Page 25 - NAMAH January 2016

Namah Eating for Health: a new system, not another diet — I
of foods, self-awareness concerning food
choices and eating behaviours and an
aesthetic and spiritual approach to the
culinary arts. It shares some qualities with
Level three, but allows for more personal
choice, variety, seasonality and individuality
according to one’s personal needs, tastes,
ethnic origin and commitment level.
Food choices at Level four are not made by
formula, but rather by discerning what the
body needs and what the best available
choices are at a given time. At this level, we
choose among a wide variety of healthful,
organic foods, as well as a variety of dietary
patterns. We exercise moderation in the
amount of food we eat and take more time
and care in its preparation and presentation.
Food is understood and appreciated as an
instrument of personal healing and sharing
with the community. Nourishing ourselves
becomes a wise, mature and loving act of
awareness cultivated through daily practice.
At this level of eating, the concept of S.O.U.L. biologically natural form.
food becomes important. This concept
suggests that produce be as Seasonal as
possible; all foods be Organic as much as
possible, Unrefined, and as Locally grown as
possible. Choosing S.O.U.L. foods is a
powerful tool for ensuring fresh foods with
high nutrient-density and the acronym
reminds us that eating provides not only
good nutrition but spiritual nourishment as
well.
Food synergy
Consistent with the idea of nutrition heroes
and Level Four eating is the idea that
nutrients from food have different effects in
the body than do nutritional supplements
and provide us with greater health benefits.
This concept is slowly growing as a subject
of scientific enquiry, though due to the
simpler nature of testing individual nutrients
in tightly controlled experiments, we still
have much to learn. Nonetheless, what is
currently being demonstrated (28) is what
Eating for Health has maintained through
the years: 1) we still have much to learn
concerning the full complement of nutrient
constituents of foods; new nutrients are being
discovered on a regular basis, therefore a
diverse intake of nutrient-rich foods is the
best way to get the most nutrients; 2)
nutrients in food enter our bodies in context,
i.e., in balanced combinations in a whole
food’s matrix, and the body knows how
to deal with them through digestion,
metabolism and absorption; 3) the food
matrix allows for a timed release of nutrients
rather than a large bolus from a supplement,
which can overwhelm the body; and 4) the
body can recognise the difference between
a non-identical synthetic nutrient and its
In support of this, studies have demon-
strated, for instance, that whole foods
such as apples, brassica vegetables and
tomatoes have a greater anti-proliferative
effect on cancer cells than do individual
isolated nutrients or mixes of nutrients
(29). Similarly, it has been shown that a
high intake of dietary antioxidant foods,
but not their supplemental counterparts,
reduced DNA damage in a group of
radiation-exposed individuals (30).
Because foods vary in their nutrient
content according to variety, season and
the quality of their own food-supply,
(31) suggest that the best nutrient
supplement is a diet composed of
diverse whole foods.
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