Years before I went to culinary school friends began asking me questions on how to eat healthier. What should they eat when they are dealing with physical illnesses? What can they eat to have more energy? What foods give less gas? For a while, I thought garlic was the answer to all ailments. I thought eating mostly fruits and vegetables was the way to more energy. Then I thought meat was the cause of all evils in the body. My mindset has since shifted.
After living in Latin America and Europe, where I regularly ate breads, pastas, rice, cheese and meats that are vilified in the United States, I realized that different people thrive off of different foods. Some people may need to eat meat a few times a week to feel vibrant and strong. Others may need more leafy greens to help with iron deficiencies that they developed in the womb. The fact is, offering individuals dietary guidance is very complicated and involves numerous factors. Family history, melanin in the skin, blood type, lifestyles, daily physical activities and present geographic location are all important factors in helping people find their way to a plate of food that will satisfy their tastes and nourish their bodies.
This fall at the Herb Nook in Philadelphia, iridologist and owner, Ron Norwood, addressed the matter of how to eat to live. Living is a state of being that goes beyond simply waking up, drifting or struggling through the day and hopefully returning to sleep night after night. Living involves having mental clarity, physical energy and inner motivation to fully enjoy the day. Resting the mind and body at night is also a key part of living beyond mere existence. Of course, the foods we eat play a huge role in that process.
“Eat your vegetables!” Mr. Norwood explained the why behind this familiar command so often given by our elders. Simply put, in nature, vegetables contain minerals. Vegetables get minerals from soil or the sea, thereby empowering the body to create vitamins. Yes, you read this correctly. The body can generate some of its own vitamins. Why do we take vitamin supplements then? Our bodies can produce most but not all vitamins. Vitamin B12, for example, cannot be produced in the human body. Meat, poultry and fish are the best source for B12. Other vitamins are much more available in fruits, fish oils and other sources.
Vitamins A and D are also important for all people. Some people need greater amounts than others. The body’s organs cannot manufacture Vitamin A. Vitamin D is available to us for free by taking a walk in the sunlight. Both A and D are abundant in cod liver oil and fish oils. You may be turning up your nose at the thought, but my eighty-six year old grandmother and her generation took it for good eyesight and to aid arthritis. Their kids had a spoonful a night to keep rickets away.
Drinking clean water is also a key element to life. Water is vital for many reasons. One is that water keeps the kidneys in top form. And what role do the kidneys play in the body? The website, How Stuff Works gives a concise breakdown of the kidneys functions. Among their tasks, they remove waste from the body. If you drank too much, ate too much or purposely or accidently put harmful things in your body, the kidney’s help flush out waste through urine.
Other helpful advice offered by Mr. Norwood is to slow down on the sugar. Naturally occurring sugar is found in a huge array of food. Raw apples, pears and pineapples have sugar. Tomatoes and carrots have sugar. Grains of wheat that are later ground into flour contain starch that turns into sugar. Sugar alone is not an enemy of the human body. In fact, it gives us energy to move around. Sweeteners, however, in excess, can leave the body with too much sugar that converts into harmful fatty acids. The fatty acids are then stored in the belly, thighs, hips, breasts and the back of our upper arms. The moral of the story is to be aware of how many sweeteners, even nutrient-rich maple syrup, honey and agave, are in our foods.
Each person may have preferences and aversions to foods that they developed in their youth, their family life or their exposure to different cultures. Instinctively, most people today choose foods to eat based on the way they taste and how they make them feel. A person’s blood type, melanin, family history, etcetera are usually not at the forefront of a person’s mind every time they look at a menu of food choices to eat. They usually want to eat something that tastes good and makes them feel good, or so they believe at the moment. Mr. Norwood’s guidelines on eating vegetables, drinking water and being mindful of the type and quantity of sweeteners we consume are three elements that people of all body types and family backgrounds can appreciate.
This advice only touches on the challenging topic of what we as individuals should eat to live well. But it is a start. Finding out a thing or two about family history and blood type could also orient us toward the foods that might taste good and be best for us. Dr. D’Adamo and Dr. De Haan both offer the case for eating the right foods for your blood type.
Here’s to living well and to more food for thought!
No comments:
Post a Comment