Creating Healthy Digestion via Diversity
When you walk through a forest, what do you see? In a healthy forest, you will see many different forms of plant and animal life. The diversity is actually what keeps a forest healthy. Each plant and animal have their roles, that in turn, supports other plants and animals. No one plant or animal does all of the jobs of the forest, they delegate to each other based on natural abilities. The beauty is in how everything works together.
As humans, we sometimes forget that diversity is the very fuel of life. We try to put each other in boxes, noting only our sameness. We forget that the differences in each other help to spark creativity and widen our perspectives. We forget that we can ask for help when we have to do something we are not great at. We forget that diversity is important for our own bodies as well – in what we eat and what we do. When we are constantly eating the same foods and doing the same things, we lose vitality and ‘get into a rut.’ Then we feel stagnant and rigid in our physical and mental health. Rigidity in our mental health blocks us from seeing the beauty in diversity and newness that opens the mind.
Diversity is equally important in the belly. As humans, we hold an immense amount of bacteria in our gut. The more diverse the bacteria is, the more waste it is able to filter out and the more nutrients it is able to absorb, because everybody is doing a different job. Creating more diversity in the gut looks like: eating probiotic-rich foods like sauerkraut & kimchi, eating a variety of fruits and veggies each week, and lessening the intake of pharmaceutical drugs, especially antibiotics. Antibiotics kill the bad and the good bacteria, leaving you barren in the gut and more susceptible to new infections because there is no defense. As a society, we generally overuse antibiotics for any type of illness. This has led to chronic digestion issues, which will only increase if we continue as we are.
So, now our jobs are to help repair our digestive systems with nourishing foods and deep listening. Bringing more awareness into eating by feeling the taste of the food, and then feeling into the stomach to see if it truly feels nourishing or not. Listen to the body, for she will tell you all things.
