Abstract
Food Beyond the Calorie
There is increasing recognition of the power food has to affect us on many levels—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Yet this power was recognized thousands of years ago by ancient traditions like Ayurvedic medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In both these traditions, balancing the energetic properties of different foods in the diet is strongly emphasized.
For example, in TCM, foods are selected according to their warming, cooling, drying, or moistening effects on the body. To the novice, it is relatively easy to select foods intuitively that embody certain properties, as the principles of the food parallel the concepts found in nature. In general, “warming” foods are those that “rev” the metabolism and create heat in the body, like spicy curried chicken. People with a “warm nature” or those who are prone to overheating would do best to moderate their consumption of these foods. On the other hand, “cooling” foods are more neutral in taste and tend not to be cooked, like sliced cucumber or tofu. In contrast to “warming” foods, they are thought to dampen the metabolism, slowing it down.
Unfortunately, industrialized societies do not promote the use of foods to prevent disease as much as these traditions do. However, this trend is changing with the emergence of functional medicine and integrative medicine, which acknowledge the inner communication between body systems and focus on the individual as a whole.
Unlocking the Secret Messages of Food
Emerging science is shedding light on another angle of existing nutritional knowledge. In addition to providing energy, or calories, that allow the body to function, constituents within food act as messengers that communicate with our body's DNA and influence the types of protein and other compounds our cells manufacture. Taking this a step deeper, down to the atomic level, we now know that the charged particles of food interact electrically with the fluid matrix within the body to a significant degree. Food carries information that can either signal our bodies to create protein to support a vital, creative, optimal structure, or cause them to form dysfunctional states like inflammation and pain.
Nutritionists are taught in school that protein and carbohydrate both create the same energy currency within the body. For every gram of protein or carbohydrate eaten, four kilocalories of energy are made available for use. However, we now know that these basic nutrients, despite having similar caloric values, have different “informational signals.” People can consume the same amount of calories of these foods, but experience different metabolic effects within their cells. Protein from vegetables—like soybeans—and protein from animals—like milk-derived casein—create different responses in the body because they contain different amino acids and other components like phytonutrients. For example, there may be certain proteins that help to reduce blood pressure more than others. Other proteins may have specific effects on neurotransmitters in the brain. The new realization is that the quality of food, and the dietary signature it carries for the cells, is perhaps most essential of all.
Unfortunately, it appears that the average diet has a deficit of good food signals. We are eating what I like to call the “brown, yellow, and white foods diet,” which provides a limited supply of abundant, healthy compounds from plants (phytochemicals) that equip our cells to work optimally. We are left with lackluster eating devoid of the rich, flavorful phytochemicals that send high-quality information to our cells, allowing us to flourish. Each compound of color, whether it's the purple anthocyanidins found in grapes or the red lycopene in tomatoes, has a specific function in the body. If we omit a color from the rainbow spectrum, we deny ourselves the full potential of what it can bring to our bodies and systems of health. “Rainbow eating” is one of the keys to enhancing whole-self health.
Food Beyond the Body
In addition to the quality of our food, we also need to consider how a food is eaten. Think of all the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Do you think this region of Europe experiences fewer cardiovascular complications because they eat whole foods rich in precious plant compounds that are heart-protective and anti-aging? Most likely, but perhaps not entirely. One point that is often overlooked is the manner in which Mediterraneans eat. Meals for these people are often events potentially lasting for hours and carried out in the company of friends and family. Mealtimes in these countries are important social events, and working hours are adjusted to accommodate longer lunches. This flexibility enables individuals to go home to eat and relax before returning to work, all while grounding themselves in their root and giving their bodies time to absorb essential nutrients. Imagine how little stress we would feel if we had one or two hours to eat lunch instead of 30 minutes. Think how that could impact our spectrum of responses to food!
Eating surely begins before and lasts after the first bite is taken. It starts in the grocery store when we are engaged in food selection, or as far back as in the field when we plant seeds in the soil. In the grocery store, what colors call out to us? What shapes, forms, tactile sensations, words on packages invite us to buy them? How mindful are we when we grocery shop? Are we distracted by cell-phone calls or mental preoccupation with the day's events? If we grow our own food, are we conscious of the quality of soil we use, our mindset when we water the plants, or where we plant seeds?
The process of eating continues to the stage of meal preparation, where we gift our olfactory sense with rich aromas and heightened flavors, eventually signaling our gastric juices to begin flowing and specific gut peptides for satiety to be released. If we make a meal with others, in a community setting, the quality of the experience expands many times, as experience continues on a physiological level through the processes of digestion, absorption, and assimilation. If we eat quickly without mindfulness, we may not be efficient at integrating these food messages into our body and soul. Without a sense of pleasure and being present in the moment of eating, we may want to eat more to satisfy our need to connect with the experience. Therefore, eating while doing other things—driving a car, watching TV, or reading a book—may take away healing energy from the eating experience, rather than providing it.
Eating with Consciousness
My motto is this: To reap the benefits of food, be present in its presence. In fact, this point may be even more essential than the actual food itself. Although the substance the food provides is important, the attention we bring into the process of eating may be equally important.
Our conscious relationship to food begins the moment we choose it, whether at the grocery store, the farmer's market, or in a restaurant. This process involves appreciating and giving gratitude for every step involved in the production of the food, thereby honoring its sacredness. The act of eating food is unifying because it connects us to all of life. The gratitude we express for a plant or animal giving up its energy for the sake of our own is woven into our evolution as conscious beings. When we chew our food, it is imperative that we be present in that experience, knowing that we are participating in the process of transforming energy. Each bite captures the entire lineage of the food, from a gross level of physiological breakdown, to raw energy for use by the cells, to the finer essence of what was brought to the food by the people involved in growing, manufacturing, harvesting, choosing, and preparing it. Every morsel contains something more than calories that we can tap into if we are fully present in the moment of our interaction and exchange with food. ■