The Importance of Diet: Second Installment

This is a continuation of the blog post: The Importance of Diet: It's more than just weight loss.

As established in the last post, we as a society must change our understanding of diet and of food. We must divorce ourselves from seeing fast food and junk as actual food and reconnect with the bountiful flavors provided by the earth. We must adopt a compassionate attitude to ourselves and our bodies while investigating our true nature.

In this post, I will offer you three main resources that I utilize in my healing process. Hopefully you or a loved one will find them useful. But remember! The most important resource we have is each other, so please share your experience so that we may grow as a community.

Pat Crocker’s The Vegetarian Cook’s Bible

This book is an AWESOME resource that basically breaks down how to use food as medicine. It really helped me to see food differently- as physical nourishment rather than an emotional filler or an extra-curricular activity. If you use food in a similar way to how I did, I highly suggest picking up a copy.

I used the book as reference material. Each and every time I ate a fruit or a vegetable, I opened up my trusty Vegetarian Cook’s Bible and I researched what amazing benefits each of these miracle yummies gave to my body. For example, if I ate a sweet potato, I would find that sweet potatoes:

• Are antioxidant, anticancer, and heart protective

• Are high in vitamins A and C, beta-carotene, and fiber

• Help prevent heart disease, formation of free radicals, and can curb symptoms of anxiety and depression through aiding in brain function Oh My Gosh! (I would say to myself) Did I seriously just fight off dying an early death from cancer and heart disease by eating a sweet potato? Seriously?! Toss out the bag of chips and roast me up some calabaza cause that’s a pretty good deal.

Another example. If my digestive system was bothering me, I would flip to the section on digestive health to find that:

• Brown rice, blueberries, and red bell peppers help to create a healthy lining of the digestive tract

• Garlic, onions, and asparagus work to control a healthy bacterial environment in the intestines

• And that cabbage fuels intestinal cells, helping them to repair and regenerate Again- WHAT? You mean that I don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on doctor’s visits and prescriptions to feel better? I could just EAT FOOD? Pass me the cabbage, dude. I heard it goes great in caldo. (Fun Fact: I once had horrible digestive issues to the point that I would be sick for weeks on end and after three emergency room visits and numerous trips to the gastroenterologist, nobody had a clue as to what was wrong with me. Turns out, after giving up soda and adding healthy food to my diet, it all simply went away. WOOSH, like that.) Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and my situation does not necessarily apply to the situation of others. You should always seek medical advice if you are experiencing troubling symptoms.

Yoga/Meditation

Of course, what we are talking about here in this series is a change of lifestyle, a change of habit, and a change in perspective, not simply adding or subtracting foods. Until we have a balanced relationship with ourselves and a realistic relationship with food, we will always slip back into those damaging habits. Yoga and Meditation can help by bringing awareness to why we make the choices that we make and fostering a sense of self-love that defies narcissism and enters the realm of compassion. Begin by doing a little bit every day, whether you take time before bed to stretch or rise a little earlier than the rest of the family to have ten minutes of sitting in silence. Both of these practices focus on turning inward, on releasing the chaotic mind and listening to the truths that are hidden in the depths of our psyche. All of the answers are within us, we simply must take the time to learn how to listen. This is by far the most challenging part of transformation, but the rewards are boundless. When we find the strength to face our deepest layers and to address what we discover that is when we make lasting change. For yoga and meditation here are some good starter resources:

• Yoga Popular: Saturdays from 9:00am-10:00am

• Beginner's Meditation: Back to Basics

• A great yoga practice for each morning is the Sun Salution

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

This book is for those women who often feel a sense of being disconnected with themselves. I know many of us are on a constant search to understand ourselves and we think that as we grow older we will understand all. Unfortunately, I see more and more women ages 50+ who are still searching. No doubt that we continue to grow throughout our entire life, but there comes a point when we wonder: What is it that we are missing? Though Clarissa Pinkola Estes does not have all of the answers, this book uses one of the greatest cultural forms of understanding to illustrate many of life’s mysteries: story. Story is used by all cultures to develop a group perception of the world and life itself. In modern times, story has been inverted from a healing practice to a manipulative one. Instead of stories describing the induction into intuition or the cycles of the woman, we have Cinderella who values material wealth and rich men, we have reality shows of people in bikinis constantly competing against each other. This develops within us a perception of the world that is shallow and disconnected. If you are engaged in your own practice of self-discovery, Women Who Run With the Wolves may be a healing companion to your journey. When you understand your deeper self more completely, issues with body and diet begin to melt away. With the compassion entailed in understanding oneself, you will no longer wish to feed yourself toxicity, but to wholly care for your body and your emotional well-being.