Food: The Best Medicine

The last few days I've been feeling a little sluggish and the stress of grad school was starting to bring me down. This weekend I had to work on campus which meant I had to be on campus by 8am three days in a row. Add a few papers due this week and let's just say I was not the happiest this weekend.

As I write this, I'm in a pretty damn good mood. What changed things? Was it the nap I took earlier? Nope... was still pretty grumpy after that. Finishing one of my papers did feel good, but I still felt exhausted.

Waiting for the bus I was inspired by talking to my foodie friend Liz who was making herself a salad. I wandered into Whole Foods and made myself one. After a few bites of fresh greens and veggies I had a big ol' smile on my face.

I am a big fan of the adage: "laughter is the best medicine." I also like to thing hugs are an incredible medicine. But I have to say food might just be the best medicine. Sorry laughter, but give me some brie or quality chocolate and all the worlds problems are gone for a few minutes.

Clearly this can be taken to some very negative extremes, but I think we need to listen to our bodies more. A craving is a craving for a reason. The other night I had a glass of orange juice and was desperately craving another. After a few minutes of being lazy on the couch I couldn't ignore it any longer. I like to think my body knew I was stressed, lacking sleep and needed some vitamin C. I might be talking out my ass here, but I like to there is some truth to it.

Tonight I momentarily shrugged off the fact that my salad was almost totally out of season and loaded up on cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, olives and a spring mix among other things. Like I said, a few bites of that thing and I was as happy as ever. I think my body has missed the fresh spring/summer vegetables. I hope to write more soon of how I try to eat seasonally, but god hit the spot.

Ok, I know, that was a cop-out of a post, but I just really think there is something to this. How about you? I'm sure some of you have similar stories!