Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Let Food Be Thy Medicine


Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food a man a lot wiser than me once said and it sounds simple enough. Eat healthy food for a healthy body, and everyone knows what’s healthy… right? Just ask a vegetarian, they’re a healthy lot, or maybe someone following the paleo diet, because surely we need a BIT of meat? Then again, there is a lot of interesting research around intermittent fasting, loose weight and protect yourself against disease? That sounds pretty good to me. Just as long as there is NO SUGAR, sugar is POISON!!! And the green juice, you cannot forget the quite amazing health benefits of juicing. Did I mention to be wary of dairy and steer clear of all diet products? Confused? You should be.
 
 

It’s getting crowded out there in wellness land, one man’s meat is quite literally another man’s poison and for those of us trying to sort the crap from the credible, it’s not always easy to keep up. So much information, so little time! Every week a different expert has a new piece of contradictory research for us. STOP drinking so much water! NO!! Drink MORE water. Coffee is good!! Coffee is bad (except in the mornings before 6, if it’s organic and drunk under the morning sun standing on one leg) – Of course!

Should we be fasting 2 days a week or eating 5 meals a day? If Dairy is evil what about calcium? Do we really need to soak our veggies in vinegar and water for an hour to remove all the pesticides? (Yes my friend did that this week and made me feel completely inferior with my quick wash under the tap!)

The research into what makes a healthy diet is huge and ever changing and I feel like I have read most of it and retained very little. Is it OK to eat red meat? Can I eat carbs after 6pm? HOW many eggs a week? Who the hell knows? There are a thousand different answers to the same questions, what’s a Would-Be Wellness Guru to do?
 
 

 Personally in my ideal (dream world) I would be a sugar-free vegan, I would have a veggie garden overflowing with colour, variety and veggies grown with mindful intention. But I have not quite gotten around to that yet… so for now I stick to a few veggie meals a week.  And my sugar problem… well, that’s a whole other blog (coming soon).

So, not being a dietician, a Dr, a nutritionist or any other expert in anything really, I have searched my memory banks and scoured the net to present you with The Would-Be Wellness Gurus Easy Guide to Healthy Eating. I am leaving meat and dairy and SUGAR off the menu for now as I am still pretty conflicted about all these things…if you are interested, do some research yourself and then you too can be conflicted.
 
 

But I do like a list and making this list made me realise we can’t go too far wrong if we stick to some basic principles, keep it simple and don’t buy too much into the latest fad diets.

The Would-be Wellness Gurus top 10 tips for a Healthy Diet

1.      Hot lemon water. (and lots of normal water  - of course!!)


2.      Whole foods


3.      Buy organic (since most of us can’t afford to do our weekly shop at the lovely organic deli down the road check out the link below for the most important organic buys)


4.      Eat more fat!


5.      Eat more plants


6.      Get juicy



 
       7.      Low GI foods


 
       8.      Stay away from the white stuff (I’m talking about BREAD people!)

 
Good Carbs v Bad Carbs

 
        9.      Mindful Eating
 


         10.  Get nutty


 Lastly and most importantly never, ever forget that eating delicious food is one of the great joys of life. I honestly do not trust people who don’t get excited about food and some of my favourite conversations of all time start with “So, what did you have?”

ENJOY!! Eat Drink and Be Bloody Merry! Be moderate, except of course when you are not after all…as one of my most favourite crazy ladies once said…

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Virginia Woolf


Till next time

With love and light and all things good

The Would-Be-Wellness Guru