Food as Medicine, Food as Beauty Elixir. Do You Buy It?
I’m at a conference hosted by Dr. Andrew Weil, a kind of hero of ours who, at 70, embodies the idea that if you eat an antiinflammatory diet, get a lot of sleep, exercise, meditate and eat mushrooms, you’ll be just fine. (Not that kind of mushrooms, you guys! Though, hey.)
This is the Nutrition and Health Conference in San Francisco, where doctors, nurses, nutritionists and other healthcare professionals (with a few journalist interlopers) come together to learn from the best of the best in integrative medicine.
It’s like being in college and taking classes with all tbe best teachers, back to back to back, in two packed days.
Some topics came up over and over: plant-based or mostly plant-based diet. Another? The idea of food and good nutrition as…medicine. “Eat your medication,” one guy said.
So we want to know from you. Do you believe that proper nutrition is nature’s best medicine? And further, because nothing looks better than health: Do you think food and nutrition affect your looks?
Buy it? Absolutely. Anti-Inflammatories and antibodies are all around us in foods. The best way to absorb at low dosages.
I do believe that proper nutrition, (including proper hydration), combined with exercise, sleep and meditation (or any other type of stress reliever) are essential in maintaining good health and vitality. However, I don’t believe at all in fads or so-called miracle foods du jour. If you don’t believe that food and nutrition affect your looks, take a good look at yourself in a mirror the morning after inbibing too much or ingesting too much salt, for instance. Or, go without enough water for a few days. You will see the results written all over your face.
I find myself believing that more and more. After years of being on several medications for various ailments in my early 20s, I feel they just helped treat and/or mask symptoms. I find now, in my late 20s, what truly makes me feel and look better is exercising regularly, eating fruits and veggies, and yoga/meditation. I am not always successful in doing all those things regularly, but I am trying!
@Comagirl, so true about drinking and salt. I am an under-hydrator and am trying to get better about water consumption. My skin does have a little glow when I’m well-hydrated, so why can’t I stick to it?
I didn’t really used to, then I stopped eating dairy at the advice of my dermatologist. I felt like I had been lied to all my life when my other dermatologists would tell me that my diet didn’t matter. Turns out, if I stop eating dairy my acne almost completely clears up. If I wasn’t sure the extent to which health and diet were related before, I certainly do now.
I absolutely believe that food and nutrition affect your looks. I believe that you can heal your body through food, but that pharmaceuticals, herbs, and other homeopathics are sometimes necessary. I am an under-hydrator too. I estimated that I drank about 20 ounces a week, not including coffee. This has been going on for years and years and I believe that it has probably negatively impacted my health. I agree with Megan that often times symptoms are masked. I can also, really identify with Elizabeth and what she is going through with dehydration. Food allows us to heal so we don’t need pharmaceuticals and other medicines. I also, believe that not all foods agree with everybody. There really is something to be said for food intolerances. What is one persons pain is another persons pleasure.
I think eating healthy foods is the best medicine for your health since you can prevent a lot of illnesses just by eating healthy. At the same time, though, I think modern medicine still has an important role (ie tomatoes and acai berries aren’t going to treat cancer or get rid of your pink eye). As far as improving your looks, it would make sense that eating healthy should improve your complexion, but it hasn’t helped me. I’ve been eating vegan-ish since January/February and I think my skin has actually gotten worse instead of better.
I totally believe what you eat has an impact on your face and your body. I have taken wheat, dairy and soy out of my diet. I am allergic to 2 of these things. It has been showing up on my face for years. With time and going to a holistic doctor my face has cleared up so much and is still clearing up. My whole adult life the dermatologist told me it was Roseau. I had a small case of it but the rest of it was from eating food that my body was allergic too. I have also lost weight since I dont eat food that I am allergic too. The human body can heal its self but not if we arent listening to it or just keep treating it like we do. I have had so many conversations with friends and people I meet that say they are going to start eating organic food and then I bring up the personal products and some say they are attached to what they use. Why would eat healthy and not take the chemicals out of the rest of the products.. That is what I ask them. I tell people we arent meant to eat everything. Our bodies are different.
I totally buy it. Eating healthy foods definitely affects my looks. Part of it is just what I project outward when my body feels good, and there are clearly positive changes in my skin. I like to get as much as I can from whole, healthy foods and I use supplements for some things (like vitamin D). Daily yoga and at least weekly biking/running/hiking take care of the rest. Only very occasionally do I use a medicine like a pain reliever or whatever.
Beka, it may be that vegan isn’t the right choice for you. But I wonder if you deleted the “ish” and went all the way vegan you’d see different results. I know for me, adding any animal foods (other than honey) undoes the good of my daily routine.
Elizabeth, I’m one of those people with the best of intentions. I wake up, drink a glass of water before I start on my caffiene habit. I pour a glass of water and put it on my desk, intending to refill it periodically throughout the day. Some days, I do all right. Other days, there is nary a sip out of that glass by 3:00 p.m. We just get busy and forget. And, I can’t say I ever really get too thirsty, so that isn’t a trigger for me. I injured myself running last year and the injury was directly related to dehydration, but even that hasn’t broken me of my bad habits, although it did put enough fear into me to drink water before exercising, which should be a no-brainer, but isn’t.
Food gives me energy, and is my medicine. I try my best to not take remedies that are not natural, and I still take Whole-Food multi-vitamins. I have been feeling and seeing the difference.
After over a decade of vegetarianism I switched to a vegan, high-raw, mostly anti-inflammatory diet and have never been healthier, or prettier, for that matter. The results show in my skin, my athletic performance, and my overall energy-levels. Most people would think that a balanced vegetarian diet should be healthy enough, so I was honestly a bit surprised to see such positive results physiologically.
So yeah, I’m a total believer! Although seriously, with all the scientific evidence it’s hardly a question of “belief”; one cannot choose to ignore or embrace facts at will.
I do feel like stressing that people who transition to plant-based diets should not do it without studying up properly, by the way. I keep seeing comments about people not seeing the expected results and can’t help wondering if they’re actually *doing it right* or just dipping their toes without really knowing what they’re doing and thus basically sabotaging their “experiment” from the get-go …
I thought about this some more after I commented earlier, and realized that I stopped using my rx acne cream at the same time I changed my diet. I never actually put that together until just now. So maybe my skin is actually better, but the acne cream was masking it? Maybe I’m not a good example of the looks argument since my bad diet time period was paired with acne meds, and my good diet is free of all rx meds. I’ll keep watching my skin to see if it gets better!
I think I am a good example for the good health argument, though. I have more energy, lost weight, and have been able to stop taking all my meds (restless leg syndrome med, antidepressant) and I feel great! I totally believe if you fill your body with nothing but crap, you will feel like crap.
I say I am vegan-ish because we still have 60 lbs of chicken in the freezer that I bought before I learned about the benefits of a vegetable-based diet. So we eat chicken once a week, once every other week to gradually work through it since I don’t want to throw it all away! We occasionally eat cheese, but not regularly, and we rarely use eggs (basically just for certain baked goods). The majority of our meals are vegan, but obviously not all.
I stopped eating dairy completely and my acne totally cleared up, so yeah I believe that food affects many things, but as far as veganism goes I think that dairy is much worse than meat because meat is a much purer an unadulterated product while dairy is pasteurized and homogenized. Also, dairy is filled with hormones which affect your skin due to the fact that cows are milked during late stages of pregnancy which was never done in the past and which is why I think there is a greater occurrence of acne today.
Absolutely, when you learn enough to do it right, that is. It took me switching to the blood type diet, plus a few visits with a naturopath and some electrodermal screening tests to get completely on track. Turns out I had mild to severe intolerances with a number of foods, really needed an all-organic diet, and very specific supplements. I felt better immediately and, after being on the new diet for awhile, noticed clearer skin, no more monthly breakouts, thicker and shinier hair, strong and steady energy all day, much more restful sleep, and I even lost weight without eating less. It was a tough adjustment (no wheat, almost no dairy), but there were some bonuses (I really don’t like broccoli, and it turns out I’m not supposed to eat it! And, basmati rice with garlic butter is wonderful for me, along with beef and tropical fruits). My main recommendation to others? Get help – there’s no way I could have figured this all out on my own.
Absolutely! We make chocolate exactly for those reasons – by making it dairy-free, your body has access to the loads of antioxidants/anti-inflammatory components in dark chocolate, and uses them to support your health and beauty in multiple ways.
One study found that eating dark chocolate regularly improved skin quality by 12% over a 3 month period; another study found it was UV protective. Dark chocolate supports healthy circulation, both on a macro level (heart health, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) and micro-circulation in the skin – making your skin more radiant.
This is nature’s great kindness, that chocolate made right is beneficial for both body & mind! :-)
Yes absolutely. I was prescribed a raw food diet for my joint pain and since following the diet the pain is diminishing and my skin is now looking good. I have also stopped using shampoo and products on my hair, just using water and my hair really shines. I had to use more products like shampoo and deodorant when i ate a different diet.
Definitely. I’ve been a vegetarian for a while now and noticed in general that since becoming one, I rarely get sick. (I used to get the flu like every winter.) For the past two months I’ve cut out the bulk of processed sugars and carbs and have felt and looked so much better. I even dropped 5 lbs of water weight in the first week. Last week I kind of slipped and immediately felt a difference. Still trying to get back on-track… sugar/carbs must be a worse addiction than drugs!
@Lynne – I’ve been going to a naturopath and just did a hormone panel (saliva) and have also changed supplements based on her advice. Definitely curious to see what the panel reveals and how the supplements work out. Very worried I will have to stop eating dairy, which will be tough given that I’m vegetarian and not eating rice/pasta!