by Edward Bauman, M.Ed., Ph.D.

Eating For Health™ (E4H™) is a comprehensive approach to educating people about how to eat and enjoy a diverse, plant-based diet that provides a full range of nutrients known to promote health and support recovery from illness and injury. It integrates the very best of both ancient and modern nutritional approaches to form a flexible model of wholeness, based on the earth's generous support of life on our planet in the form of healthy foods, water, air, and spirit. E4H™ is a way of being in a positive relationship with food and other beings, a path to creating harmony within ourselves, our families, our communities, and with the earth.

E4H™ principles are based on the knowledge that our cellular health is determined by the food we eat. Damaged foods damage our cells. Fresh, healthy food sends the right messages to our DNA, encouraging healthy gene expression, as well as efficient growth and repair, a process we call healing. The tragedy of losing one's health can be traced, in large part, to a history of poor-quality food, insufficient nutrients, and exposure to dietary and environmental toxins.

The healthiest diet will come from foods that are fresh, local, seasonal, and organic. When possible, they are diverse and suited to one's individual tastes, temperaments, needs, access to ingredients, and metabolic tendencies. One of the great strengths of the Eating For Health™ system is that it can be vegan or omnivorous, raw or cooked, and it can and naturally will evolve over time and with changing circumstances.

Eating For Health™ is a process, rather than a method. To differentiate E4H™ from other food systems, I developed the concept of the Levels of Eating. Each level has its place and reflects the awareness and maturity of a person when he or she is eating, a behavior that affords us abundant choice and delight but is often done with little thought. To create sustainability in one's own and the planet's health, we need to exercise greater levels of thought, awareness, and discrimination around food selection.

Level One: Eating for Pleasure

This level is an immature and impulsive approach to eating, aimed at maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. Eating at this level is for immediate gratification. "I ate it because it tasted good," and, "I ate as much of it as wanted to," are hallmarks of this stage.

Refined sugar and flour, poor quality dairy products, and unhealthy fats are in this category. Food choices typically reflect what we were fed as young children to quiet and appease us, such as ice cream, cookies and milk, candy, and soft drinks. Excessive coffee, alcohol, or chocolate is also Level One eating. Emotional eating, which often means compulsive overeating, is a Level One adaptation to pain, tension, and stress.

Level Two: Eating for Energy

Blood sugar regulation drives one's food choices at this level. We choose substantial foods that allay hunger. The goal is to fill up and not have to eat again for three to four hours.

In Level Two, carbohydrates become more complex; breads may have some whole wheat in them, but are still refined. Fast foods like burgers and burritos are common choices. Little concern is placed on the quality of the food, the likely nutrient loss due to processing, possible pesticide residues, environmental toxins, or added hormones, antibiotics, coloring, and artificial flavors. Animal proteins, peanut butter, breads, pastas, chips, and pizza are common Level Two foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables play a minimal role in the diet at this stage.

This is a highly acid-forming, allergy-inducing, and clogging diet pattern. Level Two eaters are typically unconcerned with the ecological impact of their food choices.

Level Three: Eating for Recovery

The inevitable cumulative effects of Level One and Level Two eating are poor body composition — frequently obesity — and diminished energy, health, and brightness of mood.

People experiencing these effects often go on a diet formulated by someone else that organizes foods into good and bad categories and limits quantities. It may or may not emphasize high-quality, organic foods. Examples of Level Three eating are diet plans such as Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, food combining, Blood Typing, prolonged cleansing, and raw foods.

The benefits of such food plans are typically short-lived as they tend to be unbalanced. There is an immediate positive effect from eating fewer refined and processed foods, but then we reach a point of diminishing return. The diet is no longer satisfying and no longer producing the promised effects. The tendency then is to stay with the rigid, reductionist approach even longer or to slip back to Level One or Level Two eating patterns.

This is a more mature approach than the first two levels, but it can be tiresome, judgmental, and sometimes supplement-driven.

Level Four: Eating For Health™

The goal of this approach is lifelong learning about optimum nutrition, the healing effects of foods, and an aesthetic and spiritual approach to the culinary arts. It shares some qualities with Level Three, but allows for more personal choice, variety, seasonality, and individuality according to one's personal needs, tastes, ethnic origin, and commitment level.

Food choices at Level Four are not made by formula, but rather by discerning what the body needs and what the best available choices are at a given time. At this level, we choose among a wide variety of healthy, organic foods. We exercise moderation in the amount of foods we eat and take more time and care in its preparation and presentation.

Level Five: Spiritual Eating

When food is understood and appreciated as an instrument of personal healing and sharing with community, it becomes more than our daily bread. Nourishing ourselves becomes a wise, mature, and loving act of awareness cultivated through daily practice. Periodic fasting, cleansing, intentional eating, and serving others less fortunate is what I would call spiritual eating. There may come a time when we don't have as much quality food to eat due to world food shortages or calamities beyond our control. That would make us realize that each bite counts. As we slow down, we begin to notice the subtle textures, aromas, and flavors in the food. What a treat! When we eat more slowly and consciously, we also greatly enhance our digestion and assimilation of the nutrients in the foods.

Fortunately, all people have an intrinsic love of life in their gene pool. True S.O.U.L. food will appeal to them if they don't have a conditioned aversion to it. In this case, S.O.U.L. stands for Seasonal, Organic, Unprocessed, and Local. All of us deserve and require fresh, healthy foods so we can become intelligent, resourceful, and peaceful human beings.

The Eating For Health™ model provides a map for healthy eating that, at its most evolved stage, encourages a spiritual understanding of nature, food, and culture. We aim to set a standard of love and care that provides an acceptance of our differences and openness to meeting people where they are. We aim to inspire ourselves and others to move from eating for convenience to eating simply, peacefully, joyfully, and with blessed gratitude.

In Eating For Heath™, we embrace two powerful maxims — "food is the best medicine" and "know thyself" — to create a synergy that opens the way to personal wellness, compassion, and service to humanity.