You Are What You Eat
“You are what you eat!” Where did that phrase come from? I can’t be bothered to look it up, but I do know that as my hunger for education grows stronger that phrase has taken on a very real meaning.
We eat, digest, and excrete. But, what happens in the interim? Where does the “fuel” or “calories” go? Nutrients, antinutrients, and toxins that the liver cannot detox are all absorbed from the digestive tract during digestion and circulated throughout our body. They are shuttled to our cells and organs (including the biggest organ, our skin) to be used as fuel and building blocks for the organs themselves as well as bones and other features of the body.
Where do our hormones, energy, emotions, moods, thoughts, etc. come from? Organs. What feeds our organs? Blood carrying nutrients. Where do we get nutrients? From the food we eat.
This is, of course, a simplified explanation of the workings of the body. There are detoxification systems in place (which can be too burdened to function properly by overload of toxins), anti-inflammatory responses (which can also get confused by eating foods we are sensitive or allergic to, or eating foods and experiencing stress that causes chronic low level inflammation), genetic factors, life traumas causing residual stress or system impairment, or external factors such as poor hygiene resulting in acne. However, if food does become our blood and therefore our organs, cells, hormones, energy, thoughts, feeling, emotion, and more...then what does that actually look like in practice?
If we eat foods rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols, live probiotics, digestible proteins, fibers, healthy fats, and foods still alive with sun-derived energies (like raw plants), then our blood will be pure and rich. Our cells will be brimming with life and energy. Our skin will be glowing from the beautifully nutrient-rich blood flowing to it. Our thoughts, emotions, energy, hormones, and organs will be thriving.
On the other hand, if we eat a diet mostly made up of foods that are difficult to digest, highly processed, out-of-balance in nutrient make-up, full of inflammatory fats, causing immune responses from a food sensitivity or allergy (known or unknown), and layered with toxins from herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides, then what becomes of that feedback loop of food = body function? Just sit on that one for a minute and think about the rise in chronic, preventable lifestyle-related diseases.
Eating real food, living food, IS life giving. Yes, other factors do play their role in the feedback loop of stress, anxiety, low energy, poor skin appearance, and hormone imbalances. But, if there is anything, anything in your control it is what you put into your body. The evidence is clear and growing that our diets play a vital and critical role in prevention and treatment of mood disorders, hormone disruption, sleep issues, energy levels, autoimmune diseases, and especially the major lifestyle diseases of our society today such as heart disease, diabetes (a sign of heart disease), liver impairment, and more.
If a lightbulb went on for you and you’d like to make connections between your food and your whole well-being, then be sure to read my post How To Eat Your Way to a Glowing Life to learn how you can start making easy, positive changes that support your whole body and being.