Restoring Nutrient Density to Our Food Supply & Why It Matters | 2019 Soil & Nutrition Conference

https://bionutrient.org/
Restoring Nutrient Density to Our Food Supply and Why It Matters
Kathleen DiChiara and Jordan Schmidt

Essential micronutrients are critical to the biochemical processes that drive all the functions in the human body. Prioritizing foods with a higher nutrient density ensures that we get enough vitamins, minerals and fatty acids from the food we eat. There was a time when we had little concern about the right ratios and nutrient density. Today, we know that not all food is created equal.

In carrots, the Real Food Campaign (RFC) found as much as a 200:1 variation in polyphenols, and 90:1 for antioxidants. In spinach, the variation was 75:1 in polyphenols, and 90:1 for antioxidants. Broadly across the spectrum, there are significant variations in the vital nutrients we need to prevent and reverse chronic disease and live our best lives.

Nutritional value has the potential to improve the quality of crops, ecosystems, and human health. However, over 95% of the world’s population is afflicted with some form of illness, with over a third having more than five ailments. 50% of the children in the U.S. suffer with a chronic disease. It’s clear that the general public must embrace the understanding that our food has the capacity to regenerate health, which will incentivize their choices and drive the entire food supply chain to focus on nutritional value as a key metric.

In this panel, we will explore some of the complex issues surrounding the impact of nutrition on human health, including:

• Should we be comparing our nutrient intake against nutrient targets?
• If we know the nutrient deficiencies associated with various health conditions, should our symptoms drive our food choices?
• What role does supplementation and food fortification play?
• Can we still rely on flavor and satiety to ensure we get the nutrients and energy we need?
• What kind of information does our food carry with it?
• What happens beyond the plate when we focus on the joy of real food?

From the 2019 Soil & Nutrition Conference: https://soilandnutrition.org/
Conference archive freely available at https://bionutrient.org/soil-and-nutr...

Learn more about the Bionutrient Food Association: https://bionutrient.org/

Kathleen DiChiara, FDN-P, INHC, BNI-P

Kathleen DiChiara is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner and Integrative Nutrition Health Nutrition Coach. She received specialized training in the biochemistry and specialized diets for autism, allergies, autoimmune and other chronic conditions and is a professionally-trained chef. Kathleen is the President and Founder of Rhode to Health, Inc., Nutritional Intelligence Academy and Nourished2Learn™. In 2014, Kathleen became a best-selling author with her first book, The Hidden Connection, and will soon release her next book End Chronic Disease: The Healing Power of Beliefs, Behaviors and Bacteria with Hay House in February 2020.

As a nutrition educator and researcher, Kathleen has dedicated her work to increase the public’s knowledge about the connection between nutrition and patterns of chronic disease. Her studies and practices aim to address the health of the whole and our interconnection to nature. Her personal journey back to health and her son’s autism recovery serve as the inspiration for her work and a reminder of our innate capacity to heal through the power of our daily choices.

Jordan Schmidt, NTP

Jordan Schmidt is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, instructor for the Nutritional Therapy Association, movement teacher, and a farmer in the Hudson Valley, New York. She has spent a decade working with organic farm systems and is fascinated by the connections between the health of our broader environment and the health of our internal bodies. She is passionate about supporting and restoring wellness in the face of a world and healthcare system that often make it difficult.

Jordan’s interest in nutrition and healing (in using food as foundational medicine) began as early as she can remember. Growing up with chronic asthma, allergies and digestive issues she was aware that her body responded to diet, stress, and environment. Her own healing journey was gradual, but transformative. Using dietary changes that combine ancestral knowledge and modern science, specific high quality supplements, and important lifestyle modifications she has truly changed her own health. She no longer relies on asthma or allergy medication, nor does she suffer from debilitating digestive distress.

The tangible process of healing her own body and respect that she has gained for the complexity of how our bodies work, led her to pursue a nutritional counseling certificate with the Nutritional Therapy Association, which allowed her to solidify the foundational knowledge needed to help others understand dysfunction and regain their health.