Christmas has come and gone, now once we get through the New Year, life can get back in the familiar groove. You remember, the groove where we can concentrate on what we are doing to our bodies and our brains!
Let’s face it, every one of us knows what we should and shouldn’t eat. Still, it often takes a life changing incident to really shake us up and listen to our bodies and their reaction to our lifestyle. It may be cancer, a heart attack or diabetes, or maybe just looking in the mirror and realizing that if we want to see our grandchildren grow up, we need to at least make the effort to become healthier. Each of these issues are affected by our lifestyle and diet. Still… there are all of these temptations everywhere we go.
Maybe it’s time for baby steps again. Do you need to forego the cappuccino or the soda that “gets you going” in the morning? Can you substitute a bright, crisp piece of fruit for the cookies? My goal is to permanently eliminate anything white. Be it sugar, bread, rice or potatoes, I want to substitute something healthier and less refined. You will find that the little things make a difference in how you feel physically AND how you feel about yourself. We can do this! Nourish your body!
Pray Unceasingly!
In His light,
Lois
Foods That Heal: So What Should We Eat?o
What is food? Nourishment? A source of energy or calories? A delightful pleasure?
Yes, it can be all of those things. But as a doctor who has dedicated his career to studying how food affects the body and contributes to or prevents disease, Dr. Hyman has a slightly different take on food:
Food is medicine.
Food has the power to heal us. It is the most potent tool we have to help prevent and treat many of our chronic diseases—including diabetes and obesity. Truly, what you put on your fork dictates whether you are sick or well, slim or fat, depleted or energized.
Food is medicine. It is the most powerful tool we have to combat chronic disease.
How does food do all this? Through the groundbreaking science known as nutrigenomics. The molecules in your food do much more than provide fuel for your body. They provide instructions that tell every cell in your body what to do every moment. More than 95 percent of chronic illness is not related to your genes, but to what those genes are exposed to in your lifetime. We call that the exposome.
The exposome is the sum of everything you eat, breathe, drink, think, and feel, plus the toxins in our environment and even the 100 trillion bacteria that live inside your gut. This is good news because it means that you have almost complete control over your health. And the most important thing you do every single day to interact with your genes is eat.
So the next time you put something on your fork, imagine what your genes might feel. Would they like that extra large soda or cheesy corn chips, or would they prefer some sweet blueberries or sautéed broccoli with garlic and olive oil?
We want to teach you how to treat your body respect and kindness. We will teach you what foods to choose to nourish yourself and which ones to avoid. Most of all, we will show you how to create a nurturing, peaceful relationship with food and cooking that will automatically lead to weight loss, radiant health, and an overall sense of well-being.
The Scriptures teach us how to live and love fully. But somehow we skip over the parts that instruct us to honor the vessel of the Holy Spirit, our body. Being in a food coma from eating sugar and junk food, having your brain chemistry hijacked by hyper-processed, hyper-palatable, hyper-addictive foods prevents you from fully inhabiting your body and your mind. If the food you are eating is making you sick and unfocused and makes you so sluggish that if you happen to get the urge to exercise you lie down until it goes away, living a fully engaged and God-honoring life is difficult.
Real food has the power to give you your life back and more fully engage in the purpose for your life. The reason to do it is not to fit in your jeans or look good in a dress, but to be awake to the beauty and miracle of life, to be able to live with purpose, to love, serve, connect, and celebrate the gifts God has given you.
If you nourish your body with high-quality ingredients from real food, not only will you increase your energy, lose weight, and reverse many chronic illnesses, but you will also feel lighter and more motivated to exercise, your mood will lift, and your brain will have better clarity, allowing you to clear out the debris in the way of your relationships with others and God.