Empower Your Health with Holistic Nutrition

I acknowledge that not everyone may be familiar with the word “holistic” in front of the word “nutrition”. What does this mean? Are we talking about a comprehensive omnivore nutrition, a flexible nutrition, an alternative diet based on super foods, or something else?

Well, none of this. Holistic as qualifier of nutrition does not refer to nutrition itself, but to a point of view of health and wellness comprised of multiples areas or dimensions. Holistic nutritionists, like me, are qualified to provide advice not only in the area or nutrition itself, but also in the other areas that make up this comprehensive view of wellness.

To understand this better, let’s back up a little. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Health the following way:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” – Word Health Organization, 1946

Notice the word state. This entails that health is something static, a snapshot in time.

On the other hand, wellness is defined by the National Wellness Institute as a process, something dynamic and evolutionary, seeking a more successful existence:

“Wellness is a conscious, self-directed, and evolving process of achieving one’s full potential.” – National Wellness Institute

Here is where holistic nutrition, and holistic wellness, come into play. In holistic wellness, the individuals are seeking to optimize their life through their choices in all the areas – or dimensions – that influence their well-being.

Different schools outline slightly different dimensions, but in general, we can state that holistic wellness is made up of 7 dimensions. Our choices in all these areas will define how well we feel:

The following slideshow defines each of the dimensions:

The ultimate goal of holistic wellness, and holistic nutrition as a key component, is to empower individuals with the knowledge and tools to work towards optimizing all dimensions of wellness, and ultimately achieving optimal health and the highest functioning level.

For most people, the way we feel in any of these dimensions will vary over time. Some times we will feel great physically but perhaps a little disconnected with our community. Or we may be undergoing lots of stress, but our spiritual practices keep us mentally sound.

Looking at wellness as something more than just the absence of illness, our general feeling of wellbeing will be much more balanced and positive over time.

You don’t need to just survive; you can thrive, and the right nutrition will certainly help!