Don’t Look for Food, Look for Nouri!

Food is defined as any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, or promote growth. To nourish is defined as to sustain with food or nutriment. Nutriment is defined as something that nourishes; food. These are all circular terms. Neither food, nutriment, or nourish effectively describe what we should be eating to be healthy. By these definitions a candy bar qualifies as food–it will sustain you, give you an energy boost, and may even allow you to grow;  but it won’t make you healthy.

Food as we knew it has become so processed, genetically modified, manipulated, and poisoned with chemicals that it is no longer an appropriate term to use to describe what we should be consuming to be healthy.

Eating healthy has been a challenge for many because the marketing around healthy has become so confusing–low fat, low sodium, low sugar, fat-free, low-carb diet, high-protein diet, paleo-diet, macrobiotic, South Beach diet, Atkins diet, etc. There seems to be a diet for everything. Doctors, scientists, dieticians, public policy people, the media all seem to over complicate things.

Change the word, and you will forever change your perspective on what to eat. The new word is nouri. Nouri is any plant or animal based protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamin, mineral, or phytonutrient, that is ingested in liquid or solid form, that improves the cellular functions of the body to strengthen the immune system, promotes energy, and reduces the risk of illness or disease. Nouri is food that has high nutrient value that benefits the body. Plain and simple. Nouri is whole, unprocessed, organic, and non-GMO. How nouri is prepared –whether it is raw, slow-cooked, fermented, baked or fried will determine whether nouri is still nouri when it winds up on your plate.

Nouri should inspire you! Nouri should taste delicious and awaken your taste buds and all your cells. Finding nouri should be an everyday quest–personal, cultural, culinary, healthy.

Check out what is considered to be nouri, whether you are eating it, how to find it, and how to eat healthy at home and on the road in Travel Healthy: A Road Warrior’s Guide to Eating Healthy. The Healthy Food Spectrum, along with the Quick Food Choice Calculator, and menu examples will inspire you to think differently about food… oops nouri.  Get the book now!