A Spiritual Way of Eating

By Kristina Holmes

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While it may be easy to see that there is a strong connection between the food that we eat and the way our bodies function, it is perhaps more of a stretch to understand the connection between food and spirituality. What is the relationship between what we eat and our higher self? Is spirituality affected by our food? Is it possible to create a deeper connection with ourselves through eating certain foods?

The World’s Healthiest Foods, written by Health Valley founder George Mateljan, is not a book about spirituality. But behind its cover is research that has huge implications for a good many things, including spirituality. George’s book is a tremendous nutritional cookbook that reveals the 100 healthiest foods in the world, complete with how to select, store and prepare these foods. These foods are nutrient-rich, meaning they pack the most nutrients for the least number of calories. The physical and emotional benefits of this type of diet, based on Mediterranean principles, are manifold: weight loss, vitality, disease prevention and even treatment. And to boot, most of the recipes in The World’s Healthiest Foods take 7 minutes or less to prepare!

So what does this have to do with spirituality?

In recent years, scientific research has proven what many people have for centuries instinctively believed to be true: there is great interplay between our bodies, minds, and spirits. What affects one, can effect change in the others. The state of one’s mind has been proven to create conditions in the body - for instance, mental stress can have a measurable affect on blood pressure. So, too, does what we eat have significant consequences for how our bodies work. Is it a big step to realize that when our bodies and minds are functioning well and feeling good, it has a naturally positive effect on our spirits?

As any of us know after a long interruption of not doing our spiritual practice – be it yoga, meditation, hiking, surfing, sitting, or lying in bed – we tend to feel disconnected from that peaceful and joyous part that remains unaffected from life’s ups and downs. In this same way, when we don’t eat in a way that nurtures our bodies with life-giving nutrients we feel lethargic, sluggish, anxious, and moody. This separates our emotional being from our physical being – creating a disconnect that inhibits the uniting of our physical, emotional and spiritual bodies.

There are a number of connections that we can make between spirituality and food:

1) When we eat a “whole foods” diet emphasizing fresh vegetables and fruit, the vitality of what these plants becomes part of who we are. This directly affects all our parts including our spiritual aspect. As nutrition experts such as Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, advocate – health is not found in isolated nutrients and supplements, but in a wide and varied plant-based diet. Incorporating vegetables and fruits of every color in the rainbow is an easy to ensure that we are getting all the nutrients we need. The World’s Healthiest Foods is particularly great for those of us looking for a low-calorie eating style.

2) When we eat for health, our whole being soars. When we eat for emotional reasons, eat too fast, or eat when we’re angry or sad, we tend to feel depressed. Unfortunately, emotional eating tends to repeat itself and we become trapped in poor eating habits.

3) With 2 out of 3 Americans either overweight or obese and health care costs higher than anywhere else on the planet, it’s plain that we have challenges to overcome in health education and care. Hyperthyroidism, diabetes, asthma, and coronary artery disease are major health problems in the U.S. and much of the cause for these diseases can be traced back to poor diets, particularly those which include significant amounts of highly processed and fatty foods. This translates into a host of diseases which bring ongoing pain and suffering to ourselves and those we love. While many of us would acknowledge that great emotional and spiritual growth can be achieved through suffering, most people will not deliberately choose this route to personal growth. What we need therefore, is clear scientific information on how to be healthy. The World’s Healthiest Foods is an exceptional reference book, providing over 2000 independent scientific studies to support its claims. And for those of us who may not be able to afford expensive and exotic foods, rest assured that these healthy foods are not simply the healthiest but are also the most accessible and affordable choices in America.

4) Looking at indigenous societies that still practice traditional ways of eating and comparing them to developed countries such as the U.S. and U.K., we not only see that eating habits and disease prevalence can be extremely different, but also the spiritual reverence for life. For instance, indigenous communities in the Amazon eat a primarily plant-based diet and do not experience the “affluent” diseases we experience in the States. Many of these same communities are extraordinarily respectful of their environment – often having songs and stories about each plant, and giving thanks for every animal that helps them live and thrive. These people dance, sing, and vibrate joy in a way that is quite unusual in modern societies. And is this not spirituality?

5) As our cell phones ring, our inbox overflows with email and our neck and shoulders coil in pain, we are continuously reminded of the need to produce, rush, and work, work, work. Where is the time and the ease to enjoy life? The World’s Healthiest Foods makes one of the absolutely most essential acts in life – eating – not only healthy and enjoyable, but also easy! The recipes are simple and delicious – helping us to feed our families well and leaving us energized with time to spare.

Nothing in this universe stands alone. Everything is connected. It is the human mind which creates divisions and separations. So while we all give our minds a big long rest to allow our truest self to shine forth, why not give that joyous dancing self a helping hand by eating healthy? To learn more about George Mateljan and The World’s Healthiest Foods, visit http://www.whfoods.org.