What we eat, our diet is directly linked to our physical and mental health.
Obviously, our degree of satisfaction doesn’t just come from what we eat and drink. Many other factors come into play too including the people around us and what we see, read and hear.
Fundamentally though, our nutrient consumption determines the composition of our cells, bone marrow, blood, hormones, tissue, organ, skin, hair and these are then all linked to the way we will feel.
We typically replace billions of cells on a daily basis drawing on the diet we consume as a source. Our diets can even affect our genetics over time. There has been a lot of research on this, all of which factually suggests cellular metabolism and evolution and provide new insights on how DNA sequences can be influenced by adaptation to our diets. For example, in the past 20 years, the levels of natural testosterone levels in men and oestrogen levels in women have decreased. You may be asking why this has happened. There are a few reasons for this: lack of exercise, lack of sunlight and poor sleep contribute but so does overconsumption of refined sugars and bad fats generating poor cholesterol: all these result in abnormal hormonal/enzyme release, causing all kinds of irregularities in the body and mind.
I have been fortunate enough to have been fed some of the most delicious meals in my youth thanks to my parents, who are big foodies and regardless of what they were cooking always placed a big importance on the fact that it should be healthy, so we haven’t eaten out as much as others would normally do. Honestly, I used to think we should have eaten out more often, but now I am glad we didn’t. Believe me when I say this: not all restaurants have a 5* rating, especially those that do fast food or takeaways which can be the worst in terms of hygiene and the quality of food or the way food is kept or the additives used. The worst feeling is when all that heated food comes in plastic containers – that’s mental! Does anyone really want to eat the plastic and plastic additives that leach out into the food!?[1]
When I first moved to the UK, I hated eating food at restaurants/takeaways because it wasn’t always as healthy or[2] what I was used to eating. So, I started to learn how to cook meals that my family made when I lived in India. Not only does a well-balanced diet make us healthier but it has a direct impact on mood – healthy gut bacteria!! There’s all the scientific evidence in the world to prove that and I personally can vouch for making this change
We all know the obvious benefits of making sure we have a healthy balanced diet, this includes reducing the risk of acquiring certain diseases and conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and even some types of cancer. Of course, I could keep going on about this but we all know that this can be reduced by eating healthily and exercising regularly. But, there are some things that we can use that can also aid in changing the way we eat and exercise. This includes being mindful of what we see, listen and read, and whose company we are in. So, if you want this to happen, some sacrifices will need to be made.
So how do we get started and make changes?
These sacrifices can be made gradually and do not need to cut what we eat drastically or completely. It’s better to do things like this slowly so that we get used to the changes rather than just go completely “cold turkey”. That’s the beauty of it. You may want to decide that you need to reduce the amount of processed sugar that you eat, and it’s better to just reduce it and slowly take the quantity down rather than just one day deciding that you’re going to just completely avoid the stuff. As if you were to just start by avoiding certain things it can leave you craving it and then possibly consuming more than you may have done previously.
This could lead on to a future blog post? Potential idea?
Wasn’t it also because it was never as authentic = I know only minor but it was a point you made when we talked about this article
r the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).