General News
3 May, 2025
Call the Doctor with Dr Felix Ritson
We are what we eat. Food is a joyous thing.
We connect when sharing a meal, use it to nurture others and ourselves, and express artistic creativity and love through it.
What we ingest literally becomes our body.
Our largest organs are dedicated to the process of digesting food.
Many cultural and religious ceremonies revolve around food.
On death row, great significance is given to a person's last meal.
There is no doubt that food is of key importance to us.
Food, however, is a source of great suffering for many.
I am aware that some reading this column will find simply discussing food distressing, let alone the triggering aspects of what I will write below.
It is perhaps food's intimate and important connection to ourselves and society that is the reason why unhealthy eating habits cause such huge emotional pain.
I was taught in medical school that there is no firm scientific consensus on exactly what the healthiest way to eat is.
There are lots of opinions, many of which contradict each other.
In this article, I will share some basic principles to use when trying to improve one's eating habits.
1) Eat for your mood.
What we eat changes our psychology.
Sugar makes us temporarily feel uplifted, and then later depressed.
In Spanish, the word “enchilado” can describe the psychological effect of eating spicy food.
Vegetables cause one to be calmer, with broccoli containing a drug that increases happiness.
The eating of meat is considered in many cultures to make someone more “carnal" in nature.
Chemicals in processed foods impair emotional regulation and cognitive functioning.
If I go a few days without eating vegetables, I notice I'm more irritable.
If I eat processed foods, my mind feels scattered.
If I eat dessert, the next day I will feel flat and fatigued.
Pay attention to what food does to your mind, and you'll learn an easy way to gain more control of your life.
2) Make sustainable changes.
We are all trying to be better.
Sometimes we try too hard, too quickly.
Sudden and dramatic dietary changes can stress the body and the mind, often resulting in relapses and shame.
Making progressive, slow, and tolerable changes to our habits is the best way to develop sustainable improvement.
If our actions are too unpleasant, we develop a negative relationship with them.
The key is to feel good about the changes you are making.
3) Avoid the aisles.
Science is learning more and more about the negative effects of the chemicals used to process and package foods.
Chemicals used to preserve, flavour, and colour foods cause a myriad of health problems, from hormone disruption to cancer.
If you don't recognise a word on a list of ingredients as a food, it is likely harmful to you.
Plastic containers and the lining on the inside of tins leach into the products within.
Try to stick to the periphery of the supermarket where the real food is sold, with a brief walk to the dairy and starch section on the way out.