You’re Not Eating Enough. And It’s Making You Sick.
Why the “healthy” diet that’s not working might just be missing the basics
A Moment with Dr. Stillman
She was doing everything right.
Clean diet. No junk food. Watching her portions. And yet fatigue, poor sleep, brain fog that wouldn’t lift.
Sound familiar?
What I Found When I Looked Closer
Julia came to us feeling frustrated and burned out. For how hard she was working eat a healthy diet and live a healthy lifestyle, she just didn’t understand why she was still feeling so poorly.
She had been eating carefully for years. But when I pulled up her dietary data, the picture was clear.
Julia was undereating protein. She was low in potassium. Her folate intake was tragically low. She wasn’t eating nearly enough food.
Her labs confirmed it - multiple micronutrient deficiencies hiding behind what looked, on the surface, like a reasonable diet.
This is one of the most common things I see. Patients who are technically eating “healthy” but are quietly starving their cells.
The body is extraordinarily patient. It compensates. It adapts. But eventually, the account runs dry - and symptoms are how it tells you.
Why This Matters More Than You Think
Every function of your body requires raw materials.
Cellular (mitochondrial) energy production
Hormone synthesis
Immune regulation
Sleep
Mood, focus, and cognitive function
All of it runs on nutrients - and when those nutrients are chronically short, the whole system starts to short out. This is when symptoms occur.
The patients I see who are nutritionally depleted are almost always eating high-quality food. Organic, local, minimally processed, and free of harmful additives, preservatives, colorings, and more. They’re eating carefully, but they’re not eating enough and they’re missing essential food groups.
There’s a principle here everyone should take to heart.
Supplements are supplements - not substitutes - for proper diet.
Three Things I Recommended to Her — Today
These are among the most common corrections I make in my practice.
1. Eat protein at every meal. At least two fistfuls of lean meat or fish. Chicken, beef, low-mercury fish, eggs. Most patients eating “healthy” are eating less than they need. Weak, tired, anxious, and depressed are often signs of chronic lack of protein.
2. Add root vegetables to each meal. Sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips. Rotate them. They are some of the richest sources of minerals in the diet. Patients are often surprised by what these humble foods can do for them.
3. Cook and eat legumes fresh, not canned or reheated. Lentils and beans are the best source of folate by weight. Folate is heat-sensitive. Freeze it, reheat it, and it’s gone. Cook dried legumes fresh, two or three times a week, and eat them the same day. I’ve noticed that women in particular do poorly on low-folate diets. If my patients can tolerate legumes, I strongly encourage them to eat them.
The Principle
Most people with chronic fatigue and brain fog are not eating too much. They are eating too little of the right things.
Before you reach for another supplement, look at the plate. The foundations have to be there first.
This is why we start with Nourish in our process. Too many people are climbing up The Therapeutic Tree before picking the low-hanging fruit of optimizing their diets. I can’t tell you how many patients have told me during their time with us, “I had no idea what I was eating.” No wonder they were tired - their diet wasn’t providing adequate micronutrients or macronutrients for their needs!
Your body was designed with an extraordinary capacity to heal, but only when it has what it needs to do the work. Nourishing your body properly on a daily basis is foundational for healing.
We start every patient on the 14-Day Reset, which includes the top seven habits I see moving the needle for patient after patient. Woven into the reset are all the principles I write about here. You don’t have to understand all of them to get the benefits of the reset - you just have to do it.
Until next time, be well,
Dr. Stillman
Educational content only. Not medical advice. See full disclaimers.