Back in the early 90s, I was the skinny fat kid that became obsessed with building muscle. I studied everything I could find about nutrition and exercise. When the bodybuilding books and magazines had me follow ratios of each macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates, and fat), well, that’s exactly what I did. I would eat twelve egg whites, four chicken breasts, several serving of protein powders, eight white potatoes, a cup of oatmeal and rice. I had no idea that I was actually poisoning myself with low-quality food. Food is way more the counting calories.
A calorie is a calorie in a lab, but not in your body. Both the obesity epidemic and macronutrient and calorie counting started in the 1970s. Is this a coincidence? I think not! The truth behind the “Calories In, Calories Out” rule is way outdated, but not completely worthless. People need to wake up and understand that we become the food we eat, period! Food quality has been all but forgotten in place of food quantity. This is where people are hurting themselves because foods are not just macronutrient, vitamins and minerals. They are also phytonutrients, energy and information! The whole information part is what’s going to play a major role in determining your health in the long-run.
Research suggests that all calories are not created equal, so do not go crazy weighing and measuring food to hit a number of calories. Every piece of food you put in your mouth is energy and information transferred into your body! Stanford School of Medicine Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Division explains, “Every one of us completely regenerates our own skin every seven days. A cut heals itself and disappears in a week or two. Every single cell in our skeleton is replaced every seven years.” What gives you the energy and nutrients in order to do this? Food. Your body breaks down every piece of food that you eat and makes it a part of you! If you eat something that is alive like a salad, it’s a “live food,” which creates health and life from within and increasing your metabolism
What happens if you eat a processed “food-like product” like a rice cake or a protein bar? Well, it’s lifeless because of its poor quality, old age, and exposure to heat and oxygen! You should know that lifeless, processed foods decrease recovery time, impede healing and damage your metabolism. Even when foods appear to be healthy, they can be grown in depleted soil with unnatural fertilizers, making it nutrient deficient!
It’s not always so obvious; imagine being a cow in a factory farm with thousands of others. Crammed into a tiny space, never seeing the light of day, fed incorrect types of food like genetically modified corn and processed soy (both cause inflammation), pumped with hormones to accelerate growth and drinking water polluted with antibiotics that harm your gut microbiome. What type of nutrition is that cow passing along to your genes? Do you think we as humans have the right to abuse animals?
Stop counting macronutrients and make quality food choices! When choosing your food, think “real” or “unprocessed” foods, whether they are fresh or frozen, and always ask yourself how old it is. The older the food, the fewer nutrients it has. Therefore, you should always opt for locally grown and raised foods, which are best. Focus on ingesting foods that are high in fiber (vegetables, small amounts of fruit), healthy fat (nuts, grass-fed butter, avocado) and small amounts of lean protein (wild caught fish, grass-fed meats). Utilizing fiber, fat, and protein will slow the digestion process, stabilize your blood sugar, help with satiety and increase your energy. You should always accompany each meal with vegetables since these will provide you with vitamins, minerals, and fiber to keep you healthy and full!
Choosing quality foods will provide you with quality energy, orchestrating a healthy molecular message to every cell in your body, providing the tools for a plethora of health benefits!
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