The Leader's Quick Guide To Diet Change

When most people think about how they can improve their Leadership, the first thing they think of usually isn't Diet.

However, this couldn't be further from the Truth!

We are going to dive into the reasons why, as well as 3 crucial points to understand if you're going to have Success as a Leader.

The Dis-Stress Connection

Why is Diet such a crucial thing for Leaders to improve?

Well, it all ties to Dis-Stress.

Yesterday I wrote an article about how understanding Dis-Stress can create Legendary Success.

One thing I didn't discuss in depth is how large of a role Diet plays in Dis-Stress.

It impacts Leaders in multiple ways.

First, what food we choose to eat or not eat can directly impact our Stress levels.

See, we have 4 Brain Systems in our bodies, with the Gut being one of them (Scientists call this Neurogastroenterology).

The Gut has a lot of Neurons that think on their own and can communicate with the rest of the body.

A large part of what the Gut is communicating is what resources are becoming available for the body to utilize.

If we are not providing the right resources, the Gut will send Stress signals to warn the rest of the body to prepare for the worst.

As I always say - All Stress Adds.

So the Stress of lacking resources will add to all of the other Stresses in life, which are many for Leaders.

More and more people have adopted the Modern American Diet (MAD Diet) or Standard American Diet (SAD Diet), and both of these have proven disastrous for health.

All of the staple foods in the MAD/SAD Diets have been shown to actively lack nutrients the body needs and actively cause Stress.

The other problem here is that this is where the process of creating Mg-ATP (our body's source of energy) begins.

If we lack the proper nutrients, not only are we going to be adding Dis-Stress, but we also won't be able to create the energy our bodies need to succeed.

Over time, this will get worse and worse.

So we should take an active stance against this if we are going to Thrive as Leaders.

Point 1: Absolutely Remove

While we look at the MAD/SAD Diets, there are a few things we know 100% are causing issues and should be removed swiftly.

These are the Big 3, and the faster you get rid of them, the faster your body will thank you for removing these Stessors.

Seed Oils

The first major bad guys are Seed Oils which have been shown to cause a lot of problems.

They have no real role in our bodies, and they do something really terrible internally.

These Oils end up injuring our Mitochondria (where Mg-ATP is made) and make them significantly less effective.

Think of it like putting the wrong fuel inside your car.

The more of it you put in, the faster the car breaks down.

The more Seed Oils you consume, the more damage will be caused to Mitochondria until they become unsalvagable.

Most peoples' diets are filled to the brim with these Seed Oils as it is the cheap "go-to" oil in the MAD/SAD Diet.

Get rid of these.

Sugars

This has become more common knowledge, but Sugar in our world has become a gigantic issue.

Our bodies do not store Sugar well as fuel, and so it causes a lot of challenges when we give our body too much.

Plus, Sugar is burned through very quickly as fuel.

If we go back to the car example, it would be like having a very low MPG.

This means that our body is constantly struggling (aka Stressed) between having too much Sugar it can't hold onto and burning through Sugar too quickly needing more.

As you can imagine, it's a terrible cycle.

What makes this worse is that "Food Scientists" have created over 50 types of sugar that they sneak into food all over the place.

On top of this, Sugar molecules act like a drug in our bodies, which as we know can cause all sorts of different problems we know about around literal chemical addiction.

The only "possible" exception to this rule is sugar that comes naturally from organic food, like fruits.

However, for some people who are already experiencing major metabolic problems, it may actually be better to avoid fruit altogether, at least until those problems are lessened or resolved.

Anything where sugar is added, even supposedly "pure" forms of Sugar, should be avoided.

Processed Food

This is the final nail to get rid of - Processed Food.

Much of our food in today's world is extremely unnatural.

Even many things that "sound" good, like Veggie Burgers, are highly processed and not accepted by our bodies.

Veggie Burgers themselves have crazy additives, such as Sawdust!

There are a number of things we should be seeking instead.

Organic.

Grass-Fed, Grass-Finished.

Whole-Food.

As you navigate this world of food, you should find someone with experience in it because there are a number of marketing terms utilized to make Processed Foods "sound" like they aren't Processed.

Point 2: Be Wary Of

Another important thing to pay attention to in Diet Changes is our Feelings.

There are some counter-intuitive rules on how the body responds to Good vs. Bad Foods.

Often, the foods that are worst for us "feel" good at first when changing, but it's a mistake to think they are helping us.

Usually, many types of food are designed (either through processing or by nature) to feel good initially, but it's a mask for what it's doing behind the scenes.

Often, these foods are working in the background and causing a lot of internal damage.

So it "Feels" good in the short term, but in the long term you will get worse and it can be confusing to understand why.

Many people say things like, "I was feeling so good for a while, but "suddenly" things just started to get significantly worse!"

This is a common phrase on Dietary changes where something is causing damage under the guise of "Feeling Good".

A classic example of this that I recently talked about is Sulforaphane.

It's a Phytochemical (Plant-Made Chemical) that makes us "feel" good in the short term by pushing our cells to reduce inflammation.

However, behind the scenes, it is actively and negatively impacting our cells, causing cancer growth and even making cancerous cells stronger among other things!

You can read the article to get the fullness of what Sulforaphane does, but it's not pretty.

On the other hand, foods that tend to be the best for us might actually make us "Feel" bad in the short term!

However, what makes this confusing is that it isn't the Food itself that is making us feel bad!

Rather, the body is FINALLY getting nutrients it has been needing for a long time and is using those to attempt to eliminate as many toxins as it can for survival purposes.

So, what we are actually feeling is the elimination of toxins, not bad food!

Again, this is another reason you should seek out someone who has a deep understanding of the scientific literature (aka, they have read and could provide scientific research papers proving their points of view).

Point 3: Don't Forget

The final thing is that we need to pay very close attention to what types of Micronutrients we are getting or are missing in our diets.

The place where most people struggle, in almost any diet, is lacking in necessary Micronutrients.

This is also perhaps one of the most highly misunderstood aspects when it comes to nutrition.

Why?

There's a lot of misinformation about these and there is a huge myth that "More is better."

Not only is this not true, but it is extremely dangerous and potentially lethal when pushed.

Often, certain Micronutrients need to be paired together to work correctly, such as Calcium and Magnesium or Sodium and Potassium.

If these are not paired together, it can cause a bunch of challenges, and simply adding more of one can actually make things worse.

With this, some Micronutrients have already been added to most of our diets at dangerous amounts, such as Iron.

Most people actually aren't low in Iron in today's world (unless they have been in a horrible accident and are experiencing heavy bleeding).

Science is showing that many people don't have "Anaemia of Iron Deficiency", but rather "Anaemia of Inflammation".

If you are "truly" low in Iron, such as extreme blood loss, then you may need to add Iron (but this is excessively rare, likely less than 1% of diagnosed cases of Anaemia).

However, if you have "Anaemia of Inflammation", and you add more Iron, it will only cause more Inflammation, making things worse, and causing more Dis-Stress in your body.

There is also a problem where some people believe certain things are the same or can be traded, but in reality, this is completely false.

For instance, Whole-Food Vitamin C is completely different than Ascorbic Acid.

Accutane is not even close to the same thing as Whole-Food Retinol.

There also is a belief that you can ingest enough Beta-Carotene to equal a necessary amount of Whole-Food Vitamin A in our diet, which is also not true.

Common myths and disinformation about these Micronutrients cause a lot of confusion in the scientific world as a whole.

Again, it is critical to find people who have an understanding of these Micronutrients, as very few people have actually read the Scientific Research around them and there are extreme levels of misinformation in the Dietary community.

I would also highly recommend working with a Physician/Doctor who either understands these things or is willing to learn about them (sadly, many Physicians, even good-hearted ones, are unwilling to look at the research more deeply).

Final Thoughts

As a Leader, if we want to succeed at the highest levels, we need to truly understand Dis-Stress.

The better we understand it, the higher likelihood we have to fully unlock our Heroic Potential.

We live in a world where there are many things working horribly against us.

The more education we get, and the more misinformation that we can see through, the easier time we will have to reduce Dis-Stress.

Though "Diet" may not seem like an important aspect of Leadership, it underlies huge aspects of what we hope to accomplish.

There are deeper levels to understand than what I have provided here, but this should put you on an exceptionally great start to improving your life so you can become a better Leader.