This year, this urge has taken on a new meaning and application – my body. Though I have always been conscious of eating well, I’ve come to realize that I don’t know what healthy really is. It seems that every day we hear about some product or food group that used to be considered healthy, but no longer is. Who or what do we trust…ourselves? Hidden in every cell of our body is a wisdom that does know what we need. We can trust it. Now, I’m ready to listen.
Growing up, a healthy snack was a glass of milk and a grilled cheese sandwich on Wonder bread. Now we know better, so we may try to eat only whole grains, less meat, more fish, and lots of fruits and vegetables. There are substitute products for our various allergies to dairy, corn, wheat and so on, but food just isn’t what it used to be. People have been eating wheat, for instance, since the beginning of time. Why is it now a problem for so many? Has the quality of food gone down or is our sensitivity on the rise? Both, I’m sure.
In the kitchen during my restaurant years, I’d get many requests for no nuts, shell fish, chicken broth, and on and on. I used to think, “It’s all in your head.” Although this is true in a sense, also true is that our bodies are trying to communicate; they’ve become unable to tolerate so much of what we ingest. And it isn’t just junk food - it’s almost all food.
Can any of us really be confident that we know where our food comes from and how it’s been treated? Even if we buy organic, how nutritionally valuable are our fruits and vegetables if our soil has been seriously compromised? Answering these questions will require a book rather than a short article, and thankfully there are many resources to choose from. But the point is this: If “we are what we eat,” doesn’t that mean that our health is in peril? Never one to foster the dark side of anything, I’ve come to accept that all we can do is the best we can with what we have. And what I have is a body that needs a spring cleaning.
There are many cleansing diets to choose from. One of the best is the “21-Day Cleanse” by Kathy Freston, made popular by Oprah. I may love Oprah, but 21 days of no wheat, sugar, animal products, alcohol and caffeine is a bit more cleaning than I want to undertake. Instead, I was inspired by Dr. Christiane Northrop, who has reduced her basic eating guidelines down to the 80/20 rule: Eat 80% fruits and vegetables, and 20% everything else. Simply put, that works for me.
I would add one more ingredient that can do wonders to compensate for any lack in the quality of our food – love. It costs nothing and the supply is infinite. In a nutritionally questionable environment, this is something we all can apply. I firmly believe that how we eat is at least as important as what we eat. At least that’s what’s in my head. Therefore, my prescription for a cleansing diet that we can adhere to daily is this:
• Chose a simple, basic diet that works for you both nutritionally and philosophically
• Return to the table with family, friends and neighbors
• Bless your food with love
• Share real conversation
This will go a long way towards infusing the necessary nutrients into our meals, and soon enough our bodies will radiate a vibrant life force – from the inside out.
So now, on the rare occasion when I crave cake – I eat it.
Happy Spring,
Chef Silvia
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