Are you afraid to eat? Are you confused about what to eat?
Since the launch of my book, I Am Food, I have been on the road doing book signings, media interviews and seminars that outline my food philosophy – which is this: clean, whole and fresh foods that are produced considerately, ethically and sustainably. I also debunk the food myths, fads and trends.
The message I have been consistently receiving throughout my 20 years as a Naturopath has been: “I am afraid to eat, I don’t know what to eat and there is too much information about food”. What we are being told to eat (not only through fads and marketing, but through our current government and food institute eating models as well) is industrialised, processed food products – and these don’t benefit our health. If they did, I would not see people day in and day out in my clinic who are so unwell.
Thankfully, after many years, we are now finally beginning to see a food revolution – a time when food and health science have landed on one plate.
My Food Philosophy is simple…
1. Eat what we are designed to eat.
Our anatomy and physiology dictates this. A modern hunter-gatherer, which is what we are, is meant to eat a diet rich in fresh, whole foods. Vegetables, both fresh and cultured, whole fats and proteins from healthy pastured animals, non-farmed seafood, some well prepared nuts and seeds, small amounts of seasonal fruit and whole unprocessed cultured dairy.
We are addicted to carbohydrates, particularly wheat, soy, corn and sugar because every convenient, ready to eat food is made of them. They are made available to us in absolute abundance because of mono-cropped industrialised farming and are often genetically modified as well. Carbohydrates are addictive because they are essentially sugar. We are also addicted to chemically processed vegetable oils and fats found in the same ready to eat foods.
I recommend eating organically grown, low-starch vegetables as your main carbohydrate source and whole, unprocessed fats and oils sourced from healthy plants and grass fed animals.
2. Food is a fundamental foundation of health.
We are often told by western health care professionals that our disease has nothing to do with what we eat. However, food provides the essential building blocks for our body. It keeps us alive and functioning and allows healing and repair. In truth – we are what we eat.
3. Source well. Eat what we can grow, raise, hunt and gather naturally in nature.
If we farm, we must farm in a way that encourages valuable, rich, nutritious soil to grow our food – nurtured soil is full of life and nutrients. Anything that doesn’t support this is unhealthy. So let’s show support by purchasing our food from farmers that support this natural system, one that works with nature and considers the health of our animals, plants, environment, seasons and climate.
Eat seasonally, eat locally (to the best of your ability) but most importantly eat fresh, whole unprocessed food. Plants are what they eat, animals are what they eat and we are what we eat.
4. Prepare well. Follow our ancestral and cultural food preparations and traditions.
The traditional art of food preparation has been lost because we live in a fast paced society with convenience as a preference. Preparing food well helps to preserve the nutrients and improves digestion and assimilation. Always cook food below 120°C. Eat raw when suitable or soak, ferment, marinate and sprout to assist digestion and optimal absorption of nutrients.
5. Cleanse, repair & support digestive function
A Cleanse is a great bridge to help you transition from industrial foods to whole foods. Cleanses also help to create a centered, clear, vital mind and body that is free of stress, pain, inflammatory and disease.
Cleansing includes detoxification from chemicals and toxins, repairing digestive system health, restoring immunity, balancing hormones, eliminating chemicals in the environment, sunlight, fresh air and creating a healthy sleep/wake rhythm.
6. Learn to better understand your food choices by observing and questioning your thoughts and beliefs around food.
What governs or inspires your food choices? Upbringing, food marketing, spiritual or health reasons? Do you know what we are designed to eat? We are omnivores, a species designed to eat both plants and animals as our primary food source. Why do you eat? For sustenance and health or for emotional reasons like distraction, boredom, anxiety, depression, indulgence, punishment, reward – do you eat just because you have to or for comfort? How do you eat? With time, respect and gratitude? Or on the run, skipping meals, or chewing food quickly with out consciousness or connection? How do you feel after a meal? Satisfied and emotionally balanced with easy, calm digestion – or hungry, bloated, lethargic and uncomfortable?
7. Experiment with different recipes and present your food beautifully – but most importantly begin with quality food ingredients from conscious, sustainable sources.
The recipe and presentation of food can only be as good as the ingredients!
8. Beware of new food categories created for money and convenience.
Food for children:
I believe children are meant to eat what adults eat. Their first food being breast milk, then followed by egg yolk, meat broths and vegetables from the age of four to six months while still breast feeding until 12 months of age. If breastfeeding is not an option, create a natural food broth that resembles breast milk, rather than a processed infant or baby milk formula. At the age of 12 months a baby can eat healthy adult food. Simply puree until they grow teeth to chew. As a child grows they can continue to eat what we eat. This will save you time and energy by not needing to cook separate meals.
Snack food:
According to processed food manufacturers, snacking is a long-term trend and the future of eating.
“Research shows that a portion of the population has stopped eating three meals a day and replaced it with five small snacks, which has huge implications for the food and beverage industry….Less expensive than meal options, snacks offer the convenience consumers seek, prices can be raised more quickly and easily than staple pantry products, and since they are often unplanned purchases, buyers are willing to grab them and go to satisfy their immediate snack craving.
However, we are designed to eat whole foods. Aim for three square meals per day with healthy, nourishing ingredients, rather than grazing on snack foods made from dissatisfying, processed food ingredients.
9. Realise that Government and Institutes guidelines do not consider the source and processing of food.
Unfortunately, conventional food recommendations are nutritionally empty and based on industrialised food production. The current model of food has failed us.
We still suffer from disease and ill-health even though we follow institutional disease prevention guidelines. So we try fad diets, supplements, medications and stimulants such as caffeine and recreational drugs to prop up health.
These are only temporary solutions until the body pushes you to have a forced rest or illness. Supplements are not a replacement for food and do not offer an insurance against disease. In a society where we have an abundance of food we still find ourselves nutritionally deficient in common nutrients such as iron, vitamin D, zinc and magnesium, even though food is fortified. The solution is in the source and processing of our food.
10. Learn to discern between what is real, honest food and clever marketing.
Eschew packaged products, be a label-reading detective and just eat the real thing! Just because the packet or advertisement says it is free of cholesterol, salt, sugar, gluten or it has been enriched with synthetic nutrients doesn’t make it healthy – at the end of the day, it is food that has been poorly sourced and highly processed. It has been altered. If processing has stripped something out and enriching or fortification adds something back then it isn’t real food.
Let’s make it easy for ourselves and embrace simplicity! What food principles do you live by?
