BEFORE I discuss anything to do with food, I believe it is imperative that I write about love and kindness first.
What is love? Now there is the quintessential question that has baffled man through the ages.
Let’s look to the wise men for an answer. The Buddha was once asked – What is love (Happiness) and his answer was very simple – ‘Freedom from suffering’.
Notice in his very clever answer he didn’t actually say what love is, he said what it isn’t i.e. suffering.
Basically what he means by the word suffering is exactly the same as the modern equivalent word stress. So love is essentially ‘Freedom from stress’.
Note in a previous article (here), I gave a definition of stress as ‘Being here and trying to be there’. It is worth reading this first as it will help with understanding the next section.
Jesus also made a statement – “Love one and other as I have loved you”.
If we look at love in the context of not stressing ourselves then things will begin to make sense. In other words, how can we be loving of ourselves if we are putting ourselves under stress? I can hear you asking; ‘Roger what has all of this got to do with food?’
Well I wrote in a previous article how every single cell in our body is a living entity in its own right. If you eat a lot of junk food then obviously they (the cells!) won’t be very happy especially if it is done on a regular basis.
The cells of the body will feel stressed (being here and trying to be there!). If they could talk at this stage they would be saying something like this; “Please don’t keep filling me with junk food as I cannot perform to the best of my ability for you, if you don’t supply me with the proper nutrition and vital vitamins.”
You would not put bad petrol in your car so why do it to your own body.
This is very important in this day and age as we are more and more exposed to unhealthy foods and as they say – ‘You are what you eat’.
There is now a proliferation of fast food joints and ready-made meals available on practically every corner of every street in the world.
These are highly processed foods with little or no nutritional value. Furthermore they are being advertised on our TVs, Internet and in supermarkets etc. using expert marketing material (e.g. bright colours and strategic placement of product) that make it almost impossible to ignore.
I am convinced that the continuous consumption of highly processed food (especially sugars) along with stressful lifestyle is the reason for the proliferation (that word again) of diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
It is costing an absolute fortune to the economy of this country/world as well as our own general health.
It is up to the awareness and action of each individual person to take control of this. I do not think I am being over-dramatic when I say that this is urgent, as the last thing anyone wants to be is an ‘I told you so’ type of person.
So (a) Be aware of the food you put into your body i.e. Love your body
(b) Take action (Remember awareness without action is futile!)
(c) If you want your body to perform – treat it well (loving/kindness)
Next week I am going to write about Loving Kindness (thoughts)
• Roger Harty is a life coach and can be contacted on 087-6128336, on twitter at @Innerjoyz1 or by email rogharty@gmail.com
