You probably have heard the quote, “you are what you eat.”  This is absolutely true as every cell in our body is made from the food we eat.  100 calories of blueberries compared to 100 calories of candy will have a different hormonal reaction in your body, especially if this consumption is over weeks, months, and years.   Your overall health directly correlates to the sum of your food and drink choices. Food can either be medicinal or detrimental to your health. Food is powerful.

In recent years this quote has been extended and looked at more deeply, with the new phrase being, “you are what you eat ate.”  Remnants of any animal’s feed and treatments—like corn, grains, antibiotics, growth hormones, and grass—are transferred to you.  Even if you’re a vegetarian, you ingest traces of the pesticides or manure that nourished all of the fruits and veggies you eat.  Since you’re the sum of your food and drink choices, you’re also the sum of any nourishment your meat and produce received. 

That’s why it’s important to know where your food is coming from and what you are exactly eating.  Is your meat 100% grass-fed or from a factory farm?  There’s an immense difference in the quality and the genetic makeup of the meat from factory-farmed meat to grass-fed and finished meat.  Is the fish you are consuming farmed or wild?  Is it high or low on the food chain?  This tells you a lot about the quality and the mercury content of the fish.  Lastly, where are your fruits and vegetables coming from?  Are they being shipped across the country, or are they locally grown?  Are they organic or non-organic?  

The charts below address the hierarchy of certain foods, with the best option being at the top and the worst at the bottom.  It’s always challenging to get it right, and, in most instances, getting higher-quality foods is more costly.  Hopefully, over time, more people will vote with their dollars making quality foods more accessible and less costly.

To MAS health,

Michael