What is Food as Medicine?

We make choices every day, and those choices influence our health — for better or worse.
"Food as medicine" is about understanding ingredients and how they can affect us.

What we eat becomes us — cellularly, energetically, and spiritually. If you think about it, our food choices shape who we are.

Choosing Foods to Reduce Inflammation

Inflammation is at the root of many chronic diseases, and when it is present, it places constant pressure on digestion, immunity, the nervous system, and the body’s ability to detoxify and repair on a cellular level. Using food as medicine means choosing foods that calm and support these systems, rather than adding to the inflammatory fire the body is already managing.

Choosing foods that soothe and support — rather than those that inflame and irritate — is the foundation and the art of using everyday food as medicine.

Inflammatory Ingredients and Foods

Certain foods and food practices add to inflammation and increase the burden on the body, particularly when eaten regularly.
These include:

• Gluten - a protein found in wheat, barley & rye can create digestive issues leading to leaky gut, brain fog, fatigue and inflammatory bowel symptoms.
• Dairy - can inflame and create congestion and increase mucus, especially in the respiratory system and facial skin.
• Sugar causes inflammation on a cellular level and leads to insulin resistance and feeds fungus, bacteria and cancer cell growth.
  
  
• Highly processed foods made with nitrates, preservatives, chemicals, and additives affect many metabolic functions and add toxic load to body systems.
• Seed oils and processed oils with a high toxin and chemical load, fried foods and inflammatory especially for the cardio-vascular system and liver.
• Alcohol causes inflammation and negatively affect the gut, brain,  liver and kidneys.
  
• Animal products from animals that have been given antibiotics and feed and water exposed to herbicides, pesticides, and other toxic chemicals.
• Plant foods grown with herbicides, pesticides, and chemical sprays add a toxic burden to the body's systems.
  
• Artificial flavours and scents, many of which are made from petrochemicals, act as neurotoxins in the brain and add to the toxic load on body systems.
  

Choosing an anti-inflammatory eating style, working with the healing power of plants, and cooking with whole, chemical-free ingredients supports the body to calm inflammation, reduce toxic load, and improve digestion and nutrient absorption.

The food we choose to eat each day directly affects how the body functions:

• How well we digest and absorb nutrients.
• How efficiently we eliminate waste and toxins.
• How we respond to immune stress.
• How we maintain balance at a cellular level.

When these systems are supported through food, the body is better able to sustain steady energy,  clearer thinking, emotional steadiness, and long-term resilience, health, and vitality.

That is what functional nutrition is.
That is what it means to use everyday food as medicine.
That is why BK + my recipes follow an anti-inflammatory eating style.

There are millions of recipes out there. Are you cooking food that truly supports your health and reduces inflammation? 
We make choices every day, and those choices influence our health — for better or worse.