Does What You Eat Affect Who You Are?

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” Hippocrates knew what he was talking about, what we eat impacts everything about us. The food we choose has such fundamental ramifications that we forget how much it can dictate who we are and what we do, or as Brillat-Savarin said “tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” when I think about Brillat-Savarin’s statement and compare it to everything I eat, I come to the realization that I make a couple of food choices that I am not too proud of. Of course after this realization I also come up with equally reasonable excuses:

4 EXCUSES THAT DERAIL HEALTHY EATING:

  1. I workout almost everyday, why should I be too worried about what I eat?
  2. I hardly ever eat junk food, what is the harm in a little bit?
  3. I eat a mostly whole food (unprocessed) diet, who cares if I have a couple of cheat meals a week?
  4. I prepare almost every meal I eat, but when I don’t have the time it is okay to choose  processed food occasionally.

relevant: Seven Superfoods to Include in Your Diet

Here is the skinny (no pun intended!), I think my excuses are honestly pretty valid. I do workout almost everyday, prepare most of my meals and eat primarily unprocessed whole foods. Every now and then though I will choose foods that are not that good for me, maybe as a treat (come on ice cream is awesome) or because I am running late (it’s gluten-free frozen burritos time family) and to be truthful I am fine with that. However, there is an alarming trend of processed foods being more affordable and accessible and even though my family chooses them infrequently it is becoming a harder fight. A fight that my family and I will continue to pursue because we do feel better when we eat better, we have better self-esteem when we eat better and perform daily tasks better when we eat better. Its simply, using Brillat-Savarin’s train of thought, if you eat better you become a better person.

Again though, choosing healthy eating options is becoming harder but not impossible. Here is a couple of tips to help you eat your way into becoming a happier, healthier person:

5 SIMPLE TIPS TO HELP YOU EAT BETTER AND FEEL HAPPIER:

  1. Plan your meals, make a weekly schedule of healthy meals and repeat it over and over, this will not only facilitate choosing good foods but it is cost-effective in buying groceries.
  2. Cook multiple meals at the same time. This is a great option if you are living on your own, you can grill up some chicken and veggies and then put them in a container for two or three days of lunches. Stress-free portion control!
  3. Learn about food, hey we all know that vegetables are good for us but do you really know why? Food does some really cool stuff and the more you know, the more you are going to want to eat that type of food. Try it out, google broccoli or bing cherries today and explore all the neat stuff about this food.  
  4. Start off small, if you are eating a mostly processed food diet then start off by making little changes. After a while introduce another little change, before long you will have made a big difference in your diet.
  5. Give yourself a break, I am a serious believer in a time and place for everything. It is nice to have a glass of wine or some ice cream every now and then. With that in mind, consider viewing new foods as ‘treats’ – such as nicecream, vegan custard made with frozen bananas, small pieces of dark chocolate, and exotic fruit.

relevant: Need to detox? Try our 3 Day Smoothie Detox

Food for thought: if we as a society demand better food it will eventually become more affordable and accessible, it is the law of supply and demand.

If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to comment here and as always thank you for reading and cheers to your good health!

David Smith
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