I have long been fascinated by nutrition, ever since I became a vegetarian when I was a teenager. I asked my mother if it was ok that I became vegetarian, and she said “That’s fine, so long as I don’t have to do any extra cooking!” – and that’s when my adventures with food began.
My osteopathic course included nutrition as part of our holistic training, and I have gone to numerous nutrition seminars over the years, for my own learning and delight. I always come away with useful information to pass on to my patients as to how they can lead healthier lives.
There is so much conflicting advice out there about what to eat and what not to eat that I am going to try and keep this really simple!
Variety is the Spice of Life:
A really useful tip I picked at a recent seminar was to aim to eat at least 30 different plant foods every week. This might sound a lot, yet think – plant foods include herbs and spices, which makes it a little less daunting. When did you last try a new vegetable?
Lots of lovely root vegetables are fresh and local at this time of year – roasting a mixture of say chopped up parsnips turnips and celeriac with extra virgin olive oil, plus garlic, and maybe some sprigs of fresh rosemary and/or sage, and that’s 7 foods already. Ratatouille is another lovely mix of foods and colours. For my breakfast I make my own mix of ground nuts and seeds: walnuts and pumpkins, and chia, flax, hemp, sesame and sunflower seeds (7), plus a sprinkle of cinnamon and turmeric, plus a few chili flakes = 10!
Or I make a green juice (e.g. celery, ginger, rocket, broccoli, green pepper, parsley and mint, plus an apple and a little lemon juice, or whatever blend takes my fancy) – or if I am pushed for time (all that washing up ☹) I might whizz up my chosen combination in my blender to make a smoothie, or in the food processor to make what I call a “chunkie“ 😊 A great way to get lots of goodness into you, especially on days which are really busy.
A raw fruit or vegetable with each meal:
Eating some raw plant food with or before each meal is a good way of making sure your body gets the valuable enzymes found in the raw plant which are lost with cooking. E.g. nibbling on an asparagus spear while preparing lunch or supper, having a glug of fresh green juice mid-morning or mid-afternoon, adding some finely chopped fresh herbs to a salad dressing.
Yet another aphorism – an apple a day keeps the doctor away. My favourite apple is in the shops at the moment, Egremont Russet – bliss . . .
Blueberries or strawberries or cherries with my breakfast. Note the “or” – not always the same fruit.
Eat a rainbow every day:
Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain…
Plenty of red orange yellow and green plant foods to choose from – the blue is trickier. The only blue plant food I could think of is borage flower, which you might find in a summer mixed drink or on a summer salad. However there are a few more purple foods to choose from – from your dark berries, to red cabbage, beetroot or aubergine. Mmm, my mouth is watering thinking of my German mother’s wonderful red cabbage recipe with cooking apples and juniper berries . . .
Again this is about variety, aiming to eat as many different coloured foods as you can each day, and certainly each week.
Eat a pound of vegetables every day:
We are told to eat our 5-a-day – which at 80g a portion only comes to 400g of fruit and veg. Apparently in Australia, the portion sizes are 100g, which will give you 500g a day. A pound is 454g, so aiming for a pound a day is an easy way to remember to simply eat more veg! Your bowels and your skin will thank you.
Low carbs in the morning, slow carbs in the evening:
A protein-rich breakfast will lift your energy and set you up for the day. Slow-release carbohydrates in the evening (that’s your mixed root vegetables, brown rice, legumes and pulses) will help to calm your central nervous system and your cortisol levels and help you sleep better.
Chew your food thoroughly:
Apparently we should chew each mouthful 30 times . . . that was a bit of an eye-opener for me. Taking the time to savour the taste and textures of your food really helps the enzymes further down the digestive tract to work more efficiently. Remembering to put your cutlery down between each mouthful is useful here.
Drink more water than any other drink:
This is a lovely phrase I think – whatever your beverage of choice, tea, coffee, herbal tea, juices, wine, gin, whisky – let the volume of water you drink be more than the total of any of these others. Again your skin, your bowels, and your brain will thank you. Any time you (or maybe your Aged Parents) are feeling tired, or losing mental focus – drink some water. Dehydration is a big cause of mental confusion.
Enjoy!
And most importantly, enjoy – our digestion starts with the salivary glands anticipating what is coming – whether the sight or the sound or the smell of the food being prepared and presented.
When I am taking a case history with a new patient, I always spend quite a bit of time exploring their diet, and discussing ways of improving it, particularly if they travel a lot, eg if they are professional musicians. This is all part of my wholistic service.
An afterthought – in a broader sense, our diet is also what we read, what we watch, what we listen to – in feeding our minds, our hearts, our souls. How healthy is that part of your diet?
If you live or work in or near Baldock in North Hertfordshire, or Bromley in South East London, and would like to have a chat about how gentle and informed osteopathy might be able to help you, then do get in touch: text me or call me on 07535 350 343. I may be with a patient, so a text is best, and I can call you back.