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A Step Closer to a Healthy Balance

June 27, 2020 Melanie Hawken
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by Catia Mondlane, Founder Estética & Cosméticos

When I started the organic journey, which wasn’t a piece of cake I have to say, I found very interesting facts about the powerful effects food has on the mind, emotions, and the physical, and how the immune system reacts to different situations. 

Even though I had come across many books and articles that would discuss the specific benefits to be gained from eating a particular group of food, many never provided specific instructions on how to get the greatest benefit from these special foods. Instead they merely listed the foods and correspondent explanations about their benefits, leaving the reader to figure out which the most appropriate way to include then in one’s diet, and how they could be consumed to reap the health benefits. On one hand, there are experts that continuously offer contradictory reports on the potential danger or benefits of certain food where we have been inundated with complex and conflicting reports on what foods we should and shouldn’t eat. Others offer diet plans difficult to follow and hard to understand.

This reminds me when a doctor recommended eliminating chocolate from my diet because of its negative effects on my body that mainly resulted in a facial breakout and oily skin. Can you image how devastated I became after receiving such unpleasant information? Cutting chocolate wasn’t part of my plan at all because I love chocolate and with no further explanations I had to sadly cut it from my diet. More than just having to banish it, I wanted to understand in detail why that used to happen and how could I match the most appropriate nutraceutical food with my personal health concerns. So with these simple thoughts I started my journey and decided to do a deep research on it. I discovered that the chocolate isn’t the problem, in fact the pure chocolate is rich in antioxidants that can benefit the body system and the skin in particular. But most chocolates found in the market have been diluted with cocoa fat, sugar and milk, products that make up most of the weight of the final result. Yes, during this process it loses its organic properties and becomes unhealthy to consume.

These days, choosing the right food has never been more complicated, but through the example I have given, it can be applied to many situations either you are allergic or just following pre-planned diet meals. The same food that doesn’t seem to agree with you will heighten the awareness and energy levels of other people. This is proof that we have to start questioning ourselves especially if a certain food has been eliminated from our diet and how this has been substituted to create balance. It is time to know and understand how one’s body operates by respecting transitions when applying a new healthy diet habits because our bodies are a set of different systems that work together in a organized programmed way and like any other system new information has to be introduced gradually, to balance one’s physical and mental energy levels. 

Photo by David Fartek on Unsplash


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Cátia Mondlane is the CEO & Founder of Isabella – Estética & Cosméticos, an innovative Mozambican cosmetic company that brings natural skin solutions based on locally sourced organic and fresh ingredients. Her brand is especially for people with sensitive skin and who want to be kind to their skin at affordable prices. She is currently based in Maputo, Mozambique.

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