We Forgot How to Feed Ourselves

Last week I told a patient to eat one egg a day.

That’s it. One egg. Packed with protein. Rich in fat-soluble vitamins. A natural source of choline, selenium, and vitamin D, especially when paired with a bit of sunlight.

He looked at me and said, almost apologetically:

“But eggs are expensive. Just give me the vitamin D pills. One bottle lasts a month. A carton of eggs… just a few days.”

And something in me twisted. Not in judgment, but in sadness. Because I realized, once again, how far we’ve drifted from our own bodies.

We no longer see food as the foundation. We see it as optional. As expensive. As secondary to the pill.

We’re trying to fix a biologic system with synthetic solutions.

I’m not against medication. I prescribe it daily. I’ve seen it change lives. But I’ve also seen what happens when we medicate an undernourished system.

It’s like pouring neurotransmitters into a dry sponge. The structure is too depleted to hold them.

We want serotonin, but we forget that serotonin is made from tryptophan. An amino acid we only get from food.

We want dopamine, but neglect protein, B vitamins, and iron. We want calm, but live on coffee and sugar and skip the magnesium-rich greens.

Then we wonder why the pills don’t “work.”

We forgot that food is chemistry. And we are chemistry.

You are not just your mind. You are your mitochondria. Your gut lining. Your adrenal glands.

You are a symphony of hormonal signals, shaped by everything you put in your mouth, and everything you deny your body daily.

You are not just what you think. You are also what you eat, drink, absorb, excrete, crave, and suppress.

And right now, we’re feeding ourselves more stress than nutrients.

We live on substances, not sustenance.

Cigarettes instead of slow breath. Caffeine instead of rest. Scrolls instead of connection. Snacks instead of silence.

We’re undernourished in every sense of the word. Physically, emotionally, hormonally.

We feel tired. We feel anxious. We feel inflamed.

And we reach for solutions that make it worse, not out of laziness, but because this is what the system has taught us to do.

Real food has become a luxury.

Let’s be honest. In many parts of the world, it is harder to afford clean, whole, nutrient-dense food than it is to get cheap, ultra-processed, addictive substitutes.

But here’s the irony. Processed food is not actually cheap. It just doesn’t send the bill right away.

It sends it to your future.

To your liver.

To your nervous system.

To your sleep.

To your ability to regulate emotions.

To your child’s ability to focus.

To the slow, invisible erosion of your vitality.

We think health is expensive. But dis-ease costs more.

When a patient tells me “healthy food is too expensive,” I listen. But I also challenge.

Because often, that same patient has daily cigarettes, weekly alcohol, or a car full of snacks.

This is not about blame. This is about awareness. About how our priorities have been distorted by marketing, stress, and survival.

We’re told to treat symptoms, not feed systems.

To push through fatigue, not rest.

To buy supplements, not cook a meal.

To chase productivity, not presence.

But healing is not a hack. It’s a return.

A return to rhythm. A return to real food. To chewing slowly. To sunlight on the skin. To foods that our cells recognize, not just our taste buds.

Yes, a single egg won’t fix everything. But it’s a start. A symbol. A protest. A micro-decision to say:

“I will feed myself. I will build this body one bite at a time.”

One egg is not just an egg. It’s a signal to your nervous system.

It tells your brain, “I’m safe.”

“I’m fed.”

“I’m grounded.”

“I’m here.”

That’s how regulation starts. That’s how healing begins. Not with a breakthrough, but with a boiled egg, eaten slowly, with no screen in front of you.

You don’t need to do everything. But you do need to start.

Start with one egg. One glass of water before coffee. One meal with no phone. One trip to the farmer’s market. One moment of asking,

“What does my body really need right now?”

We are not puzzles with missing pieces. We are sandcastles.

Shaped grain by grain. Shaped by stories, habits, beliefs, and blood sugar levels. We’re not broken. We’re depleted.

And we can begin again. With nourishment. With presence. With real food. With responsibility.

Not for perfection. But for restoration.

Reflective Questions for You:

• What’s one thing you feed yourself every day that drains you instead of sustaining you?
• What would it look like to nourish instead of numb?
• What’s your version of “one egg a day”?

Final Word

You don’t need a new diagnosis. You need a full breakfast. You need a nervous system that knows it’s being cared for.

Let food be one of your most radical forms of self-respect.

Your hormones, and your future self, will thank you.

Florina