What Do You Eat?
This is a simple question, but may not be that simple to many people.
This question should be asked by a doctor when he or she sees a patient. When an individual goes to see a doctor, that individual may have a health issue, and it is the responsibility of the doctor to find out if there is any connection between the patient’s diet and the health issue in question. Healthy eating is healthy living: healthy eating focuses on the nutritive value of food to eliminate many health problems in life.
What do you eat? Many people simply don’t know what they are eating, or can hardly recall what they were eating even only a short while ago. If you ask someone in a fast food restaurant about the food he or she is eating, that person may not be able to tell you much about that food being consumed. At best, that person may be able to say the food is not very healthy, but may not be able to explain why is is not healthy. It is not surprising that people know little about food. They just eat without thinking.
Many people’s food choice is based on only two factors: convenience and availability. To many, the nutritive value of food is never a priority. Even many doctors’ knowledge of food is elementary, and very limited.
We are living in a fast-pace society, in which we compromise everything in the name of speed. There is a Spanish proverb: “A man too busy to take care of his health is like a craftsman who is too busy to take care of his tools.”
You need to slow down, and appreciate your food. This is the first step towards healthy eating. When you appreciate your food, you will be mindful of what it is that you eat, where it comes from, and why you should or should not eat it. Mindfulness of what you eat is healthy eating.
For example, you may have second thoughts about eating processed food, which is no more than “destroyed” food. Processed food is nutrient deficient: the vital element in the food is removed, and is replaced by salt (to mask the bad odor of spoiled food), sugar (to increase your food cravings), food colorings (to make it more visually appealing), and preservatives (to make it last longer on the shelf). If you are more mindful of what you eat, you may start wondering why you, a living person, are eating “dead” food.
For any food item to be qualified as “food,” it must meet certain criteria: it must provide energy and nutrients. You do not consume food that gives you only empty calories, that is, calories without the nutrients for energy and satiety. An individual needs a certain amount of calories – depending on the physical makeup as well as the level of physical activity – to sustain life and wellness. Insufficient calories will cause hunger and lack of energy; excess calories, on the other hand, will result in weight gain.
Food is simple and natural as provided by nature. But scientists would like to “improve” on it by additives and even genetically altering it.
What do you eat?
Knowing what you eat is healthy eating.
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