Everyday Medicine

@johnanthonybarkerCollege marks the start of an epic new adventure. For some, it’s a key to the big badworld. For others, an opportunity to cram some more knowledge into our older years.Regardless of your intentions, the path ahead is turbulent at best. There will be highlevels of stress and we will all, at some point wonder why we ever signed up for this.What goes unacknowledged by us however is that as we work ourselves up aboutwalking into a class full of strangers, or trying to grasp referencing guidelines, we areputting our bodies under immense strain. The hangovers, chesty coughs, winter coldsand flus all send us reaching for the medicine drawer to fix what ails us: to give ourbodies what they otherwise lack, and so we enter a cycle of health highs, lows andpharmaceuticals.Such cycles soon become things that we accept as a way of life, telling ourselves ‘it’sgrand’ before returning home to mothers’ chicken soup. This is where we can beginhelping ourselves. Believe it or not, it is not because your mother made the soup thatit does you so much good, it is the food itself.Food is our everyday medicine. We become run down when our bodies are missingessential nutrients, and without tablets and supplements how are we supposed toingest just what our body needs? The answer is simple: it’s all in our food. We needfocus our intentions on healing our guts: repairing the damage, and rebuilding for ahealthier future.What can we do? We can look at external elements such as stress and ourenvironment, but they can often prove harder to control. Instead, we can do good bythe gut, as we take control of what is on our own plates. By doing so, we can begin tohelp ourselves both physically and mentally by identifying the foods to avoid and thefoods to devour.New, or familiar to Cork, it is a county of some of the most incredible local produce,and being based in the city, nothing is more than a hop, skip or a light jog away (workup the appetite). Scout out your nearest farmers market or speciality food store and goand explore. Enjoy the experience of feeding yourself well: good for the gut and greatfor the soul!