Why do we eat?

We eat to feed our mind and body. We eat because without food, we die.

It’s quite simple really.

Without carbohydrates, fats and proteins we don’t have the ability to respire. Respiration is a chemical process in the body in which energy is made. Without respiration we cannot move, reproduce, grow, respond to changes in our environment, excrete waste, digest nutrients, think and our muscles (including our heart) cannot function. Our brain and heart stops without carbohydrates. We eat to move, think, laugh and love. We eat to breathe. To eat is to be alive.

We need fat for insulation of organs and body warmth, for cholesterol for making our cell membranes and many key hormones (including Oestrogen the female sexual characteristics hormone and Testosterone the male sexual characteristic hormone).

We need protein for growth and repair and cell signalling and for making many key hormones including Insulin (which helps regulate blood sugar). We need fibre to move food through the digestive system, Vitamin A for our eyes and immune system (the system that protects us from disease), Vitamin D for helping us absorb Calcium, Vitamin E for skin and eyes and Vitamin K for clotting blood and healing wounds. Calcium for our bones, Vitamin B1 for the nervous system, B2 for energy release, B3 for the nervous system (how we respond to changes in our environment) and B9 for making blood. We need B12 for the nervous system and Vitamin C for helping us fight infection. Iron for energy, Sodium for controlling water levels in the body and Phosphorous for bones and teeth. We need Iodine for hormones (chemical messengers in the blood) and Magnesium for bones.

WE NEED IT ALL.

Food is not a luxury, it is not something we should deny ourselves or only focus around one food group with. Food is not bad or good, it is simply necessary and it is a DELICATE but NECESSARY BALANCE. Not too much of one thing and denying another. Not only eat eating vegetables or only eating sweets. We are grown ups now and thus must use our common sense and think logically. A bit of everything as it all plays a role and is ALL ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE.

I write this because I am so sick and tired of reading WRONG literature online from non-scientists “trending” who promote the restriction of some food groups and encourage people to either OVEREAT (#pizzaeverynight, erm no…you’ll die) or DENY (#cleaneat my arse) themselves what their body needs. Our body needs a VARIED diet that gives it a prescribed medicine of exactly what it requires. A personalised diet based on our age, genetics and activity level. There is NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL approach to nutrition and yes, it is unfair that some people can eat more than others based on their genetics (I can eat loads #hateme) but we must ACCEPT our bodies and take time to ensure we are giving it THE EXACT MEDICINE it REQUIRES.

Food is medicine. It keeps us alive. There is NO POINT taking some fancy supplement or drug for what we could get instantly from our diet. Instead of taking an iron supplement, eat spinach or meat or fish. Instead of taking omega 3 supplements, eat some fish. The world has gone blooming diet crazy and as a reformed food extremist who has learnt the hard way the implications of mismanaging nutrition, I can say that its time we went back to basics, made everyone go back and re-read their GCSE (age 14-16) Biology or Food Science text books and remembered that food is ESSENTIAL and that WHAT WE EAT impacts HOW WE FEEL.

What we eat impacts our energy and thus our mood, activity level and relationships with others(mood food). What we eat impacts our sex lives (our libido is impacted by the level of fat and carbohydrate in our diet), our looks (our skin, teeth and hair and size), our memory and thus our intelligence. What we eat makes a HUGE difference but at the same time its best to not overthink it. Overanalysing diet can become oppressive and obsessive and under-analysing it is neglecting yourself. IT’S BALANCE. Go back to simple GCSE Biology and eat the food groups your body needs. If you don’t know what the hell is in the food your eating, don’t eat it in the same way you wouldn’t take a medical drug if you didn’t know what was in it. Think simply but cleverly and logically.

WE EAT TO BE ALIVE. TO BE ALIVE IS TO EAT. NOT OVER EAT OR UNDER EAT. GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS, NOTHING MORE OR LESS BASED ON YOUR BODY. NO-ONE ELSE’S. JUST YOURS. GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS. EAT TO BE ALIVE.