FOOD IS LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE AND FUEL

Food is so many different things to so many different people. We look to food to express our love for loved ones. We look to food for entertainment during special events. We even look to food to help manage or disguise our own true emotions of sadness, anger, anxiousness, excitement, or boredom. Food is cultural, regional, and person specific. With all these differences in how we look at food or respond to it, one primary and possibly the most important factor about food that never changes is that food is fuel.

Food is fuel, plain and simple. Without food, we would not sustain life. Period. I want you to answer a few questions for me real quick. Do you own a car? If you do, do you put the right amount and kind of gas you need? Do you wash it? Do you change the oil and keep the right air pressure in the tires? I am going to assume you answered yes to all of these questions if not most of them. Now, do you plan on keeping this vehicle for the rest of your life?

Let us break this down now. We are willing to put all this time, energy and money into something we will most likely not have forever. In actuality, we will probably trade it in for a newer model in three to five years. If we are willing to do all of this for something we will not have forever, why are we not willing to do this for our bodies of which we only get one for life?

The various foods we drink, chew, and swallow effect every aspect of our life. The ability to think clearly, retain information, and make the best decision possible all stem from the foods we eat. Our physical ability is directly related to the foods we eat and the nutrient levels that ultimatly transform our metabolism. From the most simple movements like standing up from a chair to more challenging requests like our hand-eye coordination on the field, the food we consume will affect our ability.  We can even look internally at the effects food or fuel has on our bodies. Our ability to fight infection and prevent chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Certain foods even hold the power to manage chronic autoimmune diseases that we do not have cures for like Lupus.

Food is love. Food brings laughter. Food brings peace. Above all else, food is fuel. Establishing food as fuel first is essential. No matter what dietary regimen you practice, knowing that the food you eat will directly and indirectly affect you and your body positively or negatively is priceless. Decide what you want to do in life and what you want out of it then choose the right fuel to make it happen.

Daniel Howell, RD, LMT, ACE-CPT