Ten Questions to Ask Yourself When Preparing a Meal
Written by Kate Taylor, Registered Nutritionist
Kate is a Registered Nutritionist and the Founder of Eat Drink Think Nutrition Limited. Kate supports systemic health & wellness through personalised nutrition, diet and lifestyle strategies & recommendations, and particularly specialises in Brain health, cognitive function and Dementia risk-avoidance.
Food choices occur on a daily basis, but how often do you consider your physiology and nutrition in your daily food choices? Perhaps each time you think about food, or perhaps never. Either way, here are ten questions to ask yourself when preparing your daily meals.
1. Am I in a relaxed state for digesting my food?
Colloquially termed “rest and digest,” this is when the parasympathetic nervous system, the systemic opposite of the sympathetic nervous system’s “fight or flight” response, is activated and is the preferred physiological state for digesting food. To encourage parasympathetic activation, take a few deep, calming breaths before a meal and thoroughly chew your food.
2. When and how am I truly hungry?
This relates to hydration and portion control. Sometimes we are thirsty, but we misinterpret the sensation as hunger, so if you experience between meal hunger pangs, try having a small glass of water and see if that helps abate the sensation. Furthermore, at dedicated meal times, apportion food on your plate relative to the palm of your hand, a rough, personalised portion guide, and according to how hungry you truly feel.
3. How can I add one portion of fibre to my meal?
Fibre is a catchall for supporting systemic health, especially gut health, and the ripple effects also affect brain health. Adding a small portion of fibre rich food to a meal can slowly and subtly up your daily nutrient intake. Gentle ideas for adding fibre to your plate of food include scattering a pinch of herbs or seeds, having a piece of fruit for pudding, including a few slices of avocado in your meal or even in a baking mix, resisting the urge to peel vegetables, adding a legume, such as beans, chickpeas, or lentils, or choosing wholegrain complex carbohydrates, often brown in colour and made with wholewheat flour.
4. Can I add a polyphenol rich food onto my plate?
Polyphenols are often found in colourful foods such as berries, 70%+ cacao dark chocolate, green leafy vegetables, and extra virgin olive oil, all of which are highly supportive of brain health and function. So, if you can chop, drizzle, scatter, or slice a tablespoon or two of these ingredients into your meal, this ticks the box for adding a health beneficial polyphenol.
5. Is my cooking environment as toxin free as I can make it?
Some Brainspan supporting questions to ask yourself here include:
Are my cooking and eating utensils predominantly plastic free, and if not, can I swap to bamboo, stainless steel or titanium cutlery, stainless steel or wooden chopping boards, or cast iron pots and pans, if haemochromatosis is not experienced?
Do I have any unnecessary scents in the air? For example, can I avoid or discard artificial air scents and candles, which pollute the air and may detrimentally affect brain health?
If I use gas for cooking, can this be done as economically as possible alongside air filtration?
Is my cooking area, and indeed my living and sleeping areas, mould free? Cooking and breathing in a mouldy environment is good for nothing and no one’s health.
6. Is my plate at 80%?
The Japanese mantra “Hara Hachi Bu” recommends eating until you feel eighty percent full. This supports digestion and satiety, especially when combined with eating mindfully, and helps avoid that uncomfortable “too full” feeling, which is especially useful if returning to work after lunch or enjoying a restful night’s sleep after dinner.
7. Can I add a brain beneficial omega essential fat to my meal?
Beneficial omega 3 fats are highly supportive of brain health and cognitive function, so pick a beneficial fat, a few slices of avocado, a handful of walnuts, if not allergic, a tablespoon of chia, flax, or sunflower seeds, or a sliver of oily fish such as sardines, trout, herring, mackerel, or salmon, and add a portion to your daily plate.
8. Can I remove an ultra processed food from my plate and swap it for a fresh food?
Ultra processed foods are increasingly featuring in the research as being detrimental to brain health and Brainspan, cognitive longevity. If there is an ultra processed food on your plate, ask yourself if you can swap it for a fresh, or less highly processed, equivalent food.
9. Am I able to take a gentle stroll or complete a few squats after finishing my meal?
Actioning gentle movement a short while after a meal may help regulate blood sugar balance and energy. Our quadricep muscles are our body’s largest pump, therefore, walking or squats are considered highly beneficial for circulating blood around our whole body, thus supporting brain health.
10. How will this meal make me feel after eating?
Upon preparing your food, it is often helpful to take a moment to think about exactly how you want to feel after eating. So, considering what time of day the meal is being eaten and what exactly you want the food to do for you can strategically inform choices. Ultimately, food is fuel, and different foods serve different purposes at different times of day. This is not to say that you cannot ever enjoy dietary indulgences, because of course you can, I certainly do, but a quick pause to think about the purpose the food in front of you will serve upon or after eating might help you make more functionally healthful and user friendly plate apparel choices.
Nutrition and diet are the benchmarks and the starting points, which have been recognised since 1903, when Thomas Edison commented in The Newark Advocate, “The doctor of the future will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” Our medical sciences are advancing with phenomenal alacrity, but it is important not to forget that underpinning health, especially brain health, is a healthy respect for fresh, nourishing food, a balanced diet, and a wholesome lifestyle.
If a functional medicine perspective on nurturing, nourishing, and supporting your brain health and cognitive function is of interest, the time to act is now, why postpone what could be actioned today? Investing in your brain health and Brainspan could be the wisest decision you ever make.
Please note that these are general nutritional statements. They are not personalised, and they are not tailored to account for or include recommendations for any existing health imbalances or medical conditions. In these cases, please consult a medical professional and/or a nutritionist or dietitian expert if you have a particular health or dietary requirement.
Read more from Kate Taylor
Kate Taylor, Registered Nutritionist
Kate is an advocate of proactive and preventative healthcare through optimising and personalising the basics, nutrition, diet, and lifestyle. Kate's experiences watching those around her develop and decline from Dementia instilled in her a mindset of 'prevention is better than cure' and that, particularly when it comes to Brain health and Dementia risk-avoidance, the perception 'false hopelessness' should not triumph over health optimism. Whilst sensitive to the fact that Brain health and dementia risk avoidance are multifaceted and cannot be solely addressed by nutrition, Kate's professional nutritional aspiration is to empower & inspire people that diet and lifestyle are integral foundations to health, healthspan, and importantly, Brainspan.
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