The Dietitians of Canada have declared March to be "National Nutrition Month". Now I'm not one to argue that more education in nutrition is desperately needed on the planet right now. But unfortunately, not everyone defines nutrition, and more importantly, health, in the same way.

There is a relatively wide schism between how a holistic nutritionist like myself sees healthy eating and how a dietitian sees it. So while this month will probably see food pyramids taped on to school walls with their one-size-fits-all approach to eating being firmly ingrained in the minds of our nation's youth, I'll be questioning whether this style of eating is actually right for anyone.

The holistic approach to nutrition looks at the entire person as an individual, seeing the challenges unique to that individual and where that person is going out of balance. One problem with the Canada Food Guide is that there is no differentiation between the needs of individuals. I'm not going to thrive on the same food you're going to thrive on. That's just the facts - we're different, our body chemistry is different, we come from ancestors who ate differently and thus we have different nutritional needs.

No pyramid chart is going to help you figure out what foods work best for you. In fact, even if we all did thrive on the exact same foods, the food pyramid probably wouldn't represent what that perfect diet would be. The pyramid represents a compromise between what the health researchers are saying and what the food lobbyists are lobbying for.

Of course, there are certain things we all need in our diets, and certain things we all need to avoid, despite our differences. But this is where the pyramid food guide really falls short. There's no mention of beneficial bacteria, the importance of organics or the need to avoid processed foods. I know this is tough to understand if you've never seen how off base and lacking in health the majority of the population is. If you were to take all of the people in your office and put them on an elimination diet (no wheat, dairy, sugar, etc.), therefore removing the foods they're reacting to, they would all improve, almost without exception. Everyone is suffering from food sensitivities, they just don't know it.

In my opinion, real nutrition is about rejecting what the food pushers are pushing and figuring out for yourself what really works for you. It's about rejecting numbers, ratios and charts and just eating nutrient-dense real foods that contribute to your health. It's listening to your body to see what it's telling you about the foods you're eating. It's about enjoying your food, appreciating full natural flavours instead of flavours synthesized by people in white lab coats. And, most of all, it's about feeding your mind as well as your body.

Nutrition means taking in foods that do nothing but heal, build and give energy, not foods that require energy, cause harm and are a burden to the body. There are no charts or graphs that are going to tell you what foods make you thrive. It's a long and difficult road to finding out what foods really work for you, but in my opinion, it's a journey worth taking.


The Healthy Foodie is Doug DiPasquale, Holistic Nutritionist and trained chef, living in Toronto. Doug specializes in private in-home holistic cooking lessons. You can email him with inquiries or questions for the blog at dugdeep@gmail.com.