"Food as a medicine"

"FOOD AS A MEDICINE"

If you ask me what kind of diet I follow, I find it difficult to give you an answer. My way of eating fits many categories, but not exclusively. I eat many vegan dishes. However, some days I will eat eggs, fish, or occasionally meat (preferably chicken or turkey). I avoid dairy and substitute it with plant-based options like oat milk or pea milk (less sugar), coconut yogurt, and nut cheese. However, on a fine day, I love a good halloumi. As a Dutchy, I was brought up with a bread culture. I love bread, I love carbohydrates, but unfortunately, my body does not always agree with them. Instead, I eat bread from seeds and gluten-free flours (I am a sucker for buckwheat and almond flour, and I just got introduced to teff flour). I will do my best to avoid white flour. As I dislike 'diets' because I cannot maintain them in the long run, I am searching for sustainable ways.

I guess the best way to describe my way of eating is "IT FITS ME - PHILOSOPHY." My body will indicate what it needs or does not need. Also, it indicates when I took something my body finds harder to process. Nowadays, I have established a connection to my body and learned its language and signs.

I have a natural interest in food. I have always loved cooking, especially healthy and easy-to-make recipes. Over the years, my definitions of 'healthy' changed. Three highlights (or lowlights...) contributed to my visions today:

• In 2020, my general practitioner diagnosed rosacea, a skin condition which is -according to western medicine- incurable. In the meantime, I know differently. For details, please refer to my blog 'How I Cured My Rosacea'

• In 2022, an MRI showed osteoarthritis in my hips

• Autoimmune diseases run in my family: Diabetes, Psoriasis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Osteoarthritis, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, to name a few, which I hope to stay away from.

In 2020, according to the doctor, I needed to change my diet, which made sense to me. Avoiding alcohol, sugar, dairy products, and white flour/wheat was not easy in the beginning, but gradually I learned how to incorporate it into my everyday life. I learned to create dishes based on vegetables instead of carbohydrates. I learned how to leave certain ingredients out and replace them with other healthier variants. I started to read about Ayurveda diets, a philosophy I love, but I quickly learned that for me, it was difficult to integrate into my day-to-day life. The introduction to Alkaline turned out to be a life changer for me.

In general, I learned that food is so much more than an energy provider. For me, I regard food as medicine. Here are 5 topics that helped me through my process.

#1 HEALTHY FOOD FITTING TO MY CONSTITUTION
Every body is different and unique. You need to find out what works for you. Food becomes a very personal approach, which, granted, can be challenging in relationships and/or family settings. For me, an alkaline approach works very well. I love cooking, so I create dishes from scratch instead of buying processed items. This allows me to use ingredients that fit my constitution and create healthy, delicious meals at the same time. For me, health and culinary delight go well together.

My favorite recipes...

- are veggie or fruit-based.
- are non-dairy
- do not have gluten
- (often) fit a vegan diet
- are sugar-free (apart from natural sugars)
- and are made from scratch
- include many fresh herbs and spices - an absolute game changer

#2 WATER PLEASE
Furthermore, my water intake made quite the impact. For my constitution, I need at least 2 liters of water per day. Honestly, this is the most difficult part for me. Today, for me, it is easy to stay away from alcohol and all the lemonades. The amount of water to drink remains challenging, as I forget to drink. Thankfully, I love teas, especially herbal tea. I love using my fresh herbs from the garden to make my own blends of tea. I will still drink my coffee. Admittedly, not optimal, but I try to minimize and reduce my intake. The rest of the day, I drink water and herbal teas.

#3 HONESTY LEADS TO SUSTAINABILITY
My food journey was not an easy one. On the upside, I have a love relationship with food. My cooking is an expression of love towards the people around me, but also to myself. It is a way in which I can express my creativity. By eating together, I feel connected to other people, and it creates a sense of community, even for 30 minutes. I am an aesthetic, which you will recognize from the way I set the table and prepare the plates and dishes. Chopping vegetables and choosing herbs to accompany a dish feels meditative.

On the downside, I am an emotional eater. If I feel tired or cranky, I am likely to pick something sweet or filled with carbohydrates. I learned it is important to embrace this rather than to avoid it. I learned that hard 100% rules do not go well FOR ME and are not sustainable. So my challenge was to find a way to be honest and embrace my relationship with food and treat my body well at the same time.

#4 GO ALKALINE
An alkaline diet is a way of eating intended to balance the body's acid-base levels by focusing on primarily alkaline-forming foods such as fruits, vegetables, and herbs while reducing acid-forming foods like meat, dairy products, and highly processed items. The goal is to counteract potential over-acidity, which is associated with fatigue and low energy. Over the years, I learned how food can be considered a 'natural medicine' and preventative.

#5 GO SLOW
It took me several years to come to this stage of eating. There was a lot of experimenting and learning. Even though I can be impatient, looking back, I needed this process and this time. It allowed me to find my way that fitted me, my lifestyle, and constitution.

Also, there is so much information out there, some good, some not so good. I learned to depend on my own body for answers. In doubt, I literally ask my body if a certain ingredient or dish benefits me AT THIS MOMENT or not. In the end, my body will give me the answer.

Today, I realize that the way I eat is more a philosophy and lifestyle rather than a diet. Experimenting and learning is part of this, which I find healthy as well ;)