What do you think of when food is brought up?
Many things may come to mind such as:
- “It is the fuel for this streamlined machine and testament to Adonis, my hero.”
- “It is the thing that keeps me from looking the way I want. It is the enemy.”
- “It is the thing that makes me feel better when everything else in my life isn’t going so great.”
Food is fuel…and a car just needs gas, right?
Food contains energy. Absolutely true. But pin holing food with a view that only sees it as energy is like saying a car only needs gas.
So imagine your car with 3 rubber tires, no tread, a metal rim for the 4th tire, alignment is off, there are no windshield wipers, no oil change in recent memory, leaks everywhere, and you are driving in a snowstorm. BUT you have gas and by some miracle, the wheels are turning. You might get to your destination, but you will be cold, miserable, inefficient, and lacking in a great deal of style (so no dates anytime soon).
Yes, we get fuel from food, but food is SO much more than fuel!
Food helps us thrive and function at our best.
Again, food is so much more than just fuel! Food carries many important things such as macro- (proteins, carbs, and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), phytochemicals (plant based), zoochemicals (animal based), fiber, water, and even some molecules we may have not yet discovered. All of these things play crucial roles in how our body’s function with many of them not directly contributing to “fuel” production
Perspective Shift: Food is Information
Think of food as being full of different languages that can communicate to the many processes, organs, and organ systems in your body.
Your kidneys may speak German, French, and Spanish, but the pastry you just ate might contain a message in Swahili. You can imagine there will be a communication barrier in this situation!
The steak, broccoli, and quinoa you will eat tonight contain even more messages in a variety of languages that your body can translate and use to help our body recover, stay healthy, think clearly, perform excellently, and be more efficient.
The really neat part is that your body speaks thousands of languages! You don’t need Rosetta Stone for your body to use the information from the food you take in.
The problem lies in only giving your body information in 1 or 2 languages at a 3rd grade reading level.
Have you ever tried expressing to someone else a feeling or an idea that you didn’t seem to have the words to adequately convey the message? I have and it’s one of the more frustrating situations to be in.
Your body is a multi-lingual expert but you may be speaking to it in a backwoods country drawl.
Your body speaks ALL languages and knows EVERY vocabulary word of the day. You can’t speak a word that will stump it. That is, if the language is real. If the language is some perversion of other languages (processed foods), that might give it some trouble. The only way you can communicate with your body is through the food you eat and the movements you put it through. Sprinkling your spinach with citrus tells your body to absorb the iron in the spinach better. Drinking milk with Vitamin D tells your body to absorb the calcium found in milk better.
So what should you do?
To put it simply, speak to your body in a variety of languages (read “eat a variety of whole, less processed foods”). You will start to utilize the many processes in your body more effectively and this, in turn, helps you function at your best. This helps you thrive.
Every food you choose to eat is an opportunity to shape your health, body composition, performance, and wellness. You are the one in control.
How would your life be different if you had a well fed, efficient, strong, and healthy body? What you would you be able to do and experience?
If you were to look at your current diet and change one thing, one meal, one routine etc., what do you think would make the biggest impact with the least effort?
Go do it! Repeat as necessary 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Bryce
Questions, comments, inquiries: email me at wbryce.berry@gmail.com
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