My mother recently had hernia surgery, and I was fortunate enough to see her through the entire process up until a successful surgery. After her surgery we were told that she would have to go through a couple lifestyle changes. Chief among them being the way she was eating. The advise her doctor gave her were the following:
Eat a colourful meal
The doctor explained that by eating a colourful meal, your body would receive different phytonutrients. Different coloured foods can provide the body with different nutrients which help maintain your immune system. A bright pop of colour in your food would also make it more appealing and fun to eat, thereby increasing the serotonin levels in your body. In layman’s terms, bright food makes you happy.
Eat mindfully
Mindful eating is the practice of enacting mindfulness while having a meal. Doing so will help you focus on the food you are consuming, as well as your body’s reaction to it. Through research this has been found to help individuals deal with behaviours such as binge eating that leads to weight gain and obesity. The doctor explained that one of the practices of mindful eating is to eat slowly and avoid over-eating. Both of which are particularly important to my mother who had just gone through surgery on her stomach.
Eat at fixed intervals
Within humans exists an internal clock called the circadian rhythm which regulates when an organism should be awake or asleep. That same clock also regulates when one should be eating. By eating at specific times, it makes it easier for your body to process certain macronutrients. Your stomach also needs rest times so it doesn’t overwork itself. My mother’s stomach was quite fragile post operation so doing so was quite important.
When listening to the doctors advise at first it seemed like utter bullshit, how would eating food with colour in it, eating mindfully and eating at regular times affect my mother in any way? After the doctor’s appointment, I read up on the subject and found multiple articles that supported the doctor’s advice, always listen to your doctor! Hopefully through this article some of you will make a change. I sure have!
Have you been following these steps and eating right?
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Tamas Pap on Unsplash