Gwyneth Paltrow - 4 April

Osteopathic Physician

Be Hive of Healing Center for Integrative Medicine

Los Angeles, California

Food is many things. Its necessary, nurturing, and healing. With few exceptions, food has been misrepresented and sensationalized more than almost any other subject in the media. It seems as though we cant turn on the evening news without seeing a story about a particular food item that was once deemed bad for us by an expert thats now being praised as healthy.

People are passionate about food. We should be. Whats more important than the quality of food that gives us life, health, and strength? Instead of using that passion to enjoy food, we do what we do with most things in life. We complicate it. We overthink it. We worry about whether or not a certain food is good for us, or whether or not it causes some health problem. Weve intellectualized food when its not a mental exercise. Its a sensorial experience. Food comes from the earth. So do we. The tastes, textures, smells, and colors of food are reminders of our visceral connection to the essential life energy of the earth. Food also keeps us aware that were partners in a process thats much larger than ourselves. Food gives us its life force. In return, we act as good stewards of the earth to ensure this cycle of life continues in a healthy, vital way. We sustain and nurture each other.

Food is simple. Food is spiritual. To understand this, all we need to do is look at the process through which we obtain foods energy: digestion. Di means two and gestion (as in gestation) refers to the action of carrying or bearing. Food carries two purposes for us. It has two functions. Everyone understands how food builds and feeds our bodies. When we move away from our instinct and intellectualize food with too much science, we forget that it was created to feed our soul, as well. It builds our bodies through sustenance and nurtures our souls through sensation.

Food is sacred. Its dual purpose was understood by many ancient cultures, which is why food was an integral part of their spiritual ceremonies. The harvest season was celebrated and fertility rituals often included different foods. For thousands of years, Ayurveda, the ancient system of Hindu medicine, has used the energetics of different foods to engage the mind/body connection and facilitate healing. Food isnt an inanimate object. Its part of us. The most intimate way we become one with the earth is by taking what it offers us into our bodies as food. Its a sacred union thats connected to both our divinity as spiritual beings and our human experience through health and vitality.

Food that has fantastic texture, depth of flavor, and an enticing aroma excites us and makes us happy. It thrills us, lights us up, and reminds us what it feels like to enjoy something from the soul level. The experience is even richer when we share food we love with friends and family. It brings us together and strengthens the spiritual connections we have with each other. We feed our bodies through food, but we feed our souls through what makes us happy, through pleasure. Because food brings us so much pleasure, its not just essential for a healthy body, but a healthy spirit, too.

A lot of people think great flavor is an afterthought when it comes to healthy food, but if we are to be fully nourished by food, it needs to taste wonderful. Food must be a pleasure-filled, spiritual experience. God gave us taste buds for a reason! Animals regularly fed a diet thats full of nutrition but void of any flavor will eventually die from malnutrition. Its clear that there is a physiological link between taste and health. If we dont enjoy the food were eating, regardless of whether its broccoli or brownies, were absorbing fewer of its nutrients. In order to be fully nourished by our food, we must take pleasure in it.

It seems more than coincidence that my dear friend Gwyneth celebrates her fortieth birthday with the release of this beautiful cookbook. The number forty is highly significant across all traditional faiths and esoteric philosophies. It symbolizes changecoming through a struggle and emerging on the other side more enlightened because of the experience. Its a passage into spiritual adulthood. Traditionally, anyone under the age of forty was prohibited from studying the Jewish mystic philosophy of Kabbalah because it was felt they hadnt had enough life experience to fully digest it. Reaching forty is a joyful milestone. Its a time to celebrate the birth of the new self that has been gestating within. Its time to rejoice in the birth of the body and in the rebirth of the soul!

When it comes to cooking amazing food, we all know someone who can come home from work and whip up an incredible meal out of whats left in their refrigeratorusually celery, one egg, sea salt, and three other ingredients that just dont seem to go together. Out of these isolated ingredients comes a terrific meal that makes perfect sense and tastes great. Food is spiritual because it can be a metaphor for life. When crazy things happen and our laundry list of problems just doesnt make sense, we can step back and get a better view of how its all coming together. We can see how the ingredients complement each other and combine to create a deeper, richer experience. There are no bad ingredients in the recipe of life. Everything adds flavor to the final product and helps us absorb what I call psychospiritual nutrition. We can fully digest all the ingredients of our life and see that theyve come together perfectly to make for a fuller human experience. In food and life,