Bad Food Habits
14th Jul 2017
Nutritious foods will only work for us if we actually eat them and chew them. Bad foods can't harm us if we leave them out. Here are some things to ponder:
If we don't chew enough, our salivary enzymes don't have time to start the digestion process, particularly with carbs. The stomach struggles with carbs, because its priority is to digest proteins. If partially undigested food enters the intestines, it can cause problems like food insensitivies.
Not enough fruit and veg. Do we achieve our 5-7 portions a day?
Meal-skipping = no nutrient intake and erratic blood sugar levels.
Overdoing stimulants, such as coffee, tea, sugar, alcohol, cola, chocolate, smoking. They play havoc with our blood sugar levels and cause food cravings, energy bursts and slumps, fatigue, mood swings, irritability, anxiety. Stimulants also prevent proper nutrient absorption into our body, so we become malnourished.
Processed foods and fast foods are full of additives, preservatives, chemicals and trans-fats, all nutrient-deficient and harmful. They interfere with body processes and influence weight gain, hunger pangs and food cravings.
Reduced-price food is tempting in difficult financial times, such as packet salads, cheap, but no longer fresh. When food is stored for a long time, the nutrients destroy.
Low-cost tinned foods are abundant in chemicals, additives, preservatives and little actual food. Could the chemicals become poisonous over time? Many chemicals have been withdrawn because they are harmful.
We are to blame for poor quality food. We increasingly demand cheap food, fast food, ready meals, food that lasts longer, tastes better, looks good, fruit and vegetables with the correct shape. Companies make money giving us what we want. But something important is lost in mass production of nutrient-deficient food, being our health.
Nutritional changes can be exciting, when planning and preparing a new style of eating, followed by seeing and feeling healthy results. Together with other positive lifestyle changes which focus on improved health and well-being, anyone suffering ill health can only improve.
Copyright © 2017 Brenda Martin
