Driving down the road the other day, I noticed a bumper sticker on the car ahead of me. It was one of the symbolic types, no words, just images. I was focusing so hard that I almost forgot to stop with the rest of the traffic at a red light. After slamming on the brakes, I was able take a good look. The peace sign was easily recognized; as was the heart- I presume the statement intended was “love”. But the last symbol befuddled me; I just couldn’t figure it out. It looked like a head of broccoli. Seriously? Now, I’m a broccoli lover from way back, but I’m not sure that my adoration is sufficient to capture on a bumper sticker. So I started thinking- what would make sense in this instance? Well, “vegetables” of course.
“Peace, Love and Vegetables”, now that’s a statement I can stand solidly behind. I’ve stated before that the deeper I delve into my yoga practice, the more healthfully I want to eat. Now that we’re past the heavy holiday season, I’ve made a devoted effort to get back to clean eating- nothing processed, nothing “white”. For the past two weeks I’ve gone so far as to try to keep intake to naturally micronutrient rich foods (yeah, cool term that I learned by watching the documentary “Sick, Fat and Almost Dead” and reading a little by nutritionist, Joel Fuhrman). Micronutrients=vitamins & minerals. The foods dominating this category are green, leafy vegetables; broccoli, radishes and cabbage are next; then come fruits, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, and whole grains near the end. Meat and dairy are at the bottom of the scale. More information, along with a cool chart of these so-called “Superfoods” can be found at www.eatrightamerica.com/erni-superfoods.
To help me on my journey to consume more phytochemicals (yeah, hit the link above), I recently purchased a juicer. Now, you need to know that I still eat veggies in their whole form; this fiber is important to flush the colon and keep things running smoothly. The juicer allows me to take in even more of this ultimate, natural medicine in the form of colorful veggies. This naturally occurring, readily available food provides the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals necessary to normalize and boost the immune system and to enable our body’s detox and cellular repair mechanisms that protect us from cancer and other diseases.
If what I eat can keep me healthy, more energetic and more efficient, logic dictates that I ought to steer in that direction when choosing what goes in my mouth. I can change my thinking so that what I eat is fuel for not only my body, but also for my mind and spirit. Well, there we go.
Mark Epstein, M.D. takes this “food as fuel” theme one step further in a refreshing fusion of East and West entitled “All You Can Eat” found on the Yoga Journal website (www.yogajournal.com). While many ideas are explored, one rings true for me- espousing that perhaps those of us who are addicted to food ought to eat more. The addiction, of course, is born of an unhealthy obsession. Some of us may be reaching for food to pacify an emotional need; if we keep ourselves from reaching, we inevitably will binge. But obsession could be healthy. Like a fixation with yoga, a focus on food could eventually lead to a sense of peace. Essentially, the idea is to eat more often, not necessarily a larger quantity. If a slow and steady stream is maintained, the “need” or desire or compulsion to overindulge may be dissuaded. To be obsessed with food need not be a shameful act; actually it may be preferred as we learn to listen to our internal selves, all the while being kind and gentle.
