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Think for a moment of a food from your past, one that makes you feel great after you eat it for no specific reason. Maybe it is macaroni and cheese, slow-simmered tomato sauce, ice cream cones, potato pancakes, or a seasonal indulgence like holiday cupcakes. Eating comfort foods (every now and then) can be incredibly healing, even though your rational brain might not consider it highly nutritious.

Food has the power to impact us on a level deeper than just our physical well-being. What we eat can reconnect us to precious memories, like childhood playtimes, first dates, holidays, our grandmother's cooking or our country of ancestry. Our bodies remember foods from the past on an emotional and cellular level. Eating this food connects us to our roots and has youthening and nurturing effects that go far beyond the food's biochemical make-up.

Acknowledging what different foods mean to us is an important part of cultivating a good relationship with food. This month when we celebrate lovers and relationships, it's important to notice that we each have a relationship with food-and that this relationship is often far from loving. Many of us restrict food, attempting to control our weight. We often abuse food, substituting it for emotional well-being. Others ignore food, swallowing it whole before we've even tasted it.

What would your life be like if you treated food and your body as you would treat your loved ones - with gentleness, playfulness, communication, honesty, respect and love? The next time you eat your soul food, do so with awareness and without guilt, and enjoy all the healing and nourishment it brings you.

Beans, or legumes, including peas and lentils, are an excellent source of plant-based protein. Beans are found in most traditional cultures as a staple food, offering grounding and strengthening properties that enhance endurance. They offer a highly usable, highly absorbable source of calcium for the body. A very inexpensive source of high nutrition, beans can be rich, delicious and satisfying,

Lack of sexual energy is often due to overtaxed adrenal glands and kidneys. Beans are known for strengthening these organs (ever noticed the shape of a bean?) and can help restore vital energy as well as sexual energy.

Beans have a reputation for causing digestive distress, but this is usually because they have been undercooked or improperly prepared. To help reduce gas-forming properties, soak beans overnight prior to cooking, rinse them well, increase cooking time, add spices like bay leaf, oregano or cumin, or add kombu (a sea vegetable) when cooking. And always rinse canned beans well before eating.

About Me  

After more than 16 years in the financial services industry I decided to follow my passion to help others more directly. A vegetarian since the age of 14 (and a Southern vegetarian at that!), I've been an advocate of conscious living for some time. Delving more deeply into nutrition seemed natural and an ideal way to help others, especially given the current health crisis that is creating so much inconvenience and pain. As the late astronomer and educator Carl Sagan said, "we are made of star stuff." Literally, we are organic beings made from the same elements that make up the universe and to regenerate we need organic materials. We need to eat foods our bodies recognize. We are doing ourselves a great disservice by consuming all of the artificial, synthetic junk-food made available to us by desensitized, profit-hungry corporations. There is a time and place for packaged food and pharmaceutical drugs, but they should be last resorts - not how we live on a daily basis. Our bodies can heal themselves when given adequate amounts of organic materials -  vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. These essential elements are best assimilated through whole foods rather than synthetic versions. I look forward to sharing ways to live healthier lives through these newsletters and my counseling services.    

I received my certification to practice Holistic Health Counseling at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition - the only nutrition school integrating all dietary theories with an emphasis on the whole person, designed to help individuals determine what works best for them. I completed the Food As Medicine course through The Center For Mind/Body Medicine, and am enrolled in the Natural Kitchen Cooking School to become a Natural Foods Chef (May 2010). I am also a certified personal trainer and incorporate exercise into my counseling services. Come join our running group in Myers Park every Mon/Wed/Fri morning at 6:30 a.m.  Beginners are welcome! Contact me for details.

I offer a complimentary one-hour health consultation. If you or someone you know needs support, I'd love to hear from you to see how I can help. Just complete the confidential Health History form located in the bottom right-hand corner of my website and we'll meet to discuss your specific health goals.

Sincerely,