You probably spend a lot of time thinking about what you should eat, but did you know that your body can hold all of the answers you need? While the phrase “listen to your body” can feel a bit cliche, your body is constantly trying to tell you what it needs, if only you learn to listen to it.
Changes in your weight actually aren’t the only signs that your body is telling you to switch up the way that you eat-you might be surprised by just how many different ways your body can communicate with you.
INSOMNIA OR EXHAUSTION
Yourlack of sleepor consistent tiredness could be due in part to your diet. If you’re not consuming enough calories to fuel your day, you may feel fatigued towards the point of exhaustion, and if your timing is off or your diet isn’t healthful, you may have trouble falling asleep at night.
Eating a full meal shortly before bed could be keeping you up at night. The body needs3-4 hoursto digest, and trying to lie down before the digestion process is complete can lead to heartburn and acid reflux.
Too, what you eat, as well as what time you eat, can play a huge role in how energized you feel.Health.comsuggested ensuring you eat a substantial amount of complex carbs, starting your day with soluble fiber foods like oatmeal, eating every couple of hours, and choosing cruciferous vegetables like brussel sprouts, broccoli, and kale to have utmost energy throughout the day.
BLEMISHES AND BREAKOUTS
Some foods make you glow, but others can cause flare-ups.
If you wake up to a breakout, your body may be trying to tell you something. Diets high in fat and heavy indairy and high-glycemic sugars, like bread and pasta, have been linked to increased risks of acne.
To limit your chances of a breakout, Health and Wellness ExpertCaleb Backetold INSIDER “to avoid processed foods like chips, soda, ice cream, dairy, bread, and milk chocolate. Instead, replace these foods by incorporating plenty of vegetables, protein, and healthy fats into your diet.”
YOUR MOOD
Food, sugar in particular, is sometimes referred to as an “emotional regulator.”
Astudypublished in Health Psychology found that low blood sugar is associated with negative mood and that while high blood sugar is mostly associated with positive mood, it also can cause sadness or anger. In short, this means that how you’re feeling could be a result of what you’re eating.
Astudyreferenced in theDartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Scienceshowed, “Studies have found that diets low in carbohydrates increased feelings of anger, depression, and tension and diets high in protein and low in carbohydrates increased anger.” If you have a change in mood for what seems like no reason, consider what you’ve eaten and perhaps what you’ll eat next.
Being “hangry” makes more sense now.Caroline Apovian, director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at Boston Medical Center and professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine told INSIDER, “Feeling ‘hangry’ or cranky is one of the first signs that you aren’t eating enough calories.”
BLOATING
Bloatingis when your stomach fills with gas or swells, resulting in discomfort. There’s no single cause of bloating; intestinal gas, eating too much, food sensitivity, and excessive fiber in the diet are a few likelycauses of bloating.
If you’re frequentlybloated, particularly right after eating, take a look at your diet. Your body is trying to tell you something. It could be that you’ve just consumed too many calories in one sitting, or you’ve eaten too much of a foodhigh in fiber that cannot be easily digested, such as beans or brussel sprouts.
Registered dietitian and clinical associate professorJoan Salge Blakesays,”Eating smaller meals can help prevent bloating.” Although you may end up having to switch up the way you eat from time to time, she recommends simplywatching what you eat and eating slowly as well.
HEADACHES
Getting lots ofheadaches? Consider the amount of processed and frozen foods (these are packed with sodium and often timesMSG) you’re consuming or the amount of water you drink each day. Dehydration is a very common cause of headaches and maybe your body’s way of signaling that you need water, or foods rich in water like fruits and fresh vegetables.
Make sure that you’re drinking enough water daily- whichcan vary based on who you talk to- and limiting your sodium intake to the recommended0.5 – 1.0 teaspoons per dayto avoid headaches.
If you get headaches frequently, keeping a food diary, charting your headaches, and looking for patterns is a great way to find which foods and drinks to consider eliminating (or lessening) in your diet.
ODOR
Although body odor generally doesn’t smell great, if you notice you smell different than your typical odor, beware. Naturopathic doctorCynthia Byesays, “body odor generally results from internal toxins forming faster than they are eliminated.”
Sweat itself isn’t inherently smelly. What actually contributes to the “smell” is the bacteria that are living on the skin and the toxins removed from the body via sweat (and sometimes foods you’ve eaten). These smells can be signs of disease or infection. For instance, sweat that smells particularly unpleasant can signal adeficiency in magnesium, or significantlysweet-smelling sweatcan signal a yeast or bacterial infection.
If you notice any odors that smell out of the ordinary, recognize that it may be your body telling you to switch up the way you eat.
FREQUENT ILLNESS
If you’re feeling sick more often than not, you may want to take a look at your diet and evaluate just how nutritious it is (or isn’t). If you’re not consumingnutrient-dense foodsregularly, your body will be less prepared to fight off illness when it needs to.
Sickness may be your body’s way of telling you to switch up the way you eat. There are tons of foods that are packed withantioxidants- natural compounds that help prevent or stop cell damage andhelp fend off viruses and microbes- as well as foods filled withvitamins and minerals, which are considered to fight an array of common illnesses like the flu, a cold, or even sinus infections. Aim for fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean produce to be staples in your everyday diet.
Registered dietitianPam Schoenfeldsaid “Vitamin deficiencies from eating a poor diet can make you vulnerable to every germ going around.” She added that not eating fresh vegetables and fruits daily is harmful to your immune system.
Source: INSIDER
