You Are What You Eat- Is It True?
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Most of us have heard the saying, “You are what you eat” but how many of us agree with it?
If you agree with the saying, then you are probably adding healthy food items to your plate and moving towards a healthier and happier self. However, if you are kinds who would prefer eating a jumbo burger meal for dinner, then you should reconsider your dietary habits.
“Why reconsider my dietary habits?” you ask. Well, we are about to answer your question and at the same time prove that ‘You are, indeed, what you eat.’
According to research, the human body is made up of approximately 37 trillion cells and none of these cells are permanent. For you to understand better, a stomach cell lives for 2 days, a skin cell for 30 days, and a red blood cell for 120 days. The human body loses billions of cells as a person heads towards old age. All these cells work day and night to keep your body running; right from your skin to your immune system, these cells are constantly repairing, rebuilding and recreating themselves. Therefore, it is extremely important to take good care of the cells in your body.
Now you must be wondering, “How can a person take care of something that cannot be seen or touched?” The answer to this question is very simple. The nutritional content of what we eat determines the structure and composition of the cell membranes. In simple words, it means that every single cell in your body is made up of what you eat. Therefore, the better you eat, the healthier your cells will be which will, in turn, make you feel healthier and happier.
The next big question is “How can one know if their cells are healthy and functioning optimally?” If we had to answer this question in the shortest way possible, I’d say, “It shows.” If your cells are unhealthy and worn out, it will show in your day to day life. Your skin will start looking pale and dull, you will be unable to think productively and you will always be a victim of fatigue and chronic illnesses. On the other hand, if you are careful about what you feed your cells, you can reduce the risk of chronic illnesses like obesity, arthritis, diabetes and other serious health problems like cancer, heart diseases, etc by as much as 80%. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
If you are wondering how the brain comes into the picture, we will let the expert explain it to you. Patti Milligan, Director of Nutrition at Tignum says that sometimes due to excessive mental load, it seems like our brain is on fire. This happens because a lot of oxidants are produced in the brain in the brain while we are working and healthy foods like berries, beans and other fruits and vegetables produce antioxidants which reverse the damage done by oxidants. In addition to eating well, it is imperative to stay hydrated as the brain is 70-80% water. If the brain does not get proper hydration, then it can fall prey to ‘brain fog.’
Just the way healthy eating habits can do wonders, bad lifestyle choices can reverse all the benefits of healthy eating. Habits like smoking, alcohol consumption, dependency on prescription medicines, irregular sleeping patterns, skipping breakfast, etc slowly deteriorate the health of the cells in our body. It is very difficult to understand the harm that it does to our body as by the time we realize that things are going downhill, it is already too late and the damage is already done.
A healthy balanced diet consisting of natural and organic items is optimum for cell growth. It is best to stay away from highly processed food items, stimulants like caffeine and nicotine, frozen food items, etc as they don’t provide the body with sufficient nutrition to function properly.
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