A Question Of Taste
Something I am often asked about is “taste”. A change of diet, a change of lifestyle – “but I love the flavour of chocolate”, “I love coffee it tastes so good”, “Coffee wakes me up in a morning”, “Smoking helps my stress levels”, “Alcohol helps me calm down after work” etc – all of these and more, not only do I hear them from customers, but. . . . . I used to say the exact same things myself !!!
Flavour is an amazing thing, and your tongue is an amazing organ !! 5 months ago, I used to smoke 20 a day, eat chocolate, live on a staple diet of cheese rolls, burgers and biscuits or cookies, drink wine and beer EVERY night and drink about 6 cups of coffee a day MINIMUM. Now, I no longer smoke, I only eat raw organic chocolate, my diet is a balanced and nutritional vegetarian fare and I drink in mindful moderation. In short I have not only completely turned my life around, but I have also turned my health around!! So I speak from experience.
Every so often, your body regenerates – it replaces every cell when it dies (and each cell has its own life span) with a good cell. Its a known fact that 95% of all disease suffered by humans, is related to their environment – what we eat, what we drink, what we breathe, and what we touch. Your diet (whether good or bad) tells your body which genes to turn on and off, and your body acts accordingly. Stands to reason then that if you put negative into your body, then you will get a negative body. . . .put positives in, and the results will speak for themselves.
So what happened that made me change my life ? I didn’t have a heart attack or any major disease, although I have suffered previously from two heart attacks, I had a life event. This negative life event (a marriage ended) caused me to hit the cigarettes and booze harder than ever, and to hide myself away. One day I woke up and realised that the effects of my Parkinson’s Disease were getting worse and so I had to go and visit my doctor as I was finding it difficult to function – I put little faith in the medical profession, believing that they are in arms with the pharmaceutical companies and only want me for my pill popping abilities !!! I visited and got my tablets (which I am now off – a SIDE EFFECT of leading a healthy lifestyle!!), but also got checked for vitals whilst there – my blood pressure was elevated to a dangerous level, my cholesterol was higher than it should be etc etc – and my doctor told me that I was headed for my third heart attack, but that this would be my last. . . . basically it would be massive and I would die.
About a week later, with the doctors words ringing around my head, I got into my car, took a cigarette from the pack and lit it – it was the last one in its pack . . . this was on July 4th this year (2014) and I said to myself there and then – right this is it no more, and I stopped. This was the start of my lifestyle change. Stop smoking and immediately, smell and taste explode and these senses are heightened, as they have been dulled by the nicotine. The sensations are endless – everything tastes SO MUCH better. Well this spurred me on, and I started going to exercise classes (I’ve always kept fit – the last few years at home on my own), as I wanted to repair my lungs and make them work properly. I met a nutritionist who introduced me to organic food – her name was Gilly-Marie Harvey (if you’ve read this website, you may have been introduced to her). She also explained in great detail what the processed foods I had been eating were doing to my body – OMG I never even realised what they put in that stuff – much of it poison, much of it carcinogenic, much of it fat producing and much of it ADDICTIVE!!!! It was definitely time to change.
Then in August, I met the love of my life. A woman I had first met 20+ years ago, and then fallen in love with about 15 years ago, when unfortunately we were both in other relationships. She was a vegetarian – something I had wanted to do for a few years – and subscribed to the same opinions and ideals as Gilly. My diet changed from that moment, and I cut meat out of my diet now this is not for everyone, and you can eat meat and be healthy, for me though it was about my ideals with regard to animals, as well as my health. Organic Guinea Pig had been in operation for a while and I had been trying different foods and experimenting, but now change was upon me.
My new partner would bring bags of food in from shopping – taking out asparagus and fennel and chicory and all types of things that I had heard of, but never tried. She would smile, brandishing an avocado, and I would look at it, pull a face and say “Dont like those” just like a petulent teenager. She was patient and would ask “Have you ever tried one” and I would look at my feet shaking my head!! It was amusing when I look back. . . what options did I have though, other than to try them ? So that is what I did, and I found that I appreciated these new flavours and textures that I was being introduced to – my mouth was flooded with these rich delightful experiences, and showed its appreciation by flooding my mouth with saliva and sending positive messages to my brain.
I then stopped drinking coffee completely – something else that dulled my taste buds. But what did I have instead ? I started to drink hot water with a slice of lemon and a slice of ginger in – not only does this taste refreshingly bright and clean, but it wakes you up and sets up your body to receive food. Amazing – and it tastes so beautiful, after my first mouthful I felt healthier. The zinginess of the lemon and strength of the ginger combine to leave you feeling clean inside. To destress, I eat or juice an orange – Vitamin C is an awesome stress reduction tool and much better for you than cigarettes and alcohol.
When you choose to change your lifestyle, you choose to give your taste buds the gift of life!! Its a gradual thing and wont happen over night, but if you stick with it, you will change yourself for life. Like any bad habit – its quicker and easier to grab a burger or a sandwich – it has to be changed for a good habit – you will learn techniques that mean you CAN get yourself a healthy meal every night. Being healthy does not have to be boring, and we share some of our recipes so that you can indulge without the guilt, and if you do indulge, as we all have over Christmas, then you can counteract that indulgence by being strictly healthy for a few weeks. If you indulge for a day (say your birthday), then so long as you are eating healthy before and after that day, then its OK and there is no need to feel guilty.
So is it a question of taste ? No, its a question of adaptation and being a little more adventurous with foods. Taste is all in the mind, and your mind will LOVE learning how all of the wonderful flavours of nature taste. YOU have the POWER to choose, and the POWER to change – use it.
Other SIDE EFFECTS of a natural organic lifestyle include – increased libido, increased energy, better cleaner brighter skin, less reliance on prescribed medication, and more!!!
Keep on “squeaking” the message to everyone you meet
The Original Organic Guinea Pig
Dale Preece-Kelly
