Defining Food, And What Is Not Food

[tex]

Sara made the following observation, about the GF diet, in another thread.

I don't call it "diet restriction" either. You're eating what's food, and not eating stuff that makes you sick.

That struck me as a very profound observation. When I first read it, my initial thought was, "That appears on the surface to be a simple statement of fact, but much more than that, it's also a very elegant way to redefine food".

We've always looked at food in two ways - as fuel for the body, and as a means to extract pleasure from the simple act of replenishing our body's nutrient supply. Virtually everyone views food from this same perspective, and so, naturally, when our life was suddenly turned upside down, by the symptoms of MC, we continued to think of food in the same ways, and yet, as so many of us have learned the hard way, food is no longer the same for us. Our body has changed, and those changes have forced us to view our food in a totally different light. Where it was once a source of almost universal pleasure, it has now become a source of apprehension and worry. At times, we wonder whether we can trust any food, anymore.

Anyway, to get to the point of this post, IMO, the effect that MC has on our digestive system, drastically changes the way that our body perceives food, and it drastically changes the way that our body utilizes food. Perhaps that implies that we should change our definition of food, (as Sara has so elegantly suggested in her post).

The primary definition of food, (according to Webster), is:

any nourishing substance eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc.

I believe that the key word in that definition is "nourishing". By definition, if a substance is not nourishing, it cannot be food, because it also cannot "sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc.", as food would do.

What this implies, of course, is that as soon as a true food-sensitivity is triggered, that substance, (which was previously classified as food), no longer qualifies for that definition, and so we can no longer consider it to be food. As proof of the validity of that reclassification, our body will no longer respond to the ingestion of that substance as food - it will respond to it as a toxin.

Unfortunately, since we all tend to have different food-sensitivities, the classification of foods, (reclassification, actually), will be different for each of us. That shouldn't be surprising, though, in view of the fact that we are different in so many other ways, as well.

In effect, I have been using this reclassification method for years, (subconsciously), because the day that I realized that any food that contained gluten was toxic to me, I stopped thinking of it as food. Maybe that's why I don't regret cutting it out of my diet, and why I'm never bothered by a craving to eat any of that toxin ever again.

So, to rephrase what Sara pointed out, (and to wreak havoc with proper grammar, in the process), "If it ain't nourishing - it ain't food". Thanks for the inspiration, Sara.

Love,
Tex

[deltawolf]

Tex,

Great job pointing that out, and I too had noticed what Sara stated. I still believe that it is tough in the beginning but it does get easier. Especially when you think of it in the way they have commented. Who wants to feel like garbage, and if a food does that then why would you want it.

I am now a few days completely dairy free and I am feeling better, not tons better, but better. I am having more good moments than bad ones so I will take it. I however had a terrible breakdown at the office the other day, but am recovering nicely. A little embarrassing, but it was with the owner whom I have worked with and been friends with for over 5 years.

Tex

Maybe that's why I don't regret cutting it out of my diet, and why I'm never bothered by a craving to eat any of that toxin ever again.

I still crave these items, but I definately do not regret removing them. You just have to say you want to feel better and do it.

[dgshelton]

I have always thought Sara has a very elegant way of writing things.

Hugs,

[sarkin]

Tex,

I am honored, thank you for extending my notion in this thoughtful way.

(Reconnecting back to that other thread, I believe you've just demonstrated that aspartame is not food... the whole *idea* is that it's not supposed to provide any nutrition/energy at all - that's kind of the promise of 0-calorie sweetness. Hmmm.)

I'd like to continue our conversation on this - but first wanted to say:

Denise, thanks for saying so; I really do appreciate your generous 'reading' and lovely presence here on this forum.

And Amy -

Of course, you are right. I thought about a couple of reasons why we all have to get to this place from our own angle and at our own pace. For one thing - I was really, really sick. I was gray when I wasn't green, losing a pound a day and nothing I ate worked. I was actually diagnosed years ago, knew nothing about MC - diet or otherwise - and had a long and unexplained remission (during which I felt beer didn't work so stopped drinking it, ate a lot less dairy because I was losing my taste for it, and began to suspect gluten maybe wasn't my friend - but I was basically fine). Then I got really sick and that removed all doubt. Feeling lousy is terrible, but different from feeling helplessly ill and frightened (not to minimize anyone else's sympom on ANY day - this sure was different for me). I was so wishing I had known and dropped the gluten over a decade ago (still kinda wish that), and wonder whether I might have irreversible health consequences I could have avoided, had I known. (I am also really happy that I feel so much better in so many ways.) If my symptoms when I found this forum had been annoying or nagging rather than totally freaking me out, I might have been more inclined to take a moment of regret for some old favorites I don't eat any more. I was truly relieved. If I had not had a diagnosis, I would have thought I was dying. (I suspect a lot of unDx celiac/GS patients have this fear.) The single most important thing about that original diagnosis - about which I was told nothing, and there wasn't much at all on the Web back then - was that it gave me something to Google, so I could find my way here. I knew the minute I got here that I had found the beginnings of my way.

Also - I'm just a way bunch older. So, I have probably had more chances to indulge in more tasty things over more years. I guess in some ways that could make it worse, but that's not how it struck me. And I have a lot less external pressure in my life now - I have a lot of control of my schedule and how I spend my time, and that wasn't true way back when. That makes it easier; I almost never shop for groceries on weekends or weekday evenings - that makes the supermarket less of a stressor right there, and often I shop as a 'play date' with my husband, so it's all fun and teamwork.

I had all my freakouts and meltdowns at home, for the benefit of my very patient husband. I think he was scared, too.

Anyway! Having said all that, back to Tex's excellent essay:

I now understand better why I didn't have any trouble 'giving up' gluten. I didn't even want GF food that resembled gluten foods - that category was pretty much dead to me (especially in the beginning). Like you, Tex, once I had the revelation that gluten was trying to kill me - it stopped looking like food. Of course I can remember enjoying pasta. Same with dairy, in my case - instead of feeling sad when other people dig into the cheese plate, I felt like the people in the Matrix movies when they go into the Matrix, and all the pseudo-people are enjoying this imaginary life... but I digress.

I believe just about everyone would come to this point of view immediately *if* food sensitivities gave a more immediate and unambiguous reaction. (I know folks who have never been able to drink whatever alcoholic beverage did 'em in one very foolish night many, many years ago - no more gin/rum/tequila for them, EVER.)

Nourishment is an absolutely requirement for something to make the grade as food. If it's not providing energy, sustaining life, or promoting growth, then it doesn't pass the test (and clearly doing damage to body systems disqualifies any substance). Any one of us would eat a food that's "not our favorite" or even something we actively dislike, if we were shipwrecked or kidnapped and it were the only *food* available - as long as it will nourish us. The particular pleasures we take from a unique preparation, a beautiful presentation, good company around a lovely table, and our favorite flavor combos only apply to "food," as you've re-distinguished it - they add delight to life, but first: it's gotta be food.

Tex, I believe you've articulated in a very clear and helpful way what I've been trying to surface for myself, and have been moving toward thinking. Once you see it in this way, there is just a great opening and clarity. I've had friends tell me they couldn't "give up" bread/cheese/whatever - I am always astonished, because *of course they could do it.* When they see how startled I am by that statement, most of them see at once that they could do it, too - that I'm not suffering at all by not having something I used to call food, and find tasty, and that is still "food" for them, as far as they know. I don't want them NOT to eat it (well... some of my friends with weird symptoms want to reconsider...). Those people never again apologize for eating cake in front of me, because they get it - it's not about deprivation, and even in their eyes, that's not food *for me* any more.

For all of us, everywhere, eating is still a project: you have to hunt and gather, or in our case, shop and prepare and choose, and it takes some skill-tweaking to adjust. But "not eating" "not food" is easy-breezy. We've been doing it since our moms finally persuaded us to stop putting random objects in our mouths

I do see why it is hard to believe that the "staff of life" is not food. It flies in the face of the common wisdom, the culture, many family routines and religious practices, and just the enormous force of habit. It really is like waking up and finding out the Matrix isn't real. And I really have had that sort of surreal experience walking through giant supermarkets, passing aisle after aisle of people reaching for things that are not 'real' to me - in a sense. Even now, months into this adventure, sometimes we come around the corner in the supermarket and my husband just says in a low voice, "woooooow." Meaning, look at all that... non-food? It sure saves shopping time - once we got the hang of it. And that did not happen in a revelation, but took time - and practice. And the Matrix analogy is silly, but also kind of apt - it's a huge shift in perspective/understanding.

I truly wish all of us vibrant health and delicious food, and thank you for this thought-provoking engagement.

Love,
Sara

[Matthew]

This thread is what Michael Pollen wrote about in his book “ In Defense of Food: an Eaters Manifesto”

An interestingt read.


http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eate ... 1594201455

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magaz ... ism.t.html

[Gabes-Apg]

when people comment about my eating plan, which to them is limited and boring, i mention that even in todays times, there are people living in remote areas of places like Papua New Guinea, or Africa that live for generations with an eating plan based on what grows in their village, ie 1 or 2 types of fruit, a maximum of 3 vegetables, and generally 2 - 3 protein sources.

marketing has brainwashed people to different cuisines and that variety is the key to enjoying life,

similar to Sara's statement

I don't call it "diet restriction" either. You're eating what's food, and not eating stuff that makes you sick.

when this topic comes up, and it does alot (especially in the work place) as part of the discussion i joke that after years of being told to have an apple a day and that you MUST eat greens, i havent had a piece of fruit or any greens for over 18 months, my hair and nails and skin are reasonably healthy, my teeth havent fallen out (ok well there is some chips and corners breaking off but they are not falling out!!)

if you compare the amount of times I get colds or flus compared to people without auto immune conditions eating fruit and greens, there is not much difference to the incidence of feeling poorly

as we have discussed many times, many of us 'MC'ers' do sacrifice what were favourite foods and change our cooking styles, because wellness is a beautiful gift to be treasured,
attaining wellness tests our patience, our tenacity and our ability to change 20, 30 (maybe even 40 years or more) of eating habits.


i have mentioned on the forums before, when people make statements like ' i could never give up beer or pizza or icecream or ?' depending on the person sometimes i will reply 'when you are having D, 15 -20 times a day for weeks on end, you will be surprised what you will be willing to 'give up'

[Martha]

Sara and Tex,

Thank you for articulating this so well.

I can really grasp that image of "for me, these things are not food because they don't nourish my body."

I too don't miss gluten, dairy, or soy, and it doesn't bother me to see other people eating them. When people apologize for eating what I can't, I wish they wouldn't. It doesn't tempt me at all. I guess we all at some point come to the realization that what makes us sick is no longer appealing.

Love,
Martha

[tex]

When people apologize for eating what I can't, I wish they wouldn't.

There have been a few occasions when I've almost been tempted to say, "No need to apologize - it's not my body that you're slowly destroying. LOL". But, of course, I would never actually say that, since it would be downright cruel.

That might be material for Sara's Snappy Comebacks Book, though.

Love,
Tex

[sarkin]

Tex,

Oh, yes indeed

Duly noted...

Especially apt when it's something you wouldn't have bothered to eat even if it *didn't* contain gluten! As a friend of mine likes to say, "No" is a complete sentence. (Though we are lovely people, we PP, and we prefer "No, thank you."

Love,
Sara

[MaggieRedwings]

Excellent topic and well put Sara and Tex.

I no longer miss what makes me sick and is non-nourishing. You learn to live with what life deals in its hand to you and you are better for it. Hard to do at times but so much healthier.

Love, Maggie

[TooManyHats]

i have mentioned on the forums before, when people make statements like ' i could never give up beer or pizza or icecream or ?' depending on the person sometimes i will reply 'when you are having D, 15 -20 times a day for weeks on end, you will be surprised what you will be willing to 'give up'

[maestraz]

Wow... I have to say I hadn't thought of it in quite this way before reading this thread. What does not nourish you, or makes you sick, is not food. That is beautifully succinct, and provides "food" for thought. Thanks, Sara.

[sarkin]

Thanks, Suze - but I cannot take full credit. Tex drew that thought in a succinct way, out of a longer thread I was weaving in a different topic. (And I like it even better the way Tex has said it - thank you, kind friend!)

I think there is an age in all of our lives when we really, really want a birthday cake with crazy-not-even-food colored decoration, and maybe a sugar-thing that looks like a princess... and we've moved past day-glo cakes by adulthood (most of us, anyway - at least as a daily craving). Many people get stuck at "pizza and beer" or "pasta and garlic bread" BUT we have already learned to step up our tastebuds, or our eyes or preferences, toward what works better. And we can do it again.

(For those with multiple intolerances, I don't make light of this, and I hope I can do what I must as well as many of you have, going forward.)

Sara

[Gabes-Apg]

in line with this discussion i tried to find some stats along the lines of how many smokers diagnosed with lung cancer give up smoking or continue.

there are quite a few health conditions (heart, blood pressure, diabetes, gallbladder removal etc) that require people to change their diet, cooking and eating preferences, even lifestyle to optimise wellness.

this is relative common in our society, so why do people react and comment when someone does choose to make a what is considered a 'not conventional' change to their eating habits to optimise their wellness??
is it fear?
does the concept of someone else doing it, confront them with what they should be doing but they didnt have the willpower to do it?

[TXBrenda]

Wow, reading this thread could not have been more timely. I'll need to write this on several post-it notes & leave them at different places to remind me why I do not need to ingest this toxin (sugar & gluten) - can't remember who said that!