Yes, You Are What You Eat!

- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Most of us probably grew up hearing the words “you are what you eat”. Most likely too, they were just words. We didn’t even associate a meaning to them, other than thinking we better eat all the vegetables on our plate so we didn’t get into trouble.

Possibly we even quietly slipped the veggies to the dog under the table?

When Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote in 1826, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are”, he never meant his quote to be taken literally. He was stating simply that the food one eats has a bearing on what one’s state of mind and health is.

Time waits For No One

When considering the average person’s state of health today, the words have real meaning and invoke genuine thoughts and concerns as we reflect on the obesity epidemic, heart disease, chronic fatigue, rampant auto-immune diseases, Type II Diabetes and on and on.

The Challenge

The typical American diet tastes good! And, it tastes like more.

Regretfully, it has excesses of sugar, salt, fats, alcohol, chemicals, pesticides, artificial colors, preservatives and hormones.

We are deficient in the very things the American Medical Association tells us we need in our diets. We need healthy protein for amino acids, vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients, fiber, complex carbohydrates, botanical factors and water.

As Michael Pollan, American author, journalist, and professor of journalism writes, “Our ingenuity in feeding ourselves is prodigious, but at various points our technologies come into conflict with nature’s way of doing things, as when we seek to maximize efficiency by planting crops or raising animals in vast mono-cultures. This is something nature never does, always and for good reason practicing diversity instead.”

Trains, Planes and Automobiles

Most of us wouldn’t dream of driving our car if it wasn’t properly ‘fueled’ with gas, water, oil and air in the tires, nor would we get on an airplane if we didn't feel assured the fuel was sufficient to get the plane to our destination.

No one wants is to be driving down the highway and have their car stop because it ran out of gas. Yet that is exactly what we do to our bodies by eating foods that do not provide essential life nutrients.

The USDA Center for Nutrition Policy & Promotion states, “Dietary factors are associated with four of the ten leading causes of death in the United States: Heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes AND 50% or more of these deaths are diet-related. In fact, 70% of all doctor visits are from diet-related conditions with the number one complaint being fatigue.”

What You Eat = Prevention

So when we grew up hearing the words “you are what you eat”, our Moms understood Savarin’s words. Our Moms had the wisdom to know the food she fed her family could promote either a life of energy, vitality, good health and overall well-being or a life likely to be controlled by fatigue, illnesses and a higher risk of early death.

Good nutrition equals prevention which equals optimal health and wellness. Good nutrition comes from fresh food. Today’s fast-paced life style means ‘fast and easy’. If we are not careful, today's fast-paced life style could replace ‘nourishing and healthy'.