Sane Guidelines to Eating
Knowing how to eat is getting ridiculous! At any given time in the paper, on TV, or in the supermarket there are new breakthroughs on how much B12 one needs, how to combine food, calorie intake, Raw, macrobiotic, zone, alkaline, detox, high protein. Ahhh! Food is moving further away from the sensual experience of eating to an intellectual one. mmmm that protein looks good, is it homemade? There are some simpler approaches to eating.
Be aware of the energetic quality of food and how it affects you.
By energy I mean what the food does to you in relation to the state of your body. For example, chilies are hot. They bring energy to the surface, induce perspiration, and open the lungs. If you already have a lot of heat in your body (sweat a lot, feel agitated, or have red eyes) hot sauce, or any heating foods, will probably make you feel worse.
Use food as medicine.
If you do put extra hot sauce on your roti and feel worse this gives you some insight into the energetic state of your body. If you know hot foods agitate you, opt for something cold. Inversely, if you’re congested, cold, or lethargic, hot sauce can make you feel better
Enjoy it.
Turn off the TV, sit down with good people, and chew. Being preoccupied while eating, or inhaling food can lead to poor assimilation and food stagnation, all of which contribute and add to other health problems.
The rotation method.
People have never had the kind of access to the varieties of food as we do today, yet we habitually consume the same things. Mix up flavors and colors. Rotate with the seasons. Avoid eating the same thing everyday. This will ensure you getting all the nutrients with out having to rely too much on vitamins and supplements
Eat food not “food.”
If you can’t pronounce it you should avoid it. These foods are designed for a long shelf live and in the process lose most of their nutritional value or energies. Try sticking to food less processed and fresh. There are endless lists of how food can be energetically grouped according to food theory in Chinese medicine. Of course, this is not a one to one match to reality. Every culture makes associations with food and they are often contradictory. The great thing is we can use this information, experiment for ourselves, and lead healthier and happier lives.
