Food, Spirit, and the Bigger Picture of Health
- Catherine Grist
- Sep 3
- 4 min read
We often talk about food as fuel, as medicine, or as a set of rules to follow. But over the years I’ve come to see food as something more: a doorway into how we care for ourselves at the deepest level. This piece is part reflection, part philosophy, and part invitation to rethink the way you approach eating and health.
The Early Belief: Food as the Answer
When I first began training in Nutritional Therapy, I was captivated by the science of it all - the way the right nutrients, in the right balance, could change everything. I wanted to know the precise ins and outs: which vitamins fuelled which pathways; how nutrients affected gene expression; how we could use food to prevent or even reverse disease.
I’ll admit, I believed food was the answer to almost everything. Of course, within the functional medicine model I was learning, I knew lifestyle mattered too - sleep, rest, movement, stress management, environmental toxins. But if I’m honest, I thought that while you couldn’t exactly eat your way out of chronic sleep deprivation, you could certainly make up for it, at least to some degree, with the “right” foods.
A Shift in Perspective
Today my perspective is more layered. I still believe deeply in the power of food, but I’ve come to see that what matters just as much - if not more - is our relationship with food. How we eat, shapes how we relate to ourselves. How we nourish ourselves reflects how we regard ourselves. Changing the way I ate became a catalyst for deeper transformation: not just physical health, but self-awareness, growth, and a more lasting kind of wellbeing.
Because when we care about the food we put on our plates, we are, in essence, caring for ourselves - body, mind, and spirit. At that point, eating well stops being about willpower, metrics, or rules. It becomes about honouring who we are at our core.
Food or Spirit - Which Comes First?
So which should come first - working on our food, or working on our spirit? For me, the order doesn’t matter. What matters is recognising that the two are inseparable. What may begin as a desire to lose weight, reduce symptoms, or avoid health risks often becomes something bigger: a journey of self-discovery - the moment we shift from a paradigm of control into one of genuine self-care.
From Research to Intuition
Over the years, I’ve noticed how my own focus has changed. Early on, I was absorbed in the research - nutrient guidelines, macronutrient ratios, recommended intakes. But these standards were designed decades ago, largely to set minimums for survival, not to help us thrive.
Since then, so much has changed: our soil, our food systems, the chemicals used, the ways we live, the medications we take, even the air we breathe and the screens we stare at. Our physiology has also changed – the microbiomes in our digestive tracts that play an important role in how well we absorb nutrients; the chronic diseases we live with. No matter how robust a study, it can’t fully account for the individuality of a real, living person sitting in front of me.
So who knows exactly what you need then?
You do.
My First Experience of Nutrition
I had my first taste of this truth long before my formal studies. My very first experience of nutrition was through kinesiology. At the time, I didn’t fully understand it, so I put it aside in favour of science - the path with research, data, and credibility. But looking back, I see how powerful that experience was.
Food changed my energy, my mood, my health. And the way the practitioner worked wasn’t about making an educated guess - it was about helping my deeper self, my innate wisdom, to communicate what I needed.
The Body’s Innate Intelligence
This idea - that our bodies hold an innate intelligence - isn’t new. In 1939, Clara M. Davis ran a six-year study in which children were offered a wide selection of unprocessed foods. Left free to choose without interference, they created diets that not only met their needs but sometimes corrected deficiencies.
It’s remarkable, though not surprising. When given the space, the body knows.
Of course, things are more complicated today. Marketing, ultra-processed foods, and addictive additives interfere with those signals and often override our natural instincts. But I believe the ability to know what we need (whether that’s a specific food or something entirely different) is still within us - and we can relearn how to listen.
The Heart of My Work
That’s the heart of my work now. Yes, I still use research and credible data as a foundation. But I also help people tune back in - to hear their own inner voice, their body’s quiet but persistent guide.
Because while I can support and guide you, my real passion is teaching you how to trust yourself, so you no longer have to rely on external rules, or even on me.
That, to me, is true health. And that’s what sets my soul on fire.
Closing Thoughts
Wherever you are in your own journey, whether you’re focused on food, or on your inner world, know that one will always lead you to the other. Every act of care, every small change, is a message to your body and spirit that they matter.
And from that place of care, real transformation begins.
I hope that resonates with you. If you'd like to know more about this perspective and how it might help you to truly move forward - book in a free intro call and we can have a no obligation chat about it.
Catherine x
Contact:
Facebook @Catherine.thehealthalchemist
Phone / WhatsApp +46 70 638 34 33
Email hello@catherinegrist.com
Website catherinegrist.com
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