Shonali Sabherwal is a certified Macrobiotic Nutritionist/Chef/Instructor from the Kushi Institute, Massachusetts.
There is growing awareness in India that proper nutrition and dietary habits will eventually impact health; something that Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese medicine the basis of Macrobiotic philosophy (what I practice) has stressed upon. Food is no longer about how many grams of fat, proteins or carbohydrates you take in; however going beyond the perimeter of your plate, and making quality choices of what goes into your mouth. What I term as making what we call energetic food choices. We all know that food has its own ‘life force’ or ‘prana’.
We must ask ourselves the question: how much of a role does diet play in the prevention of an ailment or illness? and then of course how you intend to prioritise your life, to impact that change for yourself. In short, as a very famous proponent of the energetic of food says does your food consume you? Or are you consumed by your food?
Can we go under the layers of what each food group gives is and look at its essential character? Look at the energetics the so called soul of the food? Would this paradigm not then open new doors on how we view our food and choices made on a daily basis? If you are what you eat, then doesn’t taking in the food or drink on a daily basis also impact your character? Are you just carbohydrates, fat and protein? Or is there more to what you take in that really makes you?
Let me give you an example: Anil is an angry person. He has an ache in somewhere under his right chest cavity (liver), his tests reveal his arteries are narrowing, and the heart is not pumping blood to his organs as it should. Every morning he eats eggs, toast and bacon for breakfast. In between meals he eats crackers, toasted or crunchy bread and cookies. When he comes to me, I see that his current breakfast and snacks are actually fuelling his anger and irritability. Why are we what we eat?
The essential character of food is determined by: direction of growth i.e., downward, upward, inward, outward—looked at more in relation to vegetables; rhythm—which includes speed or does the food have a regulated or irregular rhythm; temperatures of foods i.e., hot and damp, hot and dry, cold and damp, cold and dry or warm and damp; the condition/environment it grown in.
Let’s look at the broader food groups most of us consume and the energetics they bring in to you. Alcohol – has a slow irregular tempo, which will produce an unwinding effect, initially. However, the more you drink, the more wound up you become.
Coffee: has a fast irregular rhythm, an effect that is noticed as soon as you have it. It will fuel irritability and anger.
Sugar, sweets, soft drinks: will cause an expansion, so in essence will cause you to be foggy, moody and temperamental causing cravings for something constricting to recover a balance like meats, eggs, salted foods and snacks.
Eggs: They store energy, provide you with heat reserve (namely protein) and create a damp condition. Considered one of the most concentrated forms of animal food, if consumed in excess, eggs will produce extreme reactions that will manifest as cravings for sweets, coffee, carbonated beverages and spicy foods (this happens to offset the excessive heat reduced by eggs, which seeks empty but cool foods to balance the body).
Dairy: Energetically it secures and binds us to our mothers. The fact that milk protein (casein) remains in the body and attaches itself to tissue lining, also ends up causing a stickiness in thought processes and refusing to let go of old patterns in life.
Meats: An excessive amount of white meats (which burn and utilize carbohydrate (sugar) as fuel when metabolized, will cause sugar cravings while excessive red meat consumption causes fat cravings (as they require more fat to metabolize.
Shonali Sabherwal is a certified Macrobiotic Nutritionist/Chef/Instructor from the Kushi Institute, Massachusetts. And currently provides Lifestyle/Dietary recommendations and consucls workshops and gives cooking classes. She can be contacted on 9819035604