Eat Local and Seasonal with produce from farmer's markets or select LOCAL at your grocers when offered. Also check out membership with Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups for fresh, local, environmentally sound produce which benefits you and the farmer. And enjoy!
HELPFUL LINKS:
www.localharvest.org/csa
www.massfarmersmarkets.org
Healthy Choices for Seafood:
1. Click montereybayaquarium.org
2.
Then click on Seafood Watch, to download a shopper's guide for New England seafood
(best for you and ocean)
Mindfulness Eating: You are what you eat and more what you digest!
Simple Steps for Mindful Eating:
1. Enjoy your food — make your best food selections and preparations
2. Relax
3. Slow down, chew well, eat slowly
4. Limit beverages at meals
5. Avoid cold or iced beverages with meals
6. Avoid overeating
7. Add in seasonal and locally grown foods
8. Enjoy mealtime
What is more healthful? Eating a well balanced organic and whole grain meal in a rush, standing over the sink, and swallowing more than chewing — or eating a meal from a fast-food chain with a relaxed pleasure and savoring each bite?
The answer is still under debate, but we do know how you eat instructs your body... setting an intention for nourishment... our feelings about our food can add nourishment... enjoy your food fully... and get the most possible nutrition and energy from your food for your body.
So, enjoy your food more fully
Relax... sit down, straighten your posture, be comfortable, shift gears with a breath or two... turn off the TV, use your favorite china, add flowers or candles, tune in to the aromas...
Slow down, digestion starts in our mouths with chewing, where natural enzymes our bodies make begin to make the food accessible to us.... unchewed food is a lot of work for our digestion system, and may result in digestive upset, inflammation and discomfort...and poor assimilation of food... Ancient Chinese said the 'stomach has no teeth' and Yogi's recommend chewing each mouthful 100 times before swallowing to promote digestion. See what you are doing — I counted for myself just 7 chews (more like chomps) — so now trying for 30!
Simple, not easy though, but informative.
Limit beverages and avoid icy, cold drinks... too much fluid at meals dilutes the enzymes and impedes digestion… the enzymes function best at certain concentrations and temperatures... cold inhibits our natural processes, the enzymes cannot do their job...
Avoid drinks a half hour before or after meals, and allow yourself a small 6 oz. Cup of beverage with the meal… try room temperature or warm water, or your favorite hot tea... if you don't have a favorite tea, try some green tea, mint, ginger, licorice tea, as these are common digestive aids in many traditions
Avoid overeating large meals burden our digestion, making the process incomplete... avoid supersized meals... eat more frequent but smaller meals are often easier... both cold temperature and cold energy foods tend to weaken digestion over time may make us feel bloated or tired after eating
Eat seasonal, local foods... local foods are often fresher and may have less preservatives and more nutrition.
(Text from Peri's 2007 fall lecture on Mindful Eating, as part of the Mind Body Program at Mt Auburn Hospital Cambridge, MA) |