With training to become better warriors through Systema, we need to understand the value of eating nutritious foods. The food we eat joins with us, becomes part of us, if it is low quality and weak, the body and psyche will become weak and unhappy. In Systema, we train hard to build, strengthen and purify our body, psyche and spirit. If the foods and liquids we consume have the opposite effect, we are then not living and training in a harmonious way to our fullest potential.

The food we eat today is not the same as what our ancestors ate nor is it in any way natural. Food comes in packages instead of gardens, grown in mass instead of with love, and filled with more chemicals then should ever exist in our world, each one with the ability to damage our immune and endocrine systems and hinder our mental functions. The effects these foods have on us not only temporarily slow us down but have the ability to alter our very DNA, degrading the human species for future generations.

An average person two thousand years ago could run circles around even our top Olympic athletes of today and believe it or not, our mental function though trained differently today is much slower than the past generations. Illness, disease, and stress are at an all-time high. As much we can correct these things through proper breathing, they do not need to be there in the first place. Real nutrition using proper food combining principles will allow the digestive tract to not only function at an enhanced state, free of tension, but will also begin to grow strong and dense, able to easily withstand heavy strikes and emotional trauma. For example, by adding healing herbs such as Siberian Ginseng or Ashwaganda, we can shield our body from stress and anxiety and allow it to better adapt to life’s conditions.

So what is real nutrition and how do we get it? The question is both simple and yet difficult to answer because there is no one diet for everyone. In fact, the very concept of eating the exact same as ANYONE else is just as silly as trying to learn martial arts by copying someone else’s techniques. Not to say that these famous diets out there have no value, many of them have tremendous information, the problem is that no two people are the same and so no two people should be eating the exact same way.

So again, we ask how can we eat to build real endurance, strength, skill, and focus? All we have to do is listen to our bodies and through that separate ourselves from modern influences and subliminal cravings we have been programmed to have.

Take something you enjoy eating and see how you feel immediately after eating it and a few hours later. If you feel good, you know that food can be good for you, if you feel bad, you know it’s not, even if that may not be the case with others around you. Then do this with the next thing you eat. The less complex is the meal, the easier it will be and you will begin finding your own ways of eating. Through time, foods may change, some that you thought were good may not agree with you anymore and some that you thought were bad may become helpful. The point of this is not to create lists of judgements over foods but to build a connection with your body that knows what to eat when and how best to eat it. It can be another journey for your self-discovery and refinement.

Once you feel good your body’s reactions, you can begin adding higher quality foods and principles into the mix and testing deeper effects of the food. Getting the best quality nutrients for your body is not about buying organic or imported superfoods, though both of those can be nice. The key lies in eating the local food within only a few miles of where you live and eating them by season as they come. Each area of the world is very different even within one state, province or city. Each area may have unique climate and terrain, and only the foods grown in that specific area may have the exact nutrient and chemical balance to optimally thrive there. Thus, when you eat them, these benefits are passed on to you. This simple secret should not be over looked. Everything you could ever need is provided for you right where you are, whether you get it from a local market or better yet from the abundance of wild plants all around you.

Eating from these two sources will ensure you are only eating not only the freshest, most adapted foods to your environment but eating them in the season they are meant to be in. You see, every season the local plants prepare our body for the season to follow in a very specific way. We should not eat outside of this system, such as eating a summer food designed to remove heat during winter season when we need to conserve our heat. Eating out of season is, believe it or not, one of the biggest stresses a healthier person can put on their bodies because it is in many ways opposite to our body’s natural preferences and the taste is just not there.

Life is a journey and exploration of the self. In our hearts, we know the truth and with a few tips and a little practice we can free ourselves from the limitations of modern convenience and reach a level of health.