Let food be your medicine!

“Let medicine be thy food and let food be the medicine”! Despite knowing the fact that food is our medicine, why do we fail to practise? Let’s explore. Food is considered as a material that could be assimilated after digestion and converted into the substance of the body. For example, food is converted into different parts of the body such as muscle, fat etc. In contrast, the concept of medicine was a product which was able to change the body’s own nature but not to be converted into the body’s own substance.

Hippocrates, who was considered to be one of the most influential people in the history of medicine and healing, advised people to prevent and treat diseases first and foremost by eating a nutrient dense diet.

Food gives us not only energy but also they do many more functions. The foods you include in your diet play a critical role in the growth & development of new tissues, repair i.e. wear and tear of tissues, helps in controlling inflammation levels and helps in managing many
disorders and diseases and also has a capacity to prevent diseases.

Not only Hippocrates and the Ancient Greeks but also many traditional systems of healing which have been practised throughout history like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine taught people for thousands of years that food is medicine and a healthy diet is a
powerful tool for protecting one’s health.

Let us see how food works like medicine. More than anything else in our lives, the foods we regularly eat help us determine whether we will become ill or stay healthy. Food contains many essential and influential substances and they do much more than just providing calories.

Nutrient deficiencies and the after effects from a poor diet are linked to nearly all modern health conditions. You all are aware that diabetes and heart diseases which tops the list of global burden of diseases are also illnesses that are highly influenced by one’s diet. The same can be for all autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders and many more.

Many of today’s illnesses are not only due to nutritional deficiencies and high rates of free radical damage but also because of the way one is eating or perceiving food. “Annam Parabrahma Swaroopam ” means food is considered as the highest form of supremacy. The one who respects, learns and follows the principles of eating, lives a long disease free healthy life. So a healthy diet specifically acts like a natural protector against disease and also helps to slow the process of ageing and makes one look young and full of vitality.

Having said that, all that matters is healthy habit formation, which is simple but not easy. It is a process to find individual systems in place, form new habits and sustain them. For all this you need a right coach. Google is loaded with thousands of diet plans and it would have shown their magic on restoring health if they work. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Diet coaching which involves assessing oneself, identifying the gaps at their end and recommending an intervention which is feasible and doable to them, that’s when these habits become a long lasting routine and sustain and help in restoring health constantly. We, the team at e Global doctors give a lot of emphasis on habit formation. So it’s time to learn and treat your food as medicine and stay healthy forever.

Jyothi Srinivas
Holistic Nutrition Coach
Preventive Health Nutritionist
Holistic Nutrition Department