Nutritional Support and Kinesiology
Whether you are wanting to improve your metabolism, lose weight, improve digestion, increase your energy and vitality, improve mood or support other health issues, nutrition is important.
Our bodies need the right amount of micronutrients (Vitamins and minerals etc.) and macro nutrients (carbs, fats protein etc.) to be able to function. Every part of our body and its function relies on these nutrients to do its job properly. Without the right balance of nutrients in the system, the body may become unable to carry out certain functions. This can result in a HUGE range of wellbeing complaints from mental and emotional to physical issues. The most difficult thing about nutrition is that nobody’s needs are the same. This is where a Kinesiologist can come in handy.
What impacts our Nutritional Needs.
Dietary factors:
One of the biggest influencers of our bodies nutritional intake is our diet. This includes the foods we eat, how we eat them and when we eat them. The nutritional density of our foods we have available these days has depleted due to the way we grow, transport and store our food. Therefore, we may be eating ‘healthy foods’, but they are lacking in the nutritional value. Sometimes the kinds of meals we are having may impact the bodies abilities to digest the food, or, get the most nutritional value out of it. It is now very common to have, allergies and immune responses to certain foods. The stress that this causes can impact our bodies ability to digest our food and adds to our nutritional needs.
Kinesiology’s role here may help to identify what nutritional support the body might be requiring. Sometimes elements of the diet that are adding to the stress or causing imbalances are highlighted and explored. We are identifying food that helps to reinstate balance to the person and increase energy and vitality.
Emotional Factors:
Emotional and mental stress can change the nutritional needs of an individual. Firstly, We need certain nutrients to create things like the hormones and biochemicals that help to produce the physical response in the body. Without these, we may not be able to produce hormones effectively. Sometimes mental stress can put us into survival mode. In this mode, digestive processes are reduced. Therefore, the body may not be getting all the nutrients out of the food you are eating. On top of not getting enough nutrients, the body is using up the nutrients to produce stress chemicals, instead of using those nutrients to repair the body.
One of Kinesiology’s greatest benefits is the reduction of mental and emotional stress. The mind and the body are so interconnected that in PKP we ensure that we identify and clear all emotional stressors that are impacting your wellbeing. With those stressors eliminated or reduced, the body and mind can think more clearly, and spend more time resting and digesting.
Physical Factors:
Our posture and structural deviations can inhibit our digestive system. Whether it’s entrapped nerves or muscular discourse, our body needs muscular function to carry out quite a bit of the digestive process. Deep breathing is one thing that can be inhibited by imbalances in the structure of the body. Deep breathing can help improve your digestive system in 2 ways. By giving the intestines an internal massage and by activating the sympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Our ability to chew and swallow our food can impact digestion and is carried out by a number of muscles that need to function together. The peristalsis action of the oesophagus and intestines is also controlled by involuntary muscular movements. If these are too fast, there isn’t enough time for your body to absorb nutrients from your food. Too slow and it can create an increase of toxins in the body as well as create opportunities for physical damage.
Kinesiology’s foundations are in muscle balancing. This means that we can correct posture and improve muscle function within the body. By helping the bodies muscles work more synergistically with each other, The body is then able to carry out its movements much more efficiently.
Environmental factors:
Our environment can also have an impact our on our nutritional needs. If our environment is exposing us to high amounts of toxins, allergens or infective organisms, your body may require additional nutritional support to deal with these. Your body needs certain nutrients to carry out detoxification processes and immune responses. Electromagnetic fields may impact your bodies ability to digest or put further stress on your system.
If toxicity is an issue, we may be made aware of the source of the toxicity. This gives us the opportunity to eliminate it, if we can, or identify the support your body needs in order to cope with or detoxify from these toxins. Usually with infective organisms, we are able to identify the resources the body needs in order to strengthen its ability to cope better with it. In PKP we call allergies immune mismatch responses, This is because the immune system is reacting to a substance in a mismatched way. PKP has a number of techniques that allow us to desensitise the client, or identify what support they need.
Genetic and Epigenetic predispositions:
We inherit all of our genes from our parents. These contain the blueprint for our body. Our genes generally stay the same throughout our life although sometimes certain cells may experience a gene variant that then makes changes to this genetic blueprint. a small portion of these genetic changes can cause genetic disorders. Epigenetics , do not change your DNA, but they can change how your body reads the DNA. These epigenetic markers can also be changed by your environment and behaviour. The results of these could include predispositions to excesses or deficiencies in certain nutrients, immune responses and
Kinesiology can help you identify what environmental factors and behaviours could be changed in order to support your body to create the life and wellbeing that you desire. We do not work directly with these epigenetic or genetic changes, however, helping you to create the lifestyle you want through the behaviours and environmental factors that are ideal to create this outcome, is how we are able to support your journey.
Nutritionist or a Kinesiologist?
If you are looking for specialised nutritional information and insight, around diet, or nutritional plan to support you on your Journey, a Kinesiologist may not be trained to do so (Unless they are also a qualified nutritionist). A qualified Nutritionist or naturopath has spent many years learning about food, nutrition, its benefits on the body, contraindications etc. and unless a Kinesiologist has studied a Nutritional course, they are only given basic knowledge in their training. They are more likely to give you specialised guidance on the kinds of foods and supplements that will be able to help with certain conditions.
A kinesiologist is not trained to prescribe supplements or an eating plan in this way. Instead, we use the guidance of your muscles to identify what nutritional support are required in regards to your wellbeing goals. What can be beneficial about seeing a Kinesiologist is that they are not limited to nutrition and supplements. It is quite often that a kinesiologist also works with other factors that are impacting an individuals needs. For some individuals it may be more beneficial to eliminate stress and improve muscular function in order help improve their nutritional intake. For others, identifying the foods to add and foods to delete will improve their wellbeing greatly.
A Kinesiologist’s Approach to Food and Supplements.
Because we don’t treat diagnose or prescribe, we don’t use or see food as something we use to treat a problem. A kinesiologist uses food to help reinstate balance to the energetic systems of the body so it can function optimally. This means we may speak about food in a different way too. The nutritional suggestions that you get from a kinesiologist are always in regards to your wellbeing goals you are working on.
Our terminology.
Biogenic Substances:
- Increase your energy and vitality
- Reinstates balance in your body.
- Supports the activation of muscles
- Improves the energy flows in your system
- Supports your mental clarity.
Biocidic Substances:
- Add stress to the system
- Decrease energy and vitality.
- May impair muscle activation
- Creates imbalances in your energy system
Biostatic Substances:
- These have no significant effect on the bodies energy systems.
Immune Mismatch Responses
You may think of these as allergies. but, as this is a medical term, we like to use this term. The modes that cover our IMR’s sometimes identify things that don’t show up on typical allergy testing. This may be because your body hasn’t created the antibodies yet, yet your body is still aware of the stress it is putting on your body. We have techniques that may help to desensitise the body or you may chose to eliminate it completely.
What can you do to improve your nutritional Intake?
Be present, happy and grateful when you eat.
Our minds and our mood can impact our digestive system. Sometimes negative moods can trigger immune responses. An easy thing to do to ensure a healthy digestion and optimal nutritional uptake is to activate your cephalic(brain) part of digestion. Try Mindful Eating. This is where you are conscious during each mouthful of food. Use each of your senses to experience your food. Smell, taste, appearance, texture, even how it sounds in your mouth. Being grateful for our meals and avoiding conflict and negative thoughts when we are eating will improve your bodily functions.
Eat a Variety of Fresh, Whole-foods.
Eating a Variety of fresh fruit and vegetables straight from the local farm will ensure the food is still relatively fresh and full of vital nutrients. If you can afford organic or pesticide free foods, this will help increase your intake of nutrients and reduce toxins in your system. If you are eating grains, chose ones that are as close to their “straight from the plant” as possible. for eg. Brown rice has not been processed and still has its outer hull. this is where the nutrients are, white rice has lost this husk and has become a simple carbohydrate. When I eat meat, I look for purchasing from smaller biodynamic farms that treat their animals with care and ensure their environment is also looked after.
Avoid processed foods.
These are often devoid of nutrients and full of sugar, preservatives and other additives. These can be taxing on the system and provide little to no nutritional content.
