Play & Book Excerpts
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Food for Thought
(Post Hill Press)
© 2018 Cristina Ferrare
As I did my research for this book I became acutely aware of the foods you needed to eat for gut health, along with foods you need in your diet for different parts of your body. I learned that gut health is the most important thing you need to fix first.
Gut health is the most important to balance because it has major effects on your brain, your moods, and your memory. The gut “talks” to your heart and brain every day and controls what goes on in your body. Some researches even refer to your gut as your “second brain.”
There are so many things that can wreak havoc with our digestive systems. It is vital to your health to get things back in balance in your body to restore yourself to optimal health.
Chronic inflammation caused by foods has a serious effect on the body’s inflammation responses. The biggest culprits are the processed and sugary foods and trans fats that are in a variety of snack and fried foods, sugary baked goods, and vegetable shortening. Foods that have high amounts of trans fats increase systemic inflammation.
There are numerous ways to control chronic inflammation naturally and to promote overall health, starting with your gut.
Scientists have learned how what you eat affects adult brains and the brains of children as well. It is never too early to start children on the road to body and brain health beginning with the day they are of the breast.
Omega-3 fatty acids, which you’ll find in foods such as salmon, walnuts, and fruits, provide many benefits. They improve learning, aid memory, and help to fight mental disorders, such as depression, mood swings, and dementia.
Studies show that children who had increased amounts of omega-3 fatty acids perform better in school and have fewer behavioral problems.
I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we put into our bodies directly affects our health. I use to say with gusto, I live to eat, but now I say, I eat to live. I want to participate in my life as a fully functioning human being for however long I may have. Food is now my medicine.
I’ve created recipes that include almost every food you can think of while eliminating white (processed) sugar, most gluten, and some dairy. However, I am realistic; even though I eat this way, most people will not give up certain things and that’s okay as long as you do not make it a daily habit. You will find, however, as your body starts to feel better, your taste preference for sugary, salty, oily, and fatty foods will diminish because it won’t taste good to you anymore!
I’m asking you to stop and really think from this day forward about how what you eat will affect your overall health before you put it in your mouth. You make the choice; think clearly about it so you can help your body’s inflammation responses.
If you’re like me, you want everybody to be happy. You want the sun to shine, people to smile, and life to be like the title of every loving, uplifting song you’ve ever heard. And you want everyone to be healthy.
I have come to appreciate wanting to emphasize the good things in life, even when reality sometimes crashes our dreams. So, when I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells, I vowed to fight it with a positive attitude and a heart filled with both hope and determination. I am winning that fight. I went through a stem cell replacement in 2016 and was in remission 2 months later. My doctors were amazed by how quickly I recovered! I’m convinced it is because of the choices I made in my diet, which I have been following for years, that helped me in my recovery. I remain healthy, happy, and optimistic!
But this does not mean that I am a Pollyanna. It does mean that I turned my determination (my family calls it stubbornness—and my reaction is, as always, “whatever!”) into a focus (okay, obsession) with finding out everything I could about the relationship between diet and disease. And this research has resulted in a wealth of information on the relationship between food and health.
Think twice before you reach for that can of soda, or sugary fruit drink, or that ginormous bag of chips. Think about the heavy desserts and greasy fried foods drenched in unhealthy oils. Think about how you feel afterwards and take notice of how it affects your mood; you may choose not to eat or drink it then.
What we feed our bodies matters. If we don’t feed and nourish it properly, it will make you sick and you may lose your mind—literally! Think about it!
Love, Cristina
Gut health is the most important to balance because it has major effects on your brain, your moods, and your memory. The gut “talks” to your heart and brain every day and controls what goes on in your body. Some researches even refer to your gut as your “second brain.”
There are so many things that can wreak havoc with our digestive systems. It is vital to your health to get things back in balance in your body to restore yourself to optimal health.
Chronic inflammation caused by foods has a serious effect on the body’s inflammation responses. The biggest culprits are the processed and sugary foods and trans fats that are in a variety of snack and fried foods, sugary baked goods, and vegetable shortening. Foods that have high amounts of trans fats increase systemic inflammation.
There are numerous ways to control chronic inflammation naturally and to promote overall health, starting with your gut.
Scientists have learned how what you eat affects adult brains and the brains of children as well. It is never too early to start children on the road to body and brain health beginning with the day they are of the breast.
Omega-3 fatty acids, which you’ll find in foods such as salmon, walnuts, and fruits, provide many benefits. They improve learning, aid memory, and help to fight mental disorders, such as depression, mood swings, and dementia.
Studies show that children who had increased amounts of omega-3 fatty acids perform better in school and have fewer behavioral problems.
I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we put into our bodies directly affects our health. I use to say with gusto, I live to eat, but now I say, I eat to live. I want to participate in my life as a fully functioning human being for however long I may have. Food is now my medicine.
I’ve created recipes that include almost every food you can think of while eliminating white (processed) sugar, most gluten, and some dairy. However, I am realistic; even though I eat this way, most people will not give up certain things and that’s okay as long as you do not make it a daily habit. You will find, however, as your body starts to feel better, your taste preference for sugary, salty, oily, and fatty foods will diminish because it won’t taste good to you anymore!
I’m asking you to stop and really think from this day forward about how what you eat will affect your overall health before you put it in your mouth. You make the choice; think clearly about it so you can help your body’s inflammation responses.
If you’re like me, you want everybody to be happy. You want the sun to shine, people to smile, and life to be like the title of every loving, uplifting song you’ve ever heard. And you want everyone to be healthy.
I have come to appreciate wanting to emphasize the good things in life, even when reality sometimes crashes our dreams. So, when I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells, I vowed to fight it with a positive attitude and a heart filled with both hope and determination. I am winning that fight. I went through a stem cell replacement in 2016 and was in remission 2 months later. My doctors were amazed by how quickly I recovered! I’m convinced it is because of the choices I made in my diet, which I have been following for years, that helped me in my recovery. I remain healthy, happy, and optimistic!
But this does not mean that I am a Pollyanna. It does mean that I turned my determination (my family calls it stubbornness—and my reaction is, as always, “whatever!”) into a focus (okay, obsession) with finding out everything I could about the relationship between diet and disease. And this research has resulted in a wealth of information on the relationship between food and health.
Think twice before you reach for that can of soda, or sugary fruit drink, or that ginormous bag of chips. Think about the heavy desserts and greasy fried foods drenched in unhealthy oils. Think about how you feel afterwards and take notice of how it affects your mood; you may choose not to eat or drink it then.
What we feed our bodies matters. If we don’t feed and nourish it properly, it will make you sick and you may lose your mind—literally! Think about it!
Love, Cristina
Photo Credit: Michael Williams
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Cristina Ferrare is a former fashion model, New York Times bestselling author, TV host and entrepreneur.
During her modeling career, she graced the covers of every major fashion magazine, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan. Cristina co-hosted AM Los Angeles, the highest-rated morning television show during her five-year tenure, and also hosted Cristina and Friends and Home and Family. She was a substitute co-host on Good Morning America and co-hosted with Regis Philbin on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Her primetime series for CBS, Shame on You, was one of the first magazine format shows that featured consumer fraud and awareness. She was featured in a series of cooking segments on Oprah.com titled Cooking with Cristina. Her books include Cristina Ferrare’s Family Entertaining (St. Martin’s Press), Okay, So I Don’t Have a Headache (Golden Books), and Realistically Ever After (Rodale Books). Her latest cookbook, Food for Thought (Post Hill Press), which is excerpted in this issue of Sanctuary, teaches readers how eating the foods you love can keep you healthy, vital and strong. Currently in remission after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2016, Cristina has since co-founded Flourish with her daughters Arianna and Alex. Flourish is committed to the health of body, mind and soul with environmentally friendly products that help people flourish in their everyday lives. Cristina lives in Southern California with her husband, entertainment executive Tony Thomopoulos. They have seven children and four grandchildren. |
