Develop Relationship With Food

The beginning of a New Year is all about fresh starts and positivity – rejuvenated zeal, brimming enthusiasm, higher aspirations and firmer resolutions. With each passing year, most of us aspire to become better versions of ourselves - we decide to hold on to our good habits and change those that pull us down. And among others, one resolution that is as much popular as it is fundamentally important is switching to a healthier lifestyle. The question that remains is how do we go about achieving that? On that note, as we plan and prepare for a wonderful year ahead, what better than starting off by talking about and committing to something that’ll be a support system for all our endeavours – healthy eating habits that not only ensure wellbeing but are also appetising and sustainable. This is all the more important due to sudden increase in the number of Covid cases. The immunity of the body is considered to be of utmost importance in fighting against any virus, hence healthy food and healthy food habits must be adhered to.

 

The idea of this topic is courtesy a book called, ‘Everyday Super-foods’ by Dr Nandita Iyer that I recently came across. Dr Nandita Iyer is a medical doctor (nutritionist), who is also a seasoned columnist and has been writing on nutrition, health and food for over 15 years now. She is the author of a popular blog Saffron Trail and the bestselling book, ‘The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian’. She has been featured in and has written for BBC Good Food, Vogue, Femina and India Today, among other publications.

 

The theme of this article is somewhat different from mainstream education and parenting but the reason I chose to write about it is simply because of its relevance in the present day scenario and the dire and urgent need for us to understand and reassess the true purpose and essence of food in our existence.

 

The role ‘food’ plays in facilitating sustenance of various life forms on Earth is an established phenomenon. Humans whether as barbaric cavemen or the most advanced civilizations have always toiled to procure food, be it through hunting – gathering or well - planned large scale mass production agricultural activities. From the initial human settlements close to river banks and fertile soil till the present day modern world, ‘Roti’ (food) still holds precedence over ‘Kapda’ (clothing), ‘Makaan’ (shelter) or any other basic necessity. What has actually changed, that too very drastically, is our overall relationship with food. 

 

Our journey with food from a few thousand years back till about a century ago can be seen as true progress; from making fire by rubbing stones, and using earthen pots and underground mud ovens to pressure cookers, sophisticated farming techniques, LPG fuelled burners and refrigerators, the growth by leaps and bounds that our race made, has been commendable. But what has happened after that; the changes that took place in the last half a century or so, in my opinion, have been merely contamination.

With the Industrial Revolution came the establishment of ‘food industry’ and its unhesitating mechanisation, and since then our edibles have become just another fast moving consumer good, to be tapped for maximum profits. We have, even if inadvertently, moved from our homemade whole grain ‘makki ka daliya’ (corn porridge) and the likes, to the packaged and processed - crisp, available in multiple flavours, ready to eat, easy to store – breakfast cereal corn flakes. As explained in the book by Dr Iyer, the process of manufacturing cornflakes involves peeling and removal of the endosperm of corn kernels, which are then cooked, dried, rolled, toasted, cooled and finally packed. Quite a few additives such as salt, sweeteners, flavouring agents, chemical preservatives, colouring agents, etc. are also added, thus turning the final product devoid of any natural taste or goodness, at times even harmful to health. And what’s more, these packaged items are available across the globe and round the year. So whether or not blueberries are grown or freshly available in India, we can still make blueberry cheesecakes and smoothies anywhere, any time of the day or night we want. And although that might seem advancement, what about the after effects of consuming preservatives and harmful chemicals used to increase its shelf life? Who cares? We can always take nutrient supplements or follow a strict diet plan for a fortnight, cleanse our system and then get back to eating out of cans again.

 

To quote Dr Iyer, “Another new invention affecting our relationship with food is the incessant variety of packaged, ready to eat food that is available in supermarkets and online. High in salt, refined oils, preservatives and artificial flavours, these calorie dense, nutrient poor foods also tend to be very addictive, unfortunately have been well entrenched in our daily lives.”

 

The lack of understanding about the benefits of fresh items and harmful effects of packaged items combined with extreme commercialisation and consumerism is what is washing away the sanctity of our ‘food’. Today our supermarkets are flooded with a plethora of eatables - produced, processed and packaged in distant parts of the world and then shipped to us over a course of weeks, at times even months. They reach us in fancy packaging, priced exorbitantly and we happily fall prey into buying Italian or Austrian cheese over fresh paneer or ‘imported grapefruit’ over fresh seasonal fruits, without giving much thought to whether or not it’ll be helpful to our bodies. Apples from different countries are made available to us almost round the year, only because we happily consume them. We choose apples coming from America or Europe which take longer to ship and are definitely less fresh than those coming from Shimla or Kashmir, simply because it is ‘imported’, not paying attention to its deteriorated nutritive value and that is where we go wrong. 

 

Let us get a few facts straight. When the elders in our family tell us that there is a season for everything, they are absolutely right! But do we ever heed their experience? Every terrain and every season has particular vegetation associated with it. And as it turns out, beautifully so, the naturally available consumables provide majorly all that a human body needs to survive then and there. For eg, in winters, we are provided by nature all things citrus – like amla and oranges, which are particularly high in Vitamin C - very helpful in preventing infections such as colds and flu. Winter vegetables offer comfort and are perfect for hot meals like healthy and tasty stews, soups and other warming meals. Summer foods such as cucumbers, melons, mangoes, etc help us replenish the lost fluids, thus protecting us against sun damage; they also provide more natural sugar for an energetic summer, as well as salad vegetables for those tasty cool summer salads. Similarly, the crop of Bajra, staple of Rajasthan, not only grows best here, but also tastes best here and provides the right kind of nutrition most suited for inhabitants here. And such is the case for majorly all other crops - paddy, maize, wheat, pulses, millets, fruits, vegetables, even poultry and sea food, etc.

 

The problem today is, unlike for our ancestors, food is available to us - readily and easily, in abundance and abundant choices. And with the transportation system becoming increasingly robust by the day, the geographical demarcations of staple ‘region specific’ food items have ceased to exist. The effect that it has on our economy and environment in terms of carbon foot prints is another topic of serious concern, but what it does to our health may be understood as ‘mal – placing’, by which I mean placing the food item (as staple) in a place / terrain it was naturally not meant to be. To elucidate, the staple grain in West Bengal and Kerala is rice. It is both necessary and appropriate to consume rice everyday as per the climatic conditions. But if we try to replace rice with jowar or maize or wheat, it is bound to cause health issues. Let us understand, that there is nothing wrong in consuming jowar or maize or wheat every day per se. It is just not appropriate to do so in West Bengal or Kerala (in this case) as the climate there is not conducive for digesting these grains. Similarly, if one tries to eat rice and fish every day in Madhya Pradesh, it will not be sustainable. Or if we try eating Haldi ki sabji (fresh turmeric root curry) in Bengaluru during summers, it’ll be absolutely unbearable for our bodies. Not to forget, the tasty Methi ke ladoo and Til ke ladoo only when consumed during winters will help us keep away the need of those multiple nutritive supplements all throughout the year.  In a nutshell, the key is to understand, what should be eaten where and when. And the best way to judge it is see if it is (a) grown nearby and (b) grown in that season.

 

This gets me to another recently flourishing marketing gimmick called ‘Superfoods’. In the words of Dr Iyer the term ‘superfoods’ is like an unregulated license to sell us overpriced food. They are food items that are a concentrated source of one or more nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and it is due to their nutrient density that they help boost general health, immunity and longevity. But what no one tells us is that no single superfood has the magical powers to transform our lives and health all by itself. The human body is a very complex machine and the solutions to a healthy and long life cannot be as simple as eating a particular food or swallowing a pill of extracts. Moreover, superfoods should also not be consumed mindlessly. The conditions of whether or not locally grown and seasonally produced stay valid even for these. 

 

Dr Iyer provides us with an entire compendium of easily available food items and recipes, which when eaten in the right quantities, in the right place during the right season will function as ‘superfoods’ for our bodies. Items as common as amaranth (rajgira), capsicum, black eyed peas, black pepper, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, dark green leafy vegetables, ginger, garlic, onion, green moong beans, soybeans, sweet potato, pineapple, pumpkin etc. provide strength to our body.

 

Moving on to another very important topic that Dr Iyer touched upon – distractions due to digital screens during meal times. I remember the times when the concept of nuclear families had not set in and meal times used to be a family function – where all members would eat together, sharing and savouring the various dishes – indulging their sense of taste, touch, smell and sight. But these days, all our meal times are accompanied by distractions from various digital screens – may be mobile phones or televisions. As Dr Iyer puts it, eating food these days has become a hasty, distracted and mindless exercise. It is a chore to get done with. This lack of mindfulness towards our food means we rarely pay attention to its quality, appearance, taste and aroma. The person who cooks food must be appreciated which we have forgotten in the race of moving fast (having no time for the most important exercise of the day). This leads to a lack of satiety and an absence of bonding with the food we eat and the people with whom we eat. And this ultimately might lead to various eating disorders.

 

I understand that with our busy schedules and fast lifestyle, eating with our families every day might not be possible. But why not fix one or two days per week wherein all the family members cook and eat at least one meal together. Delegating responsibilities and involving children in the process of cooking whether it is washing, chopping, grating or peeling will help them feel closer to the food they eat. Setting up kitchen gardens and taking children to vegetable and grocery shopping will increase their knowledge and mindfulness towards food – thus helping them respect ‘Anna Devta’ (the provider of nourishment). Moreover, even if we are eating all by ourselves, why not refrain from using our phones or watching TV at that time. The practice of watching TV while eating should, in my opinion, be absolutely put an end to. While eating, why not just eat, enjoy our food - let our sense of taste and smell identify, differentiate and enjoy the flavours of all ingredients, appreciate the efforts of the person who has cooked it and be thankful to God for the food in our plates.

I would conclude by saying that, food has and will be an inseparable part of our lives – at times sustenance, at times indulgence. It is so deeply intertwined with our social and cultural life that calling it the grease of our present day social life will not be wrong. We will always associate all our festivities and celebrations with delicacies. But the only thing to be remembered here is to be mindful and watchful about our eating habits. To quote Dr Nandita Iyer, “Having a constant ‘problem solving’ approach does not work when it comes to health; prevention of disease and maintenance of health needs the same amount of focus.” Let us stick to our region specific staple food for sustenance and maybe occasionally include foreign or distant cuisines, when in the mood for indulgence. Let our food be our medicine and follow the age old Ayurvedic concept of ‘Ritucharya’ for a healthy body because the saying ‘jaisa khaye anna, waisa hue mann’ was, is and will always hold true. Wish you all a happy and healthy year 2022.