Enrich's Guide to Eating for Satisfaction and Nourishment

As we know, food is made for the sole purpose of providing energy and nourishment to the body. It is essential that we provide our bodies with the correct foods to achieve this, but they also must be foods that you are enjoying.

We can often feel that to become the healthiest version of ourselves, we need to deny ourselves any pleasure in the food we eat. What usually goes hand in hand with this idea is feelings of restriction, deprivation of specific foods and the urge to eat bland, tasteless and low-calorie food options. This is definitely not the case. The enjoyment of food is put secondary to our pursuit of what we consider a healthier diet. A diet consisting of foods that don’t give any satisfaction level or source of fuel to the body is one that usually is hard to maintain over a long period of time. As a result, this can impact not only cognitive function but also mental wellbeing. If you aren’t finding enjoyment from the meals you are consuming, it can be difficult to create a good relationship with food. Eating is a big part of our daily routine and if you can’t find the balance in enjoying food and staying on track with your health goals, it can cause your overall mood and feelings to deteriorate. Providing your body with the right foods can be a great booster for our mood and lead to productivity and a feeling of being energised for the day.

So, eating food that you enjoy, while feeling connected to your body and your experience, can be a powerful motivator to keep nourishing your body in a sustainable way. When we focus on what our body is actually asking for, we can eat what we truly want and then move on with our day. Fullness and satisfaction are not the same thing, so we need to consider this satisfaction factor to create a peaceful and enjoyable relationship with food.

So, what’s different about Enrich dishes?

Here at Enrich our approach to food is, at its core, simple – eat lots of plants, include a source of protein whenever you can, and emphasise healthy fats. We want to focus on providing meals that will leave you feeling nourished and keep you satiated for the day. We follow the flexitarian approach, a style of eating that emphasises a flexible approach to diet. It takes the undeniable benefits of a vegetarian or plant-based diet, but allows for occasional consumption of meat, allowing you to make your own choices and that is the key difference between a plant-based diet and flexitarian diet. Including both animal and plant foods in your diet means that you will feel satisfied and ensure that you are consuming all the essential vitamins and minerals for your health to thrive. Within this diet, your primary foods will be fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts, with more variety just adding to the health benefits.

Following this approach gives your diet more choice and allows you to adapt your meals to your own likes and dislikes whilst still including some of your favourite foods, albeit in portions that contribute most to our health. It is also a sustainable choice, as it does not require cutting out any food groups.

This way of eating is associated with numerous health benefits. Eating primarily plant-based means that you are consuming lots of fruits and vegetables, which we know is amazing for our health. We are getting fibre, vitamins and minerals, contributing to improved heart health and reduced risk of chronic diseases. The increased consumption of these vitamins and minerals will also play a role in keeping things like our hair, skin and nails healthy and strong.

This flexible approach also benefits our mental wellbeing. Restrictive diets can potentially lead to disordered eating habits, as strict rules can often lead to feelings of being out of control or ‘bad’ for eating certain foods. Over time, this contributes to a negative relationship with food. It can also have an impact on our relationships, as our eating style may mean that we cannot join in with social occasions. A flexitarian diet allows us to embrace different types of food, focusing on what we can add to our diets rather than take away. This is a much more sustainable and balanced approach to food.

So, let’s embrace a flexitarian approach to food this year, and bring a sense of not only balance but satisfaction and nourishment into our efforts to improve our health and wellbeing.