Dietary Update

 

Last Summer Collette and I adhered to a diet that was rigorously high-fiber and unprocessed. The results were rewarding – among them clearer skin, clearer mind and a steady energy that lasted well into the evening. For better or worse, however, we felt that the rigors of this eating regimen would be unsustainable once the academic year commenced.

Early in September we consciously returned to our previous dietary habits. Not the worst diet, to be sure, though the addition of caffeine (coffee!) and a modest amount of sugar (chocolate!) noticeably shifted how we felt. While we primarily ate unprocessed plant foods, the small quantity of oils, processed grains and caffeine indelibly impacted our lived experience of wellbeing.

Fermented foods remain an important
part of my diet.

We’re now 6+ weeks into our baseline, whole-foods, plant-based regimen, and the results are pretty clear – we don’t feel as vibrant as we did last Summer. Without the rigorous focus on fiber and eschewing any processed food, we’re not as physically energetic, and our minds are more likely to get swept into the prevailing winds of monkey-mind. If there were any doubt that body and mind are integrated, this crossover-control, quasi-experiment evidenced the inseparability of the gut, brain, body and mind. Really and truly – you are what you eat.

Since the scientific evidence continues pointing to the gut and its ecosystem as significant predictors of wellbeing, I believe fostering gut health is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Once the busy-ness of the Fall semester subsides, I anticipate we’ll return to the fully unprocessed, fiber-fueled life. Until then, we’ll continue to appreciate the robust benefits of a mainly whole-foods and entirely plant-based diet!