Thinking About Food Through the Lens of Authenticity

Source: Elaine Dundon

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2023 Word of the Year is “authentic.” This word has many meanings, including: real; honest; not false or imitation; as well as being true to one’s spirit or personality. It is also connected to identity such as authentic self and authentic culture.

In terms of our lifestyles and specifically our diets, these questions arise: “Are we living authentic lifestyles – ones honest, real, and true to our own spirit and personality? Are we supporting these authentic lifestyles with authentic diets – ones which include real, not fake food that support our overall health?”

Recently, Alex Pattakos and I were special guests of the 2nd Annual Cretan Lifestyle Conference held on the island of Crete, Greece, where 150 professionals gathered to discuss the benefits of following the Cretan diet and lifestyle upon which the Mediterranean diet is based. The conference was coordinated through the Hellenic Center for Excellence in Health and Wellness, founded by Dr. Stefanos Kales from Harvard Medical School/ Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and Demetrios Kalaitzidakis, Group Operations Director at Grecotel Hotels & Resorts and AgrecoFarms.

The Cretan/Mediterranean Diet is high in fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds and low in saturated fats and sugar. Traditional herbs, spices, and olive oil also contribute to this healthy diet, a diet rich in food from the land and not highly processed.

Many years ago, a physiologist, Ancel Keys conducted a multi-country study, famously named the "Seven Countries Study," to examine the relationships between diet, lifestyle, coronary heart disease and stroke. Besides factors such as blood pressure, blood cholesterol, consuming saturated fats, and smoking, Keyes discovered that people living in the Mediterranean and following the traditional Mediterranean lifestyle had lower rates of cardiovascular disease. His study concluded that diet and lifestyle do affect the risk of heart disease but that through changes in diet and lifestyle, a person can lower their risk level.

Shift from Lab to Land

In my book, The OPA! Way: Finding Joy & Meaning in Everyday Life & Work¹, I suggest, before we eat anything, that we ask ourselves, “Do we know what we are eating?” and “Did this food come from the lab or the land?” If it came solely from the lab, our bodies may have a hard time processing the chemically based ingredients.

We can ask ourselves. “What percentage of the food I ate today came from the lab and what percentage came from the land?” or alternatively, for every lab food we eat, we could eat a food sourced from the land. Over time, our taste buds will return to enjoying more natural food and our cravings for high levels of salt, sugar, fat, and additives will decline.

So why are we not healthier?

I would suggest that many people know, at least at a basic level, which foods are healthy and which are not. However, many people in the USA are either overweight or obese. So why do we keep choosing the unhealthy options?

• Is it a lack of knowledge?
• Is it a lack of availability, where fruits, vegetables, and healthy grains are just not available?
• Is it a lack of time, where people opt for microwaving processed food instead of preparing meals with raw ingredients?
• Is it a cost issue, where healthy food appears more expensive then processed food?
• Is it just habit, where we reach for butter, processed cheeses, high fat sauces and salad dressings instead of olive oil or healthier options?
• Is it a stress issue, where also out of habit, “we eat our stress” with high calorie, high sugar snack foods?
• Is it a lack of awareness where we eat large quantities of unhealthy foods as we are busy being mesmerized by images on our television or computer screens?

Only you can answer these questions for yourself.

But I can’t help but wonder if there aren’t deeper issues that need to be addressed. Focusing on our physical bodies and the types of food we eat, and even the amount of movement or exercise and sleep we get, may be limiting our view of the deeper psychological, more metaphysical (beyond the physical) factors affecting our overall health.

I suggest that there is a major challenge arising in our society – many people no longer care about eating healthy food because they are overwhelmed with the state of their lives and have chosen a more nihilistic view toward their lives and society in general. In doing so, they have lost the connection to authentic meaning in their lives.

So, one approach may be to first, help people increase their awareness of how they can begin to live more authentic, meaningful lives; second, help people choose the best options to reach their full potential; and then third, help people choose healthier lifestyle and diet options, including selecting higher energy foods sourced from the land. Psychological choices before physical choices. Food for thought!