on "nourishment"
Last month I had my first piece of poetry published on The Inquisitive Eater. I wrote it because I found myself consistently having a hard time articulating how I wanted others to see the study of nutrition. My thoughts feel much more complete in just a few stanzas, and often get completely disorganized when I write articles or essays.
My poetry is novice, and therefore I think it’s very easy to understand. Of course all art is open to interpretation based on the experience of the observer, but I was surprised to find out that the purpose of “nourishment” was completely missed by many. Which validates the need I felt to write it.
“nourishment” is simply that. It is simply a poem to help explain nutrition. Our culture tends to think of nutrition as a difficult to understand science, that must be understood on an extremely high technical level to put into practice. But the reality is that our bodies have been interacting with food for millions of years. Our ancestors evolved alongside the evolution of most of the foods that we eat today.
Prior to developing agricultural systems, our ancestors had to find food. They had to identify food. And they had to prioritize foods that provided the most nutrition. Consequently, our brains and bodies developed to reward us for eating nutrient-dense foods. And different plants developed methods to either protect themselves from being eaten by us, or developing characteristics to offer themselves to us.
The first stanza discusses how appetite is experienced in our entire body, not just our stomachs. Our cells communicate with us when we have received enough nutrition. Regardless of how much food is in our stomachs after a meal, if our cells are not satisfied, we will still feel deprived.
rolling waves of flavor do more than calm the hungry mouth and soul. they nourish the cells who speak to the body “when you eat these dripping greens I am happy. I am whole.”
That being said, how we prepare foods impact overall nutrient absorption. For example, fat-soluble vitamins cannot be absorbed without the presence of dietary fat. The soothing texture of fat comforts our brain because our brain associates the texture with the high caloric density of fat. Therefore, the practice of cooking greens in fat is not delicious for no reason. It’s delicious because we receive more nutrition from the food than if we ate the greens alone.
I also find that many people feel that they need to be super conscious of what vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are in their foods, and end up feeling the need to make a list of all these foods in order to make sure they’re getting enough. But what is often overlooked is how our bodies already encourage us to seek out a variety of nutrients.
such scientific names– anthocyanin, anthoxanthin do more than protect strands of DNA. they thrill the eyes light up the mind who ponders “I feel like having something pretty today.”
Antioxidants, such as anthoxanthin and anthocyanin, produce different colors. Anthoxanthin creates a white or yellow pigment in foods. While anthocyanin produces a blue, purple, red, or black pigment. These colors are exciting to look at, and if we honor this excitement, can lead us to pick and therefore eat them. Allowing ourselves to have a variety of colors in a meal or snack allows us to have more antioxidants.
Lastly, the final stanza helps connect these dots, highlighting that food provides sensory experiences that help us find it. Although we often think of the pleasure we receive from food as being purely “emotional”, we often ignore the fact that our emotions are a physiological response providing us important information. A familiar smell or taste can remind us of the comfort of our homes growing up, allowing our brains to recognize the food as safe and familiar. Ultimately, a pathway that our brain has been developing for millions of years.
rising droplets of succulent scents do more than carry memories to the other room. they sing to my spirit as they did in the wild “I am here, I am plenty, Eat me, I am food.”