Positive eating: learning to eat what benefits the organism
An organism that knows what it needs and that is therefore able to regulate hunger, satiety and appetite is prerequisite to healthy, strengthening eating. Nutritionist Jasmin Peschke advocates developing and cultivating a good relationship to food.
In medicine, the step from pathogenesis to salutogenesis is no longer a novelty; the focus has shifted from what makes people sick to what enhances their health. Jasmin Peschke, head of Nutrition at the Goetheanum’s Section for Agriculture, wants to see this shift in nutrition too. “We tend to focus on ‘unhealthy food’ (too much, too fatty, too salty). But this negative and restrictive approach, which promotes a deficit orientation, can be replaced by concentrating on positive food experiences.”
The nutrition specialist refers to new developments such as Machteld Huber’s Positive Health and the French Eating Model with its emphasis on structured meals and conviviality. Jasmin Peschke encourages people to develop their own food-related expertise. She thinks that “stress, too much sugar or additives such as flavour enhancers and artificial flavours blur the signals our body sends us. However, one can practise listening to positive body signals.” By asking questions such as ‘What is on my plate?’ before eating, ‘What does it taste like?’ during the meal, and ‘How do I digest and tolerate what I have eaten?’ after eating, one can acquire a more reliable sense of the effect food has on one‘s body within a few days.
Jasmin Peschke’s starting point is the fostering of an active relationship with food and food preparation. “That includes the shopping experience, the chopping of vegetables and not least the preparation of a delicious meal,” she explains. “This is a chance to be creative and have fun and to develop an appreciative relationship to food.”
English by Margot M. Saar
More Department for Nutrition at the Goetheanum; Food culture in France
Image generic image: Vegetables (Photo: Lubos Houska / Pixabay)