Food vs Nutrition
It's hard to comprehend how far food has 'evolved' from nutrition! A while ago our youngest daughter had a friend over and had prepped a beautifully scrumptious fruit salad, we started tucking in when her friend asked 'But what food are we going to eat?'
I asked 'Don't you like fruits?'
and she said 'Yeah but fruits aren't food are they!!!'
The 'food' she went on to describe were crisps, biscuits, chocolate, toast and chips. All pretty tasty, but woefully lacking nutrients to supply the body with any of its requirements.
So what is 'Food'?
Well nowadays 'Food' has become anything that is edible. It feels a bit like we're living in a back to front, topsy-turvy world at times when 'edible food-like substances' as Michael Pollan describes them are simply referred to as food, but to describe real food we have to use the terms 'organic' 'whole' 'non GMO' and the like and deliberately think in terms of nutrition!
Having been diagnosed with a rare neurological condition and living with a range of debilitating symptoms, over the years I set about 'unlearning' many things and expanding my awareness about stuff that I had previously just accepted as correct, true, safe or beneficial - from the safety and benefits of pharmaceutical medications, drinking tap water to the effects of invisible electromagnetic radiation - and I also tackled the beliefs I had about 'food' because these relatively new paradigms about 'food' are a massive step backward in terms of our wellbeing.
Something as simple as paying attention to my own language around the vital subject of food, questioning what food is and using the word nutrition in place of food started to affect change; because although these may just seem like words, these words create feelings and actions that ultimately determine such matters as whether we'll be sick or healthy, bouncing with energy or lethargic or showing signs of aging before our time!
So What Is Nutrition?
Nutrition is whole food. It grows naturally and has not been formulated or manipulated in a laboratory.
Nutrition provides vitamins, minerals, protein, essential fatty acids, amino acids, and enzymes - all of the building blocks to allow our bodies to function optimally.
Furthermore, nutrition is a useful term because it is not ambiguous. If I walk into the kitchen and say what nutrition should I eat, my brain automatically starts to consider what can is available that will provide me with nutrients to fuel my body vs just any old crap that will simply make me feel full up!
So Why Don't We Eat Nutrition?
Convenience
Time factors
It's become normal
Not understanding how the body works or what it needs
Some don't like preparing nutrition at home to eat, others are so busy that it's a physical challenge so the convenience of take-aways or pre-packed foods wins out every time! But the other thing I've found is that people have become completed disconnected about what our bodies need to work well and thrive.
Have We Been Conditioned To Think Illogically?
Just as far removed as we have come from thinking of real food as food, is as remote as we have become in our thinking from associating what we eat to being connected in any way to how we feel or function on a day to day basis.
When someone gets a headache we are conditioned to think of taking a painkiller, not to think why is my head hurting?
Is my body trying to tell me it's in desperate need of hydration? Have I had enough (or any) water to drink today?
Have I been exposed to any environmental stressors?
Did I get enough sleep?
When a check-up with your GP reveals that you have high blood pressure, somehow we have been convinced to believe that it is due to a lack of a prescribed blood pressure medication, but not to consider why your intricately intelligent body is responding this way - stress factors, poor posture, sedentary lifestyle or perhaps deficiency in essential nutrients such as potassium!
Surely logical reasoning would have us consider why something is happening before trying to fix it!
Live Healthy By Design or Sick By Default
“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.”
- La Rochefoucauld
Yes, all sorts of 'edible food-like substances' are readily available to eat and in addition, we've had decade upon decade of conditioning that over time and with deliberate persistence has convinced us that these substances are food.
Some of these we can even acknowledge have zero nutritional value, but we rarely consider that they actually cause us harm!
These substances put pressure on our body systems, as they are forced to digest and assimilate these substances that are empty of everything except calories. They also have to mount attacks sending out white blood cells to deal with the dangerous toxicities introduced, as well as having to store the excess calories that are not used as fat.
This requires copious amounts of energy that could otherwise be used for repairing, energising and rejuvenating our bodies.
Our habits dictate what our lives are like, and that is irrespective of whether the habits are beneficial or not. Unhealthy habits will create an unhealthy you just the same as establishing healthy habits will create a healthy you.
First you create the habit, then the habit creates you.
8 Health Habits Worth Creating
1. Shift your vocabulary - use the word nutrition to replace food, it's hard to convince yourself that any old crap is nutritious!
2. Invest time to learn about what our most precious bodies need in terms of nutrition.
3. Start a food diary - Observe why you are eating - is it to nourish your body or simply to feel full?
4 Plan what you (and your family) will eat each week, including snacks - waiting until you're hungry is a recipe for disaster as any food-like substance will do!
5. Develop a habit of hydrating daily with drinking pure water - did you know that a hunger pang can often mean we need hydration, so drink a glass of water first to check!
6. Juice green leafy vegetables - it's easy to boost your nutrient intake this way.
7. Juice fresh fruits - it's a delicious and healthy way to replace fizzy and pasteurised juices that are loaded with sugar/sweeteners but not much else.
8. Consume mostly vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, and enzymes.
Sophia Michel is Co-Author of Tough Roads Create Tough People and Love Mastery, an Independent Health Researcher, Health & Happiness Coach, Writer, College Lecturer, Electromechanical Technician, Wife and Mother.
Find her on Facebook at bit.ly/sophiamichel
Get in touch at bit.ly/paradigm-contact