Find Out What Food Does To You
"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." —Sherlock Holmes
The best way to learn to know what your body reacts well to and what makes you feel less-than-great, is the process of elimination. However, the accumulative effect can make things hard to keep track of. Let’s try to unpack what I’ve learned about getting to know my body - and hopefully it can help you too.
Having to give up food is disappointing.
Especially if you are, like me, a foodie. And since you are here, I’m guessing that is the case. When I started reacting to certain types of food I was super confused. I was not the “kind of person” who has intolerances or allergies (now I’m like, who doesn’t?) - and to potentially have to cut things from my diet was an idea I met with more than a little bit of resistance. Now, I am grateful, because having to keep track of what I was eating was really what lead me to cook so much from scratch, and well - here we are!
But if you are just starting to discover that there might be something in your diet that is not helping you feel your best, then I empathise. It is really tough to accept. Whether you feel pain, lack of energy, anxiety, bloating, insomnia… Whatever it might be, it really is worth looking at your diet and how you can make adjustments. Sometimes we don’t even realise how great we could be feeling if we ate better and more varied food!
The first thing to do is to be really honest with yourself. You have to be honest on two levels: How are you really feeling - ie, where is the discomfort, when do you feel it, how are your energy levels, what is your general mood like? And secondly, be really honest about what you eat. Do you think you eat varied, but if you were to keep a food journal it would actually look pretty similar from day to day? Once you’ve done this, you might already be getting your first clues (yes, you’re a food detective now).
Do a bit of “research” of other people’s research - the internet is a fantastic source of a vast amount of people who are absolutely obsessed with food and nutrition. There is so much research done and yes, there are absolutely contradictory results out there. The main two reasons for this are likely 1) there are conflicting interests that create conscious and unconscious bias and 2) food and its effects on us can be quite tricky to research, because of so many factors that interfere with the one thing researchers are looking at. Regardless, some facts do exist, like nutritional value.
On the topic of nutritional value, research the different categories: protein, carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium… See if you are giving your body a varied nutritional plate - is your diet missing one of these categories entirely? That might be the reason why you are not feeling your best.
Now that you’ve looked at what you might not be getting enough of, look at what you might be getting too much of. And this is super individual to everyone. You might be reacting badly to something that on paper is not unhealthy or bad for you. But nevertheless, if it doesn’t help your body, it’s time to cut down on it. Here is where the process of elimination comes in; keep a food journal if you are really struggling (I did this and it did open my eyes), and see if you can connect the dots. When does the pain or discomfort flair up? If you are really in the dark, start simplifying your meals as much as you possibly can so that you can pinpoint the source of your discomfort more easily. And don’t forget that this can be something you’re getting in your condiments, spices, or drink as well, not just main ingredients of a meal!
Now what can be difficult, is a delayed effect, or a bad combination of things. Let me use and example from my experience. I would drink an instant coffee (freeze dried and preserved) at home, and feel pain in my abdomen. Then, if in the afternoon I had a coffee from a cafe, made from freshly ground beans - I’d sometimes feel pain again. I tried drinking coffee without milk, or with various types of milk alternatives, thinking dairy might be the problem, but it was almost worse without! So I started thinking I couldn’t have caffeine. Now, with a bit more experimentation and research, I have realised that the instant coffee was the problem, but that the caffeine later in the day seemed to wake the pain back up. I realised this when I only started drinking proper coffee, with no preservatives (whereas decaf preserved instant made me feel horrible). Quality coffee on its own never makes me feel any pain. Listen, this seems a bit quasi/experimental/anecdotal, and yes - it is, but nevertheless it is what I’ve found is the case for my body. And to this day no doctor or nutritionist has been able to map out better than me what I can eat and drink without feeling pain. And that is not to knock doctors or nutritionists (okay maybe to knock doctors a bit, please train doctors more in the field of nutrition!!! - okay rant over), but simply because no one else can physically feel what my body is going through. Only I can do that.
And the same goes for you. If you are really struggling to pinpoint where your issues are coming from, some intermittent fasting might be worth trying - and I’m not talking long periods here (just to be clear I am not an advocate for intermittent fasting and hardly ever do it myself!), but long enough (maybe skip breakfast and lunch one day and have an early dinner) to be sure that your latest meal is definitely the cause of how your body feels next. (Please do not do intermittent fasting if you are underweight, have struggled with eating disorders in the past or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have serious health issues).
If you know that you have an illness, a chronic condition, an intolerance or similar, then do read up about other people with the same condition and what works for them. It might not always apply to you, but it can be an eye opener and make you think about something in your diet you hadn’t considered might be making you feel bad. And then experiment - cut it from your diet, have less, have more. Keep journalling. It’s not fun, but it will help you so much. And feeling great in your body is truly underrated. I promise you, there is so much great food out there you will be able to eat, even if you have to cut some things out. This is where your creative cooking journey can start taking shape!
I would love to hear what your experience with all of this is - are you currently on a journey to find what makes you feel your best? Are you confused by it all, or maybe a bit down after learning about a food you can’t eat? Share your thoughts in the comments or on Instagram and tag me @TheFromScratchBody and use the hashtag #TheFromScratchBody so I don’t miss it!
