By Mark Szabo
Why does it matter what you eat, as long as you’re eating? Aren’t the 300 calories in a Boston Crème Donut the same as the 300 calories in a Chicken Leg & Thigh quarter?
Well, from a technical standpoint, both 300 calorie objects yield the same energy equivalent if you were to burn them (because, after all, a calorie is a measure of heat); but, it’s what your body does with those food items that makes the difference.
When we eat food, that food is broken down in a process we call digestion.
You may hear people talking about “needing to get their macros in” for the day. They’re talking about macronutrients, otherwise known as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
During digestion, those macronutrients are processed into smaller and smaller pieces, until we’re left with molecules.
Molecules are groups of atoms that are bound together into small atomic chains. Some of those chains may be only a few atoms long, some may be quite longer (as is the case with our DNA which would be about 6 feet long if unraveled.)
Once our food reaches molecule-size, those molecules are distributed throughout the body where our cells use them to make replacement parts.
Our bodies have about 30 trillion cells. That’s 30 thousand billion! If cells were dollars, we’d all be richer than Jeff Bezos!
Those 30 trillion cells work together to keep us alive. Inside each of those cells are teeny-tiny little organic factories we call organelles.
It is within these organelles that those molecules of food that you ate are pulled apart and recombined to make new structures, like hormones, enzymes, and even parts that become new cells.
Everything that gets digested is repurposed by the body.
In other words, when your mother told you, “you are what you eat” when you were a kid, she wasn’t kidding! It’s literally true!
This is why eating healthy food is important.
Sure, that Boston Crème Donut is OK to eat, occasionally, as a treat. But when our entire food intake is comprised of high-calorie, low-nutrient choices, it causes problems in the body.
Our bodies need to make repairs, constantly. Those cells need a regular supply of building materials, and they’re going to use what you give them.
That means, if you give them low-quality parts to work with, you’re going to have a low-quality body as a result. (Have you ever heard the expression, “garbage in, garbage out?”)
So, the bottom line here, is that you can’t fake good nutrition. If you want to be healthy, it starts with what you put into your mouth.
If you’d like some help in figuring out what to eat to maximize your health, set up a Discovery Call with me. That’s why I’m here 😊
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