The Context of Healthy Eating - In memory of Kirsten Swanz

On March 30^th, 2010, my sister Kirsten passed surround by loved ones. She was 28 years old. Kirsten’s memory is vivid with me now having just crossed the 1 year anniversary of her passing and her liberation from the prison that was her physical existence during the last 3 years of her life. With the emotions so raw, I am reminded how her mental suffering stretched back so much further.

My sister died from complications from diabetes and an eating disorder. Her body and her soul were literally starving for nourishment. Looking at my sister, the deprivation was obvious. She was young, her mind was sharp, but her body had succumbed to the ravages of aging well before her time. Her kidneys had stopped functioning and dialysis was an every other day occurrence. She battled high blood pressure and Kirsten’s vision was qualified as legally blind. She had two toe amputations and her bones would fracture under the slightest stress. Anyone looking at my sister knew her health was degenerating. My sister was in the minority. For the majority of our population we don’t see the decline until the health situation becomes dire. As we look around today the disordered eating behaviors aren’t so obvious. Rest assured it is there.

I share my sister’s story to honor her memory and hopefully inspire others to avoid a similar journey. The issues that burden our culture regarding food, nutrition, and health are immense. There is no magic pill that will suddenly resolve this dilemma. As a society, we are over-fed, over-supplemented, over-medicated, and well under-nourished. The nutritional starvation we experience isn’t simply a description of the void found in the nutrient content of industrially grown and processed food. In fact I contend that it is equally the result of the emotional, or lack thereof, connection we have with our food and the people we eat meals with. The beauty of this problem is that it doesn’t require money to resolve. It simply necessitates a shift in the way we think about our food.

Healthy eating isn’t all about organic food. The term organic has become a buzz word exploited by industry to advance the sales of more of the same. Just because it is “organic” is no guarantee that it will support healing and sustenance. And in addition to the words describing a food, the context in which we consume it is crucially important. An all organic meal eaten while driving 60 miles an hour down the highway rushing from one appointment to the next while stressing out about how overwhelmed we are can’t possibly nourish our body the way food is suppose to. Conversely, a non-organic, non-local meal prepared with mindfulness and intent, consumed with those dearest to our hearts, and reflected on as a blessing to our body and soul will give us exactly the nourishment we need.

I am not saying the quality of our food doesn't matter… it absolutely does. The diseases of the past, those things that killed the most people even just 75 years ago were infectious diseases. The times have changed and people are still dying. Today though, entire cultures are dying from lifestyle diseases – cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. So the food does matter and we must realize the context from which we consume our food is a simple area that deserves serious attention.

Food has the potential to be the most powerful medicine we have. Greater than any drug now and any we may ever find. The context, the manner and means with which we consume our meals defines our relationship to the food. Food itself isn’t good or bad, organic or not. The benefit or detriment to our health from food is based primarily on the quantity, frequency, and context from which we consume it, our relationship with it. We must stop ascribing human qualities like good or bad to the food itself. It is just food.

Relationships on the other hand can be good or bad and I am sure most of us have experienced examples of both. Relationships of all sorts provide the opportunity for personal growth and betterment. Relationships are built on the foundation of the behaviors and the habits we as individuals bring to them. These behaviors and habits can be observed, understood, and replicated by those we hold most dear. Health is contagious. Build a solid foundation for yourself and your family by slowing down and eating together. Focus and cultivate a healthy, mindful relationship with food and eating. This will carry over to every meal we consume; with every person we break bread. This is the space from where true nourishment and genuine health will come. It will help propel us all into our most healthy future. It is a simple step with profound effects that we can all start embracing today.

"Let Food Be Thy Medicine"

Hippocrates is considered the father of modern medicine. One of his most famous quotes is “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”. These words are often utilized for the eloquence with which they express the importance of our daily food choices. The relevance this phrase has is stronger than ever. Nutrition is an underlying theme for just about every health concern we may experience today. To address the underlying causes, we must consider the influence our diet has on our wellbeing. Today we will begin this journey by exploring blood sugar imbalances and the misconceptions that still prevail in our society regarding fats in foods.

When considering our food choices and the impact on our health, the first step relevant for today’s health concerns is to address blood sugar imbalances. Blood sugar imbalances are rampant in our culture. We tend to overly consume highly processed foods and grains, and simple sugars which contribute to an immediate jump in blood sugar levels due to their high glycemic index. The body responds by pumping out insulin from our pancreas to lower the level of sugar in our blood. Elevated blood sugars always cause an elevation in insulin levels. Insulin in our body conveys two primary messages. The first is that the blood sugar should be stored for later use in the form of fat depositions. Let me repeat this first point, elevated blood sugars and hence elevated insulin levels signal our body to store foods consumed as fat. The second is that insulin increases the levels of systemic inflammation in our body.

Day in and day out after the insulin assault on the unnecessarily high blood sugars, the blood sugar levels crash. This hypoglycemic state creates a sympathetic, or stress, response from the body. The adrenal glands release cortisol to help mobilize sugar from stores in the body. At this point the individual typically feels jittery, irritable, and quickly reaches for that sugary snack to get through to the next meal. This pattern causes the sugars to jump up again, insulin is released, and the entire process repeats itself. For most people eating the standard American diet (SAD) this happens every single day. Eventually the pancreas fatigues and can no longer release enough insulin to control the blood sugars and the patient is diagnosed as a diabetic. Simultaneously, the adrenals are exhausted and can no longer function in their full capacity. Our body’s hormone systems are affected by this constant stress and their functions are interrelated. Years of poor dietary choices often require an extensive amount of intervention to restore proper body function and balance.

Fats generally confound us more than any other aspect of nutrition. My 9 year old daughter helped me understand why when she said, “Dad, it’s a homonym. You know, a word that sounds the same but has different meanings.” She couldn’t be more correct. We use the word “fat” to describe lipids in foods and when referencing individuals that are overweight. Even though the low-fat dietary craze of the 80’s would have us believe that they are directly related, they most certainly are not. But the mis-information remains and people still worry that fats in foods will lead to becoming an overweight individual. The result for our lifestyle from this distorted view is that fats have been consistently removed from foods and replaced with sugars. The end product now has a higher glycemic index than the original food and the increased insulin levels to control the elevated blood sugar causes the body to store the food as fat. As we have pulled fat from foods, individuals have become more overweight and the incidence of diabetes and heart disease has continued to climb; yet we somehow continue to believe that fats in foods are detrimental to our health. They aren’t, with one exception.

Trans-fats, or hydrogenated oils, are pointless from a dietary standpoint. There is no need for us to consume them. Processed food manufactures continue to use them because they add stability and shelf life to their end products. They do this at the expense of our health. Trans-fat consumption is related to poor cholesterol levels and increased inflammation in the body, among other things. The only way to be certain that trans-fats are not in our food products is to read the full label. The imprudent business that continues to create these products have created a marketing ploy that will allow them to write largely on the front of a package that it contains “no trans-fats… per serving” as long as there is less that 0.5 grams of trans-fats per serving. The product itself certainly still has trans-fats in it, and so will we if we don’t read the ingredient list searching for the key words: hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or fully hydrogenated.

In general, foods are neither good nor bad for us. As we begin to change our relationship with foods and nutrition, it is vital to remember that the benefit or detriment to our health is primarily from the quantity and frequency with which we consume any particular food, not a quality inherent to the food itself. For example, we could consume too much water and actually die from an electrolyte imbalance. Our objective should be to strive for variation in our food regimen, focusing mostly on veggies and fruits coupled with protein sources to balance blood sugars. When ever possible and affordable, we should buy local and organic. By reducing our consumption of processed, high glycemic foods and avoiding trans-fats we will improve our daily energy with balanced blood sugars, decrease our systemic inflammation, and better help protect ourselves from the chronic lifestyle diseases that plague our culture.