Surprising Shifts

Sunday, June 15, 2025

For a few weeks now, I’ve been using the Yuka app. It’s my guide when I’m shopping for food. I use it to scan product labels, read its product scorings, and—most of the time—choose only items Yuka rates as excellent or good. This started as a curiosity but is transformed into something closer to a quiet commitment. I didn’t expect the app to influence or particularly change me much, but something’s has been shifting.

Without planning for an outcome, just by consuming recommended foods, my taste for certain ones—especially meats, sweets, and heavily processed items—has quickly faded. I’m surprised by not following a diet or set of rules; it’s simply that Yuka-friendly foods have quietly rearranged my plate. The big surprise is how they’re rearranging more than just my plate.

I’m hungrier at times, but in a cleaner, differently expectant way. I recognize feeling more satisfied with far less than I used to need. I’ve also noticed more steadiness in my mood. Also, my energy seems more even. I’ve begun studying what could be happening, trying to learn, and am fascinated. It could be that my enzymes are doing their job more efficiently, or maybe my gut microbes are celebrating better meal plans—but I’m feeling like a calmer, more assured version of myself.

I’m not writing this to make an announcement or trying to become a food evangelist. I’m simply trying to explain being surprised—and now, more than a little fascinated—by how sensitive the body is when given better inputs. My body seems to notice and respond well before my brain does.

Dear Friends: This brings to mind the old saying–that “truth is in the pudding.” Diana