Caspar Poyck of Consciously Culinary believes we should all relax and enjoy ourselves when indulging in delicious foods. Here’s why:

Have you ever been on a trip where everything was hurried, stressed and frustrating? You might have gone to the finest restaurant that night and eaten the healthiest food yet you felt horrible, bloated and drained of energy. On the other hand you may have been on a very relaxing vacation, completely unplugged and unwound. That night you may have just had some simple food on the side of the road and it was the most nourishing and fulfilling meal you ever had. You felt great, the food digested well and you were energized!

What made the difference was your stress level. Today we are all aware of the great dangers of stress. 75-90% of doctor’s visits are determined to be for health issues that are stress related and/or stress aggravated. Being in stress is being in the Fight/Flight responds is supposed to be a momentary situation, not a lifestyle. In this mode, energy is allocated to immediate survival mechanisms like fighting and fleeing and it is robbed from mechanisms that deal with long-term health like immune, lymphatic and digestive systems (only if we survive this attack will we worry about the common cold).

It is good to be aware of what we eat, absolutely, but not at the cost of joy, relaxation and health! We must be conscious of how we eat. These days there are people so obsessed with their “healthy eating” that a new term; “orthorexia nervosa” has been coined to describe this phenomenon. Orthorexia nervosa describes an OCD/eating disorder that seriously damages health where the potential benefits the healthy culinary choices should bring are negated by the unhealthy levels of stress these choices caused the eater. So, relax and enjoy yourself.

Indulge in moderation and eat your Chocolate-Praliné Ganache guilt free.

The French don’t get fat, they enjoy!

EatWell, LiveWell, LoveWell,
Culinary Consciousness Coach Caspar Poyck C.Ht.
www.consiouslyculinary.com