Functional foods are foods that we eat for a specific nutritional reason. Instead of using supplements, I may suggest a food that has a certain benefit. We have gotten very far away from this concept. Our ancestors, even though they couldn't explain it in scientific terms, ate certain foods for certain reasons.
Even food combinations can have a purpose. For example, vegetarians, and I'm not recommending you become a vegetarian, but if you do, vegetarians tend to eat rice and beans together. There's a reason for that. The rice has certain amino acids, but it’s missing others. And the beans have certain amino acids, but they’re missing others as well. When you combine the two, you get more complete amino acids. Those combinations didn't happen by mistake. Our ancestors couldn’t have explained the amino acids, but after hundreds of generations, they knew what worked, what kept them feeling good, and what kept them healthy. We originally started fermenting foods to preserve them. We learned that fermented foods are very good for our digestion and our immune system. Again, our ancestors didn't even know what an immune system was, but they knew that when they ate fermented foods they were healthier.
We have gotten away from eating foods for their nutritional value. We simply eat foods that taste good. I don't want you to stop eating foods that taste good. In fact, it's the opposite. If we approach food from a functional standpoint first, then we can work on taste. We've done the opposite, and we can see the results. People are fat, sick, and tired. When you start eating functional food, you'll be amazed at the changes in your body. We’re still talking about whole real food and we’re still talking about maintaining a good macronutrient balance. I want to add one more thing into your food choices and that is to look for foods with specific nutrition.
There's a couple ways we can approach this. We can look for very nutrient-dense foods, Those would be things like wild-caught salmon, sardines, beef liver or any organ meats, and dark leafy greens. Foods that are very high in nutrition, very nutrient-dense foods. Everybody could eat those and we would all be healthier.
Some More Examples of Functional Foods:
- Bone broth - very healing and calming to the digestive system.
- Fermented foods - a great source of probiotics. Fermented vegetables are also prebiotics. The vegetables are food for the bacteria, and by fermenting we’re creating the bacteria. This is a therapeutic food for supporting and boosting our microbiome and immune system.
- Liver - very rich in B vitamins and iron.
- Oysters - the zinc in oysters is a great source for male health and the prostate.
- Fresh squeezed lemon, fresh ginger and turmeric with a little honey steeped in hot water - good for digestive issues and very calming.
- Bitter greens - good for the gallbladder,
- Manuka honey - good for digestion, energy, and boosting your immune system. Can be used topically to help heal cuts and blemishes.
- Apple cider vinegar - good for stimulating digestion.
- Cinnamon and raw cacao - good for lowering blood pressure.
- Cold water fatty fish - increases our Omega-3 and reduces inflammation.
- Green tea - loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols that help reduce inflammation.
Functional food is all about your mindset. It's all about thinking nutrition first and taste second. Don't get me wrong, this is not bland, boring food. It's not cardboard, it's not the health food they've been telling us to eat forever that really isn't very tasty. The dishes you can make functional can be absolutely amazing when it comes to taste. I love to cook, and I can tell you that people love the food I make and they don't even realize how functional and healthy it can be.
Functional Foods in our STORE
We make it easy for you to find functional food to help boost your health and wellness!
LonoLife - Taste more of life with collagen peptides and easy to make bone broth.
Vital Choice - Discover delicious, wild organic seafood rich in omega-3s.
Paleo Valley - 100% grass-fed beef sticks naturally fermented with absolutely no hidden health-damaging ingredients.
True Primal - The best tasting soup with only the good stuff. Each soup is made with the highest quality ingredients, and nothing artificial.
Four Sigmatic - Four Sigmatic is a science-y way of saying “really good for you”. They have turned the planet’s most astoundingly nutrient-dense ingredients into things you’ll love having every day.
Enviromedica - Explore premium nutritional supplements to support the body’s ancestral biology.
