Food Energetics

Explains how food imparts a living wisdom that is separate from the science of nutrient values • Offers an approach to diet from the perspective of ancient peoples, who understood how the energetic qualities of food affect both physical and spiritual health • Includes a comprehensive catalog of the energetic properties of myriad foods--from chicken, beef, and potatoes to garlic, avocados, zucchini, and grapefruit Food is more than simply fuel. It imparts a living wisdom that is beyond the science and mechanics of calories, grams, and nutrient values. Ancient peoples, through their relationships with the plants and animals providing their food, understood that their food conveyed the unique energetic qualities of its source, such as swiftness from wild deer and groundedness from root vegetables. With the rise of agribusiness and industrial food production, people have become disconnected from the sources of their food and are no longer able to register the subtle rhythms, harmony, and energies that food can convey. This separation has thrown the basic human-food relationship out of balance--to the detriment of human consciousness. In Food Energetics, Steve Gagné shows how to revitalize our connection to food and remedy our physical and psychic imbalances with the wisdom of food energetics. He provides a comprehensive catalog of foods and their corresponding energetic properties and explains how each food affects us at the deepest spiritual level. By demonstrating how to plan meals that incorporate both dominant and compliant foods, he shows how to provide truly healthy cuisine that nourishes the body and the soul.

Steve Gagné is a natural health and nutrition counselor who began researching and teaching food energetics in 1972. He teaches throughout the United States and Europe and continues to study traditional cultures and their dietary practices in remote parts of the world. He lives in Florida.

Introduction Part I. Energetics 1 Quality and Quantity: Beyond the Realm of the Senses 2 The Decline and Fall of Energetics 3 Enter the Age of Sanity 4 Your Most Intimate Relationship Part II. Choosing Your Food 5 The Essence of Choosing 6 Habit: Appetite's Nemesis 7 Choosing with Your Senses 8 Circumstantial Choosing 9 Choosing with Your Personality 10 Choosing from Reaction 11 Choosing from the Bigger Picture 12 Big Picture or Big Brother? 13 More "Choosing Under the Influence": Concepts, Advice, and Dietary Trends 14 Five Familiar Faces Part III. Working Models 15 Character Study 16 Food's Essential Character 17 Food's Temperament 18 A Basic Food Character Chart 19 Shaping Characters 20 Preparations Part IV. The Cast of Characters 21 A Symphony of Flora and Fauna 22 A Matter of Meat 23 A Chicken in Every Pot 24 Birds of Another Feather 25 Living on the Egg 26 Mammals 27 Creatures of the Deep 28 Dairy Foods 29 The Animated Life of Plants 30 Some Unusual Characters 31 The Staff of Life: Cereal Grains 32 Beans/Legumes 33 Nuts and Seeds 34 Fruits 35 Condiments and Seasonings 36 Algae Part V. A Forbidden History of Food and Agriculture 37 The Origins of Agriculture 38 The Prehistory and Reemergence of Agriculture: Reconsidering Human Origins 39 Traditional Ancestral Diets 40 Cacao: The Essence of Chocolate 41 The Gift of Grain and Flowering Plants 42 Dangerous Brains: The "Lo-Carb" Fad and Diet Extremism in the Twenty-first Century Part VI. A Call to Common Sense 43 The Golden Spiral of Traditional Foods 44 Choosing a Healthy Diet Acknowledgments Notes Selected Bibliography About the Author Index