I love food. Food and wine pairing used to be a big part of my life- the fast food version of that being the dried fruit/cheese/bread paired with alchohol… not the way to keep one’s HDL’s and LDL’s in balance. I am not a specialist in nutrition or macrobiotic diets or anything else, but the common sense practice of “make food your medicine and medicine your food” is a way of life that keeps me going.
I found incentive in holistic medicine as I watched my Mother’s health decline. Three packs of cigarettes a day caught up to her in her mid-fifties and she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Insisting that I drive her early to her first chemo session, my Mother insisted on having ‘one last smoke’ in front of the hospital. Along with this horribly addictive habit, she also had a regular diet of junk food that easily explained her obesity.
My Mother was my best friend and inspiring guide in many things, but her health choices were not on that list. Trying to reason with my Mom about a healthier lifestyle fell on deaf ears as she could not see any correlation between her eating/smoking habit and the condition of her body. The commercial health industry encourages people to reason that medical ailments which can be altered with prescription drugs will allow a person to continue with their eating/drinking/smoking habits as long as it’s done in moderation.
When my dear sweet Mom passed away, I immersed myself in a focused effort to truly live this concept “make medicine your food and food your medicine”. I read up on the concepts behind an Ayurvedic diet, had a full blood/saliva/hormone evaluation with a magnificent homeopathic doctor, and studied charts from the book “Eat for your Blood Type”. All of the information was in agreement! I have now been on a diet for five years that keeps me energized and healthy without the need for any medication for illness/sleep/energy/etc.! Following a detailed guide in the awesome book “Dosha for Life” by Linda Bretherton and Jim Whitham, I am at my strongest and most energized in my life at the age of 51!
My kind of fast food is a stop at a fruit stand cart on any given day in Southern California to load up on a quart-sized serving of sliced coconut/cucumber/orange/mango/honeydew melon/cantalope/watermelon/jicama and lime juice! Protein, vitamins, fiber from chewing my fruit. The juicing craze that happens across much of the country is only interesting to me when we’re talking about green veggies- once I passed the age of 40, the habit of drinking gallons of fruit juice came to an abrupt stop because my body needs the fiber from the entire fruit to efficiently process out the natural sugar.
I find that having a healthy clean diet allows for a wide range of physical activities because of my efficient digestion and recovery from strenuous activities. Knowing which foods and food combinations will actively work to diminish inflammation and muscle/energy recovery is key to all athletes. I happen to follow an Ayurvedic vegan diet that accomplishes these things for me.
The next acroyoga Retreat that I am hosting is an awesome way for one to explore this practice of “making food your medicine and medicine your food”~ check out THE ACRO YOGA RETREAT ON CATALINA ISLAND, happening the last week of December! Details here👉 https://yogamusic.me/lp/ayrci-a