WHAT POVERTY CAN TEACH US ABOUT OUR UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD
February 26, 2018
Unhealthy Relationship with Food
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Joe Leech, Guest
Waking Times
Is the keto diet a good idea? Should I be intermittent fasting? What’s the fastest way to lose belly fat? As an online dietitian, these were the questions I was bombarded with last year… and it says a lot about our relationship with food.
Despite all the diets and food fads, the latest CDC statistics indicate that obesity in American adults and children has been increasing at its maximum historical rate since 2011. We’re basically eating ourselves to death! Yet, in developing countries there are about 800 million people who will eat just one meal today, if even that.
These people are also faced with food issues, but at the complete opposite end of the spectrum when compared to us. Nothing brought this home for me more than my trip to rural Uganda. I noticed a striking contrast in how people treat their relationship with food and what issued they confront on a daily basis.
The Hunger Project: You Won’t Look at Food the Same
In 2017, I traveled to Africa with The Hunger Project, a not-for-profit devoted to helping end world hunger.
Instead of providing food handouts, this organization raises money to build a central community building that – run by local volunteers – provides villagers with access to a school, a health clinic, clean water, food storage, and micro-finance banks. In addition, demonstration farms offer training on how to farm “cash crops” such as coffee. This means locals learn how to grow food to sell, not just to eat, in order to generate an income.
When you actually see starving people, and how a small quantity of simple foods can dramatically improve their lives, it puts your own consumption into perspective. It makes you reevaluate how much you eat and how often. Moreover, it makes you realize all the insignificant things we complain about. It is truly humbling.
Rather than attempt to explain my experience in Uganda, I decided to document it in a video. I invite you to watch it below.
Hopefully, just watching this will change your relationship with food and the way you think about it – where it comes from, how much variety we have, how accessible it is, and how wasteful we are.
Learn more about my experience here or visit The Hunger Project to learn more.
About the Author
Joe Leech is a dietitian (MSc Nutrition and Dietetics) and founder of the nutrition website DietvsDisease.org.
This article (What Poverty Can Teach Us About Our Unhealthy Relationship with Food) is copyrighted by Awareness Junkie, 2018. It is reposted here with permission. You may not copy, reproduce or publish any content therein without written permission. Feel free to share this article on social networks and via email. If you have questions, please contact us here.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Waking Times or its staff.
This Recipe Improves Vision and Cleanses the Liver and Colon
Aging causes changes in cells, tissues, and organs, thus changing the entire body, both internally and externally. The normal process of aging deteriorates the function of cells, which eventually die. And, the organ’s function depends on the condition of the cells within it.
What’s more, a decline of the function of one organ, such as due to aging, affects the function of another. As you can see, everything in our body is connected with each other. One thing leads to another, which is why one health problem can often cause another.
Aging is inevitable for every living being on the planet, at least for now, and that means changes in our bodies will continue to happen throughout our entire life. This natural process affects every cell, organ, and body function sooner or later, by gradually weakening their function.
We can’t stop this from happening, but we can delay and reduce the effects of aging by taking proper care of our health. What’s more, being old doesn’t necessarily mean you have a weak heart, damaged liver, poor kidney function, or bad vision.
Still, some age-related health problems occur sooner than others. Your job is to protect the organs prone to early deterioration due to aging, thus preserve their optimal function as long as you can.
Early Health Problems Related to Aging
Some of the earliest health problems related to aging affect the eyes, liver, and colon.
Eyes
As you age, the sharpness of your vision reduces, no matter how good glasses you wear. Also, you might get dry eyes due to lower tear production and a smaller number of mucous cells in the conjunctiva.
The most common retina-related diseases in older age include detachment of the retina, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration. Other eye problems due to aging are cataracts, enophthalmos (retraction of the eyeball within the orbit), etc.
Liver
Aging makes the liver becomes susceptible to many microscopic and structural changes. For example, it gets darker in color, it shrinks, and its ability to metabolize substances reduces.
The bile production may also reduce, as well as its ability to withstand stress. Aging increases the risk of developing fatty liver.
Colon
The most common gastrointestinal problem related to aging is irregular bowel movements. That’s most likely because of poor function or some disease on the large intestines.
Other age-related problems connected to this organ are hemorrhoids and diarrhea, as well as polyps.
Natural Way to Improve Their Function
A lot of older people say they have improved the function of these organs naturally, using a combination of several healthy ingredients. This blend helped them remove fat from their liver, improve their vision, and cleanse their colon, thus regaining normal bowel movement.
The key ingredient in this recipe is the ordinary, yet powerful beetroot. It has an incredible nutrient content and provides some mind-blowing health benefits.
It contains the rare compounds betaine and tryptophan which help calm down the nerves and fight stress effects.
Consuming this vegetable regularly improves the cardiovascular system, boosts the blood circulation, and increases the energy levels, all of which will make your day easier.
The powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of beetroot help prevent free radical damage, which is otherwise linked to cancer, diabetes, and more chronic diseases.
One of the best ways to obtain the mind-blowing benefits of beetroot is to combine it with the following ingredients to make a delicious salad.
beet salad
What You Need
2 onions
2 or 3 beetroots
Vinegar
Salt to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Directions
After peeling the beetroots, cook them in water with a bit of salt. Then, chop them into small cubes. Cut the onions into small pieces and add them to the beetroot cubes. Pour some olive oil and vinegar, and sprinkle some salt to taste.
You can drizzle some vinaigrette and let it stay for an hour. Enjoy your delicious, health-boosting salad.
If consumed regularly, this salad will help improve your vision and detox your liver and colon.
Taste Primary Actions Common Sources
Sweet
Builds tissues, calms nerves
Fruit, grains, natural sugars, milk
Sour
Cleanses tissues, increases absorption of minerals
Sour fruits, yogurt, fermented foods
Salty
Improves taste to food, lubricates tissues, stimulates digestion
Natural salts, sea vegetables
Bitter
Detoxifies and lightens tissues
Dark leafy greens, herbs and spices
Pungent
Stimulates digestion and metabolism
Chili peppers, garlic, herbs and spices
Astringent
Absorbs water, tightens tissues, dries fats
Legumes, raw fruits and vegetables, herbs The Six Tastes
ayurveda 101
what's my dosha?
the six tastes
ayurveda detox
ayurvedic resources
why buy organic?
The 6 Tastes: Our Guide Map to Optimal Nutrition
ayurvedic recipes
Much of the wisdom of Ayurvedic nutrition rests on the tip of your tongue, literally! According to Ayurveda, the sense of taste is a natural guidemap towards proper nutrition. For ages, humans relied largely upon taste to discover healthy foods in nature and avoid toxicity. Our tastebuds do much more than simply identify tastes; they unlock the nutritive value of foods and provide the initial spark to the entire digestive process.
Food speaks to us directly through taste. A juicy pear may call out to us with a gentle message of delight, while the flaming chili pepper cries out in warning. As we tune into the tastes naturally desired by the body, we tap into the body’s innate wisdom regarding food and nutrition.
Ayurveda identifies 6 Tastes by which all foods can be categorized: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Pungent, and Astringent. While the first four tastes are probably recognizable, the last two may not seem familiar. Pungent taste is hot and spicy as found in a chili pepper, while Astringent taste is dry and light as found in popcorn.
Taste Primary Actions Common Sources
Sweet
Builds tissues, calms nerves
Fruit, grains, natural sugars, milk
Sour
Cleanses tissues, increases absorption of minerals
Sour fruits, yogurt, fermented foods
Salty
Improves taste to food, lubricates tissues, stimulates digestion
Natural salts, sea vegetables
Bitter
Detoxifies and lightens tissues
Dark leafy greens, herbs and spices
Pungent
Stimulates digestion and metabolism
Chili peppers, garlic, herbs and spices
Astringent
Absorbs water, tightens tissues, dries fats
Legumes, raw fruits and vegetables, herbs
An Exploration of Taste: Basic Principles of Ayurvedic Nutrition
1) Include all 6 Tastes in each meal
The 6 Tastes offer us a user-friendly guide map for how to nourish ourselves. Rather than looking at nutritional labels for X amount of protein or Y amount of carbohydrates, the 6 Tastes naturally guide us towards our body’s nutritional needs. Each taste feeds our mind, body, senses, and spirit in its own unique way. From a modern nutritional perspective, the 6 Tastes satisfy each of the major dietary building blocks. Sweet foods, for example, are rich in fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and water, whereas Bitter and Astringent foods are high in vitamins and minerals.
The brain sends the body signals when it requires energy in the form of food. By incorporating all 6 Tastes into each meal, we ensure that these signals are adequately met, thus avoiding food cravings or the over-consumption of certain foods..
Including the 6 tastes in each meal doesn’t need to be a daunting task. Adding a squeeze of lemon to cooked dishes, for example, can quickly satisfy the Sour taste, while adding a side salad will fulfill the Bitter and Astringent tastes.
2) Allow your unique constitution to determine the proportion of tastes you eat
The body naturally desires tastes that balance its doshic makeup and shuns tastes of an aggravating nature. In this sense, things are made pretty easy for us: If we simply follow our natural inclinations, we are led to the proper foods. Vata individuals, for example, are naturally drawn to moist, grounding foods, while Kapha individuals favor light, drying foods.
Ayurvedic nutrition recommends including all 6 tastes in each meal, while favoring those tastes that bring greater balance to your particular constitution. A Pitta individual, for example, will favor cooling foods and spices such as dark leafy greens and fennel,which are high in Bitter and Astringent tastes, while requiring a smaller quantity of the Pungent taste.
Balancing the Doshas Through Taste
Most Balancing Most Aggravating
Vata
Sweet, Sour, Salty
Bitter, Pungent, Astringent
Pitta
Sweet, Bitter, Astringent
Sour, Salty, Pungent
Kapha
Pungent, Bitter, Astringent
Sweet, Sour, Salty
In the overview of the 6 Tastes below, “-” after a doshic initial refers to a balancing (or decreasing) effect on that particular dosha, while “+” refers to an aggravating (or increasing) effect.
ayurvedic nutrition
Ayurvedic recipes
Sweet taste results from the combination of Water and Earth and is heavy, moist, and cooling by nature. In the West, sugary foods are most commonly associated with this taste. Sweet taste is also found in milk and milk products (like butter, ghee, and cream), most grains (especially wheat, rice, and barley), many legumes (like beans and lentils), sweet fruits (such as bananas and mangos), and certain cooked vegetables (such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and beets).
Sweet taste naturally increases bulk, moisture, and weight in the body. For this reason, it is excellent for building the body’s seven vital tissues (called dhatus) of plasma, blood, fat, muscles, bones, marrow, and reproductive fluids. Sweet taste also increases saliva, soothes mucous membranes and burning sensations, relieves thirst, and has beneficial effects on the skin, hair, and voice.
ayurvedic nutrition
Ayurvedic diet
Sour Taste is composed of Earth and Fire and is hot, light, and moist by nature. It is commonly found in citrus fruits (such as lemon and limes), sour milk products (like yogurt, cheese, and sour cream), and fermented substances (including wine, vinegar, pickles, sauerkraut, and soy sauce). Used in moderation, Sour taste stimulates digestion, helps circulation and elimination, energizes the body, strengthens the heart, relieves thirst, maintains acidity, sharpens the senses, and helps extract minerals such as iron from food. It also nourishes all the vital tissues (dhatus) except the reproductive tissues (the exception being yogurt, which nourishes all the tissues).
Ayurvedic nutrition
Ayurvedic diet
Salty taste is composed of Fire and Water and is hot, heavy, and moist by nature. It is found in any salt (such as sea salt and rock salt), sea vegetables (like seaweed and kelp), and foods to which large amounts of salt are added (like nuts, chips, and pickles). Due to its drying quality in the mouth, it may seem counterintuitive to think of Salty taste as moistening. The element of Water in its composition, however, relates to its water retaining quality. Salty taste falls somewhere between Sweet and Sour tastes with regard to its heavy and moist qualities. While Sweet taste stimulates the greatest water retention and weight gain in the body, Salty taste will have similar effects when used in excess by any of the doshas.
In moderation, Salty taste improves the flavor of food, improves digestion, lubricates tissues, liquefies mucous, maintains mineral balance, aids in the elimination of wastes, and calms the nerves. Due to its tendency to attract water, it also improves the radiance of the skin and promotes overall growth in the body.
Ayurvedic diet
Pungent taste derives from the elements of Fire and Air and is hot, dry, and light. It is the hottest of all the 6 Tastes and is found in certain vegetables (such as chili peppers, garlic, and onions), and in spices (like black pepper, ginger, and cayenne). In small amounts, Pungent taste stimulates digestion, clears the sinuses, promotes sweating and detoxification, dispels gas, aids circulation, improves metabolism, and relieves muscle pain.
Ayurvedic diet
Bitter taste is composed of Air and Ether and is light, cooling, and dry by nature. It is found in green leafy vegetables (such as spinach, kale, and green cabbage), other vegetables (including zucchini and eggplant), herbs and spices (like turmeric, fenugreek, and dandelion root), coffee, tea, and certain fruits (such as grapefruits, olives, and bitter melon). While Bitter taste is often not appealing alone, it stimulates the appetite and helps bring out the flavor of the other tastes. Bitter taste is a powerful detoxifying agent, and has antibiotic, anti-parasitic, and antiseptic qualities. It is also helpful in reducing weight, water retention, skin rashes, fever, burning sensations and nausea.
Ayurvedic nutrition
Ayurvedic diet
Astringent taste results from the combination of Air and Earth and is dry, cooling, and heavy by nature. It is the least common of all the 6 Tastes and can be found in legumes (such as beans and lentils), fruits (including cranberries, pomegranates, pears, and dried fruit), vegetables (such as, broccoli, cauliflower, artichoke, asparagus and turnip), grains (such as rye, buckwheat, and quinoa), spices and herbs (including turmeric and marjoram), coffee, and tea. Astringent taste is not as cold as Bitter taste but has a greater cooling effect on the body than Sweet taste.
Astringent taste is classified more in relation to its effect on the tongue than its actual taste. It creates a puckering sensation in the mouth (such as cranberries) or a dry, chalky feeling (such as many beans). Foods like broccoli or cauliflower have a mildly Astringent taste that is less detectable. Dry foods such as crackers and chips, most raw vegetables, and the skins of fruits also have Astringent qualities.
