You Are What You Eat

You probably don’t want to be fast, cheap, easy or fake, so why would you eat that way?

It’s been said that “You Are What You Eat.” But is it true? Of course it is.
Let’s explore why.

First, let’s look at your car. You wouldn’t give it kerosene instead of gasoline, would you?
Years ago, a friend gave their car diesel instead of gasoline, by accident. That car sputtered and ran really, really rough! Even though he didn’t put that much in it.

It’s the same with your body. If you want to work or play at peak performance, you have to give your body the right fuel.
And that means eating the food your body needs.

The full quote (author unknown): “You are what you eat, so don’t be fast, cheap, easy, or fake.”

It’s funny, but it’s also really good advice.
Eat nothing that is FAST or CHEAP or EASY or FAKE.

Don’t Eat Fake Foods!

Let’s look at FAKE food and why you should avoid it. First, what do I mean by fake?

Fake is anything that has non-food ingredients in it. Let me clarify that: If it isn’t real, whole food that came out of the ground or off of a plant or straight from an animal, then it’s fake food.

If you read the ingredients label, and you should, and the list sounds foreign or like something from a chemistry text book, then it is fake food!

Heavily processed foods are not real, they’re fake. Ingredients that were extracted from a real food are also fake.

Take natural flavorings. They may have come from a part of a plant or animal, but they are not real foods. They’re highly processed.

Why does that even matter? You might think that it’s okay because the ingredient came from a “real food.”

We have a symbiotic, natural relationship with whole food. It was made for us. Made to be eaten in its original form. Otherwise, it may not be healthy for us. Some examples:

If you extract just the juice from a fruit and discard the fiber, you wind up with pure sugar. The fiber is there to slow absorption of that sugar. Without the fiber, the sugar will cause a sugar spike.

Even the egg was meant to be whole. The white can cause inflammation in some people. The egg yolk has anti-oxidants that can tame that inflammation.

Sometimes, extracting a single ingredient from a food can even be harmful. Such as the carrageenan that is extracted from seaweed. Seaweed, as a whole food, is edible without issues.

Yet carrageenan, a single substance extracted from seaweed, can cause stomach issues and migraines in sensitive people! (Like me, it gives me a migraine!)

Where is carrageenan used? It was first used in the nut milks. Those drinks where nuts and even soy are turned into something resembling milk. But they need to add carrageenan to get the consistency close to that of real milk.

Now, though, carrageenan is used in ice creams, yogurts, sour cream and other dairy products. Why? I’m thinking so they can be sloppy with their production.

And that is just one reason why I always read labels!

Why Cheap isn’t Good!

Avoid CHEAP food, too! It’s cheap for a reason!

Cheap foods are made with inferior ingredients — unhealthy oils, fillers, flavor enhancers like MSG.

A good rule is to ask: Why is this food cheap? It only benefits the manufacturer. Not the consumer. Don’t eat cheap food!

Does your local grocery give food away? One near us has a crazy deal where you buy one item, such as ground beef, and they give you buns, chips and such. For free. All junk. It seems like a good deal, though there’s nothing healthy about it.

Take a look at the ingredients of a cheap food and compare them to the higher priced brand. You’ll likely find they don’t match.

An example is cottage cheese. The local store’s brand is cheaper than the name brand. The label tells the story. The cheaper brand has modified food starch added as filler. So they can use less of the actual cottage cheese.

It makes for an unhealthy version of cottage cheese. Especially for the diabetic. It’s another reason why I read the ingredients list on the label.

The Trouble with FAST & EASY Foods

Then there’s FAST food. Which is often cheap and almost always fake. Their goal, like all the other food companies is to maximize profits.

When it comes to EASY food, most “convenience” foods benefit the maker of the food much more than the consumer! Sure, you can just grab and go, but the maker did not choose the finest ingredients for that easy, convenient snack.

You feed your car the type of fuel that it needs, not something else b/c it’s cheaper. Why treat your body any differently?

Treat Your Body Like You Treat Your Car

Whether it's cheap, fake, fast or easy, the food company has a goal of making money. Lots of money. That means choosing the cheapest ingredients. Especially those that will keep you coming back!

How do they do that? Easy Peasy! They get you addicted. Quite often, it's sugar. Why do you think there are so many different forms of sugar? So that it's not so obvious if you happen to read the ingredients list.

I once checked the ingredients on the website of the most well known burger place. I had been told that everything on their menu contained sugar. Not quite true, but sugar was in a lot of foods where you wouldn't expect to find it.

It isn't just sugar, either. Salt can enhance flavors and make you want more. MSG (monosodium glutamate) is used to enhance flavors. That way they can use less of the herbs and spices. Plus you wind up craving it.

Do your own research. Check out the websites for restaurants and fast food joints. Read the ingredients. IF you can find them!

There’s a Better Way

OR: A better idea is to shun fast, cheap, fake and easy foods. Instead choose to prepare more meals yourself. Starting with real, whole foods! It's cheaper in the long run. Especially if you factor in the added health costs of eating unhealthy foods!

Fair warning: This happened to a friend. He’d been eating healthy for some time then found himself on the road and had to stop for fast food. Because nothing else was available.

He got the burger, the fries and the coke. And he couldn’t finish it. He had actually lost his taste for it. I’ve noticed the same. I can now taste the chemicals in fast, easy, cheap, fake food!

Are you ready to get started eating healthier? But don’t know where to start? Let’s have a conversation to help you figure it out. Get you on the road to eating real, whole food.