Food and You
Food itself has a very important role to play in our social lives; it is the center of business meeting, it can be entertainment, or a reason to gather friends and more importantly, a time for family to gather around the dinner table. It truly does bring people together. It can be the reason a conversation is started, or it can be the exact opposite – it can stop us in the middle of a conversation and lull us to speechlessness. Since the beginning of time food has played a crucial role in our social lives. It is no secret that food is so much more than a reason to create a social event. It is a vital part of our physical health and wellbeing – after breathing, eating is what we do most frequently in our lifetime. Without our daily nourishment we become weary and grow weak and soon we lose all ability to function normally. It is easy to say that we cannot survive without food.
What is Food?
Food is any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or which plants absorb in order to maintain life and growth. It is anything that, after consumed, serves to nourish, build and repair tissues, and supply energy or regulate the body’s various processes. Apart from its nutritional functions, food is valued by humans for its taste and its ability to satisfy our appetites as well as the variety of meanings it may have attached to it – such as emotional, religious or cultural.
Healthy Foods vs. Unhealthy Foods
Eating healthy, in today’s society, has received a negative reputation and has slowly started to become a chore for people more than a way of life. Whereas eating unhealthy has become the norm. When we hear the term “health food” we often think organic, which leads to a limited diet that costs a lot of money – this couldn’t be farther from the truth (read these fun facts if you’re finding it hard to believe how affordable “eating healthy” really can be). Health food is what food started out as – natural, full of its original nutrients and lacking in toxins. Unhealthy food, or “junk food”, is the exact opposite – it is processed, lacking in natural nutrients, and full of toxins (from pollution or unhealthy farming practices such as heavy pesticide use, or growth hormones and antibiotics fed to cattle). There is an onslaught of over 4000 artificial additives put in junk foods today, ranging from artificial sweeteners, artificial colors and preservatives, to chemically altered fake fats. It has been proven time and time again that healthy/natural foods are better for us. Our bodies react in a positive way to these foods – we have more energy, stronger bones and muscles, and healthier organs. We are simply healthier, by choosing to eat healthier.
Food and Giving
It is very clear that food makes up a lot of our daily lives. It is no different for those who do not get it on a regular basis – we all need food to survive. In these tough times, we are all trying to figure out the most economical way to “get by”, not to mention, “getting by, healthy”. But with these simple truths of the importance of food, may we strife to remember those who are simply trying to figure out where their next meal is coming from. Food can be more than just a means of personal survival, it can be a gift, or come in the form of a good deed or a simple act of kindness.
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Posted By: Lauren on September 12, 2011