Emily Bergeron is a co-editor of Balance and a graduate student in nutritional epidemiology at the Friedman School. She has a MS in nutrition and public health from Columbia University and is a registered dietitian.
I'm stuck in a rut - a food rut that is. Egg whites and oatmeal for breakfast, natural peanut butter on whole wheat bread with a glass of skim milk for lunch, grilled chicken and spinach salad sprinkled with olive oil and vinegar for dinner - each meal separated by a banana, string cheese, or chocolate flavored yogurt.
Could my taste buds be any more boring? Let's hope not. Let's hope I have reached an all-time low on the food excitement scale.
Yet, it's quite possible my palate could stoop a little lower. Perhaps even low enough to illicit a yawn factor parallel to that of an 8:00 a.m. Friday morning buzz-kill chemistry class. After all, I certainly wasn't voted "Most Studious" in high school because I brought the best avocado dip to the senior party. And like most college students, I am a creature of habit. I find comfort in schedules and routines that I can track in my over-booked planner - and food is no exception.
I like going to bed knowing that Quaker whole oats will be waiting for me in the morning. I like composing a grocery store list every Sunday that is virtually the same as the week's before. I like not having to spend the time thinking about what I am going to eat for the day. My lackluster diet usually does the trick to get me by from day to day, providing just enough energy to see me through graduate school and stress-busting workouts in the Gantcher Center. But is this monotonous food funk going to catch-up with me in the long run?
Probably. You certainly don't need a Ph. D. in nutrition to know that eating the same foods day in and day out is not the best way to get the most optimal array of nutrients and disease-fighting phytochemicals in your diet. And yet, working towards a Ph. D. in nutrition isn't even enough to prevent me from falling into the fun-less food trap. In fact, I suspect spending the last eight years of my life studying the science of food didn't do much to stimulate the part of my brain responsible for recognizing food as an artful pleasure.
It's not like it would even take much to liven up my dull diet. Toss in a handful of frozen raspberries to my a.m. oats, then add some chopped Italian eggplant and a juicy ripe tomato to my eggs and "BAM!" (as Emeril would say): breakfast could be easily brightened with a little color and flavor. So what precludes me from letting my hair down and allowing my food to don a dress foxy enough to walk down the red carpet on Oscar night?
Comfort, convenience and cost for starters, not to mention that my "creative" side was quieted a long time ago when I discovered the linear logic of science to be a placative certainty in an uncertain world. But none of these excuses are reason enough to void out all that food has to offer besides calories, carbs, fat, protein, vitamins, or minerals.
Food can dazzle your taste buds, center a social engagement, calm nerves and spark exhilaration, reflect culture and personality, light your tongue on fire or cool it as cold as an icicle and create intimacy between two soon-not-to-be-so-strange strangers on a first date.
I'll be the first to advocate using food as a tool to promote good health and longevity, but once in a while I find the need to remind myself that there is more to food than science. We know more about nutrition now than we ever have. Yet, the more we discover, the more we learn we need to keep digging. The science of nutrition will forever continuously evolve as we sophisticate our knowledge and our methods to study it as a discipline.
One thing that won't change, however, is that we will always need to eat. And if we ever do develop a way for the masses to survive without eating, who would want to stop?
I certainly wouldn't, but continuing to furrow my food choices into an uninspired black hole isn't a much better option. If you think your diet is in need of a Hollywood-style makeover too, why not try to glamming it up a bit? Order an entree occasionally without worrying about how many calories it has, try a food that you've never heard of once a month, or go to a pricey restaurant and savor your bites like a famous critic.
We all know "you are what you eat," but don't forget to enjoy your food too!
