THE THREE GRACES

Last month, while examining the theory that Healthy Food is any food that does you more good than it does you harm, we arrived at the juncture that advises us that to keep food healthy and doing your body good--so that you can enjoy a long and dis-ease free life-- there are three primary rules. Let us call them the Three Graces: Moderation, Variety and Purity.

Knowing what the rules are is one thing. Now, you need to go and practice them. To practice them, there are some tips to make their existence and their application more comprehensible. For example, I must own up that I struggle with one of the three rules—a lot. Those of you who know me will be able to guess that that would be the first grace, Moderation. Some foods just taste so good that it is hard to put them down once you start! I assure you, that I am not a model-like woman (mentally or physically,) preaching from her pulpit of perfection. I do know how hard it is to dance with the Three Graces.

I know that there are some guidelines of how to moderate your food consumption: when to stop eating. There is a saying that one should “eat until one is eight parts full.” Physiologically, our stomachs are only the size of our fists. That is not a lot of space that needs filling. When we eat, our stomachs tell our brains when to stop, but rather like the tail on an Irish Wolfhound (very prone to damage as they wack it against all and sundry with their big happy hearts) there is a delayed reaction time of about fifteen minutes between one body part and the next. That is why, when we sit down to eat, bolting our food is really a bad idea!

Taking the time to enjoy your food, chewing, putting down your fork between bites, relaxing, having a brilliant conversation over a long meal in the Mediterranean style, are all actions that facilitate letting your brain get the message from your stomach that you are feeling eight parts full. By the time you brain processes that message, your body should have actually got enough to eat.

Variety is important to us for more reasons than just that it is fun and interesting to have lots of different foods on the table. As mentioned last month, our western diet (the Standard American Diet, which is known by nutritionists as “SAD”) is based on relatively few food choices. Go down any aisle in the supermarket and read the labels on boxes of processed foods. Although the ingredients list is usually long and frightening with its selection of chemical additives and taste enhancers, the real food that is present there is typically either corn, or wheat, or rice, or soy that has just been dressed up by the addition of chemically enhanced foodstuffs. The problem with a diet limited to so few types of food eaten consistently is that it can cause the body to become sensitive to that food. By sensitive, I mean allergic. That is why there is such a high incidence of gluten intolerance in our society today. This means that your body is actually rejecting the nutritive value of wheat and other gluten rich grains. It is not just grains that you can become allergic to, either.

Milk is another big culprit in the form of lactose intolerance. Here, the body loses its ability to create lactase to deal with lactose, and hey presto, you now have a worrisome allergy that the previously perfect body with which you were conceived has to deal with. Sugar, in all its forms both obvious and secret, causes numerous problems, often eventually including Diabetes. Years ago in Scotland, I knew a chap who really liked bananas. I mean really. He ate over fifty a week. Eventually, his body rejected them, and he just couldn’t have them anymore. Don’t be that banana-eating Kilt-wearing Scot! Variety in your diet will keep the monster at bay, before it comes a calling.

We discussed Purity in fair depth last month. One way to start to get deeper into playing by this rule is to read labels. I am an annoying and inveterate food label reader (I also read labels on clothing for fiber content, but that’s another story.) When you are out shopping, become a food detective. Find out what is in the kid’s favorite box of Fruit Loops or Cheerios, or that “health conscious” consumer’s box of Total cereal before you throw it in the shopping basket. Even processed foods that are made with organic ingredients should be inspected. You will be amazed by what you will find!

Good detecting and good eating, dear friends. Namaste.