Dirty Water

Entering the field of nutrition makes me think about getting into dirty water.

When I was a child I lived in Lesotho, Africa. I remember having to share the tub water with my brothers, one at a time. What I remember most clearly was the dirty water. We ran around in bare feet on dirt roads, in the gardens, climbing trees.  We did have shoes, I am sure. I just don’t remember wearing them.  I wore beautiful homemade cotton dresses; I remember these fondly, but not the shoes.

You were the lucky one if you got to be the first in the clean tub water and the least lucky if you were number four!  I am sure I sometimes wondered if I was dirtier getting out than getting in.

I first became interested in reading about nutrition when I was about 21 years old – on my honeymoon, my husband and I read aloud to each other in the car, “Fit for Life” by the Diamonds.  Where that book took me is a long story… Since that time, I have read and listened to hundreds of books in the area of nutrition.

When I a first considered entering the field of Nutrition I became aware of the profit based interests in the field and promptly backed out.  It wasn’t until a few years ago (20 years later) I felt like I was willing to join in to the endless debate and discussion.

I know that what I have been seeking all along was just a sliver of the truth, and the truth keeps changing.  I remember my father observing and commenting to my mother and me  “on the latest nutrition trend” that we were following or at least exploring. If I even just trace the bread crumbs back (on the simple topic of bread) first it was whole wheat, rather than white, then the homemade potato bread, then the spelt and kamut, then the rice and quinoa bread, now I have left the bread behind.

The endless debate in the world of nutrition can easily turn you off and at the very least confuse you endlessly!

It is my hope that for the sake of my own health, my family and those I share with, that the dirt might settle to the bottom and I might glimpse some clarity.

All of this has led me back to focus on real food and cultures that havent yet become side tracked by the attractions of processed food and fast food.

Maybe like in meditation or prayer, we sometimes need to be quiet and still enough, listen, pay attention to how we feel. so that the water might clear again.

 Be well