Mindful Nutrition - My Food Philosophy

If you Google what to eat when your gut is bad, you’ll get back a list of “no’s”. No onions, no creamy pasta, no red meat, no fun.

I take a different approach. I prefer to encourage people to become very mindful of what and how they are eating. So rather than feeling restricted and deprived, we learn to nourish ourselves with delicious, nutrient dense food. We listen to the natural flow of the appetite. Your body is smarter than a scientist when it comes to what YOU should eat, provided you are listening to the actual needs of your body and not the cravings of your mind.  

I also avoid a quantitative approach to food. A quantitative approach to nutrition means that every meal becomes tainted with anxiety as we wonder whether we have surpassed the imaginary calorie in-take, that some imaginary scientist has decided for us. See, if you are counting and recording every crumb you put in your mouth, on some level, you are completely distrustful of your body’s capacity to self-regulate. This behaviour quickly becomes seriously unhealthy and makes you fat and stressed, before you even sit down to eat! You may have just laughed or scoffed, but take a moment to think about your approach to food. Do you avoid certain ingredients because of their high calorie index? Or do you order dessert and then feel guiltier and guiltier with every mouthful?

Unfortunately, irrational thoughts such as this are commonplace. Such thoughts cause our body to produce adrenaline and cortisol, our stress hormones. These hormones send blood and nutrients to our brain, to our heart and muscles, and away from our digestive system, drastically reducing our body’s capacity to digest our food. So, in effect, you’re eating in fight or flight mode.

I often used to wonder how Italians could eat so much food, foods with such a high calorie intake too, at every meal. When I started to understand how our nervous system influences our digestion, it all began to make sense. Italians take 2 hours to eat a meal. They savour every mouthful, convinced that it is the very best possible meal they could be having in this moment. The concept of counting calories is completely foreign to their culture, instead they are steadfast in their commitment to sharing beautiful food with their friends and families at every opportunity. And therefore their metabolism and their gut responds positively to pasta.

What we think about while we eat is so important. When we sprinkle fear onto our fettuccine, we make food the enemy. Our digestive system and metabolism responds negatively, and we can get ourselves stuck in a loop of deprivation. The frustrating part is that this fear often comes from an attempt to be “healthy”. Or the healthy described to us in health magazines and by social media influencers.

Deprivation and control are never hallmarks of good health. Again so you remember, deprivation and control suck! Opt for mindfulness and awareness. Mindfully choose the foods that you know allow your body to shine. Eat with awareness, eat like an Italian - slowly, pausing between mouthfuls, enjoy every bite! Genuinely connecting to your body’s sense of satiation makes the need to count calories completely redundant.

Pause your cynicism for a moment. I appreciate “mindful eating” sounds a bit on trend, but it works. It will take time to switch your mindset, so start by simply viewing every meal as an opportunity to nourish yourself with food that is clean and easy to digest, full of anti-inflammatories and nutrients that create bountiful health!