We're back! Up and running at last... As you may have noticed, our site was not working properly last week, and I was unable to get a blog post out to you as usual. (I took advantage of the break by going to see a movie - something I haven't done in months! I admit it was a nice little treat.) However, everything should be fixed now (if you notice any problems please let me know), and I'm back in action.
In fact, this week I'm starting a series on holistic health, so stay tuned over the coming weeks when I will be discussing 5 important aspects of true health from a holistic perspective.
Today's topic is where every discussion of good health should start - with what you eat...
In fact, this week I'm starting a series on holistic health, so stay tuned over the coming weeks when I will be discussing 5 important aspects of true health from a holistic perspective.
Today's topic is where every discussion of good health should start - with what you eat...
Obviously, diet is an incredibly important part of good health. In fact, it is most likely the most important factor in how healthy you are in the long term. This may be one reason why we are so obsessed with diets in the modern world. Unfortunately, the proliferation of fad diets and conflicting nutritional information just adds to the confusion about what we should eat. This confusion is discussed at length in Michael Pollan's excellent book, The Omnivore's Dilemma which I have discussed in previous posts, so I won't get into it too much here, but I highly recommend you check out the book - it is not only eye-opening, but also a great read.
One of the greatest debates is whether or not humans should consume animal products. For example, this article from Digital Sages (which this series will be loosely based on) insists that humans are meant to be "frugivores," like gorillas, and that this is proven by biology.
However, I disagree with him on this point - largely because humans have consumed animal foods - well, since the beginning of humanity - at least to some degree (although certainly not on the scale that we do today). And most primates (though not all) do consume small amounts of meat and eggs when they can get them.
Biologically and on an evolutionary scale, there is evidence that our consumption of animals and animal products has helped us climb to the top of the food chain. This doesn't mean that what we have done since we got there has been all good, of course, but from the years of reading and research that I have done, I am firmly in the camp that humans are not frutarians (or frugivores), but omnivores - are and always have been. (Where we go in the future as we continue to evolve - potentially in more spiritually aware ways - remains to be seen.)
But one very interesting area that the Digital Sages article discusses which I have only recently begun learning about is the "aliveness" of food. It sounds a little weird or "woo-woo" as some would say, but I think it is an interesting field of study and I look forward to learning more about this topic as we discover more about energy fields and how they impact our health.
As the article points out, "the vast majority of all animals on Earth evolved / adapted to only consume living food."
Even carnivores eat other animals as soon as they are killed. Very few animals will eat something that has been dead for a while. Except for humans...
"Only human beings, in their present state, fall into the category of “necrovore.” We eat dead food. It’s no longer alive, it has no cellular activity, no movement, no electromagnetic processes, just inert compounds in a form that is barely digestible for our bodies. Is it any wonder why we are so unhealthy?" (1)
This is something that I have begun noticing myself, in recent years - just how "alive" some food tastes. If you grow a garden, you probably know what I mean. There is just something different about food that has been recently picked - that you are eating shortly after it was growing. Whether you call it energy or flavor, the difference is unmistakable.
And that difference is surely reflected in our health. After all, foods that have just been harvested still host lots of energy and cellular activity. There is scores of evidence showing that the vast majority of fruits and vegetables contain the most nutrients when they are first harvested. The longer a food sits on the shelf, the more its nutritional value declines. Even if you don't believe in the "vibration" or electromagnetic energy of foods, there is no denying the fact that freshly picked foods are simply better for you.
The nutrients and energy we derive from foods are what fuels our bodies. If we are eating dead, processed, preserved, and stale foods, what kind of fuel are we really giving ourselves? (Not to mention all of the artificial and synthetic "foods" and food ingredients that fill store shelves today - which our human bodies were never made to consume at all.) This is the very definition of an unbalanced diet - and it is the opposite of holistic eating.
In fact, the essential "aliveness" of fresh foods is one reason why I think vegans often feel great when they embrace the vegan diet: it isn't so much the lack of animal foods as it is the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables they have to eat in order to get enough calories in their diet. They are feeding their body with fuel that is more alive (in general - though as I have mentioned before, there are also plenty of vegans who instead choose a diet of "dead" and processed foods which, over time, do their health no favors).
But can you really eat animal foods that are "alive"? In a sense, yes. Eggs, for example, are literally a living creature that has not matured into an animal yet. Raw milk is very much alive - filled with bacteria and enzymes that actually make it digestible for most humans (whereas homogenized, high-heat pasteurized milk is not - and some would even call it toxic). While you may not want to eat raw meat, meat can also be raised, slaughtered, and processed in a way that either honors and enlivens its being, or destroys and kills its energetic vibrations. In fact, one of the (many) reasons I don't like to eat factory farmed meat is that, as I have often told my husband (while he looked askance at me), "it just tastes dead." There is a complete and utter difference between the taste of that meat and meat that I have literally seen go from a living, clucking chicken pecking at the grass, to a plucked set of breasts and thighs in the stew pot within a matter of hours.
There is no question that there is a difference, no matter what you call it. And while until recently, I haven't thought much about what that difference means for our health, I think it is worth considering, and I look forward to more research in this area.
Holistic eating means not just finding a balance in what you eat, but also in how you eat it. Is your food alive, or dead?
The intriguing conclusion of the article mentioned above suggests, "If you consume death, what can only possibly follow is disease."
What do you think? Comment below, or join the conversation on our Facebook page, and share your take on holistic eating.
And be sure to stay tuned next week, when we will be talking about how food and medicine came to be so separate - when once they were very nearly one and the same...
To your holistic health,
Rose.
P.S. If you want to learn more about my simple philosophy for healthy eating, read this post, and for more on the vibrational energy of food, check out the fascinating book "Vibe," by Robyn Openshaw.
Sources:
1.) https://www.digitalsages.us/5-key-steps-to-holistic-health/
One of the greatest debates is whether or not humans should consume animal products. For example, this article from Digital Sages (which this series will be loosely based on) insists that humans are meant to be "frugivores," like gorillas, and that this is proven by biology.
However, I disagree with him on this point - largely because humans have consumed animal foods - well, since the beginning of humanity - at least to some degree (although certainly not on the scale that we do today). And most primates (though not all) do consume small amounts of meat and eggs when they can get them.
Biologically and on an evolutionary scale, there is evidence that our consumption of animals and animal products has helped us climb to the top of the food chain. This doesn't mean that what we have done since we got there has been all good, of course, but from the years of reading and research that I have done, I am firmly in the camp that humans are not frutarians (or frugivores), but omnivores - are and always have been. (Where we go in the future as we continue to evolve - potentially in more spiritually aware ways - remains to be seen.)
But one very interesting area that the Digital Sages article discusses which I have only recently begun learning about is the "aliveness" of food. It sounds a little weird or "woo-woo" as some would say, but I think it is an interesting field of study and I look forward to learning more about this topic as we discover more about energy fields and how they impact our health.
As the article points out, "the vast majority of all animals on Earth evolved / adapted to only consume living food."
Even carnivores eat other animals as soon as they are killed. Very few animals will eat something that has been dead for a while. Except for humans...
"Only human beings, in their present state, fall into the category of “necrovore.” We eat dead food. It’s no longer alive, it has no cellular activity, no movement, no electromagnetic processes, just inert compounds in a form that is barely digestible for our bodies. Is it any wonder why we are so unhealthy?" (1)
This is something that I have begun noticing myself, in recent years - just how "alive" some food tastes. If you grow a garden, you probably know what I mean. There is just something different about food that has been recently picked - that you are eating shortly after it was growing. Whether you call it energy or flavor, the difference is unmistakable.
And that difference is surely reflected in our health. After all, foods that have just been harvested still host lots of energy and cellular activity. There is scores of evidence showing that the vast majority of fruits and vegetables contain the most nutrients when they are first harvested. The longer a food sits on the shelf, the more its nutritional value declines. Even if you don't believe in the "vibration" or electromagnetic energy of foods, there is no denying the fact that freshly picked foods are simply better for you.
The nutrients and energy we derive from foods are what fuels our bodies. If we are eating dead, processed, preserved, and stale foods, what kind of fuel are we really giving ourselves? (Not to mention all of the artificial and synthetic "foods" and food ingredients that fill store shelves today - which our human bodies were never made to consume at all.) This is the very definition of an unbalanced diet - and it is the opposite of holistic eating.
In fact, the essential "aliveness" of fresh foods is one reason why I think vegans often feel great when they embrace the vegan diet: it isn't so much the lack of animal foods as it is the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables they have to eat in order to get enough calories in their diet. They are feeding their body with fuel that is more alive (in general - though as I have mentioned before, there are also plenty of vegans who instead choose a diet of "dead" and processed foods which, over time, do their health no favors).
But can you really eat animal foods that are "alive"? In a sense, yes. Eggs, for example, are literally a living creature that has not matured into an animal yet. Raw milk is very much alive - filled with bacteria and enzymes that actually make it digestible for most humans (whereas homogenized, high-heat pasteurized milk is not - and some would even call it toxic). While you may not want to eat raw meat, meat can also be raised, slaughtered, and processed in a way that either honors and enlivens its being, or destroys and kills its energetic vibrations. In fact, one of the (many) reasons I don't like to eat factory farmed meat is that, as I have often told my husband (while he looked askance at me), "it just tastes dead." There is a complete and utter difference between the taste of that meat and meat that I have literally seen go from a living, clucking chicken pecking at the grass, to a plucked set of breasts and thighs in the stew pot within a matter of hours.
There is no question that there is a difference, no matter what you call it. And while until recently, I haven't thought much about what that difference means for our health, I think it is worth considering, and I look forward to more research in this area.
Holistic eating means not just finding a balance in what you eat, but also in how you eat it. Is your food alive, or dead?
The intriguing conclusion of the article mentioned above suggests, "If you consume death, what can only possibly follow is disease."
What do you think? Comment below, or join the conversation on our Facebook page, and share your take on holistic eating.
And be sure to stay tuned next week, when we will be talking about how food and medicine came to be so separate - when once they were very nearly one and the same...
To your holistic health,
Rose.
P.S. If you want to learn more about my simple philosophy for healthy eating, read this post, and for more on the vibrational energy of food, check out the fascinating book "Vibe," by Robyn Openshaw.
Sources:
1.) https://www.digitalsages.us/5-key-steps-to-holistic-health/
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