My curiosity about the choices we make to nourish our bodies peaked when my kids were in kindergarten. Conversations about healthy foods to feed children were frequent; high fructose corn syrup, sugar, processed foods came up often. With every conversation, I would raid the internet, read every article, and despite my better knowledge and strong science background, I’d base my decisions on the information available online.
When it comes to what healthy is, everyone has an opinion or a suggestion to make something healthier, leaner, better. In the world of parenting, judgement is often passed in the form of surprised glances, and parents always have the best intentions when they are raising families. I have experimented with all types of eating styles, flexitarianism, vegetarianism and veganism. I have tried hundreds of recipe modifications and ingredients out of curiosity as well as fear, fear for my health and my family’s. Until I decided to put an end to all the fear-mongering I heve experienced around nutrition and went back to university to learn from the real experts.
I joined a challenging Clinical Nutrition and Public Health program at the University College London, and after a grueling couple of years, this is what I learned. Nutrition is complex and nuanced. When it comes to what we eat, many considerations come into play. Think genetics, culture, and personal preference. Also think food choices available to us, where we live, and ease of access to farmers markets, supermarkets, local grocers, etc. What about the budget we allocate to spend on food, the extent of our cooking skills or how much time we have to prepare a meal? Are our meals geared toward any health-related goals? Are they being made to celebrate an occasion? After all, food is so much more than nourishment for the body, it is nourishment for the soul.
I also learned that thinking critically, especially in the media we consume, is the best weapon against fear-based messaging around food. Staying curious and open-minded and taking a lot of the information we see with a large pinch of salt is key. Health, after all, is the sum of many parts, of which food is one piece.
Through these pages, I hope to bring you fad-free and unbiased nutrition and wellbeing insight. I aim to help you achieve your nutrition goals while respecting your lifestyle, traditions and experiences.
Healthfully,
Sirine
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