functioning to regulate membrane fluidity and permeability. This is a role similar to cholesterol in humans.
Cholesterol
Circulating within your blood is cholesterol, which is derived from your diet. In humans as well as animals, almost every tissue within the body can produce cholesterol.
Similar Structures
The phytosterol structure is very comparable to that of cholesterol. They have an ability to interfere with the absorption of dietary cholesterol into these micelles.
Cholesterol Inhibition Properties
Newer findings are suggesting that plant sterols possibly hold additional properties such as anti-cancer, anti-atherosclerosis, and anti-inflammatory.
Food Sources
Nuts and seeds were once unhealthy for their high-fat content, but now the opposite appears to be true. Nuts contain phytosterols, a plant compound similar to cholesterol.
