CONSCIOUS NUTRITION
CONSCIOUS NUTRITION
To understand why it is important to eat local, fresh and seasonal foods, we need to see ourselves as part of the ecosystem and as an ecology, rather than an individual.
We are made up of millions of bacteria and microorganisms that far exceed the number of human cells in our bodies. And each microorganism has specific functions, important for the proper functioning of our system and for the metabolism of food. And the place where we host the most microorganisms is in our digestive tract. Together they make up our microbiota.
Before mass industrialization, we obtained them from fermented foods or directly from fruits and vegetables from healthy living soil. Fruits and vegetables were harvested in their ideal season and ripeness, allowing them to develop all their nutrients and flavor. Today the food we eat is processed, packaged and disinfected. They are artificially fertilized and bathed in pesticides that are harmful to our bodies in the long term. They are harvested unripe and ripened in cold storage. They come from greenhouses or from massive cultivation of land that has already lost its balance of nutrients and microorganisms or from distant lands, ripening in means of transport. Therefore, they are devoid of the nutrients and microorganisms that allow us to have a healthy balance in the ecosystem in which we find ourselves.
On the other hand, in each season, nature gives us fruits that contain the nutrients our body needs for the challenges of the season. We could, for example, harvest citrus fruits in winter in some ecosystems. These contain vitamin C, among other things, which we need for a strong immune system during low temperatures.
