Food vs. Filler

So many items on the grocery shelves look like they should be good for you but the truth is they just have an amazing marketing team behind that product.

Real food is whole, single-ingredient food. It is mostly unprocessed, free of chemical additives, and rich in nutrients. … In fact, following a diet based on real food may be one of the most important things you can do to maintain good health and a high quality of life.

Food products are substances that can be prepared as food, are processed and often include chemical additives, are low in nutrients.

To truly understand what the difference is and why it matters, let’s first ask ourselves, why do we eat?

I’m sure your answer is something along the lines of “because I get hungry”, “because I know I need to”, etc. If you’re really in tune with your body and health you probably have another answer…

“Because my body needs energy in order to survive and thrive and that energy comes from the food I feed it.”

(Not to burst your bubble but the last one is the correct answer)

We eat because our body has approximately 37.2 trillion cells within it that need energy in order to work. Our body requires 13 essential vitamins and a variety of minerals daily in order to continue performing well.

Yes, our bodies have the ability to store some of these things for later states of emergency but when was the last consistent time that you consumed everything you needed in a day?

It can’t just be an every now and then thing. It has to be more on than off.

Let’s consider an example-

You REALLY want to make some cookies. So you get out your recipe and begin gathering ingredients, only to find that you have flour, eggs and vanilla but nothing else that’s required for the recipe.

So you have 2 options, 1. go ahead and try to make them -sure, you could try to make some flour, egg and vanilla cookies, but I’m just not sure that they would turn out very well ;o)

2. Wait until you can go to the store for the rest of the ingredients and then make them.

Most people, I would imagine would choose option #2. And that’s exactly the option your body chooses as well.

You are asking a lot of your body every day. You expect it to get up without pain, energized and focused. You expect that when you get to work, you’ll be able to maintain your energy and focus while being productive or if you have an active job, while utilizing all skeletal muscle to move, lift and work. Then you expect it to go home without wanting to pass out, take care of your kids, house, spouse, etc. And then you go the extra mile and expect it to have a heightened metabolism and immune system while keeping your hormones in balance.

That’s not too much to ask, is it?

Well, if you’re eating REAL food regularly (and getting enough sleep and hydration), then NO, it’s not because you’ve got all the ingredients you need everyday to keep your body working well.

BUT if you’re eating mostly food products (ie. junk food/ fast food), then yeah, it’s too much to ask. The body simply can’t “make cookies” with only a small handful of ingredients. It needs all of them, all the time because it can’t make them on it’s own.

The biggest problem that I run into with my clients when discussing nutrition is that when we first start, they are used to eating foods that “fill” them rather than being concerned with what foods will “fuel” them.