Shortly after getting my driver’s license, I had to fill my parents’ car with gasoline. They owned a Citroen Xantia at the time, and my father took great care of it. He kept it well maintained and I remember we couldn’t eat inside the car just so as not to have one small crumb possibly ruin something.
But there I was, driving the car by myself, before cell phones were a thing, and needing to refuel. I stopped at the gas station forgetting that I had never filled a car with gasoline on my own before. Looking over the different prices, I decided to fill the car with the cheapest gasoline available. It’s important to save money, you know. Proud of my accomplishment, I drove the car home noticing however, that it was driving a little differently. When I told my father about it I think he came close to having a heart attack or something of the sorts. Unbeknownst to me, our car required a higher grade of gasoline, of better quality, and not the cheap stuff I had fed it with. The results were a slower car, with a noticeable poorer performance, and a stressed out father for the next several days. In my defense, at least I didn’t filled it up with diesel!
Our bodies are amazing machines that need fuel to function on a daily basis. Does the fuel we use matter? We may not think so, but the fact is that yes it does. Like my parents’ car, our bodies require the best quality fuel, the food we eat, to perform at the highest level possible. If we feed our bodies lower quality food, we too will slow down and perform poorly.
Foods of low nutritional value may keep us going for a while, but will not give us the nutrients we need to have great quality of life and abundant energy. So how do we know what food to feed our bodies with?
There has been a lot of research on nutrition for the past several years, and the evidence is strong that the highest level of nutrition is found in plant foods. For the greatest quality of fuel, our bodies should be filled with plenty of vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, and nuts. Eating a diet rich in plants will give us everything we need to function at optimal levels and greatly reduce our risk of many diseases including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
While it’s ok to eat animal foods, they are lacking in many nutrients and come with their own set of problems if consumed in large quantities. Processed foods also often include chemicals and substances that may be harmful to us. Avoid these as much as possible. Make plant foods your main source of nutrition and animal foods a side dish to eat occasionally. As physician and author Joel Fuhrman advises, make salad your main dish.
Often we take great care of our vehicles, houses, pets, and so forth, but neglect to take proper care of our bodies. We go through our days consuming nutrition-depleted foods never realizing how damaging this can be in the long term. We miss out on great health and energy because of the fuel we chose to consume. Let’s change this.
We are amazingly made and need to take care of ourselves. The earth graciously gives us large quantities and varieties of amazing foods to fuel our bodies with for great health. Feast on these! Enjoy the different flavors, textures, and colors. Fill your plate with beautiful foods. You will feel much better, have more energy, and reap a harvest of amazing benefits.