I have been reading Wendy Cook's books Foodwise* and Biodynamic Food and Cookbook*, and I am trying to use her advice to plan our meals more intelligently. I am also reading Dr. Rudolf Hauschka's Nutrition on which Wendy based her advice.
Did you know that each day of the week is associated with a different grain? I didn't!
The different parts of the plant - root, stem, leaf, fruit and seed - are each associated with different body parts and can be used to heal them! Different colors are also associated with different body parts. A friend tries to incorporate every plant part - root, leaf, and fruit/blossom - in each meal. (There is a chart further down the page of which foods are which plant parts.)
This concept is very new to me, so I created this page to document what I learn, both to have it all in one easily accessible place, and to help others who might also be interested in the concept. If you know anything about this PLEASE SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE!!
Grains of the Day:
Monday : Moon Day RICE
Tuesday: Mars Day OATS
Wednesday: Mercury Day MILLET
Thursday: Jupiter Day RYE
Friday: Venus Day BARLEY
Saturday: Saturn Day MAIZE
Sunday: Sun Day WHEAT
Threefold Plant-Human Relationship:
Root: Nervous system (head)
Leaf and Stem: Rhythmic, breathing system (heart and lungs)
Fruit, Seeds, Nuts, Blossoms: Metabolic and limb systems (intestines and limbs)
Color Energetic Frequencies:
Example: beets, strawberries, apples
ORANGE: Hypogastric chakra
Example: carrots, tomatoes, mango
YELLOW: Solar plexus
Example: lemon, yellow squash, pears
GREEN/GOLD: Heart and thymus
Example: spinach, cucumber, nuts, seeds
BLUE: Throat and thyroid
Example: blueberries and grapes
INDIGO: Ajna (brow enter and pituitary)
Example: olives and figs
PURPLE: Head chakra
Example: blackberries, currants, plums
One concept Wendy shared that both fascinated and resonated with me was the idea that our food choices should be driven by our TEETH.
One eighth (1/8) are canines, best for meat
Five eighths (5/8) are molars, best for grains and legumes
She recommends the following percentages for meal planning, and claims that most traditional one-pot meals, like paella, follow these percentages:
25% vegetables
5-10% legumes
15% fruits and salads
10-15% dairy, fish, meat
Wendy claims that our bodies are only able to excrete 8 grams of uric acid/day. Eating one pound of meat would leave a residue of 18 grams of uric acid. Excess uric acid becomes toxic in bodily tissues, particularly in the joints, and is implicated in arthritis and gout. Dairy does not increase uric acid, but high-purine fish, like mackerel, tuna, trout and halibut, do raise uric acid. Wild caught salmon, flounder/sole, cod, and haddock are safer fish choices.
This philosophy differs from the Weston A. Price recommendation, which leans
more heavily towards meat. WAP claims that metabolic dysfunction, caused by
diets high in sugar and processed food, impairs uric acid handling, and
that traditional meat consumption is not the primary cause of excess
uric acid. It's actually highly refined carbs that increase uric acid
production - white rice, white bread, white pasta, and most sweeteners.
Hmmm...whose advice do I follow?!? We already limit sugar and eat no processed food.
Wendy also emphasizes the need to balance those foods that affect the acid load your kidneys must process.
Foods that produce acid residues:dairy
grains
nuts and seeds
processed foods.
fruits
tubers
legumes. Therefore, lemon, surprisingly, is alkaline-forming.
Here is an AI-generated chart of which foods are which part of the plant:
Did you notice that green beans are FRUITS? Broccoli is FLOWER? Legumes are SEEDS?
WHAT I PLAN TO DO
While I am reading and learning I will start small by first following the grain of the day suggestions. I don't eat corn so Saturday will be a wild-card day!
I have never cooked with MILLET or BARLEY, but they are supposedly good for blood sugar so I will be experimenting with them. On the RYE day, I'll serve rye bread from our farm store.
I will also attempt to follow a modified version of the grain-vegetable-meat-legume-salad percentages. We have already cut back on our meat consumption; but, given our current health challenges - pre-diabetes - we eat very few grains, and I cannot imagine eating 60% of each meal as grains. We also avoid most fruits, which are high in sugar. So ... I will adjust the meal composition goal slightly, taking all of the above advice into account:
25% vegetables
10% fruits and salads
20% whole grains
20% dairy, fish, meat
In other words, 60% of each meal will be legumes, cooked vegetables, and salad (raw vegetables); and 40% will be grains and meat.
NOTE: One place where I disagree with Wendy wholeheartedly is on the subject of seed oils. Except for cold pressed unrefined olive and avocado oils, seed oils are highly inflammatory and I will not be using them. I tried once
using cold pressed unrefined sunflower oil, and the strong taste and
smell was decidedly unpleasant. It was NOT worth the omega-6 hit. I will stick to butter, ghee, tallow,
lard, and coconut oil.
* (The links above go to Amazon, but the books are much cheaper on eBay.)
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