Nutrition

Again, beauty is and always has been about health. A healthy mind, a healthy heart, a healthy body —that is true beauty.

The “optimum level” of health is different for everyone, and is brought about by different means. Each person needs to discover it for themselves.

But we all know the basics —ease up on the sugar, caffeine, and alcohol, sleep a lot, drink lots of good water, keep ingesting those veg, get plenty of exercise, avoid stress… How easy it sounds!

It took me a long time to learn that food is not an enemy, not out to ruin my life —it is actually my friend. And good food is better than medicine. 

Here are a few other things that I have discovered about food and my own body— I speak only from my own experience, but they might be helpful for others too!

~ Spinach is brilliant!

Yes, Popeye was right! Dark greens are delicious – and work in everything, from breakfast shakes to pasta sauce. 

~ Fermented

Sauerkraut, kimchee, beet kvass, kefir, kombucha —they all do wonders for the old (and, in my case, very cranky) digestive system. And the complexion. And, like spinach, I’m pretty sure they make me feel happier too.

~ Gluten brings gloom

If I eat bread, or pasta, or even gravy with flour in it, not only do I feel sick physically (and I mean sick), my brain goes weird. I get really, really low.

I realize that this is not true for everybody. Nevertheless, many people I know experience the same thing, and there is a definite link between depression and gluten intake.

~ Sugar is poison!

I eat sugar, and the sun turns black.

Of course, I am diabetic. It’s definitely poisonous to me, but again I’m inclined to think it might be fairly poisonous for everybody else too.

It lowers the immune system, it affects nutrient absorption, it brings gloom, and it causes spots.

~ Happy food

Like many people, I cannot digest milk, eggs, or pork from supermarkets, but if they come from organic farms, I am fine. It makes sense —if a cow, chicken, or pig is kept on a grain diet, lives on cement, without much room to move, it is not going to be happy. When we eat its produce, our bodies are not going to be happy either.

Eating as much produce and vegetables from local farms and farmers’ markets is not only good for the economy and the environment, it is the best thing we can do for ourselves.