Nutrition

 by: Christopher Ayu

If you accept the analogy that our bodies are like an engine, then it follows that this engine will perform better if it receives the type of fuel that it was designed to run on. In years gone by, before artificially processed and manufactured foods, our bodies normally received the correct nutritional balance every day.

As more and more families saw both the husband and wife holding down jobs outside the home, the dynamics of eating, exercise and nutrition began to change. "Convenience" and "fast foods" became the norm, and farms were gradually replaced by processing plants. Today, the average meal is so laden with artificial preservatives and saturated fat that our bodies are starving for the ingredients that they need, and overflowing with the ingredients that they don't need.

This nutritional imbalance manifests itself through weight problems, skin problems, tiredness, disease, and overall poor health. Although this problem has reached pandemic proportions, you can reverse the effects of poor diet in your own life if you truly want to.

Garbage In - Garbage Out

While this phrase may have been coined for the computer industry, it's very relevant when it comes to our own body. Every moment that we are alive, our body is busy manufacturing the chemicals, fluids, proteins, and tissues that are required to keep us healthy. Food, or rather the nutrition that is derived from food, is what the body depends upon to handle all of these tasks.

Everything that we consume is used, stored, or discarded by the body. The body's particular nutritional needs can vary widely depending upon what's going on inside and outside of us at any particular time. Our body makes decisions on whether to burn carbs or fat based upon our immediate energy needs, how long it has been since our last meal, and the general condition of our health.

The body burns fuel in a very specific order. Alcohol is burned first because our bodies have no way to store it for later use. Protein is burned next, then carbohydrates and, finally fat.

Because fat is consumed last, and the average person has a diet which is rich in fat, our bodies store the fat away to be used at a future time. How is this fat stored? You guessed it; it's stored as fatty tissue. And that's why we call being overweight "fat".

These excess fat stores not only affect our physical appearance, but they have a tremendous impact on our overall health. Study after study has shown that excess fat in our diets are directly linked to these medical conditions:

- Increased risk of developing certain cancers.

- Increased risk of arterial and heart disease due to elevated cholesterol levels.

- Increased risk of stroke.

- Increased risk of Diabetes.

- Increased risk of Liver disease.

- Direct impact on the body's immune system.

Doesn't it just make sense to avoid these unnecessary health risks by reducing the amount of fat that we consume every day? Of course it does.