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Why Are You Eating That?

January 15, 2025| By

Choose the answer that best applies:

  • Because I like it.
  • Because it was there.
  • Because my friend was eating.
  • Because I don’t want any leftovers.

 

I’m sure that we can agree that none of those answers took into account what you’re eating or how much you’re eating. Had you said because it’s healthy and nutritious, then you’re on the right track.

Let’s first consider why we eat at all.

To survive, we have to eat a certain number of calories to either maintain a healthy weight or lose weight.  Those calories have a purpose.  They’re needed to run the most miraculous machine (our bodies) that was ever made.  Sadly, our bodies are rarely given the respect they deserve.  Worse yet, when we’re young, our bodies are so accommodating no matter what garbage we put into them, that many people don’t learn how to treat it properly.   For some time, the body seems capable of breaking down whatever we send its way, chasing after the good stuff, getting rid of the not-so-good stuff like toxins.  Without suffering any ill consequences right away, people continue to insult their bodies.  Until they body can no longer handle it.

When you reach for a candy bar instead of a piece of fruit, what do you think the candy bar is providing to your body so it can run at its optimal?  There’s next to no nutrition in a candy bar, but there are plenty of calories.  Compare that to the piece of fruit that also provides calories, but at least gives you fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Imagine you’re traveling in a submarine through your bloodstream.

The candy bar is pretty much going to be digested and travel as sugar (glucose) through your bloodstream.  A lot of it.  It can’t travel on this river forever.  The body doesn’t like having too much glucose in the bloodstream.  It will try to put it away in some good spots first.  The muscles and brain will be happy to receive some of that glucose.  But once they’ve had their fill, the body still knows there is too much running around.  To get rid of it, it will turn that glucose to fat.  I hope you enjoyed that candy bar because, as the saying goes, “a moment on the lips are forever on the hips!”  Was it worth it?

Now the apple is another story.  First, it contains less sugar than the candy bar.  And because of that, there will be less glucose traveling through your bloodstream.  Rarely does an apple’s sugar turn to fat in the body.  In addition, your body is giving you a high-five for providing it with the fiber for your intestine to keep everything moving regularly, the vitamins and minerals for all the chemical reactions that go on inside.

To eat or not to eat?  That is the question.

While a play on words from Shakespeare, it is a question you need to ask yourself every time you plan to eat something.  And I’ll add another:  “Is it worth it?”  Are whatever calories you’re going to eat going to both bring you pleasure mentally and emotionally, but also make your body happy?  Remember, once you screw up your body, it is so much harder getting it back to healthy.  And while you may not have wanted to be asking yourself these questions, ending up with heart disease, diabetes, or cancer,  you’ll be asking many more question “To eat or not to eat?”

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