Ian Craig – Sustainable Nutrition – 31 May 2022

The benefits of sustainable nutrition to the leading of a healthy life were explained to the members by Ian Craig, a local man who had returned to Ayr with his family after years of living away in places as diverse as North Carolina, Cape Town and Milton Keynes.

His academic qualifications in sports science coupled with a love of athletics had led Ian on a quest to discover which foods were best for the human body. In his pursuit of a better understanding of such things he embarked on his third, degree course in nutritional therapy. Unfortunately, due to over-training, he began to suffer from a variety of lifestyle conditions including chronic fatigue and moved back to Ayr where he set up the Centre for Integrative Sports Nutrition (CISN) which represents the culmination and expansion of 15 years of effort to bridge the gap between the practical, quantitative approach of classical sports nutrition and the integrative, body-systems approach of nutritional therapy and functional medicine. CISN teaches practitioners, who are working with athletes (elite and recreational), to focus on integrative and individualised health, which will underpin the athletes’ physical and physiological performance. If an athlete is to achieve their highest levels of performance, they firstly need to aspire towards optimal health.

Ian explained that widespread “modern” diseases such as obesity and diabetes were big problems looming for the NHS. This “perfect storm” was created by things like high fat and sugary man-made foods, inactivity, stress, electromagnetic pollution and 24/7 lifestyles. The key to correcting these lifestyle imbalances is to find natural antidotes by leading a clean life, eating natural foods and slowing down the relentless pace of modern life, whilst keeping moving. The present day extremes of nutritional advice were a problem and the old adage of “all things in moderation” is key to a healthy balanced lifestyle. Smaller quantities of natural, unrefined foods together with gentle but regular exercise are the solution to the major present day health problems. In days gone by humans were only inactive through injury, illness or exhaustion and were generally healthier for it.

In his vote of thanks Jimmy Begg thanked Ian for his interesting talk and reckoned he had given the members much food for thought. Good one Jimmy!