Why natural eating isn’t natural to us
January 12, 2010
The challenge of healthy eating is that thousands of years after the invention of farming, we still want eating to come “naturally.” After all, it’s just eating – shouldn’t it be the most instinctive thing we do? Even newborn babies know how to eat. Yet for most of us, trying to figure out how to build a healthy diet is about as easy as building a space shuttle blindfolded.
I think the basic problem is the fact that we haven’t eaten “naturally” since our ancestors lived in caves. And with so much processed food and diet and nutrition hype bombarding us daily we’re not going to be able to walk back in time to that existence any time soon. We have to think our way to clean and healthy eating and quite frankly, we need to relax about it. I’m a huge fan of “intuitive” or “mindful” eating (I’ve written several articles on it) which is our body’s ability to settle in at it’s natural weight given the proper adjustment. I also think we need to return to a more relaxed, fun approach to healthy eating – one that centers on the European way of reaffirming food as a social interaction and something to be enjoyed and treasured.
With the revival of farmer’s markets, environmental awareness, our love affair with chefs and cooking shows and the movement away from the black and white rules about carbs and fats – we can move toward a positive relationship with food – and that’s a sure fire way to “waist” management.
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