How food influences our lives

Food influences our lives, often in ways that we are not even aware. We all have food in common. We eat to live, and sometimes we live to eat. How we approach this life-sustaining nutriment determines whether our relationship with food will have a positive or negative influence.

If we make healthy choices, food will enhance our lives on every level. If we are irresponsible in our selections, food will be our undoing. The foods we eat influence our mental, emotional and physical well being.

* Mental influences

Certain foods can lift our spirits and others can bring us down into a state of depression. Sometimes the same food, depending on the quantity, will have a different effect. A piece of chocolate consumed in the mid-afternoon can give us an energy boost and allow us to be as productive as we wish. Excessive amounts of chocolate will cause us to be lethargic and inhibit our mental and physical capabilities.

A diet of complex carbohydrate and lean protein foods will energize us. The proper balance of these healthy foods combined with lots of fruits and vegetables will keep our weight controlled and allow us to feel positive and perform at our optimum best.

We should not underestimate the influence of our food choices on our overall mental health.

* Emotional influences

Our relationship with food is often complicated and difficult. Sometimes it is not hunger that motivates our eating habits, but rather emotional distress. For some, food plays a major role in comfort, anger management, relief from boredom or the blues, and acts as a tool for dealing with stress.

When our mood fluctuates, often we reach for food in order to stabilize our emotions. The types of food we reach for can have an impact on our emotional health and physical condition.

* Physical influences

Physical health is often directly related to the foods we eat. Medical problems arise when we suffer from food allergies, eating disorders and illnesses which are specifically diet dependent to overcome.

Food will influence our cholesterol levels, our blood pressure and our blood sugar. The result can be predisposition to heart disease, stroke and diabetes. An improper diet can promote debilitating conditions like stomach ulcers, gallstones, acid reflux and so much more.

Our posture, the condition of our hair, teeth and complexion, and weight are all influenced by the foods we consume. In order to be healthy, we need to eat healthy.

Taking into consideration all the myriad ways our approach to eating can impact our mental, emotional and physical well being, one would have to conclude that food is a significant and powerful influence on our lives.

For better or worse, we are what we eat.