Foodie Friday: What kind of Fuel?

 I’ve overheard discussions on the finer points of what kind of gas to put in a vehicle to get the best performance and reduce maintenance. Which companies put out the best gas, which ratio of this to that works best. On the other hand I’ve heard of junk yard practices that take cars about to be parted out and empty the gas into a big gas tank. They sell it cheap because who knows what’s really in that gas? It’s dubbed ‘crack gas’ because drug addicts would come and buy the super cheap gas. Then pay the price later in a gummed up machine.

It’s imagery that sticks in my mind as I watch people around me fuel their bodies with ‘crack gas’ in the form of food-like substances designed to addict them. The crunchy, salty ones with the perfect mouth feel and taste—and deadly trans fats. Potato chips, anyone? The sweet flavors bursting to tantalize the tongue with artificial flavors and colors, in a single bite possessing more sugar than the body needs for a month. Candy anyone? Craving more and more, the taste buds are indulged while the process of gumming up the body is well on its way. Crack food. It pretends to fuel our bodies, but it does not.

Our bodies were designed to eat a mix of carbohydrates in the form of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Protein in the form of legumes and meat. Fats with olives and avocados and the like. Food that looks like the real thing, like the original plan, combined to bring nourishment. Not the Franken-foods that fills grocery stores promising much and delivery little. Processed foods. Designed for profit, not health.
 

We hear the warnings, but do we know what that means? Vegetable oils, especially canola, go through multiple processes to become something our bodies struggle to properly digest. Sugar cane refined and stripped of any redeeming vitamins and minerals. Wheat hybridized to be easily harvested, but triggering gut issues rather than nourishing.

What do you fuel your body with? Real food? Or crack-food? Food that fuels the body, or that which satisfies a craving, an emotional association, or a tradition?

There’s a cost up front for good gas for your car, just as there is for food. The crack-gas might be cheap, but the cost later can be much greater than the initial output for good gas. Good quality food is the same. What priority have you put on the fuel for your body? Do you reach for the crack-food, the cheap stuff? Are you starting to recognize how it feels in your body once you’ve swallowed it? Do you see that it’s gumming up your body and the real cost  is starting to show up in the form of inflammatory diseases?

Many diseases (dis-ease) begin in the gut. Things like:

   insulin resistance
   heart disease
   auto immune diseases
   frequent infections
   gut issues
   stiffness in joints
   foggy brain
   depression

...and the list goes on. When we pay attention to gut health by feeding our gut microbes foods that help them function right, things get better. Some conditions take more work than others, it's true. But each bit you take in the right direction makes a difference. Every day we have a choice. 

I’m going for the high-octane, high-performance real foods. 

How about you?