Why Eat Better

Since March 2019 I have been "eating better". But what does that mean? And like some of my friends say, why be so finicky about food? Here I attempt to explain why for me, why in general, and what with a glimpse of the ultimate.

Also published on Medium

Why I Started Eating Better

I had to eat better. After getting diagnosed with a mental health issue and needing to take medication I was brought to light about its likely side effects. They are very very powerful side-effects and often debilitate your day-to-day function. For example, they mess up your digestion, bowel movement, introduce a feeling of lethargy, etc. But taking the medication was a necessary evil. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I started eating better because it set me so that I could take the blows of the medication well. And it certainly did. I had minimal effect side-effects. Any time I had bowel issues I dealt with it through food by replacing dishes for things that would aid the issue. For example, papaya became a new staple of my diet. Papaya with it papain enzymes are known to aid digestion. It is also mentioned in the yogic practices to be so and gentle to the bowel movement process. I introduced "dahi" or yoghurt in breakfast which is supportive of the biotic system in the gut.

All of this wisdom was a result of just being more mindful of self and my bodily system. And learning about the interactions of food with the body through some yogic wisdom exposure.

Personally I feel I've barely scratched the surface of the wisdom that's out there. Yet it makes me feel so much better, confident, and hopeful about how far I can go and the kind of equilibrium that I can establish.

What I Ate

I ate better because it set my body in a certain way that allowed me to do certain things that were important to me at that time of my life. Put simply eating better made me feel light, energetic, and alert.

I think the idea of eating better is different for different people.

It's not a certain way of eating but what works best for your body.

Going by what I said above, for me, eating better meant a diet full of vegetables. I love them to the core. There were raw or cooked vegetables, fruits, and minimizing dairy to some yoghurt. I abandoned the popular culture diets which are now coming full circle and advising having a vegan diet from eating meat and not eating fat and not eating carbs. This can be seen in the latest Netflix documentary called The Game Changers. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have everything under the sky as long as it is mostly whole food. Think wheat flour vs whole wheat, and rolled oats vs instant oats, etc. Eliminating milk has made me feel better yet I derive a lot of benefits from yoghurt. I'm also keeping coffee to one cup on average a day. And added fruits which I previously didn't eat.

Eating Local is another big thing for me. It's not just a philosophy, I actually feel eating mostly (see I'm not so hard and fast about things here) local has a positive effect on one's life energies. These are also the things one grows up eating. Where I am it could be "Dalma" and "Chuda". Adding Neem and Turmeric capsules to one's diet keep inflammation away because of turmeric and the bowel system clean because of neem's powerful antibacterial properties. They are part of my morning ritual where I pop two capsules in the morning with water. I was fed so when I was growing up by my mom who handmade them. Now they come as dry capsules of the same.

Why Eat Better In General

Eating better, in general, is like putting top-quality fuel in a Ferrari. Your body is a Ferrari. It really is no matter in what shape or size you are right now. It's just a fantastic crazy machine that's super flexible. So now that you know it is such an awesome machine will you just use it for day-to-day chores or test the boundaries of how fast, how long, etc, run it at it's optimum. The body can also run with sub-standard fuel but it will also make one feel that way, sluggish and full of resistance.

Although I criticised the documentary The Game Changers before it does a good job of showing how athletes have reached peak performance by eating better. The same can be seen in so many other athletes, yogis, people of faith, etc.

Eating better becomes even more necessary if one's dealing with an ailment. Food is the primary medicine. I deeply believe that and treating them so have worked wonders for me.

Here's hoping you benefit and borrow from this writeup. Wishing the best for you.

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Mood

Here's some content that set my mood for this writeup.

About Yogic diet

Here's a playlist that goes well with reading this post (in Hindi/Sanksrit/Arabic)

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