Why we should eat more REAL food and practice 'mindful eating'
Food has always been medicine.
We eat to live and in some ways, we live to eat. Food feeds us, makes us strong, keeps us nutritionally replete and is essential for health, wellbeing and longevity in so many ways.
Food is a factor in our life that helps determine whether or not we will become ill, or remain healthy throughout our lives and into old age.
Nutrient deficiencies and toxicity from poor diet are linked to nearly all modern health conditions. In our modern world, what we eat may lean towards convenience rather than nutritional value which can lead to widespread nutrient deficiencies and exposure to toxins from processed foods.
These issues are closely linked to the rise in modern health conditions such as diabetes, metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, gut conditions and may even play a role in mental health.
Eat REAL food!
All REAL food is functional & medicinal. The key word here is real.
Real, whole foods are medicine and they all possess innate abilities to serve our bodies and communicate with our cells in their own unique way.
Food is our primary source of essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. These nutrients are essential for life and ensure we have the building blocks for a happy life.
Ensuring we have all these goodies coming in means our immune system can function optimally, we maintain a healthy microbiome and we may even be preventing chronic disease states.
Practice 'mindful eating'
Being food aware and practicing mindful eating can enhance not only the eating experience but also create an awareness of how different food serve the body. Will this food make me full or hungrier? Will it make me happy or sad or even anxious? Am I hungry, when did I eat last and what was it?
Questions like this can help connect our body and mind and allow us to better use food to our advantage.
There are certain ways we have been programmed to think about food and one of those is to put them into good and bad camps.
One of the major issues with seeing food as good or bad is that it makes us think of food as transactional – something that you earn or don’t deserve and it’s not only the food that we labelling but people may label themselves as good or bad for consuming those foods.
If we move away from thinking about food as good and bad we can start to consider some of the other factors that impact and start to flex our food awareness muscles.
Such as the context of eating the food – whether a food adds or subtracts to someone’s health is subjective. How we feel about food is individual – if food makes us happy it has benefits beyond nutrition. And overconsumption is a key factor in foods that are often thought of as bad.
By making mindful, informed dietary choices, we can harness the power of food to enhance our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Embracing a holistic approach to eating not only promotes longevity but also celebrates the joy and connection that food brings to our lives.
Let’s SWAP
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OUT |
IN |
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Margarine |
Butter |
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White processed bread |
Sourdough |
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Soft drinks, juice, energy drinks (especially sugar free versions) |
Natural sparkling mineral water with fresh fruit |
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Low fat, fat reduced anything |
As it comes naturally – full fat dairy |
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Table or iodised salt |
Natural salt – Himalayan, Maldon, Murry river, Celtic |
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Pre-made boxed cereals |
Natural muesli (or homemade) |
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Pre-workouts, thermos-ripped, shredded magic powder or pills
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Whole food protein powders |
NOTE: The advice shared via our coaches is general advice and is never a replacement for speaking to a health care professional.
Important information about coaches – Zing Wellbeing
