We've all heard the saying: "You are what you
eat"?
It originated hundreds of years ago, but was made famous by
a 1942 dated book, by a nutritionist called Victor Lindlahr. The actual quote is:
"Ninety per
cent of the diseases known to man are caused by cheap foodstuffs. You are what
you eat."
He was passionate about the notion that what you eat is
fuel to regenerate your cells.
Now I know this. I know to avoid sugars, sweets, cakes,
puddings, beer, because as we all know, refined man-made sugar is the enemy of
our bodies.
But I'd forgotten that processed meals, fast-food,
microwave meals, can be just as damaging to our health. I'd fallen into the
trap of being so busy, having no time to cook real food, so I buy a 'something'
on the way home.
Last night, I was driving through the night, tired and
hungry, falling asleep at the wheel, when I saw a drive-through. Oh my, the
bright lights just drew me in like I was on auto-pilot. I ordered a large
burger, fries and a milk shake, paid five pounds for the privilege, and sped
off, back onto the motorway.
I can't deny, it was the tastiest thing I had eaten in a
long time. So welcome, probably because I was hungry and vulnerable. I enjoyed
every mouthful, every slurp. In the back of my mind, I know how this stuff was
made, I am not even going to call it food. But at the time, I shoved all that
knowledge down, and simply enjoyed the taste.
But the next morning.
Oh my, the next morning.
First of all, I woke up with a headache, which is unusual.
Then I groaned myself out of bed, normally I spring up,
full of gratitude.
Then I dragged my carcass round the house, instead of
leaping down the stairs in joy and excitement. There was no anticipation today,
it was like a fog had settled around my brain.
No clarity in my thinking, no get-up-and-go, no
enthusiasm.
"Coffee" I thought through my stupor, that'll
wake me up. Normally I have green tea, but today, a strong coffee didn't even
touch my sorry state.
I drank lots of water, and took headache pills.
It's like my body was so unused to such dietary abuse, it
didn't know how to react. It was shocked I could treat it so badly.
Oh, and did I mention the acid reflux? It was awful. Junk
food is one of the causes of cancer in our society, our ph levels have risen
higher than ever before in the history of human-kind. Fast-food produces the
wrong kind of acid in our bodies, the damaging kind....
As I fumbled my way though a shower, I realised this is
the way millions of people feel every day. Every morning is an effort. Every step is unpleasant. I know people who heave
themselves upstairs, I normally skip. Why do people tolerate this? It's like
they are only half switched on. How do they cope with life? How do they make
decisions? Manage relationships? Run a home? A business?
It's because they haven't experienced another way, a
better way. The path of clean food, healthy living, raw veg, freshly-cut fruit,
home-grown salad, organic, free range, less salt, less sugar, less white
processed refined junk.
Junk. That's the word. I'd crammed by belly full of chemically
processed junk last night, and now my body was returning the favour. "You
gave me this fuel Serge, now I am going to make your brain out of it. Happy
thinking".
So I spent the rest of the day trying to compensate by
eating fish and veg and salad, trying not to think about the plastic I had
digested last night, and what effect it was having on my blood.
I'll be more mindful from now on, about what I put into
my mouth.
As the great Hippocrates said: "Let food be thy medicine, and medicine thy food".
