Issue #236: A Year Ago, I Completely Changed the Way I Eat and Cook

A Chinese Medicine-informed diet.

I have always loved food, but it’s only been in the past few years that I’ve begun to draw the connection between what I eat and how it makes my body feel. As a food editor, I idolized critics like Jonathan Gold and rejected the possibility that my test kitchen scores and adventures in New York’s culinary scene had anything to do with my constant stomach pain and insatiable appetite. My weight has always been consistent—the barometer so many of us were taught to measure “health” by—so I paid little attention to the other signs my body was giving me. It was only in my mid-twenties, with gentle encouragement from a nutritionist friend, that I began to eat a larger protein-focused breakfast, and was surprised to find how much more satiating it was than my avocado toast. When I stopped drinking alcohol the month before my thirtieth birthday, I experienced what I can only describe as a spiritual shift when it comes to my food consumption. I began to recognize the ways in which the things I put into my body impact me both physically and emotionally, through the gut-brain connection.

Issue #177: Practical Tips for Staying Healthy Over Colder Months

What my fridge usually looks like, and a protein-packed breakfast

Last spring, I enrolled in a six-week nutrition course led by my acupuncturist Helen Spieth, L.Ac, M.Chem. that fundamentally changed the way I eat, and deepened my relationship to food and our food systems. Helen’s methodology draws on principles of Chinese Medicine (which is incidentally having a moment), centering gut and microflora health and seasonality, while reducing the burdens on our digestive track by enhancing the digestibility of food and bioavailability of nutrients. Since taking her course and applying her advice, I’ve felt so much more satiated, with consistent energy, and just better overall—I literally haven’t gotten a cold in a year (fingers crossed I didn’t just jinx myself).

Similar to her advice on avoiding colds, Helen’s nutrition principles are grounded in practical changes and ancient wisdom that feel incredible connective (to nature, to food itself, and to our bodies) and are surprisingly easy to apply and maintain. As she puts it, “I’m the antithesis to Martha Stewart” and, I would add, fad diets. Read on for my recent conversation with Helen, where she generously shared the heart of her nutrition practices, including:

• Why she’s a proponent of eating a large, protein-rich breakfast and smaller veg-based dinner, according to Chinese Medicine

• How to maintain a healthy diet (no counting macros here), even with a completely packed schedule and family

• My full conversation with Helen Spieth, that dives into so many aspects of Chinese Medicine and nutrition

• A downloadable recipe for the spinach sauce I eat most days, and an incredibly easy way to cook chicken in a slow cooker

P.S. There is nothing restrictive about this post, but if you are worried that reading about what someone eats, or nutrition, will trigger disordered eating or any bad feelings, please skip this! You may enjoy this post on fleeing a meditation retreat (lol) or self-care instead!