Terrific piece, Kert. This resonates with me: "What we eat is so much more than the final product we put on our forks (or between chopsticks!). Everything we eat, every thing, has its own back story of universal interconnectedness." My diet had to change due to medical issue of losing weight and my daughter who finished her Master's degree in Health and Wellness last year at age 61, has an immense information on diets that define us. She started a program at an inner-city school in Boston to teach kids about healthy, tasty choices for snacks and meals. One of the larger issues in the world of poverty is having enough to eat to sustain a healthy life. So, there's that. Your practice is as much philosophy as it is food with food being a by-product of your beliefs and I admire that.
Thank you Gary! I appreciate the depth at which you read and I am grateful you wove in parts of your own story. Your daughterās program at an inner-city school resonates strongly with me as a former principal who, every day, shook my head at the stuff being fed my kids at the cafeteria. Right before Covid hit, I was working with my head cook who was wanting to change food service providersāshe wanted to lead the effort to bring in locally sourced, organic food. I wanted my school to be the pilot school. Covid hit and she ended up quitting. The kids continue to eat as they always did. Anyway, I have gratitude for you Gary. Thank you for your kind words in response.
So much to consider here. I resonate with the long process of shifting to intentional eating. I think a lot about cephalic digestion - how our digestion improves by knowing what you will eat ahead of time and / or smelling and seeing during cooking. I also think about how our interconnectedness extends beyond the food chain (including what we eat and who helped grow and prepare that food). It extends into our own microbiota - what we crave is influenced by the many bacteria that inhabit our GI tracts. Interconnectedness also extends to the social network, family culture and society, that influence our dietary choices. We really are not alone and in many ways that makes intentional eating harder. My hope is that everyone can gain more capacity to tune into their own senses, including interoception to improve their capacity to make food choices that are best for them at that time. I appreciate your personal story of your steps to intentional eating and your recognition that all your eat is part of you and the great whole.
SUCH an exceptional response, thanks Lindsay. There is no other thing we do that is more intimate than eating. I love how you emphasize important concepts like cephalic digestion and interoception. Whenever I engaged in conversations like this, I think of the medical community and the insidious impact of big Pharma on that system and on our overall health. If doctors talked with patients more about the human diet, weād have less of most, if not all, illnessesāespecially the chronic ones like diabetes, heart failure, some cancers, and all of obesity. But that would mean the doctors themselves knew what the heck they were doing.
But then again, that would also mean a fundamental change in the human psycheāthe strong desire for the āeasy way quick fix.ā Thereās a reason every other commercial on TV now is for Ozempic.
Yah youāve touched on some big and complex issues here. As a health care practitioner my ultimate wish would be for all practitioners, doctors included, to work collaboratively. Most of the doctors I know are intelligent and skilled people. But of course, they know what theyāve been trained in and that typically doesnāt include nutrition (unless theyāve taken an interest to learn it). It is sad and bizarre that the pharmaceutical industry has influence on medical text books and practices. That only serve capitalistic purposes and is not serving peopleās health.
Coaching someone to make dietary changes is a whole different skill set, especially given the emotional nature of our relationships with food and the complexity of social influences on eating. As our system is set up, doctors donāt āhave timeā to help people with that (let alone the necessary skill set). I was trained to do a 1 - 1.5 hour consultation and build a therapeutic relationship. Sadly most people donāt have access to that type of support.
I think the mindfulness approach enables us to listen to ourselves, so the wisdom driving choices comes from our observations. That is more empowering than having someone from a hierarchical relationship tell you what to eat. I believe most people know what is best for them, but the challenge is actually making the changes!
Terrific piece, Kert. This resonates with me: "What we eat is so much more than the final product we put on our forks (or between chopsticks!). Everything we eat, every thing, has its own back story of universal interconnectedness." My diet had to change due to medical issue of losing weight and my daughter who finished her Master's degree in Health and Wellness last year at age 61, has an immense information on diets that define us. She started a program at an inner-city school in Boston to teach kids about healthy, tasty choices for snacks and meals. One of the larger issues in the world of poverty is having enough to eat to sustain a healthy life. So, there's that. Your practice is as much philosophy as it is food with food being a by-product of your beliefs and I admire that.
Thank you Gary! I appreciate the depth at which you read and I am grateful you wove in parts of your own story. Your daughterās program at an inner-city school resonates strongly with me as a former principal who, every day, shook my head at the stuff being fed my kids at the cafeteria. Right before Covid hit, I was working with my head cook who was wanting to change food service providersāshe wanted to lead the effort to bring in locally sourced, organic food. I wanted my school to be the pilot school. Covid hit and she ended up quitting. The kids continue to eat as they always did. Anyway, I have gratitude for you Gary. Thank you for your kind words in response.
So much to consider here. I resonate with the long process of shifting to intentional eating. I think a lot about cephalic digestion - how our digestion improves by knowing what you will eat ahead of time and / or smelling and seeing during cooking. I also think about how our interconnectedness extends beyond the food chain (including what we eat and who helped grow and prepare that food). It extends into our own microbiota - what we crave is influenced by the many bacteria that inhabit our GI tracts. Interconnectedness also extends to the social network, family culture and society, that influence our dietary choices. We really are not alone and in many ways that makes intentional eating harder. My hope is that everyone can gain more capacity to tune into their own senses, including interoception to improve their capacity to make food choices that are best for them at that time. I appreciate your personal story of your steps to intentional eating and your recognition that all your eat is part of you and the great whole.
SUCH an exceptional response, thanks Lindsay. There is no other thing we do that is more intimate than eating. I love how you emphasize important concepts like cephalic digestion and interoception. Whenever I engaged in conversations like this, I think of the medical community and the insidious impact of big Pharma on that system and on our overall health. If doctors talked with patients more about the human diet, weād have less of most, if not all, illnessesāespecially the chronic ones like diabetes, heart failure, some cancers, and all of obesity. But that would mean the doctors themselves knew what the heck they were doing.
But then again, that would also mean a fundamental change in the human psycheāthe strong desire for the āeasy way quick fix.ā Thereās a reason every other commercial on TV now is for Ozempic.
Yah youāve touched on some big and complex issues here. As a health care practitioner my ultimate wish would be for all practitioners, doctors included, to work collaboratively. Most of the doctors I know are intelligent and skilled people. But of course, they know what theyāve been trained in and that typically doesnāt include nutrition (unless theyāve taken an interest to learn it). It is sad and bizarre that the pharmaceutical industry has influence on medical text books and practices. That only serve capitalistic purposes and is not serving peopleās health.
Coaching someone to make dietary changes is a whole different skill set, especially given the emotional nature of our relationships with food and the complexity of social influences on eating. As our system is set up, doctors donāt āhave timeā to help people with that (let alone the necessary skill set). I was trained to do a 1 - 1.5 hour consultation and build a therapeutic relationship. Sadly most people donāt have access to that type of support.
I think the mindfulness approach enables us to listen to ourselves, so the wisdom driving choices comes from our observations. That is more empowering than having someone from a hierarchical relationship tell you what to eat. I believe most people know what is best for them, but the challenge is actually making the changes!