What is a bio-individual diet? 

Bio individuality is defined as the understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all diet we can default to because every person is a unique organism with unique nutritional needs. Factors that come into play are the foods we eat, moods and emotions, our active or sedentary lifestyle, our sleeping habits, and the physical environment we live in. 

Identifying Your Bio Individual Diet

The bio-individual approach to nutrition integrates multiple diet strategies and closely examines relationships between symptoms and underlying biological pathways. The process of identifying what diet works best for your body is best undertaken with the guidance of a professional nutritionist but often can involve testing out different diets and allergens to see what makes you feel and perform the best. 

Your bio-individual nutrition assessment process could include removing allergens like gluten, casein, grains, starches, dairy and others from your diet entirely, testing one at a time for 3-5 day stretches. Other diets include limiting phenol, amines, histamines, glutamate, oxalate and salicylate. Once you identify exactly what types of foods nourish your body best, you can build out your own tailored diet plan that will help you thrive and grow.

Intuitive Eating

Bio individual diets go hand in hand with intuitive eating. In addition to discovering and consuming the foods that make your body feel best, intuitive eating involves feeding yourself the appropriate amounts of these foods based on your body’s hunger and fullness signals throughout the day. 

Intuitive eating has been shown to promote a healthy attitude toward food and body image, as well as help many to better understand when they should pick up the fork – as well as put it down. 10 key principles of intuitive eating, according to Healthline, are:

1. Reject diet mentality
2. Eat when you’re hungry
3. Stop when you’re full
4. Make peace with food
5. Strive for food neutrality
6. Make your meals satisfying
7. Resist emotional eating
8. Love and respect your body
9. Keep your body moving
10. Monitor how you feel

Trying Out the Gluten-Free Diet

Excited about bio-individuality but not sure where to start? Snap Kitchen meals are all 100% gluten and free of processed soy, and some are even free of nuts and dairy! Browse our menu and customize a weekly delivery of the foods you crave to put your health on autopilot. Learn more about gluten-free eating and Whole30, as well as how to reduce inflammation and practice mindfulness on the Snap Blog.