For veggie lovers, something to try: the root+leaf+fruit rule

Anthro-what?

It’s a mouthful to say, and rather amorphous once you start learning more about it. But anthroposophy—as a spiritual philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner—is widely applied by its adherents to many fields including art, religion and science, specifically education, medicine, agriculture, architecture, economics...and food.

In the Philippines, two of the more prominent proponents of anthroposophy are Jake and Bella Tan. In a three-day workshop they conducted last year, the couple gave advice on the diet their philosophy recommends. 

For one thing, they advocate vegetarianism. If you eat meat, Jake said, you are depriving people of food because the land or grain used for the animals can benefit people instead. All the nutrients needed by the body, they said, can be obtained from plant sources like broccoli and malunggay for calcium, and protein from legumes.

Unpolished rice, brown sugar, seeds (pumpkin, watermelon, etc.) and nuts are preferred inclusions in the diet.

An interesting guideline of their food philosophy is the root+leaf+fruit rule, which says that one must eat root crops, fruits, and some leaves every day. If a growing child has these three elements present in the body every day, the Tans said, he will be provided with the enzymes that will develop the body’s systems.

Leafy veggies like alugbati, alagao, coriander, parsley, etc. are good for the lungs. Eating the stems as well will promote healthy blood vessels, said the Tans. The magnesium and iron in the leafy vegetables develop the health of our lungs and our blood. “If there is enough supply of magnesium (not only of iron), a person will never be anemic because the body will be able to absorb more of the iron if there is enough magnesium,” Bella says.

Night shade plants such as tomato, potato and eggplant, on the other hand, are not recommended as they may aggravate conditions like cancer and arthritis, said the couple.

Jake and Bella Tan also teach that if one wants to avoid or reduce the risk of illnesses, it’s best to cut down on protein, limiting it to a matchbox-sized cut of meat (or any source with equivalent amount of protein) per day. Vegetarians can get their daily protein requirement from legumes—but you need to soak it first, drain, wash and drain again before cooking.

If there is too much protein in the system, the body’s digestive organs become stressed, they said. Formula milk, for instance, is even more enriched with protein. That is also another reason why it’s not advisable to give it to babies and children, and why breast milk is best for babies. “The unused protein in our body is transformed into toxin,” Jake says. When the liver’s ability to digest protein is impaired, more protein gets inside and there is a higher risk of developing allergies.

Arising from the philosophy of anthroposophy is a great body of knowledge that we can apply in our daily lives. A huge part of it is not mainstream knowledge, but further exploration and careful study may reward us with positive results. — BM, GMA News