I met a woman recently who had been through a cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy. She is now well and has moved on with her life. I asked her if she had made any permanent changes to her diet and lifestyle to ensure she that she stays vibrant and well. Her answer surprised me.
She said, "No, not really, I try, but it's really hard, and I like my food and sweets, so I kind of try, but that's all we can really do isn't it? Try?
I don't agree!
I think it is more about choice.
We have the opportunity to make simple choices from moment to moment each and every day. These choices affect our experience, our relationships, our health, our wealth, our stress levels, mindset, and more. The cumulative effect of simple choices can be profoundly positive, or profoundly negative.
I spent a decade chronically unwell. That experience has shaped who I am and deeply influences the choices I now make each day. It was like completing a ten year PHD in personal health and wellness! I learnt more than I ever cared to know, and now view food as either my medicine or my poison.
Many foods are acidic and inflammatory to the body because of the way they are cooked, the additives and preservatives they contain, their high sugar content, and their general lack of nutrients. These foods damage the gut, disrupt the nervous system, thwart immunity, negatively affect mood regulation, hormone regulation, digestion and other bodily functions. This type of 'food' robs us of our health and lends itself to ill health. Think alcohol, chocolate, chips, biscuits, ice-cream, soft drinks, fast food, etc. These 'foods' feed the bad stuff in our body and disrupt the gut biome. It's interesting how eating them can actually feel good at the time, like a little dopamine hit, and perhaps that's what the sugar, fat, and chemicals in them is designed to do? Keep us addicted, feeling comforted, unsatiated, and coming back for more! But when you know and understand their damaging effects it makes it easier to choose differently.
Fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, clean protein, nuts, eggs, etc, are just some of the foods that are easier on the body, health producing and regulatory. We are bioindividual of course, not all foods agree with all people, but generally speaking these types of foods are rich in minerals and nutrients and packed with goodness. They are anti-inflammatory, soothing to the gut, calming for the nervous system, they enhance concentration, and help to regulate bodily systems and sleep cycles. When I eat this way I feel infinitely better as my inflammatory markers lower, aches, pains, and discomfort settle, mast cell activation switches off, moods regulate, and my energy levels increase. No one is perfect all the time, sometimes the choice is to indulge and thoroughly enjoy it! I think it's what we do most of the time that counts.
Having said that, I have come to believe that with each thing that we put into our body we have the opportunity to make conscious choices about how we would like to feel, the health we would like to enjoy, the weight we would like to lose or gain, and the energy and vitality we would like to live with each day. It is not always easy, but it is worth it and the journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step.
I will leave you with a quote from a book I read recently, The Happiest Man On Earth by Eddie Jaku, a holocaust survivor. This sentiment resonated deeply with me and I hope it may inspire others as it did me.
"I am still in awe of the human body and what it is capable of. I am a precision engineer and I have spent years making the most complicated, intricate, machinery, but I could not make a machine like the human body. It is the best machine ever made. It turns fuel into life, can repair itself, can do anything you need it to. That is why today it breaks my heart to see the way some people treat their bodies, ruining this wonderful machine we are all gifted by smoking, drinking, and poisoning themselves with drugs. They are demolishing the best machine ever put onto this earth, and it is such a terrible waste" - Eddie Jaku - Aushwitz survivor
Interesting 'food for thought',
With love,
Emma x
ⓒEmma Jane @ Nurture For You 2023 - no portion of this post may be lifted, copied, quoted, reworked or reproduced without written permission from the author. I can be contacted at info@nurtureforyou.com to request such permission.
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