"Everything in Moderation": Discovering what this means for YOU.

Is “everything in moderation” the holy grail of health—or just another dietary myth that’s leading us astray? In this fiery sermon on Blasphemous Nutrition, Aimee pulls back the curtain on this so-called sacred advice, challenging its vague, one-size-fits-all gospel with her signature sass and unholy candor.

Aimee lays bare how modern food systems, misleading health guidelines, and the cult of convenience have turned “moderation” into a false idol, exposing how the ambiguity around moderation leaves us wandering in the wilderness of confusion, craving direction and balance.

But salvation is at hand! The real path to dietary enlightenment is one that starts with listening to your body’s wisdom and ends with using tools like lab tests and personal health goals to discover your true north. Along the way, Aimee critiques the food industry and vague government policies, but celebrates Canada’s low-risk alcohol guidelines as a rare beacon of nuanced advice that can be transferred as a starting point for other consumables that need guardrails. Tune in for the unvarnished real talk and take the first step toward writing your own gospel of health. Hallelujah!

Key Takeaways:

• The phrase "Everything in moderation" is often misinterpreted due to its ambiguous nature and lack of a clear definition.
• The Canadian guidelines for alcohol consumption offer a nuanced perspective, highlighting a continuum of risk rather than fixed limits.
• For significant health improvements, it's essential to critically evaluate dietary advice and find what is sustainable and effective for you.
• Personalized health strategies, informed by both internal cues and external data, are necessary to manage or prevent disease effectively.

Resources:
Canadian Guidance on Alcohol and Health

Find Research Citations and Transcript at Blasphemous Nutrition on Substack

Work with Aimee

Photography by: Dai Ross Photography

Podcast Cover Art: Lilly Kate Creative

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Transcript

0:00

Hey Rebels, welcome to Blasphemous Nutrition. Consider this podcast your pantry full of clarity, perspective, and the nuance needed to counter the superficial health advice so freely given on the internet. I'm Aimee, the unapologetically candid host of Blasphemous Nutrition and a double degreed nutritionist with 20 years experience. I'm here to share a more nuanced take. On living and eating well to sustain and recover your health. If you've found most health advice to be so generic as to be meaningless, We're so extreme that it's unrealistic, and you don't mind the occasional F bomb. You've come to the right place. From dissecting the latest nutrition trends to breaking down published research and sharing my own clinical experiences, I'm on a mission to foster clarity amidst all the confusion and empower you to have the help you need to live a life you love. Now let's get started.

MacBook Air Microphone: 0:59

Welcome back to bless him as nutrition. I'm your host, Aimee. And I'm thinking about investing in this new up and coming grocery store called moderation. I mean, they have everything.

1:11

B A S S

MacBook Air Microphone: 1:14

I think it'll be quite popular. And that folks is the campus segway I can think of to take us into today's topic, everything in moderation. In the pushback against diet culture, we are being told that moderation is the key to health. What the hell does that even mean? It has no clear definition. It is 100% open to interpretation. And that's precisely what big food likes about this phrase, which is why they've been using it for decades and why they have encouraged the us government to use this meaningless buzzword as well, without providing any guardrails about what that might actually mean. In theory, everything in moderation is actually something I stand behind. But we are so many generations into a thoroughly perverted food system, misled by lack of proper education, the gap having been filled in by excessive advertising and increasingly polarized nutrition extremes promoted by influencers that the reality is very few of us have any accurate idea what moderation actually means. After watching supersize me and that dates me quite a bit. You may think that moderation means fast food two or three times a week. When health guidelines describe moderate drinking as seven alcoholic drinks a week. Why wouldn't you think this was a reasonable amount, but what if none of that was actually moderate? If you have been taught all your life to be disconnected from your body, by carving it through starvation, sweat, or surgery, to be a certain size. To hide it or flaunt it as a means of protection or security. And when engaging in physical activities, as part of a well-rounded education became unimportant in pursuit of living exclusively in our thoughts, ideas, and feelings. It's no wonder that people don't have a really clear sense of what to do. To maintain or improve their health and be connected to the body they live in. We are a little, okay. We're a lot like domesticated zoo animals, our instincts and our common sense has withered away and we've become completely dependent upon outside sources to guide us. Unfortunately much of the advice out there is far too generalized to be helpful beyond initial steps. For healthy people to preserve their health. Although the more, the food industry influences public research, the less true even that becomes. With more people in developed nations sick than healthy general food guidelines are not going to cut the mustard anymore. I really long for all of you to experience the wildness of being connected to your body and aware of those internal cues. They are deeply helpful, not just in terms of the foods to consume, but really all aspects of living a good fulfilling life. Finding out what moderation means for you? Requires looking in listening and taking notes. It is not something that someone else can do for you. Although your health professionals can certainly be a guide in learning how to listen and provide interpretations for some of the messages that your body does give you. Now, this is also to be balanced with external data from labs. As most of the diseases of our time are relatively silent until they become life-threatening. Um, looking at you heart disease. Our bodies are always talking to us though. Often, we don't hear them or understand what they're saying until they are screaming. One of the best ways to begin knowing what moderation means for you is assessing your true hunger and fullness or satiety. This can be assessed through a one to five scale or a one to 10 scale either is fine. Whichever you prefer. Check in before a meal and numerically rate where you lie on that scale. If one is famished and your chosen top number five or 10 is excessively full or stuffed. And check in during your meal to see where along that numerical system, you lie on any given time. And this can actually help you discover that your body is no longer hungry long before you finish what's on your plate. Simply having a better sense of when you are no longer hungry can begin to help you decide where moderation, at least in terms of food, quantity lies for you. Now many of us get to a place of understanding what moderate alcohol consumption is through experimentation and college. We understand what happens when we go overboard and unless addiction is a factor we aim to stay under that threshold of getting sick. Now while American and British guidelines for alcohol consumption are pretty lenient at one to two units a day, depending on sex. What our body can handle is often, much, much lower than that. Current guidelines can exacerbate elevated triglycerides, fatty liver disease, weight, gain, blood sugar issues, cancer risk, and nutrient depletion in many, if not, most people. Alcohol is not a required nutrient and no dose is the healthiest dose. However. We all live in the real world and not everybody is interested in being abstinent. Last year Canada went beyond the standard recommendation of an upper limit and created guidelines for low risk drinking based upon the available research. Here's what they've outlined and I'm quoting. The guidance is based on the principle of autonomy in harm reduction, and the fundamental idea behind it that people living in Canada have a right to know that all alcohol use comes with risk. Key points from the guidance include, there is a continuum of risk associated with weekly alcohol use where the risk of harm is. A. Zero drinks per week. Not drinking has benefits such as better health and better sleep. B two standard drinks or less per week. You are likely to avoid alcohol related consequences for yourself or others at this level. C.. Three to six standard drinks per week. Your risk of developing several types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer increases at this level. Side note, this is below. Guidelines for the United States as well as Britain. D. Seven standard drinks or more per week. Your risk of heart disease or stroke increases significantly at this level. E each additional standard drink radically increases the risk of alcohol related consequences. And then the Canadian guidelines go on to state the following. Consuming more than two standard drinks per occasion is associated with increased risks of harm to self and others, including injuries and violence. When pregnant or trying to get pregnant, there is no known safe amount of alcohol use. When breastfeeding not drinking alcohol is safest. No matter where you are on the continuum for your health, less alcohol is better. End quote. Now, this is a radically different take than less than one drink per day for females or two drinks per day for males is safe. Do you see the nuance that Canadians have offered? Did you note that Canadian health officials acknowledge such radical concepts as a continuum of risk? And each person having autonomy to make informed decisions as being a thing. Other countries may want to sit up and take note of this. So we want to consider these Canadian guidelines, this idea of a continuum of risk, as it pertains to other foods that we may be looking to moderate, such as carbohydrates sugars. Processed foods, foods that we know or suspect we are intolerant to. Sometimes, depending on what you're aiming to mitigate even healthy foods have to be put along this continuum to keep one's blood sugar balanced weight in check. And digestive issues at bay. For most of us, zero carbs, total carbohydrate. Abstinence is not the answer. And for most of us not being mindful of carbohydrate intake at all is also not the answer. Most Americans, Brits and Australian adults are already on the path of metabolic disease. So the status quo that has been normalized. Exceeds what our tolerance allows. Now, when it comes to improving or preserving your own health. Chances are you already have a sense that there are improvements to be made? With nutrition and movement progress also occurs on a continuum where even if it doesn't look as good as you may want it to starting with what you can sustain and manage is still improvement and it still makes an impact. Maybe it's a 10 minute walk a day, maybe it's changing your breakfast. So it includes more nutrients or staying mindful at one to two meals a day to see how your body feels with the food choices and the amounts of food that you're consuming daily. Maybe you have the bandwidth for more substantial changes. So you begin a new diet or exercise program laid out by an author, an influencer, or preferably a health professional. After a specific period of time, say a week, a fortnight a month. Assess what you notice that has changed if it is not satisfactory, look for ways to improve. This may be doing more. It may be doing something different. It may mean doing less. More is not always better, especially when it comes to elimination diets, like a low FODMAP diet AIP, paleo. Rigid diet plans like keto vegan, carnivore. And so on. Now if things are going well, then you also assess external measurements if needed. Get your labs checked. How are they doing? Is there a change in how your clothing fits? Are you needing less medication, either number of medications or the dose of your medication? This can also guide you in deciding if the changes that you have made are not enough, enough, or too much. Now from here, sustainability needs to be addressed. How sustainable is what I am doing. If it's easy, keep at it. If it's easy and it's not producing the desired results, you've got wiggle room to do more. If you believe more is still the right direction to go. Increase the walk or your meditation from 10 minutes to 15 minutes a day, for example. If you are on the greatest diet or yoga schedule or meditation in the world, but it's totally unsustainable for you. It's not going to last. And to be Frank, the entire diet and fitness industry is betting on that. And they're betting that you'll be back for more. So we have to take the elements of what works from what we have tried and lean in that direction, but do so in a way that we can sustain for the longterm. Now as you can probably realize finding what moderation means for you is not exactly a quick or even an easy process. Give yourself time to figure out what works. To get the results that you're looking for. This is very much a trial and error adventure. When I work with clients, I work with them for a minimum of three months. As we discover together what is going to get them, the results that they're looking for while keeping sustainability top of mind. They go out, try agreed upon strategies and then come back and report how it went. And we adjust from there if needed. In time, they have a customized system that is sustainable meets. Their body's needs is flexible and takes into account fluctuating life circumstances, but also takes into account their emotional needs and logistical challenge that they may run into as a consideration. Everything in moderation is a cheap throw away Quip that gets a lot of agencies and professionals off the hook for having to teach others about the importance of nuance and discerning what they personally may need to maintain or improve their health. If there's a condition you're looking to manage or prevent, what moderation means to you will be different than someone without these concerns. When it comes to determining your own body's tolerance, assessing how you can feel within the first minutes, hours, or even the first couple of days of eating a food or a meal can guide you and ascertaining what foods are problematic and which are beneficial. Observing external impacts with a glucometer. What you see in the toilet. And sometimes even the scale can reflect. The impact that a food or meal has on your body, your digestive system or inflammation, but this is not a hundred percent foolproof. However it does get it on the nose about 80% of the time, which is frequently enough to make massive strides in your energy, health, and longevity. For some people, the impact of a specific food or a type of meal, lead them to stay away from it completely and choose abstinence. Others will find their balance through trial and error, and it gives them the confidence of how much of what foods they can enjoy. Now in then without negative repercussions. All of this excludes acknowledging the addictive nature that some foods can hold over us. And this is something that has to be taken into consideration if it applies to you. Everything in moderation is useless. If you do not have a sense of what moderation means. Given that we live in such a distorted food reality because most of our food education comes from advertising and influencers. It's really not sound nor practical advice to choose moderation as an overall direction to bet your health upon. Acknowledging that your genetics, your lifestyle and your current state of health puts you somewhere along a continuum and that your food choices will either advance, maintain, or regress where you lie upon this continuum. Is the first step in deciding what moderation even means in your situation. If you're healthy and looking to stay that way. Developing body awareness and gaining a better understanding of what food and how much of what movement makes you feel more energetic, happier, and healthier. And what does not is a good place to start. More often than not choose foods that your great grandparents would have had in their pantry and ice box. If they were lucky enough to have refrigeration and use your internal sense of what feels right. And what doesn't coupled with annual or twice annual labs run to ensure that when. You are not eating like your ancestors. It's not causing problems. If you want to be super proactive work with a healthcare provider who understands nutrients. And what nutrients are needed for disease prevention. Talk to them about your family history so that you know, which foods and nutrients to focus on that will be especially important for you given your genetic makeup. Now if your body is already showing signs of disease or metabolic dysfunction, which is 93% of the adult American population and 85% of middle-class Australian adults. The rules of the game change. If you're listening to this podcast, chances are I'm talking to you. You need to be thinking about reversing the disease risk at this stage of your life and taking more proactive measures to preserve your health. If your health is something you value. The window of moderation is going to be narrower. And finding out what moderation means in your situation may be more complicated. It will still start with that body awareness backed up with lab work. But it often requires more nuanced and aggressive measures to turn the tide. Once the body is already entering a disease state. When I say aggressive. I do not mean excessive, nor do aggressive measures have to be extreme. Here is where we put on our critical thinking cap. We evoke discernment and keep sustainability in mind. As we take greater steps to delay or reverse health decline. Folks, I hope this take on moderation has been helpful for you to rethink what that term means for you in your life and where you are having health conversations and moderation comes up. Be sure to check out those Canadian low risk alcohol guidelines. I've included those in the show notes. They really are the most adult respectful way. I think I've seen alcohol discussed when addressing a broad general audience. If you need help translating the messages your body is giving you, determining what moderation actually will mean for you, or even implementing the practices that do make you feel your best. I am just a message away. Reach out in the link below to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your needs and concerns and see if we would be a good team to work together, to advance your health and fitness goals. Until next time, my blast mess buddies, stay skeptical and question the status quo. When it doesn't serve you.

20:36

If you have found some Nuggets of Wisdom, make sure to subscribe, rate, and share Blasphemous Nutrition with those you care about. As you navigate the labyrinth of health advice out there, remember, health is a journey, not a dietary dictatorship. Stay skeptical, stay daring, and challenge the norms that no longer serve you. If you've got burning questions or want to share your own flavor of rebellion, slide into my DMs. Your stories fuel me, and I love hearing them. Thanks again for tuning in to Blasphemous Nutrition. Until next time, this is Aimee signing off, reminding you that truth is nuanced, and any dish can be made better with a little bit of sass.