What's Good?

Neither “good,” nor “bad,” yet somehow we still need to judge something in one way or another. We cannot do this with food however, for as I have said before, some nutrient-poor food with a high caloric count, still has benefit to someone. Food is in abundance at this point in the Western world, so we get to be picky. We get to choose what we like, and people can get away with, “not liking the taste of water.” As much as a teeter-totter gets a slight weight shift to go one way or the other, people’s perspectives are only as good as the information they receive. Except, if that isn't accurate, then..?

Food provides energy, provides nutrients in their naturally-packed and most-easily absorbed form to satisfy. What happens when we eat foods that are processed where nutrients are removed for various reasons really has more to do with our discontent than it does anything else. Being dissatisfied is why people experience such displeasure with life and therefore respond so poorly. Discontent or boredom of some sort leads people to drug use, sexual actions, impulsive and often destructive behaviors. Discontentment nutritionally leads to compulsive eating of more nutrient-deprived foods. Specifically this varies for each individual as to what they like, what their body requires more of, and what the taste preference is. Yes, believe it or not, your body’s craved foods says a lot about your physiology.

The foods we eat take up a caloric place in our bodies, so if the foods we choose do not have what we require, such as craving something sweet and eating a brownie versus a banana, then we still hadn’t given the body what it desired, we just filled the caloric and therefore stomach gap with something inefficient. Sure, the mind was stimulated, the blood sugars spiked, and we convinced ourselves that was a good choice, however the body knows better. The mind knows better too. The problem is we don’t listen to either of these warning signs and instead, we continue to eat what is superficially stimulating or emotionally justified.

Again, logic wins out, and it is the reason people are still around today through numerous diseases and famines. We are benefited that processed foods weren’t around for our great ancestors to munch on, this includes supplements. See, supplements have this deceiving way of filling gaps that might not exist, or if they do, will not be satisfied wholly by the supplemented food. For example, if I am deficient in the amino acid tryptophan (for whatever reason) and I take a tryptophan supplement, then I can feel good about checking that off my list. However, the body’s knowledge of what it needs surpasses that of our own intellect. Yes, the body’s subconscious way of getting our attention and demanding nutrients is smarter than we are with our supplementation. In reality, we could be offsetting the delicate balance in another way, demanding the use of an already deficient nutrient to digest and distribute the supplement taken. Calcium supplements have been shown not only ineffective, but harmful, for they create an imbalance in the system.

There are numerous reasons why supplements or nutrient-supplemented foods should not suffice as our main source of calories. Much of what we run the risk of is the same as those who eat cheaper, more, fast-food items. Yes, the McDonald's consumer and the $400 a month supplement user run the risk of the same problem, inefficient nutrient intake. No matter the reason why, a nutrient deficiency leads to a host of problems ranging from mental health to physical detriments. With Mental health, because our mind has this uncanny way of making sense of things, we typically don’t recognize a detriment until we feel better. Such as not knowing you were getting depressed in the late of winter until the sun came out in spring and you started being more positive. With the psychical aspect of health, this one is easier to recognize than mental health, but oftentimes identified too late. Cancer for instance can be an imbalance in the body, fueled by a quick energy source such as sugar intake which contributes to other system’s downfall, afterwards it is too late to simply change and alternative medical interventions are applied. Or, like with aches and pains only to realize after many years that many of the processed foods were highly-inflammatory and so you contributed to a GI system that is now failing.

The examples are numerous of poor health. Those stories grab your attention, demanding that you change or else. Typically, talks like this start to wind down to people being deficient in something only to have the remedy in the next paragraph, and a supplement advertisement is born. This isn’t what that is and my hope is that your perspective shifts from supplements or fast food items, to food items, like vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts, seeds, grains even (though there is debate on this one). Whole foods have all the nutrients and cofactors (other more micronutrients needed to digest and absorb and use certain nutrients) and they actually satisfy. No, they will not stimulate like a highly refined food product would, for even the cheapest box of brownies has more potency than the best apple.

OK, so this isn’t to remove or add anything, just a challenge on a current perspective I hear a lot of that bothers me a little bit. I feel that people, over all, miss the mark of health not because they don’t try, but because their assumed destination is some ideal diet or some supplement regiment or weight-loss number, when in reality, the thing we all want is control and satisfaction. We want to know that we aren’t at the mercy of foods, depending on them for the only pleasure we know. That is the exact same methodology that drug users start out with. First we experiment with a cupcake, a cupcake tastes good and made me feel good for a while, and BAM, we are sitting in our car, hidden from the world as we shove them down our throat waiting to get rid of the container in the nearest anonymous trash can.

My book, available, HERE. 

Maybe, just maybe, binges, cravings, and overeating occur because we are simply lacking something, something no diet will fill, no supplement can find, but to try some whole food sources in combination, well, that might be just the thing you need.

God Bless.