FINDING PEACE WITH YOUR FOOD

Peace is found in your gut. You are created from the inside-out. What better way to achieve inner peace than by eating peaceful food? What IS peaceful food? I do not promote any one way of eating because I know that the food that is peaceful in your body may cause distress in another body. What I do promote is eating pure foods. Eating uncontaminated foods without pesticides, genetic modification, anti-biotics and hormones will quicken the vibration of your cells and enhance your ability to still your mind to achieve inner peace. When your body can put its energy towards building your body rather than expending energy to detoxify, you will be well on your way to finding peace within your gut and your life. Your digestive system has its own brain. If the brain in your gut is calm, it will probably correlate to a calm mind.

Peaceful foods may be different for different people. Bio-individuality says that eating grains may be a peaceful way of eating for some people but not for others. For example, whole grains can be peace-promoting because they are calming for the nervous system due to their Vitamin B content. However, if your digestive system is not equipped to digest grain, this can be very disruptive and not a peaceful experience for your gut. If you experience bloating, flatulence, brain fog (unclear thinking), acne, and other symptoms, this may be an indication that your body has difficulty digesting grains. (These symptoms may also indicate other issues and have nothing to do with grain or flour consumption.) Even organic whole grains may be difficult for your body to digest. Soaking your grains overnight before cooking can be very helpful to neutralize the phytic acid in order to make them easier to digest. Eating gluten free grains such as quinoa, amaranth, millet, and rice may also be a better option for you.

If you find that your body needs animal protein, peaceful forms are found in animals that have been eating organic grass while free-ranging in the sunlight. Sunlight is important for Vitamin D, which is essential for your body. (Vitamin D that has been added to dairy products is not in the same form as the Vitamin D found naturally in animal protein, and is therefore harmful rather than helpful.) Free-ranging is important because factory-farmed animals raised in tight spaces and are breathing toxic air and often eating each other’s excrement or other toxic “nonfoods”. Does this seem peaceful to you? Vitamin B12 is also found in animal protein, and is a peace-promoting vitamin because it is essential for nervous system function as it maintains healthy nerve cells.

If you find that you do well with protein from vegetables, the best vegetables to promote peace in your gut are those that are easy for you to digest. For some people, eating raw vegetables is great because all the enzymes are present for digestion. For others consuming cooked vegetables is very healing because of the nutrients that are released with cooking. For example, Paul Pitchford asserts that the iron value of raw broccoli is 6 percent and jumps to 30 percent with cooking! Green vegetables are great for providing peace in your heart because green is a healing color and corresponds with your heart chakra.

Water is essential for achieving inner peace. Dehydration is an opportunity for disease to develop. Maintaining hydrated cells is crucial for communication and other body processes. Your brain is approximately 80% water. Your nervous system can achieve a higher state of smooth function and therefore calm if it is well hydrated. Also, think about how you feel when you sit beside a peaceful, flowing stream. If your bodily functions are flowing smoothly…. aaahhh… peace.

Finding the way of eating that works for you is crucial to finding inner peace. If you listen to something that worked for someone else, but when you try it, it does not work for you, you are on your way to finding your peace because you are becoming more aware about food and your body. Whatever way of eating you choose, the key is eat slowly and in a peaceful state of mind. If you are eating while you multi-task or are stressed, your food will be harder to digest. If you chew your food and pay attention to what you are eating, it will be digested more thoroughly. The way you digest your food correlates to the way to “digest” life. If you are digesting your food well, you will be more prepared to discover your inner peace in other areas of your life.