So as you know I'm in New Zealand and learning all about their food systems and their way of life. I sometimes can't help myself, I have a Social Science degree so I find people, norms and general group behaviour fascinating!
I am staying with friends of mine. They have a beautiful yard, with orange trees, lemon and lime trees, and avocado trees all around us! It's been amazing to have access to this, ginger lemon and Manuka honey tea has a whole new meaning when you can step outside your backdoor for most of the ingredients!
I am staying with friends of mine. They have a beautiful yard, with orange trees, lemon and lime trees, and avocado trees all around us! It's been amazing to have access to this, ginger lemon and Manuka honey tea has a whole new meaning when you can step outside your backdoor for most of the ingredients!
 | My friends are for the most part Vegetarians and eat any fish they can catch... because that is ALSO outside their back door! I however am allergic to fish! This got me thinking. I would normally have been all on board with eating all locally and not even thought twice about it. In a world where you can grow plenty of veggies even in the winter time, and fish is always available... what is eating locally? If I can't have the fish what do I eat. I started to realize that some things I was eating were not doing so well on my tummy (both internally and externally...if you know what I mean). |
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I started to realize that some of the root veggies here were causing me serious bloat, some of the wine didn't sit well with me (New Zealand also happens to be a hot bed for great wine.. I know, its a rough life I live! haha) I also noticed that the amount of fruit I was consuming, while incredibly tasty just seriously didn't sit well in my tummy. So I got to thinking, am I going against nature by not eating the food of the land of which I live or should I be listening to my body?
Listen to my body
I started to listen to my body, I started getting some good quality meat (funny story: Local New Zealand lamb is not readily available here, neither is their tasty grass fed beef, or their grass fed dairy). I kept eating the same amount of veggies, reduced the root veggies and the grains, and didn't eat fruit close to my other meals (which naturally reduced the fruit consumption). My body felt like it took a big deep breathe and started to function the way I know it to be, my PH got right to 7.0 in the MORNING! (which, for those of you who take your PH regularly know how difficult it is to get it at 7.0 in the morning. If you want to know why PH is important in understanding your body's health read here). And I was feeling "clean on the inside" as I say.
Listen to my body
I started to listen to my body, I started getting some good quality meat (funny story: Local New Zealand lamb is not readily available here, neither is their tasty grass fed beef, or their grass fed dairy). I kept eating the same amount of veggies, reduced the root veggies and the grains, and didn't eat fruit close to my other meals (which naturally reduced the fruit consumption). My body felt like it took a big deep breathe and started to function the way I know it to be, my PH got right to 7.0 in the MORNING! (which, for those of you who take your PH regularly know how difficult it is to get it at 7.0 in the morning. If you want to know why PH is important in understanding your body's health read here). And I was feeling "clean on the inside" as I say.
So is eating locally, eating healthy?
There has been some discussion on eating for your genetic makeup. This talks about eating the foods YOUR ancestors ate. I'm of German Swiss decent, so maybe the 4 season eating thing works for me well. If you have Native American blood in you, perhaps you'll find benefit to eating a diet higher in animal fat? This is for you to figure out on your own.
My approach is do what's best for my body and what makes me feel most alive, gets me the most sleep, and gets me proper PH, good scans on my live blood analysis, mental clarity and last but not least... GREAT POOPS! I know through many years of trial and error the following things:
- combining fruit with any meal makes for a seriously funky odor (same goes for sugar)
- Eating vegetables and Meat makes my body run hot and efficient
- Eating too many grains of any sort ESPECIALLY in combination with the aforementioned meat and veggies makes for a restless sleep and a big bloated belly
- lots of water, slowly sipped (I can't gulp or it goes straight through me)
- Some root veggies have the same effect as grain on my body
- fats... especially the coconut, avocado, raw butter and grass fed meat types actually help my body to get leaner... figure that one out!
What are your things you know for sure? I'm not delusional enough to think these will be truths for the rest of my life. Heck I haven't even gone through pregnancy, or any other major life changing thing like that. I have however had depression, rotting teeth, several physical injuries, serious digestive issues, adrenal fatigue, hormone imbalances and some other things. Food has been the major factor in bringing those things back around. My body has been a glorious feedback loop of information. I am lucky enough to have been raised in a family where listening to my body was as important as learning what 1+1 was. So I'm pretty well versed in it. I find I get better and better at it as I get older however. It's an exciting journey!
What might be a short term healing solution may not be your life time solution
So what is eating healthy for you? Is it combination diet? Is it moderation? Is it paleo? Is it gluten free? Dairy free? Sugar free? Soy free? What is your body lacking? It's so individual, while the internet is abound with self proclaimed experts, and that can be a negative thing I think it's also a wonderful thing because we have never before been able to access so many personal stories and so much insight. We can now make more informed choices for ourselves! Yes science is important, but in the end it has to work for you. Sometimes my body is bang on with what the scientific studies say and sometimes I'm an unexplained outlier.
I am surely enjoying the amount of readily available vegetables here! The other thing I notice is the soil is different here, there are different things that ail people here. Pregnant women are advised differently on things, such as what to take for prenatal vitamins because the soils here are lacking in different things than in Canada. THAT is pretty cool if you ask me! In the end we are people of the land from which we graze, I suspect a lot of us are a combination of various countries and various soils now that we have access to so many options. I guess that's sort of a study in Social Science too - if anyone ever wanted to take that on!
There has been some discussion on eating for your genetic makeup. This talks about eating the foods YOUR ancestors ate. I'm of German Swiss decent, so maybe the 4 season eating thing works for me well. If you have Native American blood in you, perhaps you'll find benefit to eating a diet higher in animal fat? This is for you to figure out on your own.
My approach is do what's best for my body and what makes me feel most alive, gets me the most sleep, and gets me proper PH, good scans on my live blood analysis, mental clarity and last but not least... GREAT POOPS! I know through many years of trial and error the following things:
- combining fruit with any meal makes for a seriously funky odor (same goes for sugar)
- Eating vegetables and Meat makes my body run hot and efficient
- Eating too many grains of any sort ESPECIALLY in combination with the aforementioned meat and veggies makes for a restless sleep and a big bloated belly
- lots of water, slowly sipped (I can't gulp or it goes straight through me)
- Some root veggies have the same effect as grain on my body
- fats... especially the coconut, avocado, raw butter and grass fed meat types actually help my body to get leaner... figure that one out!
What are your things you know for sure? I'm not delusional enough to think these will be truths for the rest of my life. Heck I haven't even gone through pregnancy, or any other major life changing thing like that. I have however had depression, rotting teeth, several physical injuries, serious digestive issues, adrenal fatigue, hormone imbalances and some other things. Food has been the major factor in bringing those things back around. My body has been a glorious feedback loop of information. I am lucky enough to have been raised in a family where listening to my body was as important as learning what 1+1 was. So I'm pretty well versed in it. I find I get better and better at it as I get older however. It's an exciting journey!
What might be a short term healing solution may not be your life time solution
So what is eating healthy for you? Is it combination diet? Is it moderation? Is it paleo? Is it gluten free? Dairy free? Sugar free? Soy free? What is your body lacking? It's so individual, while the internet is abound with self proclaimed experts, and that can be a negative thing I think it's also a wonderful thing because we have never before been able to access so many personal stories and so much insight. We can now make more informed choices for ourselves! Yes science is important, but in the end it has to work for you. Sometimes my body is bang on with what the scientific studies say and sometimes I'm an unexplained outlier.
I am surely enjoying the amount of readily available vegetables here! The other thing I notice is the soil is different here, there are different things that ail people here. Pregnant women are advised differently on things, such as what to take for prenatal vitamins because the soils here are lacking in different things than in Canada. THAT is pretty cool if you ask me! In the end we are people of the land from which we graze, I suspect a lot of us are a combination of various countries and various soils now that we have access to so many options. I guess that's sort of a study in Social Science too - if anyone ever wanted to take that on!
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