We may not consider our diets when it comes to the topic of intuition outside of the application of intuitive eating. As in we intuitively know what is good for us to consume and what is not and we choose our behavior from there.. but the call is coming from inside the house. What we eat directly effects our ability to access our intuition from the start. Let’s back it up…

It would be easy to believe that our brains simply exist to react to and make sense of the world around us. That is our conscious experience of it anyway. As for myself I can say that between curiosity, creativity and existential crisis I often forget that my brain has a lot of other shit going on. Truth is the brain between my ears evolved to regulate all my body’s internal happenings. So I can function efficiently. It run systems. The deep pondering is merely a fun bonus. Our brain is like… our own personal people pleaser. It regulates our many and truly complicated systems by anticipating our needs and being at the ready to satisfy them. They call this Allostasis and it is the core task of our dear old brain. The side effect of allostasis is Interoception - the brains conscious and unconscious impression of sensations from inside the body. It is constantly reading the room and then elbowing the brain about our racing heart or growling stomach so the brain knows what needs regulating. It goes beyond that though. It interprets our thoughts and emotions as well. This eradicates the idea that our minds and our bodies are two separate entities. In fact they have found that interoceptive accuracy regulates the extent to which bodily responses are related to our emotional experience AND intuitive decision making. When we disrupt these systems or overload them with say, drugs, alcohol, sugar, processed foods or caffeine - things get cray... The signals ping pong and echo around. Leaving our system unsure of where the original signal came from. Plus there are extra sensations, misinformation and toxins that burden our brain and exhaust the interoceptive process. There is a spectrum of chaos here and our intuition gets buried in the discord.. 

I feel this explains the pink cloud of sobriety. The sense of relief and freedom that hits once there is less shit to clean up, less to report and regulate. There is a chance to regain balance. However, I mention sugar and processed food in the same breath as drugs and alcohol because they are equally confusing and harmful to our well being. They have just as much misinformation, noise and chaos potential. Eating real food, plant based food, things that got sun and dirt and played their part in the ecosystem - that’s how we help the systems run smoothly. Quiet the noise so we can hear that inner voice, feel our gut. Today, take notice of what you’re eating and try to mindfully feel it’s effects. What does your intuition say about your choices, on and off the plate? 

Day 276: Lentil Soup with carrots, Russian kale, celery, turnips, tiny potatoes and a little chicken. I added a table spoon of rad herby green sauce and topped it off with seeds (sunflower, pumpkin and hemp). Soup for breakfast 2020!