I'm changing the focus of today's post. While I have some lovely recipes to share with you (and will soon!), one of my professors solicited the students' response about a new book coming out for young adults. Her daughter is a librarian and wanted her mother's opinion on whether she should order it for the library or not. How does this relate to food and nutrition, you might ask? Well, the book is about a young boy who is obese and decides to eat himself to death...live on the internet.
What's so fascinating about nutrition and part of what I'm most interested in, is our relationship with food. At its core, food is simply necessary for survival. But there are so many other factors woven around food and meal times. This is part of what makes losing weight and eating healthy so incredibly difficult. It is not merely "eat less" or "exercise more". Food is a form of pleasure. It's intertwined with our earliest memories of holidays and family. Special moments are often documented by the meal we ate or the perfect dessert we sampled. We find comfort in certain dishes and reward our accomplishments with special "treats". Some avoid all GMOs; others eat only organic or local. A trip to the grocery store is fraught with questions and confusion. Raw milk or industrialized? Homogenized or cream line? Almond or soy? Cage free, free-roaming, or omega-3 eggs? Stone ground or whole wheat flour? Low fat? No-fat? Full fat?! And for so many of us, "indulging" in a sweet treat or enjoying a lovely meal, means a huge helping of guilt to finish it off.
The point is, our relationship with food, and therefore our health, is incredibly complicated. I don't think it has to be; that's part of what I hope to instill in my future patients. But the struggle so many of us go through, whether fat, thin, athletic, pudgy, in need of losing a few pounds or just wishing we fit into a certain pair of jeans - that struggle is real and it drains our energy and prevents us from fully embracing life and health. One can't be truly healthy if simultaneously unhappy. So, what do you think? Should this book be made available to young adults? I have my own thoughts, but I'd love to hear from you first. For me, this is a fairly uncomfortable conversation, but I think uncomfortable conversations are necessary for growth and for real change.
The point is, our relationship with food, and therefore our health, is incredibly complicated. I don't think it has to be; that's part of what I hope to instill in my future patients. But the struggle so many of us go through, whether fat, thin, athletic, pudgy, in need of losing a few pounds or just wishing we fit into a certain pair of jeans - that struggle is real and it drains our energy and prevents us from fully embracing life and health. One can't be truly healthy if simultaneously unhappy. So, what do you think? Should this book be made available to young adults? I have my own thoughts, but I'd love to hear from you first. For me, this is a fairly uncomfortable conversation, but I think uncomfortable conversations are necessary for growth and for real change.