Food Energetics: How the Quality of What you Eat Affects You on a Deeper Level
While we often hear of how the nutrients in food can directly benefit the physical body, there’s more to holistic health than merely what is measurable on a microscopic level.
Just like the non-dietary things we do can contribute to overall health and happiness, looking at the deeper meaning and composition of specific foods can also go a long way in helping to restore a sense of balance.
Ultimately, this means that the foods you eat can not only help you enhance digestion, prevent a cold, or improve complexion; they can affect you both spiritually and emotionally as well!
Steve Gagné, author of Food Energetics, teaches that the characteristics and personality of specific foods provide insight to their potential effects on the body.
For example, the climate in which a food grows, its shape, size, and texture, as well as how it behaves in nature all influence how the food will interact with you. It also means that the same food can affect two people differently, depending on where your unique body might be out of balance.
Here are just a few examples of how this concept applies to specific foods:
Root vegetables, with their goal-oriented tendency towards digging deep, can strengthen the reproductive system and legs, while also fostering a sense of seriousness, focus, and confidence.
Leafy greens, growing above the earth, swaying in the breeze, and exposed to the environment, are naturally attracted towards the upward and more flexible parts of the body. They can contribute to a sense of creativity and open-mindedness.
Sprouts, as the young children of plants, are full of vibrant energy and could balance one who is heavy and sluggish. Their tendency is to break away from an old and solid structure towards greater freedom and unfolding.
Chicken, a naturally nervous and noisy bird that is now commonly confined, can contribute to irritability, anger, and a need for a “pecking order” in those who overconsume it. If the chicken is free-range and organic, it can also provide a sense of grounding and confidence in one’s place within a social structure.
Nuts and seeds, with their protein- and oil-rich contents, encourage oxidation. This results in efficient digestion in those who are physically active, but can turn into restlessness and anxiety in those who are not.
What food characteristics do you look for to balance your well-being?