"Next time you have to make a nutrition decision, ask yourself, why am I eating this?" - John Heiss, Ph.D
Eating with Purpose
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 simply stating that the food one eats has a bearing on what one’s state of mind and health is.
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 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.”
The Essentials
According to the American Medical Association the human body requires certain food elements to live, including the right amount of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fats / oils and botanicals on a daily basis. A balanced diet is essential for providing our bodies with the nutrients required to make it function properly. Sounds simple, right?
The Rub
But here's the rub. The typical American diet has excesses of sugar, salt, alcohol, tobacco, fats, pesticides, artificial flavors, chemicals, preservatives, and hormones and is deficient in protein, vegetable protein, vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients, fiber, amino-acids, complex-carbohydrate, botanical factors and water. We are deficient in the very things the American Medical Association tells us we need in our diets.
Eat To Live
When we grew up hearing the words “you are what you eat”, our Moms understood Savarin’s words and 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 due to disease processes such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.
The bottom line is this; good nutrition equals prevention which equals optimal health and wellness. Good nutrition comes from food but today’s fast-paced life style means ‘fast and easy’ have replaced ‘nourishing and healthy’. Eating healthy is not always easy.
To maximize the nutrition and feed the 100 Trillion Cells in your body need, 'Eat with Purpose'. Start with protein rich foods, add those colorful, healthy vegetables and complex carbohydrates and finally add a bit of healthy fat and tasty herbs and seasonings for flavor.
Just think about your car. Would you dream of driving your car if it wasn’t properly ‘fueled’ up with gas, water, oil and air in the tires? The last thing one wants is to be driving down a highway and have their car stop running because it ran out of fuel. Yet that is exactly what is so easy to do to our bodies by eating foods that do not provide essential life nutrients.
The human body is incredible and "you are what you eat", is absolutely true. Your body is your best friend, so please give it what it needs.
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