Let me just start by saying that this is MY OWN OPINION and that I am not giving health advice... what I am doing however, is giving you something WAY MORE IMPORTANT.
Over the last few years I have been on a roller coaster when it came to food. Besides the emotional connection to overeating, there was the overwhelming amount of information out there regarding what the best and healthiest way is to eat. There are so many factors in why food is “pushed” in a certain way, and money is behind most of it. You have the USDA pushing the food pyramid (and the various organizations in other countries), then there’s Vegetarianism/Veganism, Paleo Diet, Ketogenic Diet (Keto), Mediterranean Diet, Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet (WFPB), Fruitarian diet, Weight Watcher, Herbalife and so much more if you want to spend more time looking for it.
It becomes so confusing and overwhelming.
I have been with Weight Watchers, Herbalife, taken prescription medications, gone Vegetarian for a year due to animal cruelty (yes, I get it), keto for low carb diet and finally where I am today, on the Carnivore diet.
Each time, till very lately, I have been following the flow of the crowds, not getting anywhere. I’d find myself restricted in ways and not enjoying it or feeling the effects of the foods on my mental and physical body.
Lately I have taken a very different approach to food, but before I continue, I will say this though. Food ain't what it used to be!
I believe that food is and should be an intuitive thing. I believe that where we were born also has a bit to do with the foods that are “right” for our bodies. Every person is unique and so is the combination of food that they should eat. I don’t believe that there is a one size fits all approach to food and being healthy. Vegans aren’t right when they say we aren’t meant to eat meat, and the Carnivore folks aren’t right in saying only meat is right.
Take the Inuit for example. The largest part of an Inuit hunter's diet is land mammals such as reindeer (caribou), polar bear, and muskox. Birds and their eggs. Saltwater and freshwater fish including sculpin, Arctic cod, Arctic char, capelin and lake trout. They eat next to none vegetation. Some berries when available. If you took them and gave them only vegetables to eat in the environment they are living in, they would probably get very sick and perhaps even die.
Then there is the Yanomamo tribe in the Amazon. They eat plantains, cassava, tubers, corn (maize), and other vegetables with gathered fruits, nuts, seeds, grubs, and honey. They hunt monkeys, deer, tapirs, fowl, and armadillos.
In South Africa, where I'm from, traditional Afrikaner food includes bredie (a meat stew), potjiekos (a slowly-cooked meat and vegetable stew), boerewors (spiced sausage), biltong (strips of dried meat. Grains such as wheat, rice, Sorghum is a type of corn that is grown in warm countries. Its grain can be made into flour or syrup. and mielie pap(flour made from corn and turned into porridge)
Each country, each landmass, each tribe has its own unique food sources and our bodies adapt to the environment and it's energy sources. Remember I noted that food ain’t what it used to be. Well, if you are an Inuit living in a Canadian city and you eat mostly the farmed version if the foods you would be at home, assuming you came from a very rural part of Greenland, you might find that you get ill from the way livestock have been fed grains. You might get sick from the farmed salmon, because it’s not wild and nutritious as the salmon you find out in the wild. Our food has changed. Fruit are sweeter. If you had to replace the fruits, nuts and seeds of an Amazonian tribe with the farmed, sprayed version of their food, they’d probably get very sick.
There is so much more to this story, and this is not where I am going with this post/blog. I want to help people navigate the right and wrong of this all and eliminate the confusion around food altogether. I want to go into the most effective way to become healthy and eat what is right for us, the individual. Is that even possible? … I believe so.
I’m talking about AWARENESS. Yes, awareness as a tool to navigate all the foods that is out there and to overcome the information overwhelm.
When you become aware of your body, your energy, your life and who you are, it will become easy to find what is right for you.
Building a strong connection with yourself can allow you to notice or become aware of how certain foods make you feel after you’ve consumed it. It’s simple. If you feel heavy and lethargic it’s not good for you. Food should leave you feeling alive and full of energy.
If you apply the awareness principle to the food you eat, you will soon find out that boxed, over processed, and sugary foods will tell you it’s not good for you. And yes, for some it might be a big NO for meat and for some it might be a big NO for fruit or dairy. This doesn’t make it wrong for all. It only makes it wrong for YOU.
I believe AWARNESS is the key to solving most, if not all of our health problems that are related to food. I also believe that once you have this awareness you will soon find out which food is consumed due to emotions rather than hunger. Awareness will take you so much further than simply on a journey to better health. It will take your mind and spirit to a whole new level.
Try it!
Why don’t you start paying attention to how your meals make you feel. Start eliminating the food that don’t agree with you and see what happens. If you used to buy the whole meal at McDonalds, try it without the shake or Coke this time and feel the difference. Then next time without the “fries” and add an extra beef patty and see how you feel. Play with it and see.
To end on my own experience. The reason I am on a carnivore diet is because my body was asking for meat and it has hugely helped me get rid of cravings. I have built muscle and strength and I feel great. Will I stay on it…who knows? Actually, my soul knows. I will keep eating in awareness and I trust that it’s the best food for me right now.
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Image by: FOOD FIGHT IN SPACE JAIL by Civilized-Apocalypse on Newgrounds
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