Food is a drug

In the next few posts I am going to try. I say this lightly... try... to tackle the many myths, obstacles, and stigma we have when it comes to nutrition...

Nutrition - the provision to support life.

Why do we eat?

To live... Right?

Maybe more appropriate... Why do we NEED to eat?

"When it comes to discussing food, it can be a very touchy subject. It can almost be as bad as talking about religion and politics..." (R. Wolf) I don't mean to offend you. I don't even think many people read this blog so maybe Ill just offend the few. I want this to be an open discussion. I am much better at the dialogue than typing into space...

Okay so the question... Why do we eat?

• It is apart of our culture, a way of life.
• It is a pleasure.
• A death bed.
• It is an emotional clutch.
• A social gathering...

Okay maybe the question should be. ... Should we look at food differently?

How would that affect us individually and as people groups?

Just a few facts... I like facts. They help me to see some truth in all this...

• 65 % of adults are either overweight or obese
• Deaths from obesity = 280,184 per year
• 64 million Americans have cardiovascular disease (CVD)
• CVD = leading cause of death
• 50 million Americans are hypertensive
• 11 million have type 2 diabetes
• Cancer = 2nd leading cause of death in the US
• 1/3 of all cancer deaths are from nutritional factors

Obviously there is a problem in our world today. Okay there is more than one problem but lets focus in on something we can control. The above lists diseases that CAN be controlled. I believe they CAN. These numbers CAN decrease. We as a people can stop "digging our graves with our teeth" and fight. Fight for ourselves. We can make a change in the way we live and what we eat... We CAN stop the cruse control. We CAN be active in our lives. We CAN thrive and not just survive!

I went to a certification in Fort Worth this past weekend and a friend spoke of how to view food differently. She discussed two ways to see food:

1. A drug

2. Fuel

Ask any person who has struggled with weight if they consider food to be addictive. Maybe not any person... I think a lot of us live in denial but if we are honest I believe our answer would be a YES! Have you ever tried not eating any sugar (including all bread and grains) for one week? Try it and tell me that your body does not feel the "withdrawal".

I am going to break food down a little.

At the basic level there are 3 macronutrients that food live in:

PRO (protein), CHO (carbohydrates) & Fat

Okay so back to food being a drug. Food has a hormonal reaction when entering our body. Let us use a slice of whole grain bread for our example... We eat the bread.

To make things brief, that bread breaks down to glucose (blood sugar) and our pancreas releases insulin. Insulin attaches to our cells. Insulin is a very important hormone. It allows our cells to take in the nutrients and store glucose as glycogen (released when we need quick energy).

In type 1 diabetes the pancreas does not produce insulin so insulin must be injected for the person to survive...

Food is a drug.

What happens if we eat too much bread? I am just using bread as an example... What if in general we eat too many CHO?

We get something called hyperinsulinemia... Too much insulin. Our cells have a limit on their glycogen stores and will eventually turn all excess glucose into adipose (fat).

Food is a drug.

Do you believe me yet. Or should I have more word vomit on this post?

Danny tells me when it comes to nutrition I have a bad case of word vomit. My filter comes off and I can NOT stop. Maybe it is good... this monologue thing. You can be the filter and I can just vomit all over the page. :)

So I will leave you now with some food for thought... ;)

How do you view food? Why do you eat? You don't have to tell me but just think about it...

Okay so one more thing to think of...

If food is a drug could it help to heal?

http://www.crossfit.com/
http://www.thepaleodiet.com/articles/Origins%20Paper%20Final.pdf