Using Food as Medicine

There are many health-boosting nutrients naturally found in food and how we nourish our body can greatly impact our health, not just now, but for many years to come! 

The underlying cause of many symptoms and chronic illnesses such as depression, autoimmunity, cardiovascular disease and cancer is inflammation. Whether it’s in your gut, joints, brain, nervous system, a major organ or throughout your body, dampening down and putting out those burning inflammatory flames is necessary to improve your health, and your diet is a great place to start! 

Removing the high-inflammatory, ultra-processed, ready-made foods and refined starchy white carbohydrates like breads, flours, pasta and sugar is the first step. Replacing these with more wholesome, nurturing, anti-inflammatory varieties will kickstart your body’s natural healing process and reduce your symptoms. 

So, having a diet that focuses on fresh, nutrient-rich, whole foods with little or no sugar will begin the process of reducing your inflammation as well as giving your body the nourishment it needs to heal and recover as well as balancing hormones.

As well as this, including a variety of brightly coloured ‘rainbow’ vegetables and fruits each day will give you essential fibre and disease-fighting antioxidants. Incorporate these as much as possible into all your meals, and here are a few ideas: 

• Scatter mixed berries on your porridge

• whizz veg and fruits into a smoothie

• make a big pot of veggie soup and freeze

• grate them raw into a leafy green salad and pile them high onto your plate for dinner.

Filling up on protein (from fish, meats, eggs, lentils, beans, peas, tofu, nuts and seeds) at meals is key, along with swapping the white starchy carbs for whole grains (oats, brown rice, quinoa). This will keep your blood sugar levels stable, giving you more energy, better weight control, fewer mood swings and improved sleep, as well as lots of other benefits for your health and wellbeing.