When we hear about Nutrition, we usually think of food, diets, food reeducation, eating plans, weight loss plans, and many other terms related to what we put on our plate. Right?
However, if we reflect a little on the act of nourishing ourselves, the act of feeding ourselves, the truth is that this act goes far beyond food and our plate.
As living beings, we have four bodies that need to be nourished, fed on a daily basis: the Body (the physical and tangible body), the Mind (mental body), the Heart (emotional body) and the Soul (spiritual body).
And just as the Body needs food for energy, the Mind, Heart and Soul need fun, touch, romance, intimacy, love, success, fulfillment, art, music, self-expression, leadership, excitement, adventure, creativity and spirituality.
So, from the Integrative Nutrition perspective, our relationships with other people, our work/career, the physical exercise we practice, the house we live in, our hobbies and our spiritual practices… all of this nourishes us in some way, all of this provides us with sustenance, food, energy, and none of this comes on a plate or is available in a supermarket or restaurant. Still, these areas (and more!) play an important role in our Health & Wellness.
But if all these areas nourish us, do they all have the same impact?
In Integrative Nutrition, there are two types of Food: Primary and Secondary. And here’s the part that can be surprising… the food we put in our plates is considered the Secondary Food while everything off the plate is considered the Primary Food!
This idea can be somewhat strange and difficult to understand, mainly because it is the opposite of what we’ve been told. We lived a lifetime hearing parents, grandparents, friends, colleagues, and so many other people say that if we want to be healthy, we must start by “watch out what we eat” and “go to the gym”. Occasionally, we may be referred to the importance of sleep, having a sleep routine and sleeping 7-9 hours a night, but often the advice stops here and very rarely are other areas of our Life considered.
We now know that Secondary Food is the food we eat, and what is off the plate is our Primary Food. To clarify, there are 12 areas that make up Primary Food: Spirituality, Creativity, Finance, Career, Education, Health, Physical Activity, Home Cooking, Home Environment, Relationships, Social Life and Joy. Of these, there are 4 that stand out because they are considered to have the greatest impact: Spirituality, Career, Physical Activity and Relationships.
To help you understand why Primary Food and Secondary Food are categorized the way they are, let’s think together about the following:
If we have a perfectly varied and balanced diet, rich in organic fruits and vegetables, low in processed foods, low in added sugars and saturated fats, but… we have a job that makes us work long and stressful hours, toxic relationships, little physical activity, few hours of sleep, living in a house and in a familiar environment that brings us frustration: how is our health? Are we really healthy just because the diet is “perfect”?
What if, on the other hand, our diet is reasonable, with fruits and vegetables, but also the occasional sweet, savory snack or fast-food meal, and… we have a job that we enjoy and low in stress, relationships with people who add to us and motivate, daily physical activity, a sleep routine, a home and a family environment that brings us peace and refuge: can we say that we are healthier despite the fact that our diet is not “perfect”?
Joshua Rosenthal, founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (New York), summarized the answer to these questions quite simply:
Healthy relationships, regular physical activity, a fulfilling career and a spiritual practice can fill your soul and satisfy your hunger for life. When primary food is balanced and satiating, your life feeds you, making what you eat secondary.
Joshua Rosenthal
This means that the more Primary Food we receive, the less we depend on Secondary Food to feel healthy. And the opposite is also true, the more we focus on Secondary Food, the less space we leave to include Primary Food.
In short, Integrative Nutrition asks us to look at our Life from a holistic perspective, and allows us to see ourselves as a whole, encompassing all areas of our Life. As a Health & Wellness approach, it has the enormous advantage of focusing on going to the source of our problems and not simply masking the symptoms that cause us discomfort.
Article originally written in Portuguese and published in the August 2022 edition of ZenEnergy Magazine, in Portugal.
