The Benefits of Eating Healthy

When food takes over your life.

The world is not only facing the pandemic of Covid-19, it is also facing an obesity pandemic and lifestyle diseases caused by unhealthy eating. Sadly, processed foods have taken over our shelves and taken over our lives. It has become one of the world’s biggest income generators, but more than that, the food industries have become the greatest marketers and the best manipulators. Are you being conditioned to be slaves to their food?

Connectable Life – Standard American Diet vs a Real Food Diet

The fight is on. We need the Benefits of Healthy Eating.

There is a war out there, not a physical one- but rather a mental one. Fast food companies and the processed food industry are ruthlessly spending billions each year in marketing and food chemical manipulation- making foods more addictive and brainwashing us and our children into thinking that we should be consuming them.

Eating healthy, in today’s world, is definitely not the easiest to do. You would have to be living under a rock not to have noticed that processed food (factory foods) are the norm and are what most people have in their shopping baskets. Let’s be honest: they are easy, they are fast, and they still taste relatively good. But they are not healthy. They have more chemical compound ingredients than any names you may even recognise on the label. When did food start becoming so fake? They are a waste with their empty calories and no NUTRIENTS-which is the sum of what is lining our grocery store shelves. Box after box, and where is the healthy, real food?

Food should go rotten.

We also cannot forget that these foods barely go off either. They have a forever lifespan. Have you ever heard of the processed burger test? A doctor bought a burger from one of the local fast foods, we have all bought from it, and 12 years later that burger still sits in his office- no mold, no rot, perfect to eat; only it’s not, it’s 12 years old – gross. Real food goes bad and that’s what we want!

Connectable Life – real food vs processed. Real food spoils and goes bad.

Back to that fake processed food, filled with all the chemicals that make it delicious to our taste buds. We all know the saying, “Once you start, you can’t stop.” We can all think of a time when that packet was too good: even though you weren’t hungry, you just couldn’t stop yourself. They want to own your mind and your stomach, and when they’ve got these, they have also got your finances. The real problem is that you are the one losing. Your body is losing, and your finances are being wasted.

The question is… Do you care enough to educate yourself and change your eating habits?

What we look like isn’t the real problem.

Who hasn’t looked at a billboard and compared themselves? Who hasn’t wished they could shed those extra pounds? We want to look good; we want to look in the mirror and think, “Damn! You are smoking hot.” Saying all this, is the psychology enough? For some – yes, it is, but for most people, it’s not. We want to stand in front of a mirror and feel good. We want to feel good about ourselves, we want more energy.

The truth actually is that we want to be healthy. On the flip side of that, when we are not feeling good- and looking good- what do we do? The unfortunate answer is that we end up eating more. Food becomes our comfort and not only our comfort, but it becomes our treat and celebration. Sadly, too, our children are also being conditioned to think like this, making food mould into their emotions. We tend to eat our emotions: good or bad.

Our health is what really counts and the way to it is: Eating Healthy

Our body

Food is our nourishment and our sustenance. Without it, our body cannot survive but we can survive on a shorter string with the wrong food. Just like a plant in the wrong growing conditions, it very often will and can survive, but not happily. It does not thrive, it does not bear and produce. It struggles to flower, overall, it just struggles in life. We are exactly the same. When we feed our bodies with RUBBISH, we do not thrive, we struggle to produce. The end result is failure – our body will one day malfunction and it could have been avoided. In other words, feed your body with goodness. Give yourself the best option, the best outcome.

Our Gut

A TOPIC that three decades ago was barely talked about, in the medical WORLD, is now on everyone’s lips and with more and more incredible research being conducted, it is proving to be vital to our overall health. Our gut or microbiome.

Our gut health is linked to the immune system, mood, mental health, autoimmune diseases, endocrine disorders, skin conditions, and cancer.

These are some of the negative outcomes of an unhealthy gut. 

Upset stomach –

Stomach disturbances like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and heartburn can all be signs of an unhealthy gut.

High-refined sugar diet –

A diet high in processed foods and added sugars can decrease the amount of good bacteria in your gut. This imbalance can cause increased sugar cravings, which can damage your gut still further. This increased sugar can cause an increase in inflammation which is a precursor to many of today’s diseases and overall detriment to our bodies.

Unintentional weight changes –

Gaining or losing weight without making changes to your diet or exercise habits may be a sign of an unhealthy gut.

Sleep disturbances or constant fatigue –

An unhealthy gut may contribute to sleep disturbances such as insomnia or poor sleep, and therefore lead to chronic fatigue. The majority of the body’s serotonin, a hormone that affects mood and sleep, is produced in the gut. Therefore gut-related issues can contribute to a lack of sleep.

Skin irritation –

Skin conditions like eczema may be related to a damaged gut. Inflammation in the gut caused by a poor diet or food allergies may cause increased “leaking” of certain proteins out into the body, which can, in turn, irritate the skin and cause conditions such as eczema. This is referred to as Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Food intolerances –

Food intolerances are the result of difficulty digesting certain foods (this is different than a food allergy, which is caused by an immune system reaction to certain foods). It’s thought that food intolerances may be caused by the poor quality of bacteria in the gut. This can lead to difficulty digesting the trigger foods and unpleasant symptoms such as bloating, gas, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and nausea. There is some evidence that food allergies may also be related to gut health.

Our brain

Our brain is our powerhouse and it is a direct result of the food we eat. Amazingly, only in the past 20/30 years has there been conclusive and groundbreaking science and research about the incredible ability of our brain and how important it is to nurture it. Like you would care for your car’s engine by giving it pure, clean fuel/gas. It is the same with our engine, “The Brain” – feed it with goodness and you will experience the long-term, beneficial results. You will be able to think more clearly, sleep better, retain more information etc.

Brain health is also vital in our neurochemical and hormone distribution, helping our emotions and decision-making processors. The benefits of a healthy brain makes life easier to manage, helping with stress management, depression and increasing happiness and love hormones. Amazingly, also increasing our goal setting ability and accomplishments drive. Not only is feeding your brain with the best nutrients beneficial now, but there is also more and more research on the effects your long-term brain health has with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.

 It boils down to two aspects…

Education

Educate yourself on healthy food and the benefits you will get. Those benefits being health, energy, good sleep, more joy, clarity of thought and more.

Your choice

When we know the truth, we need to decide what is actually important. Do you want to be healthy? You might think to yourself, but it is expensive- eating healthy. Yes and no. Here again, it comes down to choices. When you do the real comparison and you shop wisely, it is cheaper to eat healthier. It is more expensive to eat processed, fake food, loaded with sugars than it is to be healthy. Let us compare – a bag of apples coasts a similar price to a bag of crisps or a small box of store biscuits. You will eat all those crisps; you could possibly eat every biscuit, but you wouldn’t eat every apple in the bag. Again, it boils down to choices. Another example would be drinking juice – it’s expensive and you could have water – it’s a quarter of the price, especially if you are drinking water from your house. Purified or not, it’s far cheaper than juice. Simply said, you choose.

Yes, the processed foods are often more delicious to our now accustomed taste buds. Our children want to eat those delicious processed foods. I know, they fight with me and want all the unhealthy options. It’s not easy- for them or for me. Once again, you have to make the choice – are the benefits of healthy eating going to outweigh the ease and deliciousness of unhealthy processed foods?

Key facts of Obesity and being overweight. Why the Benefits of Eating Healthy…

Facts supplied by WHO 

• Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975.
• In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Of these over 650 million were obese.
• 39% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight in 2016, and 13% were obese.
• Most of the world’s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.
• 38 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2019.
• Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight or obese in 2016.
• Obesity is preventable.

Most of these facts are from their 2016 study, it would be interesting to know today’s obesity and overweight statistics.

Making life changes is hard and requires time and energy. Even so, the benefits of healthy eating outweigh the challenges and struggle if you put your mind to it. To make this transition easier, seek the advice, accountability and/or counsel of a Dietitian, Meal Planner, Nutritionist, Functional Doctor or Wellness Coach on Connectable Life.