Food as medicine

Who hasn't seen or heard Hippocrates' famous quote "let your food be thy medicine and your medicine be thy food"?  More and more people are getting away from processed man-made chemicals and getting back to nature! Eating real, whole food, and gasp we start to ask "where does our food come from?"

Why is this important? Think about this: if you take an aspirin for a headache, in 20 minutes your headache may subside, which produces a good side effect, but your stomach may start to burn, which produces a negative adverse reaction. The same happens with food.

It is important to eat real, whole food so your body can thrive using all those rich, real nutrients. Eating processed, modified options and your body doesn't know what to do with the stuff, which leads to discomfort, pain, and even disease! 

Here are the top healing foods that I recommend:

Spices: Turmeric, ginger, garlic, oregano… the list goes on and on. Why are spices so healing? They are naturally anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and just plain taste great! 

Fruit and Veggies: Any and all will do, a variety is even better. Leaving the skin on is also the perfect recipe to get complete vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Pair your veggies with a healthy source of fat so your body can absorb the fat soluble vitamins in veggies (Vitamins A, D, E and K). Some quick ways to add some healthy fat with your vegetables include:

• Melting a teaspoon of real grass-fed butter on steamed veggies
• Nut butters or dip with carrot or celery sticks
• Raw nuts or seeds on a salad
• Drizzling olive oil as salad dressing

Fermented Foods: Probiotics are very important for gut health and healing. Real food items like sauerkraut and pickles have hundred times more probiotics than a supplement. Making your own fermented foods can be an easy and cheap way of getting probiotics into your system. All you need is veggies, water and sea salt! Classes are popping up all over! Check our local co-op or grocery store for a class near you.

Water: Drink it! Don't like plain water? Infuse it! Add berries or fresh herbs or fruit or a combination of any or all. Need a recipe? Check out this tasty watermelon-infused water.