COURSE IV: Nourishing the Inner Terrain – The Essentials

In the introduction we first acknowledge the profound elemental nature of what we call nutrition; through death, life is nourished. Something as simple as knowing what as humans we are to eat, has become a fraught arena of conflicting ideologies, investments, biases, misinformation and marketing. In this confusion we review different frameworks for understanding what ‘is’ and reorientate to the ‘scientific method’. The invitation here is to bring awareness and curiosity to each of our biases, keeping heart and mind open to learning.

In Nourishing the Inner Terrain – The Essentials, seeks to establish the biological foundations for what might be considered appropriate nourishment for the human body. Different food categories are surveyed – from those considered cleansing and medicinal, and those that are nutrient dense, providing the building bricks for the body’s structure. This provides a context for what might be considered appropriate in each individual’s metabolism. Essential macro- and micronutrients are considered as well as their presence in different food groups. Some more troubling chemicals from the plant realm are given focus – the anti-nutrients and phytochemicals such as oxalates. In conclusion we consider the simplicity of what might be thought of as real food – and what falls short of this definition, being biologically unnecessary and potentially toxic.