Tony Bianco, DO
Food has been a major factor in my health journey, and over the course of time has become not just a means of nutrition, but a way of life.
When I was a child, food was simply that which was placed in front of me, because everyone has to eat. My parents are in the baby boomer generation, and food became a thing of convenience in the fast-paced society. Sitting around the table for dinner was an important part of our family dynamic, and that meal was usually home cooked. For breakfast and lunch, let’s just say that it wasn’t ideal. I remember my after-school snack being a honeybun, placed in the microwave for 10 seconds to get the perfect amount of melted icing.
As I continued to grow up, I also grew in size; as a young teenager, becoming self-conscious of my body was part of my reality. A growth spurt in high school helped significantly, but the body dysmorphic disorder was ingrained. As life progressed, I started looking more into nutrition and its impact on my body. Unfortunately, my initial plan was based on the flawed recommendations of the health department’s food pyramid. I played right into the path of low fat, lots of “healthy” grains and the exercise more mentality. By the time I hit 20, my diet of lean cuisines and high fiber cereal with almond milk, and training for marathons was wearing on my body. It brought me to a state of being skinny-fat and losing my hair!
As my food journey continued, I became more aware of the thoughts of others like David Perlmutter, Rob Wolf, and Steven Gundry, among others. How is it that those working in government and healthcare have vastly different recommendations from these other people? Like so many other decisions, I blindly accepted these “truths” about diet, because why would I not trust people in authority who are supposed to keep us safe and healthy? While the sarcasm abounds, I decided that discovering truth for my health was my responsibility. With that said, doing it alone is not my recommendation; finding practitioners and mentors whom are willing to explore alternatives is important.
I experimented with dairy free, grain free, vegetarian, paleo, keto and intermittent fasting, among other food trends. Through all of the N=1 trials, I started gaining a better sense of what my body preferred. This varied with the time of year, my activity levels and even mood, but ultimately it was about regaining the relationship between food and how it affected me. I feel most of us have lost this ability to understand our body’s cues, due to mindless eating. This “relationship” became more intriguing to me as I began to ponder how our ancestors approached nutrition. When you look at the anthropology of food over the course of human existence, the story becomes even more intriguing.
Authors like Arthur Haines, Sam Thayer and Daniel Vitalis, as well as a group of friends exploring the concepts of foraging, pushed my limits of nutrition and living a lifeway that makes sense for our species. I grew up eating processed, lifeless food; the fact that we continue to feed the next generation this way, and that these foods remain staples in the food deserts of lower socioeconomic classes, is unbelievable to me. As a healthcare professional, I have come to understand that those who continue to recommend the Standard American Diet (SAD) have purposefully ignored reason and scientific evidence. While I realize foraging, hunting and gathering is not a reality for the masses, I turned to an organization that has an appreciation for food, farming and a holistic approach to health.
The Weston A. Price Foundation became that beacon. While there are many foundational principles in this approach, it breaks down to consuming food that provides optimal nutrition through appropriate practices. Working with the land in a regenerative fashion, honoring food and how it nourishes us, and developing relationships with local food providers is a must. As a society, we have allowed others to dictate our food supply and consumption habits, while refusing to take responsibility for something that has tremendous impact on our health. There is not one perfect food or diet for everyone, but aligning your habits in this manner will move your health in the right direction.
So, where does one go from here? I live in the city in a condominium complex, so while currently I can’t provide for myself, I am making a conscious decision to choose health with my actions. I belong to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) service, so I am able to get fresh produce each week. I work with local farmers to get fresh, raw dairy and eggs, and meat that is from animals treated in a humane manner with appropriate nutrition. I obtain other food and beverages from local, artisanal vendors that care as much for what they produce as they do for themselves. This year I rented a community food plot to begin developing a relationship with the soil and the food I consume. Finally, I continue to look for the free, wild food that nature provides with no care needed. Yes, this takes time and sometimes work to process, but the energy expended on these tasks and the relationships built have more lessons than one can imagine.
While my choices may seem drastic and unrealistic for many, this is a journey. Start with a basic concept of eating seasonally, or those foods that your local farmers’ market would have. Choose these items at the grocery store. Choose foods that are minimally processed. Choices made at the grocery store will have a much greater impact on your body than the one you make at the voting booth, so choose health!
Elemental Health 