All this month we have been discussing functional health so that you can ensure your body works well enough to rock retirement. Last week we learned how finding the right exercise plan can help you stay strong enough to do all the things that you want to do when you retire.

Today, we learn about the opposite side of the functional health coin: nutrition. You probably know that nutrition should be an important part of your overall health plan, but with so many conflicting diets out there how are you supposed to know what you should eat? 

Listen in to hear what functional health expert, Dr. Bobby Dubois recommends to maintain proper nutrition in retirement. 

It’s easy to fall into a nutrition rabbit hole

If you head to the bookstore or ask a question on Google, you’ll quickly realize that there are tons of rabbit holes that you can fall into when it comes to nutrition. How can there be so many different ’right ways’ to eat?

Before starting the cantaloupe diet or another such extreme measure it is important to understand the science that goes into nutrition. 

Why evidence-based nutrition is important

Many fad diets are based on strong emotions and faux science rather than evidence-based science. 

Science is a process by which scientists answer questions. First, they come up with a hypothesis and then design a study to prove or disprove that hypothesis. Next, they test their study.

Just because a scientist may come up with a beautiful theory doesn’t mean that they have any evidence to back it up. For years scientists figured that people with high cholesterol should restrict their cholesterol intake, but science has recently shown that the cholesterol we eat has little effect on the overall cholesterol in our bodies. 

Unfortunately, nutrition is a field that has been based on a lot of bad science. It has had plenty of strong theories but little evidence to back up those theories. 

Scientists all agree that obesity can lead to heart disease

One area of nutrition that scientists can agree upon is that being overweight or obese can lead to heart disease and, ultimately, death. This is why it is important to maintain a healthy weight. 

Maintaining a healthy diet can help you stay at a healthy weight and help your body move more easily. Taking control of your diet can give you agency and help you make a change in your life.

Rather than focus on the small details of what you should eat or not eat, it is more important to plan a basic diet. Since every person’s body works differently, a great way to choose the ‘right’ diet is to test it out for yourself. What works for someone else may not work for you. 

How to construct the ‘right’ nutrition plan

It is important to have some humility when it comes to understanding nutrition. Scientists don’t know as much as they should and no one has the perfect nutrition plan, so you should be skeptical of anyone that claims to have the perfect nutrition plan. 

What we do know is that obesity is a big issue. This is why maintaining a balanced diet of ‘real’ foods is important. Try to shop around the rim of the grocery store to avoid the processed foods that lie in the middle. 

Next week, you’ll learn more about how to build a functional health framework so that you can rock retirement. 

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN

PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT WITH DR. BOBBY DUBOIS

• [7:10] There are many rabbit holes you can chase surrounding nutrition
• [14:13] What to focus on in nutrition
• [16:37] How to know what kind of nutrition is good and what’s bad?
• [26:58] How the placebo effect can affect diet
• [31:28] Having proper weight is important
• [41:20] Takeaways

LISTENER QUESTIONS

• [44:10] A Windfall elimination program question
• [47:20] A retirement regret observation
• [50:26] How to prepare a ‘death manual’ for a spouse

TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT

• [57:30] Start preparing a nutritional framework using guiding light principles

Resources Mentioned In This Episode

EverPlans

BOOK - Checklist for My Family by Sally Balch Hurme

Dan Miller

BOOK - How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff

Boomer Benefits

Rock Retirement Club

Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That

BOOK - Rock Retirement  by Roger Whitney

Roger’s Retirement Learning Center