DISCUSSION
Quality In Quality Out
10 Oct 2013 10.35 am by K. Daniel
Recently I have been renewing my interest in the foods that I eat. With the recent obsession that my social circle has on health, it was decided that I would jump on the bandwagon to improve my health. No less as my studies in health sciences recommences early next year, I suppose it is time that I either put up or shut up.
So what will be determining my diet for the following weeks (and hopefully, months & years)?
One word. Quality.
Most of you would be familiar with the concept of food safety, and the variables which entail. Information on that topic is widely available and often discussed, as seen here, here, and here. It could be said that it is in itself an aspect of quality. But what about beyond that?
As this author's training is based in nutrition, I would concur that the quality of the foods that you eat will define you. Of course, arguably it could be said that it is the types of the foods that you eat which determine your health. Eat the rainbow is the common phrase that is often repeated. But does it matter if that rainbow has some blemishes, bits and bobs, and heavily treated with chemicals?
Food for thought. How many of you believe the notion that "you are what you eat"?
The term was coined by the late Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a French lawyer, politician, and most often recognized as an epicure and all around food guy*. Although not word for word, that simple concept highlights the idea that what we eat defines us in all of life's aspects, including culture, social, and physical.
Certain cultural practices will either limit or expand our food choices. So will our social circle, and to an extent, disposable income allocated to the foods we eat. But what about physical?
It is a simple fact that what we eat can and will determine how we grow, if not vertically, horizontally (which is apparently a huge problem -pun intended- in modern society). I will take it another step further though.
As we grow, we dispose of a lot of things. We cut our hair and nails. We shed our skin. Sometimes we bleed out. Etc. These things need to, and eventually does, get replaced at one point or another. This is achieved through cell regeneration. To put it simply, our existing cells grow and divide to take the place of dead/removed cells, although the actual process is much more complex, and not all go through the process.
For those that do, what variable affect growth? Well, cell growth will be dependent on the amount and type of nutrients present, in other words, the foods we consume can and will determine the rate of growth of our cells. Better quality foods equals to more nutrients, ergo better growth. Your entire body is a physical representation of how well you are eating, and so, you are literally what you eat.
And so with that knowledge in mind, it would stand to reason that I would be moderately picky of what I will be eating for the following weeks. Not in the sense of all organic, biodynamic, superfood snobbery that is continuously churned out by major food industries (this will be reserved for a latter discussion), but a more sensible approach of what my body needs, and what it doesn't need.
I am what I eat, and so i better make sure that what passes through my mouth will be quality goods.
* I for one refuse to use the term "foodie". It has been often repeated in social media and the internet to the point that it has lost all meaning.
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