FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!

SO, WHAT NEXT IS THE QUESTION? LET’S GET INTO THE MOOD – AND AVOID IN-DI-GESTION!

Written By: RAVINA THOMAS - BED, MED, Certified Functional Medicine Health Practitioner (Learn more about Ravina at www.betterbalancebeing.com)

Ravina Thomas

The journey of healing and transformation can only begin from within. The adage that “food is medicine” is true. Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Using food for medicinal purposes has been used for centuries across many different cultures and is now making inroads back into our mainstream society.

By making the simple shift of eating the right foods we can slow down the aging process.

Being raised in an East Indian home, we were using Ayurvedic practices ever since I was a little girl. I have fond memories of my Mom making golden milk elixirs (way before the current trendy “Golden Milk”) on a cold winter day. When I was sick my Mom would lovingly make khichri (a rice dish made with lentils) which I would eat accompanied with yogurt (for probiotics). My father taught me to eat fennel seeds (the same ingredient that is in gripe water) after a meal to ease digestion. When my son was born and experienced colic my Mom instructed me on how to make a paste with asafetida and use it transdermal (topically) so that it would relieve my newborn’s gas. Ghee (clarified butter) holds its pride of place right beside our stove, as it does in my parents’ kitchen to date. Using food for medicinal purposes is a way of life that prevents dis-ease from setting in.

When you think about it, we feed our bodies with the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the thoughts we have (mindset). Much like a car needs gasoline to drive; we need food to fuel our bodies. Food is medicinal. It is what allows our bodies to function. But what’s fascinating is that food can also be used to reverse the dynamics of dis-ease. By making the simple shift of eating the right foods we can slow down the aging process. Well reputed Dr. Mark Hyman, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, has used food as medicine in effectively treating 10,000 patients and believes that the benefits of food far exceed those of any prescription drug.

The expanding field of nutrigenomics examines how the food we eat influences our body. Food consumption provides our body with information on a cellular level. Each bite we take will either lead us to a state of wellness or a state of dis-ease. There is no in between. Therefore, essentially, our choices do matter. Food controls nearly every function of our body and mind. If our body does not get the right fuel, it will be just a matter of time before some level of dysfunction sets in. Ann Wigmore says, “the food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine, or the slowest form of poison.”

The roadmap of what we eat begins close to home. Living in Barbados we are so fortunate to have the climate to grow our own food and eat local. Eating locally not only supports our community but allows us to eat fresher food, thereby maximizing the amount of nutrients. When we are not able to eat what grows in our surrounding communities, we should strive to purchase organic produce. Eating organic reduces the amount of pesticides as well as avoids Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s). We should aim to eat whole foods (grown from a tree or the ground) as much as possible. Eating the rainbow of colors when choosing fruits and vegetables assures that we get a variety of phytonutrients. When we consciously choose what we put into our bodies, we honor ourselves by taking tiny steps to transform our health.

Food is the heartbeat that brings cultures and communities together. It connects us to one another and our family. Eating the right foods for our body allows for its innate ability and beauty of healing to unfold. Let’s not forget the wisdom of the yesteryears and keep it alive. The remedy to our well-being lies on our farms, fisheries, butchers and in our very own kitchens.

Live life, eat well and let the journey of healing begin!