The Bite Size Podcast with Lorayne Michaels

Make America Healthy Again: Understanding Food Beyond the Labels

• Lorayne • Season 2 • Episode 55

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Navigating the complex world of nutrition can feel like walking through a minefield of contradicting advice. As a former EMT with over 20 years in medicine and a decade in fitness, I've seen firsthand how overwhelming it can be to figure out what's actually healthy.

What struck me most powerfully about the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement is its focus on education rather than restriction. We're not trying to take away your favorite foods—we're empowering you to understand what's actually in them. That Jiffy peanut butter you loved as a child? It now contains way more ingredients than it once did, many with unknown long-term effects on your body. This isn't about fear-mongering; it's about awareness.

The solution doesn't require perfection or extreme dieting. Start by focusing on whole, nutrient-dense foods from the perimeter of your grocery store. While organic options reduce your toxic load, washing conventional produce or opting for frozen alternatives still delivers crucial nutrients. Reading labels becomes your superpower—if you can't pronounce ingredients or the list seems endless, consider finding alternatives. Your body communicates its needs through various signals, but understanding those messages requires attention and knowledge. Did you know 80% of your immune system resides in your gut? This connection explains why everything from inflammation to anxiety might stem from what you're eating.

Take one small, consistent step this week toward better nutrition. Maybe swap a processed item for a whole food alternative or add a serving of local vegetables to your meals. Find someone to join you on this journey—community support makes lasting change possible. Remember, this isn't about perfection but progress toward becoming the healthiest version of yourself. What small change will you commit to today?

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Email Me: LorayneMichaels22@gmail.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Bite Size Podcast. I'm your host, lorraine Michaels, former EMT and nursing assistant, now business owner and wild entrepreneur. I walked away from over 15 years in medicine to pursue my passion and my God-given talents. Now I get the honor of helping other women discover their passions and purpose. If you're feeling stuck in life, unsure where to go or what to do, welcome. If you're exactly where you want to be great, you're welcome here too. If you have faced any kind of hardship or setback, you have found a safe place here. In other words, no matter who you are or what you've been through or what you're going through, this is the space for you. On the Bite Size podcast, we'll discuss life, business and faith. There's something for everyone, so grab a cup of coffee and something to take notes with, because there will definitely be things you won't want to forget. Welcome back, friends, to the Bite Size Podcast.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host, lorraine Michaels, and today I want to focus again on nutrition, this maha movement that I absolutely love. I'm sure some of you are so over it and there's a lot of noise going on, but today I want to talk about the Maha movement and cutting through the noise of nutrition, and I just want to explain why this topic is so important and so many people feel overwhelmed by the conflicting information that we are just being bombarded with. And I get it because I was there also, having 20 years background in medicine and in fitness and nutrition and all the things. Gosh, probably longer than that. 13 was when I really got serious about working out and I started competing 2013,. We're 2025. Oh, wow, I've been in medicine longer than fitness. That's funny. So, anyways, you do the math Over 20 years in medicine and I really got serious about fitness in 2013. So we're a little over 10 years. And so I've seen all the trends, I've heard of all the things and this diet works for this and this is better. And so I know the conflicting information is daunting and sometimes it's just easier to say forget it and throw your hands up in the air and do what you wanna do and eat what you wanna eat and YOLO. But that's not the best thing to do. So I wanna cut through the noise and help you, maybe simplify it a little bit so that you can make the best decision for you and your family.

Speaker 1:

So this movement resonates with me so much and it aligns with my mission so much because I mean, ultimately, at its core, what RFK Jr is trying to do is allow the consumers the freedom and educating them as best as possible. They're not trying to remove something and that you're not able to get it Like we're not trying to remove Pepsi or Coke and you're not allowed to buy it anymore. We're not trying to remove Pepsi or Coke and you're not allowed to buy it anymore. We're not trying to or sorry, not we a little Freudian slip. They're not trying to do that. We're not trying to take away the things that you want. We're trying to inform you of what is really in it.

Speaker 1:

And so the reason why it's so important to me is because I have seen and experienced what food and nutrition does to me personally. I've regulated my hormones. I've seen what it does to my son when he eats things that he should not be eating, because his behavior drastically changes his attention, same with mine, my attention span. I have seen I can emphatically tell you that nutrition plays a key role in it, as well as fitness. So it is personal. It's personal, it's not a fad. We're just trying to give you the information.

Speaker 1:

And so let's define Maha. We know what Maha means Make America healthy again, and so my role in this is I'm trying to educate my listeners, my audience, my community, on what is out there, and I know some of the confusing things is you will think that something that you used to eat when you were a kid was healthy. So therefore you're getting that same thing. Let's say, a Jiffy peanut butter. You used to eat that and it was healthy because it was peanuts, oil, salt, but now that same Jiffy has 27 more ingredients in it than what it once did. So you're actually not eating the same thing anymore.

Speaker 1:

So a lot of what has happened in the food industry the FDA has no idea what is in it. They have no idea what these chemicals do to the body long term, and so a lot of the food now is ultra processed. There's a crap ton more ingredients in it because they want it to last longer. Also, they want it to taste so good. That's why ultra processed food tastes so good to get you to buy it more like it, dare I say, get addicted to it. Because when you eat something and it tastes so good, it triggers these hormones, these endorphins, and so your body is like oh my gosh, I like that, I want more of it and it's not satiating, it doesn't fill you up, but it tastes so good so you want more of it, but it's not filling you up, so it's empty calories and it's got a ton of processed chemicals that we don't even know what the long-term effects are.

Speaker 1:

So what you used to eat 20 years ago is not the same as what you eat now. And so why is this different from trending? From trending fad diets? Is because this is nutrition, because what I'm trying to do is help educate you on what it is that you're eating and what is your best option and why it is better for you to eat whole foods, nutritious foods, and not, you know, the packaged stuff and not the package stuff. So, cutting through the confusion, like I said, I know there's an overwhelming amount of conflicting nutrition advice and I'm not here to bash a diet and say you know, if you're vegan, you're going to die and you're not going to get, you're not going to be healthy, you're not going to get the adequate nutrition that you need and you got to go um carnivore. Like I'm not here, there's a ton of diets, a ton of options, a ton of eating lifestyles. I don't know if you can hear my chicks right now, but they are going crazy in their little box and I just I hear them and they're scratching like crazy. But anyways, sorry if you hear that, that was a squirrel moment, gosh, I totally lost my train of thought because these chicks are driving me crazy, the food cutting through the noise. The diets oh okay, so all the different diets what might work for someone might not work for another, and so there's a huge misconception about dieting because they're so extreme and some of them are just fads.

Speaker 1:

So my encouragement to you and my advice to you is to figure out where you are deficient in. So that's going to require you to get lab work done. And what does your body need? What are your goals and what does your body need? What are you lacking and what are you getting too much of? Are you not getting enough protein? So there's different things and, dare I say, it's not always going to be the same, because your body is changing as you get older. You require different needs, different supplements. So getting lab work done is critical. So you know where you're starting.

Speaker 1:

I did that when I really got serious about this and what nutrition that I am needing, and I really wanted to get serious about my hormones and regulating my hormones, because I didn't want to take medication, I didn't want to take hormone replacements. I knew I could fix it, and so it required me getting lab work done and then changing my diet and adding in the supplements that I needed, and so focusing on foundational nutrition can actually help simplify it. So take out all the processed crap. I want you to start grocery shopping along the perimeter and I want you to start focusing on whole foods, nutrient dense foods, not your box stuff, not anything. I want you to stay out of the pantry as much as possible and I want you to eat fresh food.

Speaker 1:

And here's the other thing. I know I talk a lot about organic food and shopping local, and although, yes, I am a huge proponent of shopping local, because when you buy from a conventional store, that if you're on the East Coast and you're buying food that is harvested on the West Coast, the minerals, the vitamins, everything that's good in that food is getting less and less day by day. So shopping local at your local farmer's market, your local grocery store that has local foods, fruits, vegetables is amazing. And what was the other thing I was going to say about that? Oh, the organic thing. So I understand that organic is expensive Trust me, I know. And herbicides and pesticides are a huge deal right now and the Maha movement and people are talking so much about that.

Speaker 1:

And, yes, I try and avoid conventional food as much as possible. You got to wash your food, no matter what. I prefer organic as much as I can, just so I can cut down on the amount of toxins that I'm putting in my body, because there's microplastics everywhere. The environment has crap in it. I'm just trying to eliminate the toxic load that I'm putting on my body as much as I can. So changing my deodorant, changing my makeup, not drinking and eating out of plastic. So, everywhere that I can, I'm cutting that down, and part of that is eating organic.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes I understand that you can't get certain fruits and vegetables because it's not that season. Buy them frozen, that is okay, as long as you're getting it in. That is the most important part. So if you can't do organic, that's fine. Try and shop local. If you can't find it fresh, that's fine. You can get it frozen as well.

Speaker 1:

But what I want to encourage is that you try and avoid ultra-processed things. Oats is a huge one, not only because of you know, there's a lot of people that are gluten sensitive now, but a lot of that is because of the pesticides, the glyphosate, the things that they have to do in order to process the oats. I just avoid it altogether. Okay, so now I kind of have broken down some misconceptions, I've explained what to focus on and kind of how to cut out the noise. I want to give you some actionable tips, okay, tip number one and I've already kind of mentioned this stick to whole, nutrient-dense foods. Build your meals around real, unprocessed foods. Like I said, stay around the perimeter of your grocery store and avoid the boxed stuff. Avoid the processed stuff and Stay out of your pantry.

Speaker 1:

Tip number two listen to your body. What are signs of inflammation? Gut health issues, stiff joints, bloating, fatigue all of these are signs of inflammation and gut issues. And everything stems from your gut. I know a lot of people are talking about this too the gut microbiome. It's so important. 80% of your immune system resides in your gut. So if your gut is not healthy, you are not going to be healthy, because it's going to trickle out everywhere else.

Speaker 1:

Tip number three small changes create a big impact. So start simple. Do little steps first that are going to create long-term results. So, whatever that may be, if starting simple for you is swapping out your conventional fruits for organic fruits, or if your simple swap is going to the local farmer's market once a week, just start simple. You don't have to wipe out everything in your pantry. Tip number four read your labels to avoid hidden toxins.

Speaker 1:

I became so obsessed with this and I'm so glad I did, because and I've talked about this on a previous episode before if you cannot pronounce the ingredients, don't get it. If it has a crap ton of ingredients in it, don't get it. You can find alternatives. A good example is so I absolutely love baking and I'm not going to stop doing that. I'm not going to completely avoid sweets, but I have alternatives and I make brown butter, sourdough, chocolate chip cookies and originally you know I would always do the Nestle's Toll House chocolate chips. Well, now I get Lily's because it's way less ingredients and it's healthier. It's an alternative sweet and it doesn't taste any different. It's just better for you. So read your labels. If there's a ton of ingredients, that's usually a bad indication and you need to swap that and change it and find something else. Avoiding the grains Cassava flour is really good. Almond flour yeah. Read your labels. Become an advocate for yourself on that.

Speaker 1:

Tip number five your mind body connection. That is a huge helping tool for you, right? Um, the role of your mind, your mindset, um, stress your faith, your spirituality. Use that mind-body connection. I don't subscribe to a particular diet, I just don't. What I do is I eat intuitively and I know. For instance, when I'm on my period I crave red meat. It's because my body is losing iron and I know I want a fat steak or a juicy burger. My body, I pay attention to that and I give it what it needs.

Speaker 1:

Now, this is not your ticket to say my body is craving sweets and you go down a gallon of ice cream. That is not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is listen to what your body needs. If you are craving certain things like salty or sweet, again checking your labs, because nine times out of 10, you are deficient in a mineral. So just because you're craving something sweet or salty doesn't mean that that's what your body needs. It might be a deficient in some type of mineral. Side note, magnesium adding magnesium into your supplementation is huge. I have a magnesium powder that I use at night and it helps me with muscle recovery, it helps me with sleep, it helps me with rest, helps my body calm down. That has been a game changer and I absolutely love it.

Speaker 1:

So number five the mind body connection. Listen to what your body and give your body what it needs. So when you're stressed out, you feel high anxiety. Another thing anxiety and depression. That also has to do with gut inflammation and your gut microbiome being out of whack. So that was back up to one of the other tips. I think that was. I don't remember Anyways. So what's next? Hopefully you have taken some type of notes. If not, go back and listen to this episode again and write these things down. It's not hard.

Speaker 1:

I try and keep this as simple as possible for you because I don't want you to get overwhelmed. I want you to remember it and implement it, and I want to encourage you to take one small action step this week to improve your nutrition, whether that's eating organic or eating incorporating more fruits and vegetables or, you know, taking something out of the pantry, getting rid of something. I don't want to deprive you of anything, because that's the worst thing. If you cut out and eliminate things mentally, your mind is going to resist that and push back against that, and you're going to end up binging or overeating or just thrown in the towel and saying forget it. So one small step I want you to take this week find out what would be an easy thing for you to do and do it consistently.

Speaker 1:

Another action step for you is to invite someone along on the journey. Find someone that's interested in becoming a healthier version of themselves and that wants to do something to better their health. So I want you to find someone that would love to help you along your journey, encourage you along the way and tell them about the podcast. Share this episode. That always helps. So, guys, that's what I got for you today. This was a quick one and I'm so excited for you to start along this. And, yeah, if this episode has helped you in any way, shape or form, please share it with someone. And the best thing that you can do for me that would help me a ton is to review the podcast. Go to Apple Podcasts or wherever it is that you're listening to it and give me a review, rate it. Give it a review, because that's what helps spread the word. That's what helps spread this so more people can hear about it, and it's free and it doesn't cost you anything.

Speaker 1:

So, guys, lorraine Michaels here. I hope this has helped with your nutrition anxiety. I hope I've eased some of that and answered some questions. Feel free to reach out to me LorraineMichaels22 at gmailcom. Follow me on Instagram at Lorraine Michaels. I am here for you, your functional nutritionist, your personal trainer. I can help you with all of those things, friends. So I hope you have a fantastic day and remember you were divinely created for a divine purpose and there was no mistake in you. Peace out, guys. Hey, it's Lorraine. As you know, it's my joy and passion to teach and encourage others through this podcast, but my heart is actually at live events. Currently, I'm available for booking, so if you're organizing a live event, I'd love to share my story. Your audience will walk away with tangible tools on how to overcome limiting beliefs, break down obstacles and discover their gifts, talents and abilities in order to live a life that God created them to live. It's not the size of the audience that's important. It's the connection and impact that