Have you ever thought about what happens with the food you eat?

Have you considered that it can offer more than energy and nutrients. It has the capacity to influence your hormones, fertility, and sleep.

Example of a balanced meal.

What you eat is the most basic and fundamental way you can care for yourself and influence your health. It’s time to stop dieting, and quick eating because it’s convenient. Now is the time to invest in your overall health because the food we eat is broken down into the various nutrients it contains. These nutrients are then transported within our cells, which are required for various biochemical reactions to take place.

So what should I eat?

The key here is to eat whole foods in a variety of colours. Make it warm, add some protein, and healthy fats. As a general rule try to avoid dairy and gluten as this can be inflammatory in our bodies. Try omitting dairy first and see if you notice any difference (be careful not to replace it with canola laden dairy free milk, check the label to make sure it doesn’t include canola/safflower or any other refined oil as these are also inflammatory).

When I talk about warm foods, I literally mean any food that is warm. Warm foods are awesome for our digestion as Chinese medicine theory believe our stomach is a fire (similar to the ayurvedic concept of agni). Adding warm foods to the fire stokes it, while consuming cold foods (like raw veggies, cold water, ice-cream, sushi and smoothies) is like adding water to the fire.

It’s easy to incorporate more warm foods into your diet, here’s some examples of foods for different meals:

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs, sautéed spinach & mushrooms, topped with some hemp seeds and a side of avocado
Congee (this is a Chinese rice porridge)
Porridge made with a non-dairy milk or water. It’s extremely versatile, you can add honey, banana, peanut butter. You can make it the night before and warm it up on the stove morning of. I even like cooking some in my rice cooker!

Slow cooked beef. Fall in love with your slow cooker. It’s your new best friend. Add everything in the morning, and you have a delicious meal by evening. My go to slow cook meal is chuck steak, potatoes, curry paste and coconut milk- 8 hours later add some spinach and boil some rice and you’ve got a delicious easy meal.

Lunch/Dinner:

Casseroles
Baked/Steamed Vegetables (a mix of starchy carbohydrates such as potato/pumpkin, and greens such as broccoli and beans are a good base), and a serve of protein (try grass fed organic beef, organic chicken), and some healthy fats (see list below of some ideas).

Snacks:

Nuts/Seeds
Avocado and a boiled egg
Stewed apple with cinnamon
Poached pears with vanilla

Now remember,

It’s more important what you eat most of the time. Let yourself off the hook every now and again. As a general rule follow the table below of what to consume more and less of.

Don’t forget about fats!

Consuming fats are essential for hormone production and to limit prostaglandin induced period pain. Here is a some information on what fats to consume because they weren’t all created equal.

Making food from scratch at home is the #1 best way to avoid the unwanted oils in your diet. It’s unfortunate that oils such as canola are used in everything from veggie patties, to almond milk, to cakes. If you do opt to buy something pre-made, be sure to check the label for anything you 1) don’t know what it is (I’m talking about those pesky numbers and weird named sweeteners), and 2) any of the oils of the less/limit list..

Cost

Eating real food on a budget doesn’t have to be hard. To reduce the overall cost of your shopping try eating what is in season, buy local (it’s often easier and much cheaper to buy local organic produce from your farmers market than it is at a supermarket), and reduce portion size. Many people are eating portions that are simply too large. Try reducing your meal slightly. You might find you feel satisfied with less and avoid the over-full sloth feeling too many people end their day with.

Other tips include planning your weekly meals to reduce food waste, buying in bulk, and freezing anything fresh food/meat that is about to go off. This is super easy to do with brown bananas (peel them first), fruits can be stewed and frozen, and vegetable scraps can be saved and added to stock or broth. Buying already frozen fruit and veggies are a great way to reduce pesticides if you can’t afford organic produce. A lot of these pre-frozen foods aren’t sprayed with another set of chemicals to make them last until they get to the shops, they’re often snap frozen on the farm.

Most importantly, explore your priorities and budget. Do you scoff at the price of broccoli some days but still buy yourself a coffee or two out? Do you really need that new shirt, but can’t justify spending more money for organic almonds (it’s important to go organic for nuts at the pesticides are easily retained in their fat)? Some people genuinely have limited finances for food, while others can achieve better health if their finances were reallocated.

For more specific Chinese food therapy advice please book an appointment. Chinese dietary therapy explores the 5 flavours (sweet, spicy, sour, bitter, and pungent), and the temperature of the food. It looks at your individual constitution and make specific recommendations for you. This blog post is to be used as a general guide for eating for hormonal health.

Eating For Hormonal Health