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You Are What You Eat: In More Ways Than You Think
After religion and politics, food is probably the most contentious subject out there. The truth, though is, you are what you eat. Not just literally, but metaphorically too. We are influenced and molded by what we ingest and imbibe. What we watch, who we spend time hanging out with, the content we read — all add up to define who we are.
This is not a post about dietary recommendations. Experts have dedicated entire lives to writing about nutrition. Far be it for me to offer advice on that front. That said, there are some universal principles on food listed in this article; objective facts and guiding principles that won’t stretch our imaginations. I’m confident we can all agree on these. Just like we can agree to disagree on whether keto, paleo, 5:2, charcoal (bizarre!), or cotton ball diets work.
When I watched the documentary film Super Size Me, released in 2004, I recall being jolted by the movie’s drastic message. For those of you who haven’t seen the film yet or weren’t even born then (really?), here’s a summary.
Super Size Me follows Morgan Spurlock, an independent filmmaker, as he embarks on a quest to only eat fast food for three meals a day for 30 days. Spoiler alert: the results are dramatic. In an awful way. Spurlock gains almost 25 lbs over the month, decimates his lipid profile, and develops a host of other physiological and mental health issues. All this just after 30 days of poor eating.
The film’s purpose was to highlight the rising obesity crisis in the US (and elsewhere, especially first-world nations) and how commercial interests and the laws of the land help fuel the problem. But the film helped make one fact painfully clear to the general public: you are what you eat.
The message wasn’t new by any means.
Study after study has shown how poor dietary choices impact our health more than any other factor. And yes, I acknowledge the irony of the previous sentence, given this is a written article. However, the truth is we are much more likely to get our newsfeeds from the entertainment industry than through reading.
- A high sugar diet can lead to cognitive impairment
- Poor nutrition is linked to mental health concerns such as depression
