{"id":17976,"date":"2013-02-12T13:38:56","date_gmt":"2013-02-12T21:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fxnutrition.com\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2025-08-28T15:42:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T15:42:22","slug":"does-context-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fxnutrition.com\/blog\/does-context-matter","title":{"rendered":"Does context matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember when I was a kid my parents would tell me that \u201con the inside, we\u2019re all the same.\u201d
\nWhat I\u2019ve come to understand as an adult, and especially in the work that I do, is that this assertion is only partly true.
\nSure, we\u2019ve all got the same stuff<\/em> inside of our bodies, or pretty much so. But the way those organs function and interact is different from one person to the next.
\nYour framework is different than mine.<\/strong> \"\"
\nAnd this is why, when it comes to food and diet, it\u2019s really all about context.
\nA beautifully prepared chopped kale salad can be heavenly for one person\u2019s body. For another it may cause gas, bloating, abdominal pain and maybe even disrupt the function of the thyroid gland.
\nFor some, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. For others it leaves them frayed, tattered and jumping off the walls.
\nAn egg, one of nature\u2019s perfect foods, can wreak an inflammatory havoc on someone\u2019s joints and muscles without them even knowing it.
\nJust yesterday a friend told me about an article he\u2019d read in the Washington Post. The article is a few year\u2019s old, but it caught his attention, as did it mine. It spoke to this idea that context is everything<\/strong>.
\nThe story, called \u201cPearls before Breakfast\u201d,<\/em> is about an experiment the Post conducted. They placed one of the world\u2019s greatest musicians in a subway station, where he played some of the greatest music ever composed on one of the greatest violins ever produced, posing as a street musician, with his instrument case open in front of him, during morning rush hour.
\nThe sound was glorious.
\nThe musician played his music with his usual poise and characteristic passion, just had he had done a few nights earlier at at Boston\u2019s Symphony Hall and the day before at The Library of Congress. He\u2019s hard to ignore.
\nWhat happened in the DC subway station?
\nNobody listened.
\nWell, almost nobody listened.
\nSome children gaped. One man wandered back toward the musician, transfixed, for a total of three minutes. The virtuoso ended up with $32 in change after 45 minutes of playing.
\nYou see, you take the musician, no matter how excellent, out of the very best framework in which his talents can be received and he no longer gets the attention he deserves.
\nThis takes us back to the kale.
\nIt really is all about context and framework.<\/strong>
\nWhen a food doesn\u2019t sit right in your body, when the nuts cause your belly to poof out and make you look five months pregnant or the cabbage causes burping or the grass-fed beef burger sits in your chest region for days, is it the food? Or is your body giving you a clue? A clue that should not be ignored.<\/p>\n

Is it possible that the context into which the food is traveling is not ripe to receive the powers possessed by the pure morsel?<\/h3>\n

While I\u2019ve only mentioned whole foods, some virtuosos of the food realm, you can attribute this same lens to anything<\/em> you consume. What does your body tell you in response to the latte or the bagel or glass of wine? Are the applause short-lived?
\nSome might scoff at the idea of becoming so microscopic about what we consume. I\u2019m not asking you to be obsessive.
\nI\u2019m asking you to listen.<\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t walk by the prodigy without taking a moment to tune-in. You just might hear something important. Something that will change your day.
\nWarmly,
\n\"Andrea
\nLast week I opened to doors for Holistic Nutrition Lab\u2019s 2013 Digestive Intensive<\/a> training. This is part of my teaching series for holistic health professions where we dive deep into anatomy and physiology through the lens of functional nutrition.
\nIt\u2019s fun stuff!
\nReally, it is. We have a blast!<\/em>
\nOne of the core principles that I teach in those trainings is context.<\/strong><\/span>
\nCheck out Holistic Nutrition Lab\u2019s Digestive Intensive!<\/a><\/strong><\/span>
\n(for health leaders and health coach pros only)<\/a>
\nTHIS PROGRAM IS FOR YOU IF:<\/strong><\/p>\n