Allison MÄdl, FNTP

What is Nutritional Bioindividuality?

Lunch Hour Lesson #5

We each have unique nutritional needs.

Bioindividuality is a term that I use in my practice as a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner.

It expresses the concept that each person has a set of factors in their life that will determine what types of foods are best at that time, for that body.

It takes genetics into account, but also the emerging understanding of epigenetics, which finds that dietary and lifestyle factors can turn genes on or off. Epigenetics will be discussed more in a future post.

The trick with nutritional bioindividuality is to identify what aspects of your life require different nutritional strategies.

Examples:

• Athletes and those with very physically demanding jobs will need to eat more long-burning sources of energy, like fat and protein, than those with relatively sedentary lifestyles.
• Someone who is pregnant or nursing an infant will need to consume high levels of vitamins and minerals, particularly the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
• Children have particular nutritional needs — like sufficient EPA, DHA, iron, and folate — to fuel their growing brains and bodies.
• If someone has a digestive disturbance, removing particular foods that irritate, then healing, and later reintroducing foods is a good strategy.
• Those with immune or autoimmune challenges may need to follow a limited diet to avoid aggravating the condition.
• Our bodies are adapted to the diets of our particular ethnic ancestors." and bullet along with those above.

Knowing that nutritional bioindividuality exists is important because it means that there is no "one size fits all" way of eating.

You must take many aspects of your life into account, and be honest with which foods make you feel well and which make you feel poorly.

Keeping a food diary or using an app like Chronometer can help. Also consider working with a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) who is trained to make recommendations based on your individual needs. Many, like me, accept distance clients.

Weekend Tip

Keep a food diary for at least one meal this weekend. Write down the time, where you ate the meal, the foods and beverages, and how you feel 1 hour afterwards. Doing this on a routine basis can help you determine your nutritional bioindividuality.

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