We Are What We Eat

LUKE COUTINHO is a holistic lifestyle coach, practicing in the field of Integrative Medicine. Here he shares his experiences and knowledge of how what we eat makes a difference to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.

I believe that right nutrition, cooked and served the right way, within the framework of the laws of nature, has the ability to shape us, heal us, and prevent problems in so many ways. It stands to be one of the most important verticals of holistic health. Each of us have 5 selves – physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and intellectual – and everything that we put in our mouths helps shape each of these selves; right from the way we look, think and speak to the way we fight or prevent illnesses, age, feel, and so much more. What we eat is not only manifested physically in our body but also mentally in our thoughts.

Decades ago, when food was much cleaner, wholesome, closer to nature, and naturally grown, diseases and mental stress were rarer and milder forms were known. With the gradual decline in the quality of food and the prevalence of processed and refined foods in every home, we also started to see a gradual increase in diseases, poor immunity, skin and hair health, infertility, metabolic conditions, obesity, and emotional ill-health. Yes, there are other factors responsible, but nutrition has a major role to play. “Food is medicine” – not just for our body but also our emotional health.

Food is information to our genes. Right from our birth, till today, the kind of nutrition that has gone into us has helped shape who we are today. It’s possible that you could have grown up to be a totally different individual if the kind of food you ate was any different – for the good or bad. This is also why lifestyle plays a huge role, even though certain diseases are known to be genetic. It takes a wrong lifestyle, including nutrition, to activate a bad gene and allow that gene’s expression.