As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I was brought up more or less a vegetarian. And although I no longer adopt this lifestyle choice I remember very fondly my mum’s famous nut roasts on a Sunday. I so wish I had taken down the recipe when I had the opportunity. Each meal was prepared with love and care, often with her sweating over the lovely red AGA. I also remember her bean stew, Spanakopita, Spanish omelette and homemade chips on a Saturday wrapped in newspaper to make it authentic. Coming home to the smell of freshly baked bread was heart warming. Breakfast for me was often toast with butter and honey.
The evening meal would be enjoyed by the whole family sitting around our big beautiful table made from an old boat in Orkney. Meal times concluded with a pot of oolong or jasmine tea served from a Chinese teapot into small cups. The Chinese say that it is better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one. This has always resonated with me.
There are so many diets out there, all selling you the reason you should adopt them. Many of them are mutually contradictive so who do you believe?
It can be confusing often leaving you bewildered, unsure and possibly afraid. All I know is how I feel when it comes to what I choose to eat. Our body’s are so wise if only we listen and decide on our dietary needs consciously.
In the best selling book The Blue Zones, Dan Buettner, a longevity expert travelled the world looking for the countries with the highest centenarians. What he discovered was that diets obviously vary. People living in Okinawa don’t eat like those living in Ikaria. Dan explains that, “no one thing explains longevity in the Blue Zones. It’s really an interconnected web of factors—including what we eat, our social network, daily rituals, physical environment, and sense of purpose—that propels us forward and gives life meaning.”
This book was quite a revelation to me. The communities in this book trusted their food. They ate locally, traditionally, thoughtfully and gratefully. Today many people eat in a hurry, under stressful circumstances, barely noticing the food they should be enjoying.
Whatever you choose to eat buy your food thoughtfully, be interested in how your produce is grown, how the animal is reared, and eat peacefully, around the table finishing with a nice pot of oolong tea.
