Food Iconoclasm
Sometime in the 70s when Saturn was transiting Cancer, it seemed that people were becoming increasingly rigid about food. The days when a potluck would be successful seemed to be disappearing. Looking back, those were relatively simple challenges compared to what we face today. We were all born into families with food customs. Right, these may vary from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to gourmet feasts, but whether influenced by convenience, ethnicity, taste preferences, or health, food sanity can be elusive and habits may be highly resistant to change.
Almost every client insists that his or her diet is excellent, but if one compares the menus and modes of food preparation of one claimant and another, there is no consistency. In the U.S., we were were schooled about four food groups. These groups are not particularly logical nor do they meet the needs of people whose diets vary tremendously one from another.
Keeping this as simple as possible, we can group foods in three categories, rather than four: proteins, fats/oils, and carbohydrates. These categories are obviously not consistent with the food groups, but they do correlate to the Ayurvedic concept of having very specific effects on how the body functions. Proteins, for example, are vatagenic, meaning they cause the elements of air and ether to elevate. If we adhered what we were taught in school, we would probably be overconsuming proteins, but these are necessary for tissue building. Vegans can meet their dietary requirements by eating nuts, seeds, and legumes, some of which are excellent meat substitutes and very nourishing. Vegetarians have a few more options since they can add dairy products and eggs to the vegan fare. Omnivores can add meat and fish products, but there are additional factors to consider here because food can also be classified as dulling, invigorating, or harmonizing. The Sanskrit term for dulling is tamasic and this includes are foods that are dead as well as those with very little prana, meaning there are calories but little or no vitality. The pranic loss occurs when foods have been stored a long time or reheated. This is easily seen in Kirlian photography by noting how the aura gradually dissipates as a leaf is separated from the live plant: the longer the separation, the less aura that remains.
When becoming a vegetarian, I was very fortunate that I had lived in India for a couple of years and come to appreciate not just the cuisine but also the remarkable difference in aging among those Indians who were fortunate enough to have sufficient food for their nourishment. I was utterly convinced that the life styles supported graceful aging and mental clarity well beyond what we see in many seniors today.
Fats and oils are one of my obsessions. I have often told people that they can generally make a 50% improvement in their diets simply by changing to higher quality oils. This is not simply a matter of avoiding saturated fats but of understanding that all oils are sensitive to light, heat, and air. This means that from the processing of the oils to their use, the oils should not be exposed to light. They need to be stored in bottles that do not permit light penetration. Think of what you see in supermarkets and how very few oils are properly bottled.
Oils should also be cold pressed, meaning they are not exposed to heat. Every oil also has specific temperature tolerances, usually measured in smoke points, but this is not the whole story. This said, two very popular cooking oils have lower temperature tolerance: olive oil and coconut oil. Safflower and avocado oil are at the other end of the spectrum. Ghee is also very heat tolerant.
We should be consuming 15-30% of our caloric needs from oil, but many people are phobic about weight gain. In actuality, oil is a fuel and high quality oils will burn clean and not promote weight gain.
Carbohydrates are the mainstay of our diets. Most people consume them as staples such as rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, tortillas, cassava, beans, etc. They are found in breakfast cereals, many snacks, and such popular mainstays as popcorn and crackers. Many people have had to become knowledgeable about glycemic indices and gluten-free alternatives to stickier foods. Think about buckwheat and how drying it is compared to oats. Try to slice cornbread without it crumbling and you get the point.
These are the basics, but on top of this, we have to consider how the food was produced. Is it organic, wildcrafted, ethically harvested, genetically modified or free of industrial adulteration. Where was the food grown? It might be grown without pesticides but perhaps in an area with chemtrails. How fresh is the food? How was it prepared: raw, cooked, microwaved? Convenience may come with penalties so my rule is whatever I cannot finish eating, Jinzu, my dog, gets. Nothing is stored and reheated. Jinzu was a rescue because she was “allergic” to almost everything. I think she was allergic to food that was not wholesome. I make all her meals for her and she has no signs of any allergies at this time, not for years actually. I bought expensive kibbles but when I read the ingredients, I decided the manufacturers are crazy. High-end dog food contained ingredients like Aspergillus niger! I spend hours every week helping people to deal with mold. How can it even be legal to sell such stuff?
There is much more to food than how it affects our dosha balance and appeal to our taste buds. All food also has a greater or lesser impact on our capacity to deal with free radicals. These foods are antioxidants and their colors give clues to their flavonoids and impact on our health, the purples and blues often having extremely beneficial effects, especially for those who have amalgam fillings or who use prescription medications, but they are good for everyone and can be best consumed fresh, whole or juiced.
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