Granted, many of these symptoms
can be attributed to other problems but the consistency
of occurrence with 5 to 7 of these symptoms is not uncommon
among those who consume flax oil. Now, apply the same
questions to those who consume fish oils also rich in
omega-3s, omega-3s readily converted by the body into
usable nutrition. You will not get the same response.
Why? It is a quality issue. Although people have not
eaten capsules of fish oil for thousands of years like
people do today, they have consumed fish high in omega-3
fatty acids along with numerous other natural sources
of omega-3s as well.
The same cannot be said of flax oil. I use the flax
oil example to demonstrate how easy it is to loose sight
of quality when other prevailing nutritional factors
are evident. Quality should always come first with our
food and an industry cash crop with science to back
it up does not mean it has anything to do with supporting
your health. Another example quality confusion is the
fledgling soy industry. Traditionally made miso, natto,
tempeh, and shoyu are qualitatively very different from
the soy junk foods flooding the marketplace as "healthy
alternatives".
The quality of our food is determined
by weighing the difference between the naturalness of
it with the artificial. By studying naturally grown
and naturally raised foods, you quickly become aware
of the true nature of the food in question. Foods grown
with chemicals and preservatives or those with added
hormones or genetically altered represent the lowest
quality foods available for human consumption. Anyone
with a desire to understand the nature of food first
needs to make quality the first rule of thumb. Unfortunately,
this is not often the case with conventional nutritional
studies where the measuring of nutrients often takes
precedence over quality.
A nutritional analysis of a typical breakfast cereal
from the grocery store high in sugar, preservatives
and added synthetic vitamins may look the same or even
better than the nutritional profile of an organic version
of the actual whole grain that forms the basis of that
breakfast cereal. Both are carbohydrates yet are qualitatively
very different from each other.
The same is true for naturally raised grass fed livestock
and factory-farmed livestock. The former is raised in
a natural environment eating their natural grass diet
while the latter is raised in confinement, often consuming
foods unnatural to the species and further enhanced
with hormones and chemicals. Though raised differently,
both animals look alike yet when examined under a microscope
for nutritional data they reveal differences in fat
levels and other nutrient levels that further make them
qualitatively very different.
The dietary choices you make based
on nutritional analysis will be supported through personal
health benefits when choosing high quality foods above
inferior alternatives. While a cursory examination between
superior quality, naturally grown foods compared to
their inferior counterparts may show, in some cases,
some comparative nutritional profiles, it has been proven
through scientific studies that quality foods (organic
and biodynamic) have higher ratios of nutrients in general
in addition to little or no harmful chemicals and preservatives.
Understanding the effects on our health of inferior
foods laced with toxic chemicals and artificial ingredients
is obvious and it is this obviousness of quality that
often leads well intentioned proponents of natural foods
to inaccurately demonize particular foods yet understanding
these same foods grown naturally reveals a greater comprehension
of what these foods are as sources of nourishment.
The study of food quality leads us to the basic fundamental
truth that the foundation of any truly healthy diet
must be comprised of naturally grown and naturally raised
foods.
2. History and origin.
The history and origin of a particular
food is another essential principle in the quest for
understanding food energetics. How long has the food
been consumed by humans? Where did the food in question
originate and how?
Sweet potatoes have been grown and consumed by Asian
and South American peoples for thousands of years in
spite of the fact that these different cultures are
thousands of miles from each other. The same is true
for peanuts. Chickens have provided nourishment for
Asians and Middle Eastern peoples for 7 to 10 thousand
years. Whole grains have been essential foods for 20
thousand years or more.
In fact the very same unprocessed foods we consume today
have been the mainstay of the human diet for at least
10 thousand years with the primary changes being in
quality over those many decades. In fact, most of these
food changes have occurred in only the last two hundred
years. Aside from offshoots through grafting and crossing
of plant species to produce new varieties of fruits
and vegetables, there have been few additions to human
foods in over 10 thousand years.
Why is that? Could it be because there has been no need
to alter these highly nourishing ancestral foods? In
the coming years we will likely see more foods introduced
as a result of genetic manipulation but for the most
part we are still dependent on our ancestral foods as
nourishment.
Now, one could argue that just
because a food has been consumed for thousands of years
does not mean it is good for you. This statement has
little relevance in the bigger picture and is only relevant
when considering that diets are by design, all of them,
modern, and ancestral diets. The foods in any diet are
designed for a particular agenda whether they are for
health, spirituality, emotional stability, strength…with
some being multifaceted. Ancestral foods have a long
track record of nourishing the human species and all
ancestral foods without exception can be proven to be
nourishing through nutritional analysis as well.
It really has nothing to do with
good or bad for you until you bring your personal designer
diet into the picture. It is only then that food is
defined as good or bad and is either removed from a
diet or added to the diet's approved foods list. It
is one thing to say you do not want to eat a chicken
because you do not believe in eating animals but attempting
to rationalize not eating a chicken because it is a
bad or unhealthy food to eat is not only inaccurate,
it is absurd. Alternatively, you might try to rationalize
not eating chicken because you think you can get the
same protein from other sources.
This too is inaccurate. Sure, you can get protein from
different sources but the chicken has its own unique
profile of proteins and other nutrients that makes it
a chicken and nothing else. No other food has the same
profile of nutrition that a chicken has. The same goes
for a cow, fish or any source of plant protein, any
food for that matter. This in no way means one is better
than the other as a food, just different. Comparative
nutrition profiling is not only inaccurate; it can be
misleading when trying to understand food energetics.
The very purpose of studying food energetics is to get
to know the uniqueness of each food not to debase that
uniqueness by comparing some of its isolated nutrients
to something else, equally unique in its own way, simply
because the one food has some of the same nutrients
as the one it is being compared to.
Then there is the question of location,
where a food originated and how that fits into your
diet. Historically, foods grown in one part of the world
have traveled to the other side of the world through
trade and commerce. This has been going on longer than
most historians would like to believe and there is plenty
of evidence to support it. Does eating from your environment
mean not eating spices from Thailand if you live in
the far north of North America? How about people living
in the mountains thousands of miles from the sea, should
they not eat fish or sea vegetables since those foods
are not part of their environment?
Only you can put limitations on the size of your food
environment. You can choose to limit your diet to foods
grown from as far away as 1000 miles in any direction
or you could choose to include foods from many thousands
of miles in any direction. Realistically, which choice
do you think offers the best options for a healthy,
nutritionally satisfying, balanced diet?
These days, there are many foods that never grew in
their current locations but now do due to many years
of diffusion and because many seasonal environments
are capable of supporting their growth in various geographies.
A good axiom to uphold when choosing foods for a balanced
whole foods diet is: Support locally, eat globally.
As humans, we have the capacity
to eat anything as evidenced by the tremendous quantities
of junk foods consumed by humans. Is it reasonable to
assume that someone living in a non-tropical environment
consuming virgin coconut oil from the tropics is going
to become mentally unbalanced or develop health problems
from eating a food that does not come from his or her
environment? Could one actually become dislocated in
time and space due to this food relationship? And, if
so would that be so bad?
Coconut oil has an approximate four year shelf life
at room temperature, is one of the few heat stable plant
oils for cooking and like the coconut from which it
is derived it is loaded with all kinds of health supporting
nutrition. Based on nutritional propaganda pertaining
to saturated fats one would think that coconut oil,
with up to 87% saturated fat, would be detrimental to
health. Yet, just the opposite is true.
Due to it's high content of lauric acid, a substance
that is similar to the nourishing components in mothers
milk, the medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil are
easily assimilated by the body with no indication of
raising cholesterol or contributing to weight gain.
It is also very helpful in regulating metabolism, an
especially helpful food indeed for those suffering from
binge eating and other eating disorders and it has been
a traditional food for thousands of years. The other
products derived from coconut also contribute to good
health.
Rich, creamy and metabolically satisfying coconut milk
and coconut cream are great foods for those who have
trouble consuming dairy products due to lactose intolerance.
Essentially, then, coconuts and the products derived
from them are healthy foods that just about anyone anywhere
can benefit from. The old saying "The world is
your oyster" can be taken literally when it comes
to food. The choices are limitless but understanding
both the varieties of foods you choose to consume, why
you choose them and your individual limitations are
essential.
How about spices? Tropically grown cayenne peppers,
chili type peppers and peppercorns have played important
roles in traditional diets for millennia having served
indigenous peoples in numerous ways. Not only do they
add wonderful and exotic flavors to their daily cuisine,
they have medicinal qualities as well that have been
acknowledged through modern science.
These food seasonings have anti-bacterial, anti-viral,
and anti-parasitic qualities. Additionally, they increase
blood circulation and can help regulate cholesterol
levels. There is no reason whatsoever that these foods
should not be part of a healthy diet in Northern Scandinavia
and other northern countries since people there, like
everyone else in the world, are not exempt from the
problems these foods can help to resolve. One way of
comprehending the importance of a foods role in history
is to eat it. It is when you do this that the historical
position of that food in a traditional diet is fully
realized because it will become you.
There are many fears surrounding
foods today but most of these food fears can easily
be reduced by first eliminating non food foods from
ones diet and replacing them with real traditional foods.
Once this is accomplished that once deep-seated fear
of food transforms into a sense of respect for all that
came before us. This is not to say you should eat all
traditional foods from every part of the world, but
to know these foods as the original sources of nourishment
can open doors for making important choices in your
diet that could literally change your life for the better
while adding additional sources of nutrition you never
knew existed.
3. Character Observations
When you observe other people,
you become aware of numerous characteristics that attract
your attention. Dark hair, light hair, lean body, over
weight, muscular body, big smile, sadness, well dressed
conservative, casual elegance, unkempt, charismatic,
fatigued, high energy…these and many other characteristics
flash through your minds during your daily encounters
with others. Some of these are given extra thought and
contemplation while others are simply noticed.
We humans have so many physical
and emotional characteristics it sometimes makes it
difficult to figure each other out but we are all aware
that some basic traits are shared by us all and these
are what make us human. Whether it is a long-term relationship,
new friends, family…any acquaintance really; we
are constantly discovering new characteristics of those
around us.
The foods you eat have their unique
characteristics too and observing their unique characteristics
can give you insight into how a particular food can
nourish you through its correlations to your body and
mind. By observing how a plant grows and develops, you
learn about its needs, what it requires to become a
food you will ultimately consume. With animals, you
can observe their growth and development as well but
you can also observe their behavior and in the case
of factory farmed animals the behavior modifications
due to the disruption of their natural lifestyles. The
obsessive-compulsive behavior, often accompanied by
osteoporosis, of caged hens is not a characteristic
of free-range chickens.
The grass fed cow maintains a healthy weight and disposition
while the cow raised in confinement contains more fat
and tends to suffer from depression and digestive disorders.
It is not far fetched to surmise a psychological connection
between factory farmed chicken and the increase of OCD
among humans consuming excessive quantities of these
animals, just as it is not far fetched to suspect a
link to osteoporosis in humans and the same animal.
Food psychology is not a new phenomenon. Ancient peoples
understood it and it became an essential part of traditional
healing modalities throughout the world. Traditional
Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic healing are just two
examples that incorporate this natural science.
When observing leafy green vegetables
you can see how they grow upward and thrive on sunshine.
Exposed to the elements leafy greens withstand torrential
rains and continue to grow and expand upward and outward
as they inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. This
unique characteristic of green plants finds its correspondence
reversed in your respiratory system where your lungs
inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Green plants
then are the respiratory system of the earth and have
a direct correlation to your corresponding bodily function.
Root vegetables (carrots, burdock,
parsnip etc.) are foods that prefer the dark recesses
of the earth, private foods hidden away from the bright
sunshine. These foods are highly efficient at absorbing
and assimilating water and nutrients from the earth
while they anchor and stabilized the whole plant. Your
intestines absorb and assimilate your food and thus
find support in the roots of the plant world. These
simple observations of food characteristics can be applied
to any foods and speak volumes about the energetic properties
of foods.
The firm fleshed winter squash
with its seeds contained in a central mesh of fibers,
is planted in summer, and harvested in fall. As it develops,
a long tubular tendril feeds the squash supplying it
with water and inorganic materials the squash needs
to develop into a dry, sweet-fleshed nourishing food.
The process of growth and development for the squash
is slow and consistent.
Planted in the summer and harvested
in the summer, the juicy, sweet watermelon too is nourished
by a long tubular tendril that pumps copious amounts
of water and nourishment to the melon. Internally, unlike
the squash, the watermelon's seeds are distributed throughout
the flesh. The developmental process and growing season
is of less duration than the squash and results in a
sweet, watery flesh.
Both the squash and the melon are heavy and firm on
the exterior but their water content and the speed in
which they develop differ greatly. The way the squash
and melon handle water from their environment has a
direct correlation to your kidneys and bladder, two
organs responsible for water balance in the human body.
The obvious effect of the water heavy melon is an increase
in urination while the dry flesh of the squash has the
opposite effect but that is not all. Each food can have
several energetic effects on the body.
Modern nutritional science has
recently discovered that some food components, phyto-nutrients
and anti-oxidants, choose specific pathways from a complex
network existing in the human body in which to travel.
The ability of foods to traverse the physiological network
of the human body has long been part of the study of
food energetics. Just as modern research has demonstrated
nutritional pathways, ancient food energetics too goes
way beyond the simple ingestion of food into the digestive
tract and the excretion of waste from the large intestine.
Thousands of years ago, Traditional
Chinese medicine, demonstrated how the flavors of foods
choose specific pathways to organs and systems of the
human body. For example, the sweet flavor traverses
the spleen and pancreas meridian pathways. These pathways
(commonly known as meridians) play important roles in
the natural healing modalities of acupuncture, herbalism
and massage therapy. Of the five flavors, each follows
its own specific pathways to a pair of organs in the
body.
Using our examples of the squash
and melon, you can learn more about their energetic
properties through their flavor pathways. Both are sweet
tasting foods so they will naturally travel the pathways
to the spleen and stomach carrying with them their unique
energetics or characteristics.
The resulting effect on these organs will tend to be
as follows. The juicy, sweet, soft and watery melon
will tend to have a relaxing, cooling and dampening
effect on the spleen and stomach whereas the winter
squash (cooked) will tend to have a tonifying, warming
and drying effect on the spleen and stomach. One is
not better than the other they are simply different
as is every other food. Each has its own unique energetic
characteristics and all are there to support your particular
needs.
Other methods of character observations
include what happens to a food when combined with other
foods through various methods of preparation. Adding
fire to foods through cooking contributes to thermogenic
(warming) properties depending on the foods density
factor and how it is cooked.
Pickling foods, resulting in fermentation and enhancement
of enzymes, can change the energetics of foods by opening
pathways that would not be traversed were they prepared
through steaming, boiling or sautéing yet these
preparation methods too have their unique effects on
food. Food textures, hard, crunchy, soft, chewy…influence
the energetics of foods in their own ways as well.
First ask yourself and then ask
your friends what their favorite green vegetable is,
their favorite root vegetable, favorite grain, animal
product (dairy products, meats etc.), favorite fruit…
Then apply our third principle of Character Observations
and learn about those foods.
Discover why you like them so much, why they have become
such an intimate part of your life. Learn how they have
nourished you in helping you to heal or even how they
could be preventing you from healing and being nutritionally
satisfied.
In the process of discovery you will learn through those
foods many things about yourself simply because the
foods you eat will become you and in subtle ways you
will become them.
Steve
Gagne is the author of "The Energetics of Food"
