Natural Remedy article
goji berries wikiAffect of Food on our Relationships
Did you know that how certain food we choose could have adverse impact on our relationships with the people around us?
We make many choices in our lives without ever questioning "why?" A choice like what we eat is one of them. Perhaps we simply continue to eat in the way we were raised; perhaps we automatically adopt our parents' choices. Or, perhaps we go against how we were raised: our parents made one choice, so we will make the opposite. In either case, we rarely take the time to truly see why we are eating what we eat.
We already know what we eat affects our physical health. If we continue to eat a healthy, balanced, low-fat, low-sugar diet, we will have leaner bodies, less disease, and longer life as a general rule. Likewise if we continue to eat a diet high in fat, sugar and chemical additives, we will have overweight bodies, more disease, more visits to doctor, shorter life so on and so forth. This is not true for all people, but on the average it is common knowledge. But what I am going to talk about is an indirect connection between our food habits and relationships with people around us.
The connection is:
Our food choices can affect our emotional state;
Our emotional state influences our actions;
Our actions affect our relationship;
Our relationships affect our physical and emotional state;
Our emotional state and physical health can affect our food choices.
Our Food Choices Affect Our Emotional State
Many factors play a role in our emotional state. Our family history, health history, job status, and relationships all affect our emotional state. But one factor we generally overlook is the food that can affect our emotional state, our moods. My own experience demonstrates that when I eat certain foods, various emotional states tend to follow on a consistent basis. While this may not be the case for you, it's worth considering.
Let's look at depression as an example. Many people who suffer from depression do so because of a chemical imbalance or because of specific circumstances in their lives. But let's say continuous poor food choices have led to weight gain or illnesses that result in isolation or irritability. And that, in turn, has perhaps contributed to a poor self-image. It is very possible, then, that these factors may make a person depressed. When talking about personal experience, ice creams and chocolates has always been great elevated mood of my wife and mine. The reverse may also be true. People who make healthy food choices and have a strong self-image will most likely be more joyful. This may even be true if they have a tendency toward depression. Foods high in fat, sugar, and chemical additives may contribute to a host of negative emotions, while foods rich in nutrients-fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, and lean meats-may contribute to positive emotions. Studies of shown the emotional state of herbivores and carnivores animals and their eating habits.
Our Emotional State influence Our Actions
Perhaps this next step in the connection is as obvious to you as it was to me. What we don't know is that food had contributed to those emotions.
These emotions drive our thoughts and eventually our actions. Thoughts and emotions are so mixed that they drive our actions, by instinct, and in an unconscious way. If I am in a confused state, my thinking would be affected and I would think and act differently.
So our emotions can provide us with information about ourselves, and about our behavior and about the behavior of others If we are generally ruled by joy, peace, patience, and a positive attitude, our actions would be benevolent, friendly, helpful and understanding. On the other hand, if we harbor negative emotions, bad temper, depression, then we exhibit uncontrolled anger, pessimism, anxiety, or bad moods on a regular basis.
Again, this information is probably not surprising. What is a surprise is that the foods you eat may indirectly be affecting the way think and act.
Our Actions Affects Our Relationships
Obviously the behaviors driven by negative emotion are bound to make adverse affect on their relationships. People with these emotional traits will be more likely to have conflicts with their spouses, children, and even coworkers. Similarly, people with positive emotional state don't have to try harder for keeping the relation stronger.
Again, this information is probably not surprising. What is a surprise is that the foods you eat may indirectly be affecting the way you get along with the people you love.
Our Relationships Affect Our Physical Health and Emotional state
Numerous studies released in the past few years prove that people with poor and/or limited relationships and social connections are more likely to have poor physical health. Similarly, people with strong and/or numerous relationships and social connections are more likely to have good physical health.
How does this relate to the connection between food and love? It works like this: Foods affect our emotions, emotions affect our actions, actions affect our relationships, and relationships affect our physical health and emotions. Therefore, the food choices we make-whether good or bad-may very well play a role in our relationships, as well as our physical health and emotional state.
Our Emotional and Physical Health Affect Our Food Choices
That brings us to concluding piece of the connection. Our emotion and physical health affect our food choices. Let me give you a picture of how this looks.
So food choices affect our emotions; our emotions affect our actions; our actions affect our relationships; our relationships affect our physical health and emotions; and our emotions and physical health affect our food choices.
When people suffer from poor emotional and physical health, they don't love themselves nor love their body. Most people find other ways to recuperate. They often turn to quick-and-easy substitutes. But Food and Love are one of them.
If we choose healthy foods, we are in the best possible position to have healthy bodies and healthy relationships. If we choose unhealthy foods, we make ourselves vulnerable to having unhealthy bodies and unhealthy relationships, which can lead us to even more unhealthy food choices.
Most people want to make healthy choices, but as I said earlier we simply continue to live in the way we were raised.
For more article on http://www.dinewithdate.com
How Exactly Does Fiber Help Your Health?
When you go to the doctor does he/she ask you about how much fiber you are getting? It seems that fiber is being discussed as a possible solution to everything, including the ozone layer. Okay, maybe not the ozone problem, but it is looking like if you get enough fiber in your diet, your chances reduce dramatically of acquiring many diseases you could be susceptible to as you get older.
What exactly does fiber help to prevent? Studies have shown that a diet with plenty of fiber in it can reduce the chances of heart disease (by cutting cholesterol), diabetes (by slowing the release of sugars from foods into the blood), diverticulosis, and other diseases. The thought that it helps prevent cancer are conflicting, but by eating the foods you need to acquire fiber (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) you also get a lot of vitamins and minerals that are very beneficial to the body. Bonus, baby!!!
Basically, what fiber does is go through the intestines and pick up all the wastes and toxins along the way. It passes through quickly and doesn�t allow the waste time to settle and develop into health problems such as cancer or tumors. Also, if you want weight loss, the intake of fiber helps give you a fullness feeling and as a result you don�t want to eat as much. Thus, because you�re not eating as much, you lose weight. Pretty nice, huh!
Most Americans get on average 10 to 15 grams a day of fiber, but it is usually on the low end. Experts say that you should up that amount to around 30 to 35 grams a day for optimal cancer prevention and health benefits. A lot of Americans eat diets that are high in saturated fat, protein, and processed carbohydrates. You really can�t find a lot of fiber in those types of foods. Some Americans couldn�t identify a fruit or a vegetable if it were in front of them. So the obvious question would be, how does one change his/her diet to get enough fiber?
Good sources of fiber can be found in the following sources: apples, citrus fruits, strawberries, oats, oatmeal, potatoes, pasta, and dried beans. These are soluble fibers, meaning they dissolve in water. These fibers help lower the cholesterol and give you that fullness feeling mentioned earlier. Other sources of fiber that help remove wastes and possibly prevent cancer are: whole wheat pasta, whole wheat grains, and crunchy vegetables. These are insoluble fibers meaning they don�t dissolve in water. They help with waste removal as well as possible cancer prevention. Really try to avoid foods that are processed such as white breads and white pastas.
All in all you want to make sure you get a lot of fiber in your diet, but don�t neglect your proteins and carbohydrates so you can really get a balanced diet and acquire the nutrients your body needs to run efficiently. If you are looking for fiber supplements go to http://fitnessplanning.com/supplements.htm and look at the information on BiosLife2. Don�t neglect the fiber sources mentioned above, but if you can�t get enough from those sources, BiosLife2 can definitely help you out.
Copyright 2006 Adam Kessler
Adam Kessler is President of Fitness Planning Consultants in Columbus, Ohio. He operates Sports Conditioning Specialists. Find out about free health and fitness news and sign up for their free newsletter at http://fitnessplanning.com
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