Have Your Cake And Eat It!

We are all facing big environmental and health issues relating to what we eat.  Clearly it is important that we give a lot of thought and consideration to where our food is coming from, how it is made, its impact on the environment and its impact on our health.  With regard to health, there is so much conflicting information out there it can be difficult to determine what one should or should not be eating. So when I came across this article written by Kaki Okumura (and published on Medium in July 2021) it really struck a chord with me.

Japanese People Eat Luxuriously, And That's Why Healthy Eating Is So Easy

I will leave you to read the article.  It is not an article that looks at environmental issues but focuses on an approach to healthy eating that includes eating luxuriously. I think this is an approach we could all enjoy!

The reason it had such an impact on me is that this approach is very much in tune with the philosophy I have always had.  I have always been of the view that good food is measured by quality and not by quantity and that food is to be savoured and enjoyed.  Even with more health issues being highlighted, it seems unrealistic to live one’s life without experiencing some indulgence that is not necessarily the healthiest thing you could be eating. 

Essentially, the approach advocated in this article is that when you treat yourself, make sure it is something of quality that you can really enjoy and savour. It is all too easy to find poor quality cakes and desserts at a cheap price (and frankly some that are not so cheap), but why use up your ‘naughty’ calories on something that is made with cheap ingredients, is overly sweet because it is stuffed full of sugar, lacks flavour and contains all sorts of artificial colours and preservatives?

Western culture has become obsessed with how cheap they can get something, how big it is and how quickly they can get it.  This is the antithesis of the approach advocated in this article.  Quality, flavour and enjoyment are all things that should be prized when it comes to food.