Change is occuring in my home and in my diet. Last March, which I guess it has almost been a year now (goodness!), I transformed my diet. I followed the Spleen Qi diet from "The Infertility Cure" (no wheat, no dairy, no sugar) for 6 months. It was completely cleansing, invigorating and mind-clearing. I never realized how food affects one's entire being until I did this diet. Now I realize that food is a chemical and when you put it in your body you have various responses. In September I stopped my diet. Now that the new year has emerged and life is more on track for me I am slowly re-integrating the Spleen Qi into my daily habits. It is amazing the variety of foods and grains I have learned about since beginning this way of eating. Who new that there were so many grains besides wheat? The photo above is of some grains, legumes and other foods that I have added to my pantry. I still don't use them as often as I should but they are nice to have around when I want to mix things up. Here are their names:
quinoa
teff
flax
spelt
amaranth
lentils (I don't actually guess these are a grain, more like a bean)
chickpeas
bulgar
semolina
wild rice
steel cut oats
goji berries
I guess vegans eat a lot of this food, but I am in no way vegan. I love meat!! I just love foods that are healthy and tasty. Another great thing I have added (for the minerals) is Sea Salt. Apparently here in the states we are very deficient in many minerals. Eating foods grown in the ground without pesticides and from seeds without genetic modification really helps to put the minerals back in one's body. So does sea salt! At first I was purchasing this salt from France called Fleur de Sel-- but it was way expensive. It is harvested from the oceans and raked over several times to meet Fleur de Sel standards-- it is a favorite among chefs. Rodolfo gave me a very hard time about it b/c in Guatemala raked sea salt is the cheap salt you get at the market-- the more expensive stuff is Morton's. Ha! Isn't that funny. He also gave me a hard time when I purchased a bottle of Molasses for $10. Apparently molasses is the left-over from the sugar refining process. In Guatemala molasses is the cheap sweetner. Funny how there are trends and cycles in the food industry. And things we are told are good for us-- bottled water-- can suddenly become bad for us. I would like to know who is the intellgencia that gets to make these decisions. I want to join them and sway the masses. Ahem. I do think, though, the Spleen Qi is truly a healthy way of eating. It stems from the Chinese ways of eating. Traditional Chinese Medicine considers the temperature of your body and the temperature of your food. It considers the way it is chopped and cooked as a means to aiding your overall health. At first I thought this was a bunch of hokey pokey razz-ma-tazz. I first heard about it in France when I was sick. The doctor advised me to not eat anything cold. That's it. He gave me no medicine. In Guatemala my grandmother in law was advised not to open the refrigerator door to keep her body from getting chilled. Then, low and behold, I learn about TCM and I am told to keep my body warm, especially with the food I eat. Nothing cold-- no ice in drinks, nothing chilled and even certain foods with cold properties I was told to avoid (cucumbers, mango, etc.). Strangely enough, having followed this advice, I have been the healthiest I have been in 10 years. I think it is no coincidence. Pure food from the earth that has no modifications, temperature of that food, and its preparation all contribute to a person's overall health. BTW, not all people need to eat warm food. Some people, those who are always hot, need to eat cold food. It just depends on your body. Another really healthing thing to do for your body is breath correctly. I don't know much about it except that I have been told if you can simply learn to breathe correctly you will heal a multitude of ills in your body. Apparently when we are stressed we take short breaths from the upper parts of our lungs. Healthy breathing happens when we are expanding our diaphragm and breathing the way a baby does-- where the tummy rises and falls. It is difficult to sustain breathing like this. When the body is truly at rest it automatically breathes this way. But we are so stressed in our day-to-day living that we tend to never breathe like that when we are awake. I have been doing exercises where I practice diaphragm breathing the first 10 minutes in the morning when I wake up and then the last 10 minutes before I go to bed. I have found that it aids with my circulation, my digestion and my stress levels. Give it a try!! Hope I have given you some information to think about. Bon journee! -JoDee
