Superfood for Superpowers

You have certain Superpowers, and what you eat determines whether those powers get activated or not. You create your body with every food choice that you make. When you are conscious of where your food comes from and what it's doing to your body, you can create the BEST you, every day!!

And so the first step towards reaching your full potential is to be conscious of what you're putting into your body.

Let's be a people that EAT to LIVE, rather than live to eat! Food is meant to build our bodies and give us energy rather than drain our energy and make us slower. When we eat processed food, we can never really reach our optimal levels because our bodies are too busy digesting foreign food that the human body is not really designed to process. It takes time and energy for the body to figure out what to do with all the processed food that we ingest, just to make sure we can stay alive.

What we choose to eat also helps shape the world - one bite at a time. When we choose a diet rich in local, organic, whole-food, (even better if it is home-made with love), we are choosing a greener, more harmonious planet. I know there is a plethora of information about nutrition and creating diet plans out there, and it can sometimes be super overwhelming. The one simple rule I go by when I start transitioning back into healthier nutritional habits is this: if it's good for the planet, it's good for me. Our bodies are essentially made up of Earth material, and thus, when we get sick, it's an indication that the food that we are eating is making the planet sick.

When we eat a diet that is rich in organic whole-food, meaning fresh fruits and vegetables, we become more of the planet. The more of the planet we become, the more we have access to our intuition. Our intuition is that sixth sense that we have, that instinctual knowledge that is greater than our minds.

Here's a secret: our bodies are actually way more intelligent than our minds. Our minds are only as old and as wise as we've been living on this planet, and limited to our experiences, our memories, our perceptions and interpretations, our education, and our beliefs. Our bodies on the other hand, hold the intelligence of all the DNA that has been passed down from every generation in your family, along with the new Mother Earth that you choose to build your body with. You may be smart, but your body has wisdom that trumps everything else, and when listened to, your intuition can help guide you towards what's best for you. Because, and here's the kicker, what is truly best for you, is also what is best for the planet.

I grew up with your standard North-American diet. Meat was always the centerpiece of the every meal, and it would usually be accompanied with some sort of processed starch or frozen vegetables. I LOVED pop, frozen dinners, fast-food, ramen noodles, and PIZZA!! Pizza was my absolute weakness. Plus, I had a sweet-tooth - I loved dessert, candy, chocolate, anything made of sugar, really. Sugar is actually a big weakness of mine because it seems to be an addiction. All of this accumulated throughout the years, and in combination with a sedentary life it resulted in excess weight that I developed as a child, and never really got rid of.

The Road towards a Superpowered Body

At some point, I will start getting real fancy with these diet plans, and create specific plans based on my individual needs to supplement my deficiencies but also to support my strengths. For now, however, I am going to keep it real simple, though still not easy. In fact, this is probably going to be the toughest part of the whole transition, because it requires me to break the addictions that I've re-introduced. Over the last couple of years, I have also developed a dependence on take out, whereby I was getting take-out almost every day. This food is made by people who not only don't love you, but probably loathe you, it is full for additives, not fresh at all, and the packaging is just an environmental nightmare.

To begin, I am reducing/eliminating the foods that I know cause the most havoc on my body and the planet. It's not going to be easy because most "food" is made up of this stuff, but I know if I stick to just good ol' organic whole foods, I'll evidentially find success in sustainable eating.

Here is a list of what I am striving to reduce/eliminate, and the nutritional and planetary reasons of getting rid of it from my diet. Disclaimer: these are just my reasons for changing my diet; if it doesn't work for you, that's okay, we can still be friends :)

1. Eliminate Refined White Sugar. Our bodies need sugar for energy, however, in today's standard North American diet, there is so much white refined sugar in almost everything (both hidden and in your face), that our bodies are taking in too much glucose to handle. This is why there is a rise of diabetes, obesity and heart disease; these serious conditions are affecting more adults and children every year.

For me, sugar is just as addictive and detrimental as heroine, though I've never done heroine before so I suppose that is an unfair comparison. However, when I finally got rid of white refined sugar out of my diet, I didn't eat it for three years. I had sweet substitutes, like coconut sugar, xylitol, agave and maple syrup, so I wasn't really hurting for sugar. But I was able to cut out my cravings for sweets completely. Once sugar, I mean Big Sugar, is out of your body, it no longer has any hold over you. Once my body got rid of the white refined sugar, I noticed that I my intellect was sharper, I was able to express myself more freely, and I was just happier overall. The process in which white refined sugar is made is also detrimental to the environment, and it's really not worth the karma that's attached to it. Most white sugar originates from sugar cane farms in third world countries where the workers are not given fair wages, works long hours, and in many cases, physically and mentally abused. From what I see, the health impacts that are associated with white refined sugar correlates to the karma that's attached to it. So, you may have a "cheat day" and "treat" yourself to a chocolate bar, but if you're not aware of where the ingredients originate from, you are accepting a lot of bad karma that you will have to work off, and not just in your thighs.

As a sample of the Environmental and Humanitarian issues associated with white refined sugar, click here to watch one of many documentaries that can be found on the subject.

2. Eliminate Dairy. There is this common misconception that Milk and dairy products are good for humans, however, research over the last decade or so have proven otherwise. Dairy is heavily marketed as an essential source of calcium, and we need calcium for strong bones and teeth. What they do not mention, however, is that the calcium to phosphorous ratio is so skewed, that the phosphorous in dairy offsets the calcium. When you have too much phosphorous in your body, the calcium in your bones actually leaks out into the blood stream in order to balance it out, leaving the bones weaker. The reason why Milk and dairy are marketed as health food (an essential food group at that) is that the commercial agriculture industry has been able to create an efficient (yet completely inhumane) way of cultivating the products.

Which leads to the other reason why I am eliminating dairy is based on the environmental and animal consequences of the finished product. We all know the animal rights issue that is associated with dairy that I don't need to go into the details. The way the animals are treated in factory dairy farms is tied to the Karma attached to drinking milk. Milk is touted as a health food, but if it's so healthy, why are most of the population allergic to it? The casein in milk makes it hard for many people to digest, and though it tastes delicious to drink and eat at first, the after-effects of dairy is not all pretty for most people.

I found that when I eliminated dairy out of my diet years ago, I noticed a complete improvement in my hair and skin. When re-introducing it back into my diet five years ago, I have seen a noticeable decline in both.

3. Eliminate Gluten. Gluten is the one that people will fight the most, because it is unfathomable for some people to get rid of. Gluten/wheat wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't in absolutely everything! Cutting out gluten can support detox and clarity by reducing inflammation, especially in those sensitive to it, and improving gut health, which is key to effective detoxification. Gluten can irritate the gut lining, leading to issues like leaky gut, and eliminating it helps your body absorb nutrients more efficiently. Many people also experience increased energy and reduced brain fog after going gluten-free, as it stabilizes blood sugar levels and lightens the load on the liver, your main detox organ. This shift can leave you feeling clearer, more focused, and revitalized.

4. Reduce/Eliminate Meat. The humane reasons for eliminating or at least reducing meat from my diet is pretty obvious. Factory farms are a nightmare and do not respect their workers let alone the animals. As a cat-mom (and damn proud of it), I am able to see the soul of each animal that I have had the honour to love. What makes my cats or my family dogs so different from a pig or a cow? Whenever I go for a walk through the forest or by the duck pond near my house, I come across the wildlife there - I can see their little spirits too, similar to my own cats. To reduce a living being to just a product the way that factory farms have done takes our humanity away.

We have been taught to reduce our red meat intake to help prevent high levels of cholesterol and high risk of heart disease (which is the leading cause of death in North America), thus causing a lot of older people to start changing their diet. However, we are not taught that when these animals suffer as they do in factory farms, they produce large amounts of stress hormones (as humans would if put into those conditions). When we eat this meat, we are also ingesting the stress hormones of that animal. All cells have a memory attached to them, and so when you eat animals that have been abused, you are inheriting those memories within the your own cells. This may explain why people feel depressed or angry without knowing where it's originating from.

Sure, this all sounds like pseudo-science, I get that, but deep down, if you really think about it, you can see the logic in it, no? And if not, that's cool, but perhaps you are trying to use your own logic to excuse the fact that you want to eat meat, which is okay, I've been there, and sometimes I'm still there too. Heck, I'm having a hard time eliminating it out of my own diet too, even with the understanding that I have about the meat industry. However, when I sit and meditate, I know my body and my spirit want to give meat up, or at least reduce the amount, in order to clear my body of that stress and karma.

The main issue I have with eliminating it right out is the fact that I have been anemic since I was a kid. I know there are ways to supplement your diet so that anemics can still be vegetarian, but it takes a lot of study and preparation. The other main issue I'm encountering is the fact that my family eats meat all the time, and so to not eat meat, is to not share any meals with them. I know that they would benefit from more vegetarian meals, but I cannot force anyone to eat less meat, I can only lead by example. So perhaps I will start by only eating meat once a week at the very most, and having that meat be locally farmed with humane practices (as humane as possible). In order to do this, it is imperative to start to get to know your local farmers. When we buy from our local farmers and food producers, we are investing in our own food security - we are putting money back into our local economy and ensuring that we are supporting our local farmers in case we are unable to import food any longer. Which brings me to my next point.

5. Try to eat mostly organic and local when possible. I cannot stress enough the importance of supporting our local food providers. I remember on the first day of an Environmental Studies course, the professor asked us a question: "if we stopped all food importing, and only had the food left in the grocery stores, how long would we last as a country?" The answer he gave us: 3 days. Three freakin days. Next time you're at the grocery store, look at all the food around you, and just think: 3 days! This is why it's so important to support our local farms, to ensure that even if we are unable to import food from other nations, our farmers who we've learn to love and trust, will help provide food for the nation.

Going local also helps reduce travel time, which saves the environment and ensures that you are eating produce as fresh as possible. A lot of the imported fruits and vegetables have to be harvested before it's ripe, to withstand the travel time. When we buy food straight from the famers, more than likely, that produce was just recently harvested either the day of or the day before you buy it. I just think it's also nice to get to know the people that are growing your food, and supporting them. Farmers are usually farmers for the passion of taking care of the land and providing for others. In my opinion, it's one of the most noble professions, and it's our responsibility to make sure that they are taken care of.

It is also vitally important to move towards going the organic route. Non-organic farms use chemical sprays and GMO seeds that have been proven to be detrimental to us in the long run. Not only is it a detriment to our own lives, but the conventional farms are also destroying the planet. This is due to the soil - conventional farms tend to not rotate their crops, which is the main component in making sure that the produce has all the nutrients it needs. The soil that is used for conventional farms has a fraction of nutrients compared to organic produce, and so two apples may look the same, but the organically grown apple carries 40% more nutrition.

6. Reduce/eliminate Fast Food and Packaged Food. I always remember the saying, you are what you eat. When your diet mainly consists of packaged food, you tend to become a product of industry. Fast food and packaged food is void of nutrients, therefore when you eat this food, although you may feel satiated in the moment (in fact, you may feel a little too full), you will suddenly become hungry again, because you're body is still looking for nutrients to do important tasks like healing, growing hair and nails, and producing the correct hormones to keep you happy and healthy. Also, every time you eat packaged food, you are taking in the Karma accumulated to the point of getting it into your hands. Meaning, you take on the Karma of how it's original material was harvested, processed, and transported to get to where it is today.

Most of the foods above have been hard to eliminate over the years, because they have certain properties that make them addictive. Just because you crave something, doesn't mean it's good for you, it just means that it has short-term rewards that are instantaneous. Over a decade ago, I changed up my diet, and was able to successfully eliminate these foods. It wasn't easy, I had a friend keep me accountable. After a while, once the above food was eliminated from my body (your body completely replaces itself after seven years) and I fully transitioned into a healthier and more sustainable diet, it just became a lifestyle.

To help me recondition my own cravings for the bad stuff and to move me to crave the food that will support my superhero body, I will be applying my Dance Journey entitled, Feed Your Spirit Well. I will post a post-dance reflection after the mediation. Till then, sending you love and strength for you to feed your superhero!

Much Love,

Amala