Welcome to our forth mind-body nutrition fundamental. In this principle we will be looking at our toxic nutritional thoughts and beliefs.

We all have an internal belief system that influences us on a daily basis. These beliefs are often formed in our early years by people who we looked up to, parents, teachers, older siblings and friends. Beliefs as we know can be very powerful and on a daily basis can either put us in a place of relaxation or elicit the stress response.

For example, most of us live our daily lives unconcerned by the possibility that any one of our technical devices could self-destruct at any point. We have the belief that these devices are regulated by safety standards that would make it very unlikely for this to happen. Phew! However if as a child you witness something horrific like a kitchen appliance or mobile phone self-combusting you may of formed the belief that electrical devices can’t be trusted and therefore be living in a low-level stressed state around such devices. Common sense tells you it’s unlikely to happen again but your beliefs can be deeply ingrained and unless introspection is used they can be difficult to change.

Ok, so you might be asking yourself, "how is any of this relevant to nutrition?”

Well here’s how: every day I can guarantee that every one of us has some sort of belief pop up around food. The office worker who chose a salad for lunch because he believes “carbs are bad “, or the fitness fanatic who avoided any butter on her toast and eggs this morning because her belief is “fats are fattening“, or the 7-month pregnant woman who opted for the gluten-free cheesecake because “gluten is toxic for my baby”. Any decision we make regarding our nutrition is often made using our internal belief system.

This is all well and good but occasionally we can hold toxic nutritional beliefs that will create stress and as a side effect lower our calorie-burning capacity and food assimilation. Some common toxic nutritional beliefs I come across with clients are:

Food is the enemy
Fat in food makes me fat
If only I was thin, then I’d be happy
My diet needs to be perfect

Only the other day I was in the supermarket and overheard a teenage girl talking with her mum. They were looking at the shopping list her mum held and the young girl told her mum not to bother buying nuts because they’re fattening. Most of us understand that this belief held by the young girl is untrue but I often hear comments like this and it’s clear that as a collective we need to try and eradicate these toxic beliefs. They only drain our emotional energy, personal power and dignity.

Here’s an exercise for you to try, catch any toxic beliefs you have around eating and food. Ask yourself where this belief has come from and is it true for you? Really try to get to the root of where any beliefs around food have come from.

Good luck and keep up the great work!

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