As Hippocrates once quoted, “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food”. This statement highlights the importance of understanding the relationship between food and our overall health and well-being. Food plays a crucial role in our daily lives and has the power to nourish and heal our bodies.
When we focus on the quality of our food, how we eat and how we prepare it, we start to understand the significance of food to our bodies. Our bodies are designed to fight off anything harmful, so the better we treat them, the less work they have to do. Eating organic, local and seasonal produce can benefit our bodies in many ways. Because we are intimately connected to the natural and seasonal cycles, particularly as women, choosing natural, unprocessed foods in season is a simple rhythm that make the most of what is available. Organic of course means there are no chemicals involved in the food production and many of these interfere with our bodies natural ability to look after us. Choosing local food ensures the time from field to fork is as small as possible, preserving the freshness of the food, it also again respects the way our bodies are tuned to our local environment. Typically it is also the most cost effective as we eat what is seasonally abundant.
Food as medicine in modern medicine
Eastern medicine places a greater emphasis than Western medicine on the importance of food in daily life, with the primary goal being daily health and well-being. Certain meals are actively consumed to prevent illness and balance is sought in the consumption of yin and yang foods, where some foods are cooling and others are warming, again often dependent on seasonality. Our bodies are always looking to create harmony within, and food plays a vital role in this. Eastern medicine still has a great degree of respect for the use of natural cures using locally available plants to treat illness. In the West it is rare for a doctor to know or even respect the potential of such natural plant medicines. Too often we rush to treat the symptoms with pharmaceutical products without considering how the body has became out of balance in the first place.
Eating intuitively
It is important to practise mindful cooking and eating, and to listen to our bodies when it comes to what we choose to ingest. The root cause of many illnesses can be traced back to the food we consume. How does your body and mind feel when you eat certain foods? What does your body tell you it wants? Sometimes this is hard to know – how for example can you know if you are deficient in certain vitamins or minerals? This is where professional analysis can help and should be part of an annual health check we do for our bodies, much as we would do for a car.
Food as an energy source
Another way of understanding the significance of food is by viewing it as energy. Our vegetables and fruits grow with the help of earth, sun, and water, all forms of energy. These elements provide the necessary nourishment for plants to grow and produce the fruits and vegetables that we consume.
When we consume these fruits and vegetables, we are also consuming the energy that was used to grow them. This energy can be thought of as the life force of the plant. Eating a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables can provide our bodies with the energy it needs to function properly. This energy we put into the body can also take negative forms i.e. as toxins. Alcohol for example is a toxin, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy it, but we should be mindful of the effect it has, even in small doses.
Preparing food mindfully is also a great practise to have, as the way we cook our food can greatly affect its nutritional value. Rushing through the cooking process or overcooking leads to the loss of valuable nutrients. Cooking with love and care can nourish not only our bodies but also our minds and hearts.
At re*union, we are passionate about the role that plants play as medicine in our daily lives. This can take a variety of different forms and food is undeniably one of the most important. Taking time to consider, explore and appreciate this simple insight has a profound impact on our personal health and our wider relationships.
