Stop the Slavery of Yo-Yo dieting

Many people are driven by body image and they see food as a bargaining tool for a weight-loss dream that rarely comes true. The struggle with yo-yo dieting is at epidemic proportions and the media is bulging with so called ‘pharmaceutically proven’ diets advising us to miss meals in preference for shakes and bars – many of which are highly processed. Yet science has proven that the more processed food we eat the hungrier we feel as vital vitamins and minerals are missing. Our metabolism gets confused, leading to weight gain through cellular deficiency.

At Kaliyoga we are committed to ending the slavery of dieting and helping you to re-frame your relationship to food through Nutritional Healing.

NUTRIENT POOR DIETS

These days there are so many nutrient-poor foods on the shelves that millions of people are literally eating themselves to sickness. This places an enormous strain on medical services, not to mention diminishing their capacity for productive work and joyful play.

Once we understand the cellular damage that is inherent in convenience foods, we will begin to choose natural ingredients because  ‘convenience’ foods will no longer attract us. As the commercially mass-produced food chain becomes increasingly less trustworthy, people are turning to nutritionists and eastern medicine for their information.

FEELING FULL

When we chew, salivary glands inside our mouth produce enzymes (protein molecules) that are essential for our digestion, brain stimulation and cellular repair. Enzymes create a ‘handshake’ between food and body that alerts the digestive system of the imminent task of digestion. Digestion involves absorbing and distributing a cocktail of minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates and proteins to fuel the human body’s thirteen main systems. As we chew, a signal goes from our brain to our stomach that calls for optimised absorption using enzymes. This also produces the feeling of ‘I’ve had enough’. Unfortunately, processed foods interrupt the signal between brain and digestion, blocking the feeling of ‘I’ve had enough’: so we carry on gorging until we are bloated, tired and overweight.

YO-YO CRAVINGS

We need to understand that our gut bacteria, known as the microbiome, is more in control than we are. There are good bacteria and bad bacteria which, when out of balance, cause the experience of cravings and that leads to yo-yo dieting. Giving in to cravings leads to more imbalance and symptoms of poor health. Avoiding cravings is difficult unless you know how to treat the cause. To reduce cravings we need to get the good microbes back in control. To do that we need to eat foods that nurture the good guys, and avoid feeding the bad guys.

ENZYMES

Raw food should be a part of everyone’s daily diet because it assists the digestive system with natural enzymes that breakdown food for efficient digestion and absorption. Our bodies make and produce these enzymes naturally. Enzymes are also present in uncooked food, but when it gets cooked the food enzymes are mostly destroyed by the heat of cooking: then our body has to work harder to make its own. Therefore it is important to provide a portion of raw food with each meal to aid digestion and to direct energy to where it’s most needed. In most parts of the world there is a wide range of locally grown foods available throughout the seasons.

RAW CAUTION

A diet that is high in raw food can be energising for some people, but it is always good to remember that we are all different and what one persons’ digestive system can tolerate can be different to another’s e.g. too much raw food for a sluggish digestive system can have a detrimental effect and create gas and inertia.

RAW FOOD BEATS YO-YO DIETING

As soon as we eat natural, nutrient-rich ingredients again, our saliva readies our digestive system for absorption and the food-body relationship is quickly restored. Many modern sicknesses are caused by the daily ingestion of nutrient-poor ‘convenience’ foods which are the direct result of industrial farming and processing methods. Symptoms of ill health occur if we fail to listen to and act upon our body’s warning signals. When our body systems do not receive the cellular energy they need, they will try to make up the deficit by borrowing energy from other systems in the body.

LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, advised his patients to ‘let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’. That was easier a long time ago when ingredients were not processed.  Animals in the wild still consume unprocessed ingredients every time they eat, but humans have become reliant upon processed foods (e.g. sugar, caffeine, additives) which we use & abuse. All processed foods have had their molecular structure changed in a way that the body no longer recognises the enzyme messages.

CAUSE & EFFECT

We need to learn how to respond kindly to hunger by eating appropriate fuels whose molecular structure communicates its energy to all our body systems. Cause and effect are facts of life. For example, if I accidentally out the wrong fuel into my car, the engine would break down and I would have to call a tow truck. Fortunately, human bodies are more robust than car engines and most people can handle eating the wrong food now and then. But a habitual diet of processed foods will confuse and inhibit the body’s self-regulating systems, gradually leading to yo-yo dieting and complex health-failures. Our symptoms can be suppressed by modern medicine, but treating the root cause is simple, healthier and always effective: eat natural foods in moderation.

BASIC RULES FOR GOOD HEALTH

• Hydrate yourself with water, minerals and good quality fats – all of these are required by the cells within.
• Eat organic food where possible – or find local suppliers that grow organically but aren’t certified.
• If you don’t know or understand the ingredients on the label – don’t eat it!
• Eat foods in its natural state – as unprocessed as possible.
• Added colours, preservatives, additives and flavours – Avoid
• Genetically modified foods – Avoid
• Sugar and artificial sweeteners – Avoid
• Use fermented foods to support your stomach bacteria and to aid digestion and assimilation.
• Have a good balance of raw and cooked food in your daily plan – remember raw food has the enzymes to help with digestion.
• If you choose to eat animal produce, look up grass fed suppliers and choose \’happy\’ meat & eggs.
• Give thanks every day for what you have.

Raw food beats yo-yo dieting

BBC Radio 4: Doctor\’s Orders – The NHS is at crisis point. Despite the diet books, the fitness videos, the health bloggers, in 2016, Public Health England estimated that Illness associated with lifestyle costs the NHS £11 billion every year…

British Medical Journal – Overweight and obesity are major threats to public health globally…this study shows that neither recipes created by popular television chefs nor ready meals produced by three leading UK supermarket chains meet national or international nutritional standards for a balanced diet.

Read about Kaliyoga\’s healing cuisine in Spain

Read more about Kaliyoga\’s healing cuisine in Italy