We eat three square meals a day, with some snacks in between. Our celebrations are centered around food, with the kitchen being the meeting place for casual and formal dinners alike. As a society, we've put food on a pedestal. But do you really know what you're eating?
Between conventionally grown, genetically modified produce treated with chemical pesticides and meats raised with hormones and antibiotics, it's difficult to filter out the healthy foods to feed your family.
The first place to start is by choosing organic, locally grown produce and organic, hormone- and antibiotic-free meats and dairy. Support your local farmers, and/or set up a vegetable garden in your backyard and grow staple crops yourself. Fruits and vegetables picked at their peak are full of flavor and nutrients, which begin to degrade shortly after harvest.
Vital Energy of Food
While nutrient intake is one measure of a food's benefits-and one that many Western diets prioritize-Eastern traditions also explore the idea of Qi-or vital energy-in food, and the ways in which food is thought to interact with the body.
Since ancient times, food has been viewed as a powerful part of health and wellness. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) often considers aspects of food beyond just nutrients, calories, and vitamins.
Pure Universal Medicine
The energy we receive from food comes directly from the source-Nature. Food is sunlight; it is water and earth in condensed form. The sun, moon, planets, and stars-all elements of the Universe-come together to support the growth of foods that end up on our plates. So, in the very highest sense, food is pure Universal medicine. Each food exists for a specific purpose. It grows from a tiny seed to the fullest peak of its life cycle.
We can connect to the essence of food because we come from the same source. Our bodies carry the memory and wisdom-from many, many generations-of how to process and use it.
Cooperation and Communication
Imagine the journey of a fruit or vegetable. Take a fig, for instance. A clump of hundreds of flowers forms inside each fig. When pollinated, these flowers transform into individual fruits with their own seeds. Of the species that require pollination, tiny fig wasps-a different species of wasp for each species of fig-use the eye of the fig to reach the flowers inside. In addition, fig trees require 100-200 hours of winter "chill time" to produce fruit. Without this period of dormancy, the tree will become weaker and weaker each year.
Here, you can see the cooperation that needs to take place in Nature for figs to meet their growing requirement. Without pollination and winter rest, fig trees would not continue to produce edible fruit year after year.
TCM traditions often describe foods as having unique characteristics that may interact with the body in different ways. Each food is considered to have a distinct essence-an aspect that makes it unique. A ripe fig that has gone through its entire growing process represents completeness in its natural cycle.
The Healing Connection
With the understanding that we-as humans-are connected to Nature, we can access its gifts throughout our lives here on Earth. Nature's energy and changes impact us, as we impact it. We are deeply connected to this unlimited power source. So why can't we make full use of this tremendous potential? Why do we get sick? How do we become overweight?
The very first step on a wellness journey is the digestive system, which is made up of several organ systems that must communicate and work harmoniously. Without a strong digestive system, the body cannot extract and then process the physical nutrients needed for health. When our bodies function in harmony, there is a continual, unconscious exchange that happens naturally within our bodies and between our body-mind-spirit and Nature.
You Are What You Think
How do we fall out of balance and harmony to begin with? The expression "You are what you eat" is true, yet there is a higher level of awareness: "You are what you think." Our bodies digest much more than the foods we eat. Our thoughts feed our Spirit, just as our emotions impact our bodies and our health. Processing a steady diet of negative thoughts and emotions uses up a significant amount of the body's resources.
This approach to eating deeply changes our relationship with food-and with ourselves.
Eating for Health-LIVE
Visit the Ho-Ho-Kus Community Garden on Saturday, Sept. 20, at noon to meet Grand Master Nan Lu, an acupuncturist and Qigong grand master who inspires others to transform their health and lives. He will demonstrate how to cook for ultimate health using fresh vegetables from the garden. Learn more at tcmworld.org or grandmasternanlu.com.
“We can connect to the essence of food because we come from the same source.”
—Allison K. Lim