In this day and age of instant gratification, the art of truly nourishing our bodies has been lost. Rather than looking to food for its honest purpose—providing the fuel our bodies need to accomplish everything it must do each day—food is now just the stuff we consume to fill the void in our bellies. We want it to be convenient, and we want it fast. But beyond that, most of us give food little thought.
Lifestyle diseases being the most prevalent health issues we face today, it’s time to reclaim the lost art of nourishment. It’s the only way back to proper health.
If you’re so far removed from this concept that you aren’t even sure where to begin, don’t worry. SRP is there to help you take the first steps in your path to reclaiming this lost art. Let these great resources kickstart your self-health journey:
- Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is! With this information-packed guide to healthy food shopping from Stephanie Selene Anderson, all it takes is a single afternoon t
o whip your grocery list into shape. A small but mighty resource that answers all of your questions about diet and food.
- Real Food: What to Eat and Why. Nina Planck digs into the research to remind all of us why a traditional diet is the way to go for those seeking optimal health. Another easy read that teaches you the power your food choices have on your well-being.
- SRP Self-Health Starter Kit. This kit includes several resources that will help you build on your nutrition knowledge so you can start nourishing yourself. With everything from sample audio clips from the Lectures of Dr. Royal Lee to the fits-right-in-your-pocket sized Weston A. Price Foundation Shopping Guide, you won’t be lost any longer.
Even those of us who know what it means to nourish our bodies are caught in a vicious cycle of never having enough time for anything. Our to-do list is never done, and the only thing on it related to nourishing our bodies is a trip to the supermarket for some quick, easy items to get through the upcoming week.
Do yourself a favor and start caring about what you feed yourself this week. A simple, low-effort first step is to dust off the slow cooker you haven’t thought about for months (or years). You may be asking yourself, Who has time for a slow cooked meal these days? I’m here to tell you that YOU have time for it.
Simply pick a recipe, write down the ingredients you need, pick them up, put them in your slow cooker, and turn the thing on. This process hardly requires more effort than preparing a box of convenience food from the market. Your slow cooker does all of the heavy lifting and dinner is ready when you walk through the door after a busy day. Talk about convenient! (Self-healther tip: the slow cooker is also a super-convenient kitchen tool that you can use year-round.)
May I suggest starting with Chef Phyllis Quinn’s spectacular Trader Vic’s Cuban Pork? Check out her SRP blog for the recipe and the charming story behind it. If that sparks your interest, you can find several more of Quinn’s global slow-cooked masterpieces in her book The Slow Cook Gourmet. This recipe is delicious, and, depending on the size of your family, it’ll make enough for a couple of dinners this week.
Once you realize how good it feels to eat meals that give your body the nutrients it needs, you’re bound to want to learn about timeless kitchen techniques and new ways of improving your health.
Fermentation comes in many shapes, sizes, and forms. It also gives your health a big ol’ boost that can’t be beat. Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz will help you realize that fermented foods deserve a spot in your kitchen. And even better, you can make your own with confidence.
Broth is one of the most versatile food items you can have in your kitchen. Making it isn’t overly complicated, but it is deeply nourishing. Nourishing Broth by Sally Fallon Morell and Kaayla T. Daniel covers any kind of broth you might want—beef, chicken, herb, etc.—and it breaks down the process in such a straightforward way that it won’t take long before you realize how easy it is to make your own.
Finally, if you worry that you cannot afford nourishing foods in your grocery budget, I urge you to consider that your food choices will either cost you a little bit more at the grocery store now—or a lot more down the road in healthcare expenses. Where would you rather spend those funds? I believe it’s worth the investment in time and money to reclaim the lost art of nourishment. Are you with me?!
Image from iStock/Vasyl Dolmatov (main).
Paula Widish, author of Trophia: Simple Steps to Everyday Self-Health, is a freelance writer and self-healther. She loves nothing more than sharing tidbits of information she discovers with others. (Actually, she loves her family more than that—and probably bacon too.) Paula has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Public Relations and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through International Coach Academy.
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