The Most Critical Nutrient Deficiency and its Hallmark Signs

Nutrients are essential for our body to function properly. While all nutrients play a vital role, there is one nutrient that is the most critical of all, as without ample levels of it, our bodies won’t have the capacity to digest, absorb, assimilate, and utilize the others from the foods we eat. Any guesses as to what this nutrient might be? It is REST!

Yes, REST is not just a leisure activity but a crucial nutrient for our overall well-being. Without sufficient REST, our bodies become depleted and unable to function correctly. REST is an essential part of our daily lives and plays a significant role in our psychological, emotional, and physical health.

Here are the top 10 hallmark signs of REST deficiency

• Chronic fatigue (Related Blog Post: Cell Danger Response)
• Tired but wired
• Poor sleep quality
• Low-stress resilience and slow recovery
• Body armoring and chronic muscle tension
• Gut issues
• Blood sugar and weight imbalances, even with a healthy diet and exercise
• Hormone imbalances
• A cluttered, chaotic mind and struggles to stay focused
• Anxiety and/or depression and other mental health struggles (Related Blog Post: Root Causes of Anxiety)

Rest and sleep are not the same things; being deficient in REST will lead to restorative sleep deprivation. So, while sleep is a form of rest, rest is different and necessary for restorative sleep. One can sleep eight or more hours per night and still not wake up feeling rested.

Rest is a state of being, not just a state of doing. It is a state of body, mind, heart, and spirit and how we show up in the world. Rest is an experience of relaxation and expansiveness in our body, a clear and uncluttered mind, and a peaceful, loving, and joyful heart. Rest is being present and in a state of flow, more often than not. When this becomes our dominant state, we create the correct environment our cells need to perform their jobs that keep us in a state of physiological and psychological balance for healing, wellness, and life optimization to follow.

The foundation of building wellness in body, mind, and spirit is REST. The first step in getting more REST is to implement what is referred to as playing the role of participant and observer in one’s life. The more we operate on autopilot, the more our habits become deeper and deeper neurobiological programs that create our physical reality.

Cultivating awareness is an essential part of the process of getting more REST. Engaging in your life while you reserve some of your focus for becoming a non-judgmental observer of your daily habits and patterns is crucial. The more aware you become, the more empowered you become to shift into more supportive patterns.

By daily habits and patterns, we are referring to breathing, postural, physiological, mental, and emotional patterns. Practice stepping outside of yourself and watch yourself as you would another person to see how you respond to life; when you notice yourself going into a state of contraction and reacting in ways that perpetuate distress, practice making a conscious effort to relax and begin with pausing, slowing and deepening your breathing, and softening, and straightening your posture.

For this to work, consistent, daily practice is KEY. Ask yourself, “How do I want to respond and show up in the world to represent my highest self?”, and start aligning your behaviors with your answer. With consistency, you can cultivate the state of being resilient, centered, empathic, and compassionate toward yourself and others.

How to Get Support?

If you are a wellness coach or practitioner, then it is important to become trauma-informed. Wellness Code Academy practitioner certification program is a dynamic, trauma-informed, beyond-the-biochemical, and truly holistic coaching system that takes…

The deepest dive ever into healing the gut, brain, nervous system, and mitochondria—and also taps into the power of the subconscious mind to support healing the psyche. Learn more HERE.

Learn more about my approach with clients: My Health and Healing Philosophy

I believe ANY HEALING JOURNEY ultimately needs to involve addressing BOTH the body and the mind in the proper way and in the proper order, which will be highly individual.  

It is also a HUGE reason why I see many feel stuck on their own healing journeys because this concept hasn’t been adequately acknowledged, understood, or addressed.