You Are What You Eat
In 1826, the French lawyer Brillat-Savarin wrote, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” The food one eats has a bearing on one's state of mind and health. Eating a poor-quality diet high in cheap food is linked to a higher risk of obesity, depression, digestive issues, heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and early death. Food is fuel for our bodies. But it doesn’t just give us energy, it can also impact our moods. Knowing this, how can we make better food choices?
The Bible has provided us with a grocery list of items that are healthy. Spices and herbs were used to flavor bread, cakes, meats, soups, stews, and were taken as digestive aids in biblical times. Vegetables packed with nutrients, fiber, and protein powered the people of the Bible. Healthy grains were a primary staple, along with seafood. However, only certain fish and other seafood were suitable for eating. According to Leviticus 11:9, edible seafood had to have fins and scales. Shellfish was prohibited. Today we know that fish such as Tuna, Salmon, Cod, Red Snapper, and many others are high in protein and healthy omega fats, which can help reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, and provide many other health benefits. Along with bread, fish, meat, olives, grapes, and other fruits and vegetables, dairy products were important foods of the Bible. They provided great variety and significant nutrition to the ancient world. Fresh, raw products from grass-fed cows, sheep, and goats constituted the dairy portion of the biblical diet.
Food affects our mood in so many different ways, and our gut is primarily responsible for how we feel. Our gut or gastrointestinal tract (also known as our second brain) is home to billions of bacteria. The food we eat directly affects our gut health (or the balance of good and bad bacteria) and influences the production of neurotransmitters (our body’s chemical messengers that are constantly carrying messages from the gut to the brain).
Ninety percent of serotonin receptors — our mood regulators that influence our biological and neurological processes such as aggression, anxiety, cognition, mood, and sleep — are located in the gut. So, for example, when we eat something sweet or sugary, it produces dopamine (the feel-good hormone) and serotonin (the happiness hormone). The neurotransmitters carry those chemicals to the brain, and we feel happy.
In a literal sense, we all can agree that it’s true that ‘you are what you eat’. Nutrients from the foods we eat provide the foundation of the structure, function, and wholeness of every little cell in our body, from the skin and hair to the muscles, bones, digestive and immune systems. We may not feel it, but we’re constantly repairing, healing and rebuilding our body. Food provides us with energy and the raw materials to carry out important bodily functions like clearing out waste, staving off illness and keeping your heart beating. Life is busy and you can’t afford to be weighed down by poor food decisions, so fuel your body with the right foods, and it will reward you for making healthy choices. Healthy food leads to a healthy body, which, in turn, increases your odds of a longer, happier life.