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You are what you eat, they say. But who are you, when you don’t know what you are eating? More and more people seek simplification and transparency to rediscover the health benefits of real food. Luckily, if we look closely, there are some clues mother nature has given us. The foodcrisis and the increase of western diseases like obesity, makes us aware and careful about the way we deal with our food. The question ‘Is it tasty?’ is being overruled by questions like ‘Is it sustainable? Local? Animal friendly? and ‘What will it do for my health? Because in addition to the ‘Green Guilt’ some of us feel - feeling guilty for not living sustainable enough we also need Planet Body to be well. We are increasingly aware that nutrition is related to how we feel on a physical and mental level. According to a worldwide study (Nielsen Global Survey of Food Labeling trends 2011), 59 per cent of people around the world have difficulty understanding nutritional labels on food packaging and more than half (53%) consider themselves overweight. We need to take control again. More and more people are re-educating themselves when it comes to food and it’s medicinal qualities.
Ancient beliefs, based on what is now often referred to as ‘intuitive science’, are making an unprecedented comeback and believers in the philosophy of ‘The Doctrine of Signatures’ are being taken more seriously than they have been for hundreds of years. The Doctrine of Signatures states that
herbs and foods that resemble various parts of the body can be used to treat ailments afflicting those particular parts. These ‘signatures’ are based on colour, texture, shape, aroma and the environment in which they are cultivated. At first it is easy to dismiss the association between foods and the body parts they resemble as coincidence, but if you look at the examples around us, it becomes apparent that the philosophy may actually hold water.
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GINGER / STOMACH Ginger appears to reduce inflammation in a similar way to aspirin and ibuprofen; it slows associated biochemical pathways. Ginger is also a mild stimulant that promotes circulation. Ginger contains chemicals called gingerols and shogaols. When using ginger to treat upset stomach, these chemicals relax the intestinal tract, preventing motion sickness and relieving the nausea, vomiting, colicky stomach cramps, and diarrhea that often accompany stomach flu.
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WALNUTS/ BRAIN Walnuts look exactly like miniature brains with a left and right hemisphere and upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums, and it has been scientifically proven that walnuts greatly assist brain development.. They are rich with brainboosting omega-3 fatty acids that also have positive effects on mood. Like many antidepressants, walnuts work to boost the brain’s serotonin levels. The healthy oil also works at lowering cholesterol as well.
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GRAPES / LUNGS Grapes represent the alveoli of the lungs and medical science confirms that eating lots of these ‘Health bombs’, which contain high levels of reserveratrol, is highly beneficial for the epithelial cells lining the lungs and trachea. Regular consumption works to alleviate asthma and other bronchial complaints. eating grapes or drinking pure grape juice on an almost daily basis has been scientifically proven to neutralise carcinogenic substances present in the body.
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Once upon a time natural healing was all people knew. During the past century the western world of conventional allopathic medicine has pushed back natural healing, defined it as supplementary or alternative and often dismissed it as medieval or outdated. But the tables are turning again. The Doctrine of Signatures was an important aspect of life from the Middle Ages until the early modern period. Often associated with the work of herbalists and wise women, it drew upon the belief that natural objects that looked like a part of the body could cure diseases that would arise there. Folk healers in Christian and Muslim countries claimed that God, or Allah, deliberately made plants resemble the parts of the body they could cure. Today the idea lies at the heart of modern homeopathy. Traditional Chinese medicine also classified substances of potential medical use by correlating their appearance with human organs.
Despite some rejecting it as a valid theory for classification of plants or their properties and uses in medicine, many homeopathic and other natural practitioners still use the concept today. The earliest known reference to the Doctrine of Signatures is in the writings of Galen (131-200 AD). He was a physician, writer, surgeon and philosopher who became the most famous doctor in the Roman Empire and whose theories dominated European medicine for 1,500 years. The Doctrine was then revived in modern times by a Swiss physician, alchemist and philosopher named Paracelsus (1493-1541), who is also known by many as the father of modern chemistry.
Paracelsus noted how the qualities of plants are often reflected in their appearance. He thus theorised that the inner nature of plants may be discovered by their outer forms or ‘signatures.’ He applied this principle to food as well as medicine, remarking that “it is not in the quantity of food but in its quality that resides the Spirit of Life.” In the late 1600s it was revived after Jakob Bohme, a master shoemaker in the small town of Gorlitz, Germany, began writing on the subject. A religious man, Bohme suggested that God marked objects with a sign, or ‘signature’, for their purpose. A plant bearing parts that resembled human body parts, animals, or other objects were thought to have useful relevance to those parts, animals or objects. The ‘signature’ may also be identified in the environments or specific sites in which plants grew. However, it was an avid student of Parcelsus, William Coles (1626-1662), a 17th century botanist and author of The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden, who ultimately popularised this concept for practical medical applications. More? J Boehme, Signatura Rerum, or The Signature of All Things, edition translated and prefaced by J Ellistone, (London: Gyles Calvert, 1651) W Cole, Adam in Eden or Nature’s Paradise (London: J Streater for Nathanial Brooke, 1657) R Porter, The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present (London: HarperCollins, 1997) Input: Technomic, the healthy eating consumer trendreport- International Herald Tribune, herbs and the human body - Science Museum’s history of Medicine - Nielsen Global Survey of food labeling US Centers for disease control and prevention
*The suggestions in this article have been provided for your information and inspiration. It is not intended to substitute medical expertise and advice.
bodycopy VERA VAN HET HOF
ALL IMAGES BY LISA KLAPPE PHOTOGRAPHY
bodycopy VERA VAN HET HOF
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FIGS / TESTICLES Figs are full of seeds and hang in pairs, just like the testicles they mimic. Figs help increase sperm moBility and sperm count, both of which are essential for reproductive health. Adding extra figs to your diet can help treat male sterility. FIGS ALSO CONTAIN MAGNESIUM, WICH contributeS to THE ability to produce testosterone
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BEETROOT / HEART beetroot can help reduce blood pressure as well as its associated risks such as heart attacks and strokes. This is because the high content of nitrates in beetroot produce a gas called nitric oxide in the blood which widens blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. the pigment that gives beetroot its colour Is an antioxidant. THEY help reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, in turn protecting artery walls and reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
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