Most of my career in nutrition has been spent unlearning what I thought I knew. Not facts about carbs or calories – although many of those have changed. What I keep trying to figure out is how to understand nutrition without robbing the world of its due.
It’s easy to lose sight of the connectedness between nutrition and the world. Every fall we see the great procession of life on earth when leaves change their color. Science has long viewed the breakdown of chlorophyll as the heart of this “de-greening.” But only recently has science discovered that human nourishment is intimately connected with the changing colors of the leaves. Chlorophyll breakdown products turn out to be the building blocks for vitamin E. Were it not for seasonal life cycles of seed-bearing plants and efforts by those plants to protect their seeds, vitamin E nutrients (alpha, beta, gamma and delta tocopherols, plus tocotrienols) would not exist. It’s a pint-sized detail about the world. But a floodgate for understanding nutrition.
I took a roundabout path to nutrition. Over the years I’ve had a chance to formally study psychology (especially Jungian and archetypal psychology with James Hillman), and philosophy (especially phenomenology). And on a less formal basis, I’ve had a chance to research, write, and teach in the areas of molecular medicine, environmental medicine, sustainable agriculture, and globalization of the food supply.
You can find out more about me in my resume.
