Choose To Nourish Your Body And Mind
When we think about eating it’s because we are hungry. We are simply responding to a biological cue that our body needs food. However, our body never cues us into what type of food it really needs to maintain its health and daily functions. We can experience cravings, but these tend to be reward based foods that give our brain a feel-good boost of hormones.
Wouldn’t it be nice if our body could simply make us want to eat what is best for it and have no appetite for the junk food we too often grab instead. Unfortunately, this is not the case and is one of our greatest struggles. If you want to read more about cravings and how the food industry has learned to exploit them, check out this past blog.
Hunger is an odd feeling that we all know, some of us too well. It is triggered by hormones in our body and cannot be willed away. When we get hungry, we tend to think of what we would enjoy eating or would taste good to us. Just think about what you are going to eat for lunch or dinner today.
Rarely do we stop and think about eating something that will be nourishing for our body. When was the last time you thought how a certain food would affect your health in the short and long term? How your pizza at lunch and grilled chicken salad at dinner would impact your body’s ability to function properly and recover while you sleep is probably that last thing on your mind.
Sure, you may think to yourself that the pizza isn’t the healthiest meal option, and you know that greens are good for you, so you eat the salad at dinner. But what if you started to think about how each meal could impact your body on a meal-by-meal basis.
Changing your mindset
Instead of responding to our hunger cues by eating the first thing that comes to mind, take a second to think how a certain food would impact your body and its health besides just satisfying our taste buds.
Would the meal or food item you are wanting to eat nourish your body by providing nutrients such as minerals and vitamins that help sustain daily functions. How about antioxidants that help protect our body. Or would the food item simply offer calories and possibly chemicals (preservatives, dyes, etc) that may cause further damage to our body.
There is a new trend in the field of dietetics that there is no good or bad food, but rather all food is food. There are some instances when this mindset is useful however, for the majority of our population this is simply poor advice to see all food as equal.
Due to the food industry's need to hit corporate goals and satisfy stockholders, there are many foods available to us that are edible but not nourishing or even worse, toxic to our health.
Luckily, it doesn’t require an advanced degree to realize when a certain food is just not healthy to us. When we stop and think about how a certain food will impact our health, it becomes almost common sense. We simply have been ignoring our ability to choose what’s best for our body.
The key takeaway
Not all foods are healthy and nourishing to our body. Just because it’s edible does not mean it won’t negatively impact your short and long term health. Choosing nourishing foods simply makes us feel better. Take back your ability to choose nourishing foods and meals through these simple steps, your body will repay you for it.
When choosing a food or meal to eat, think of the following:
What kind of nourishment does this food or meal offer my body?
Does it provide vitamins and minerals naturally or are they added?
Added vitamins and minerals are a good indicator of a poor choice, this is the companies way of making a food seem healthier then it is.
Does it provide my body with protein and healthy fats (mono- and poly-unsatrated)?
Is this food or meal free of chemicals and other additives that may impact my long term health?
Are the ingredients simple and understandable?
Difficult to pronounce ingredients are often a good indicator that a food choice may not be a good option. The more there are, the worse the food probably is for your health.
Don’t overthink it, if a food or meal seems unhealthy then it probably is. Make the choice to choose the best for your body, not what the company's bottom line wants you to choose.
If you would like one-on-one education with a dietitian on why and how to choose certain foods and meals, schedule your 30 min consultation today to get started.
Written by: Adam Skowyra MPPD, RDN, LD
