Your body is a furnace. Burn good coal.

Sitting around the dinner table at the holidays, my mother pulls out our Table Topics game and commences our somewhat newly formed tradition of answering the questions on the cards.

This time when she pulls out a card it asks, “what’s your favorite story about one of your grandparents?”

My husband answers.

He doesn’t have a story but instead he shares something his grandpa said that has always stuck with him.

He remembers his grandpa saying, “Your body is a furnace. Burn good coal.”

Often times we try to fix symptoms without addressing underlying causes.

We put creams on rashes, toothpaste on pimples, concealer on dark circles.

We whiten our teeth or by clothes to flatter our bumps.

We become outraged with predatory acts of harassment, over-filled jails and other societal issues without considering what is causing these symptoms to occur. (Sorry, couldn’t help going on a bit of a tangent there!)

And, we neglect to see food for what it is, or what it can be: good coal for our bodies to burn.

Instead, we use it for amusement. To bring joy or reduce boredom. It’s a reward.

And it’s a very cheap way to treat ourselves when we’re feeling stressed or down or helpless in the face of our current reality.

And, while it is perfectly OK that food plays this multifaceted role in our lives, we tend to overlook the immense positive, proactive way that it can help us address underlying issues that plague many people, such as fatigue, stress, low self-esteem, lack of energy, skin problems, gastric distress, inflammation, mood swings, and our ability to make better decisions and be our highest performing selves.

“Let food by thy medicine” is not a new idea, but it is one that we seem to have forgotten.

It’s no wonder that when we are so busy food becomes an afterthought.

And being able to take a quick trip to the supermarket further disconnects us from our food.

Seeing and experiencing firsthand what it takes to grow a single head of lettuce has given me a new level of respect for our planet, plants, food and survival.

When you experience how difficult it is to grow enough food to sustain yourself, you begin to view the supermarket in a new light.

You begin to view food as a sacred resource, and you think twice about what fuel you burn in your furnace.

May you burn good coal in the New Year.

~ Bree