A few weeks ago an email popped up on my screen that immediately caught my eye. It was an invitation to a dinner being hosted by Eat Fit Food, an organisation that delivers fresh and healthy meals, and the topic was “Food as medicine”. I am not a health nut by any means but I do try to pay attention to what I eat with a view to keeping myself healthy. But if I’m really honest, in recent years, my focus on healthy eating has slipped somewhat. Being able to prepare something quickly, often with one hand, has become a more pressing imperative on the food front.
With that in mind I looked at the invitation and figured it was a sign that it might be time to rejig my interest in nutrition. I accepted and looked forward to the night. I arrived on Wednesday evening a little early and was fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with a supremely impressive woman who happened to be one of the panellists.
Dr Claire Campbell is a vascular and endovascular surgeon in her early 40s. Having had some peripheral exposure to surgical training and knowing how few females pursue that path, her job alone commanded my respect. As she explained her involvement in the event and her interest in nutrition and well-being my respect grew.
She said that after spending far too long operating on people, often amputating limbs, with preventable diseases she couldn’t help but think about what was leading so many patients to hospital. In many cases the illnesses and disease that led them there could have been avoided.
Unlike many years ago when it was smoking, obesity is now the biggest cause of premature death in Australia. Obesity creates and increases a raft of additional health risks and this particular female has spent too much time at the front line fighting them. Because obesity is, by and large, caused by diet she has turned her focus and some of her practice towards nutrition.
I won’t even attempt to replicate her immense scientific knowledge about the relationship between obesity, disease and diet, suffice to say it was very compelling. One thing in particular she said though stayed in my mind. She explained that whilst the human body is very complicated keeping it healthy isn’t.
Our well-being ultimately depends on four things:
- Adequate sleep
- Appropriate nutrition
- Stress management
- Exercise
It is so simple but so true. They’re the little things we all know make us feel better and the truth is they’re not small things at all. Without them, little else will have a chance to matter. The panel, which included restaurateur and chef Mike McEnearney and nutritionist and naturopath Cassie Mendoza-Jones, focused on food and it was a welcome wake up call. Food is our fuel so for better or worse what we consume is very powerful.
The principles covered by the three panellists were quite simple: the less processed the better, the fresher the better and quality and variety counts. Food is so more than just what we eat and I’m glad I got the reminder. Eating well isn’t a nicety it’s a necessity for anyone interested in being well and who doesn’t want that?
How conscious are you of what you eat?