Why Slow Food Equals Good Health

Photo by Frank Jakobi.

From a health perspective, slowing things down when it comes to consuming food is very important. It brings more consciousness to growing, processing and ingesting food and makes it more nourishing. Slow Food International is an organization that promotes a basic increased consciousness of “good, clean and fair food” and wants us to reconnect to our food by learning and participating in where it comes from, how it’s prepared and how it’s consumed.

When we teach ourselves how our food is produced and even start to grow our own food we learn there are many benefits to locally grown seasonal items. Much of our food comes from thousands of miles away and the more local the food, the fresher it is and thus the more nutritional value it has. As soon as a vegetable is harvested, it begins to loose vitamins and enzymes through the decay process. Fresh local food tastes better and it’s better for you!

When we know our local food, we know how it was grown. We know whether it was raised in a clean and sustainable manner–without pesticides and herbicides. The less chemicals on or in food, the better tasting, the better for your body, and the better for the earth.

We also learn there is a plethora of diversity in the varieties of foods available. Variety is more interesting, and gives us the most biologically diverse nutrition. The more varied our food, the more likely we are to get the vitamins, minerals and macro-nutrients we need. Variety is the spice (and necessity) of life!

When we teach ourselves how to prepare our food, we learn that this process prepares our body for digestion and increases nutritional benefit. Digestion begins with preparing and cooking food. Our senses inform our digestion of the forthcoming meal by inducing enzymes to be released and gastric juices to flow. When we just pop on down to the fast food joint and slurp down a burger or bean burrito, it shocks our digestion leading to indigestion and poor absorption of nutrients. Digestion begins in the kitchen!

Slowing down during the meal time also makes for better nutrition. The slow food movement advocates for “taste education,” in which we not only educate ourselves on where food comes from, but also take the time to truly enjoy the meal. We learn to slow down and open our senses of sight, sounds, smells and tastes to the whole experience of the meal. We continue the act of digestion begun during meal production, by using all our senses to completely chew and ingest our meal. Our body’s enzymes released during the food preparation macerate the food in our stomach. It is a beautiful and splendid process!

So the next time you begin to get hungry, think of this: all of the food you ingest is a way for you to let the natural world nourish you. You are truly what you eat and equally important, you are how you eat. So slow down, enjoy the wonderment of eating and live well. Bon appétit!

Dr. Gibran Ramos completed his six year training and internship in Naturopathic and Chinese Medicine at National College of Natural Medicine. Dr. Ramos helps patients transform their lives and optimize their well-being at a private practice in Portland, Oregon.