The Art & Science of a Body in Development

This may sound like a silly example, but do you recall the story of the 3 Little Pigs? This classic children’s story is an excellent example for our body…

When you build your body with strong materials, you have a strong house.
Think of it this way… Your body is the house in which you live and it will either be strong, resilient and healthy like a brick house; or weak and susceptible just like a house made of straw or sticks.

It may sound crazy - but you really are what you eat, and drink, from your head to your feet.

When you were born, you probably weighed between 6 to 9 pounds. And now of course weigh a lot more. So, how did you grow? It was the nutrition you absorbed from the foods and beverages you consumed. The better the nutrition, the better your mind and body were nurtured to grow.

The unfortunate fact is that many of us have really bad diets. In fact, a scientific journal said that only 11 out of every 100 people eat enough fruits and vegetables.

Fueling our body with the “very best of the best” nutritional building blocks is critical, especially since your cells are still growing and so is your body. The experts tell us that we need to crank up our intake of fresh vegetables and fruits. What is great about fresh fruits and veggies is that they are full of the digestive enzymes that helps your body get all good vitamins and minerals out of them. Whereas foods in boxes, bags, cans and other processed foods don’t have many of these enzymes. This makes your body work harder to get the good stuff it needs to get peak mind and body performance. So, it really is time to eat your veggies - not just because your parents have been telling you that they are good for you - but because YOU KNOW why they are good for you. It is your body, so it is up to you to fuel it right; the research is clear - healthy people eat fruits and vegetables.

If you have suffered from “veggie trauma”, it is important for you to find vegetables you like. For me, it was the dreaded Lima Bean that caused many a stressful moment as it lingered as the last food on my plate. But there are some fresh produce that you want to minimize like corn, potatoes and white rice, because they are high in carbs. Unless you are ‘carb loading’ prior to an athletic competition, eat less of those three foods. If you do eat too much of them, not only could you gain weight, you could increase your chance of blood sugar crashes.

You also need to know that not all food available for sale in the United States is good for you and some can actually be dangerous. And remember, the key to healthy eating is moderation. It is not about not being able to eat a special treat every once in a while, everyone deserves a treat now and then. The key is not to overdo it.

Try to minimize eating processed foods that come out of cans, boxes and prepackaged meals. They typically contain additives to make food taste better. A great example is MSG (monosodium glutamate) which is a flavor-enhancing additive that can harm your brain cells and it has also been linked to headaches and allergic reactions.

Sodium Nitrates are another additive put into lunch meats, hot dogs, packaged and canned meat. This can increase the risk of stomach cancer, headaches and other ill effects. It is also used to make meat look more pink, instead of brown. I don’t know about you, but if meat is brown, I sure would like to know, because I don’t want to eat it. Look for the words nitrites/nitrates in food and try to minimize eating them.

And when you start to think about the color of food, there are many popular foods like Doritos, Mountain Dew and sports drinks that contain Yellow Dye #5, also known as tartrazine. This yellow color is sometimes used to make other colors such as orange, white, turquoise, green and maroon. Both foods and drugs can contain yellow #5. Yellow dye #5 triggers headaches, anxiety, depression,and hyperactivity in some people, but experts still don’t know why.

And finally, for now, you should also watch out for genetically modified foods. These plants were created with the concept of being resistant to pests, herbicides or harsh environmental conditions, improved product shelf life and increased nutritional value. That means if you spray more chemicals on them, they will sit on the shelf of the stores longer and bugs won’t eat them. Now, if bugs don’t want to eat them, you have to wonder what the bugs know that you don’t. Some of these GMF foods have a bigger dose of poisons, which means you are also eating the poisons.

The key is to be aware of the foods you are eating.
No need to panic - just make an effort to make healthier decisions because you really are what you eat, from your head to your feet.