“Let Food be the medicine and medicine be thy food”

HospiBuz Desk 

Food is Maladaptive

It is ironical that the foundation of modern medicine, as well as ancient wisdom and Ayurveda, has been food – “let food be the medicine and medicine be thy food”; yet we, for many reasons and many outfitted interests, have come so far away from it that we have forgotten food is for nourishment, and physical, emotional, and spiritual health and happiness. Culturally, we were taught to respect food and thank God for having received it, we pray to it to nourish and heal us, and calmly eat the freshly prepared food, feel satisfied and satiated. But, where is the reverence and relevance for food in our lives, when we watch television or check our mail while chomping down food, as a chore to get done with? The food itself is full of artificial stimulants, chemicals, preservatives, not really “food” at all. No wonder then that lifestyle diseases are the norm at 40 years, our children reach puberty sooner, are obese, every family we know has someone fighting cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s.

So, what do we do? How do we change our food, how do we mend our relationship with it? What do we eat?

Food should be fundamentally nutritive

Food should be full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and of course carbohydrates, protein, fat, fibre, and water. Food should replenish energy, protect our organs from degeneration, protect us from disease, help fight stress, and help fight the effects of ageing! Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds or “plant-based foods”, do just that. Consolidating a lot of raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, and sprouted grains and seeds is the best way to ensure we get all the healthful nutrients from our diet, in turn improving our health, reversing disease, signs of ageing, and obesity. It also makes us more energetic and improves the skin and mental clarity. In cooking, the nutrients get lost due to the heat in the cooking process.

Cleanliness 

Apart from being hygienically prepared, what we eat must be free from preservatives, chemicals, artificial colours, stimulants, hydrogenated oil, and as far as possible be organically grown. Processed junk food is exactly what the name suggests – junk! The chemicals in it increase the shelf life and make it extra visually appealing and addictive. There are about 3000 chemicals systematically added to our food! Now, to hydrogenated oil otherwise known as trans-fat—cheaper than other oils/fat—increases the shelf life of the food while coating our arteries with fat. Trans fat is present in biscuits, packaged popcorn, and so many other packaged foods! All of the chemicals that we consume get deposited in our body as toxins and cause disease

Food should not cause disease

Our food should not clog our arteries, be the cause of arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, or make us obese or depressed! When it comes to the food that makes us sick, there are innumerable lies spread around us for financial benefit – for example, sugar and chemical-filled packaged juice is good for us! We should go on drinking cow’s, buffalo’s, goat’s milk well into our old age for supposed health benefits when in reality the by-products from digesting it resides in our body as toxins and are disease-causing. Energy drinks are nothing but a concoction of chemicals that give an artificial high. Meat, which is touted as a great source of protein, is actually not an ideal source for us humans at all and can cause cancer, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and so on.

Food should be freshly prepared and had in the most natural form possible, with the shortest amount of salt, refined sugar, and oil

Overcooking, deep frying, over-salting are essentially rendering the nutritive benefits of the food useless. Fruits and vegetables are the most nutrients rich in their natural, raw form. Grains and seeds are the most nutrients dense as raw sprouts or microgreens.

When we start eating rawer and lightly cooked food with less salt, sugar, and oil, our taste buds develop, we begin to appreciate the wonderful taste and textures of natural, real food. We are able to efficiently digest our food and absorb the maximum nutrients. We feel more satiated and happy with our food. There are no feelings of guilt attached to eating. Slowly we build a healthy relationship of trust with our bodies and with our food, and we realize that our body is a self-healing organism, with an inherent intelligence to guide us and heal us.