Managing Our Body’s Restaurant
Why are we so confused about food? How did we lose touch with our own bodies and forget what wholesome food actually feels like when we eat? Do you believe that energy drink is healthy for you because the label says it’s made from organic ingredients? Do you think that a loaf of bread is the same as it was fifty years ago? What about the new antioxidant drink in the health food store with extracts from every berry you can think of? All of these products exist to feed the world. However with all these creations, we seem to have forgotten where it all comes from and where it goes. Much like a child that doesn’t realize French fries are made from potatoes!
I once saw a patient that had come into the emergency department for chest pain. After she had been treated appropriately, I asked her to walk me through a normal day of eating with her. She first told me that everything was healthy. So I wondered in my head, “Then what brought you to the emergency room?”
Since I asked for her dietary habits, she told me about fried chicken, collard greens, and mashed potatoes. This was just for dinner. It seemed that all her main meals revolved around the combination of fat with carbohydrates and minimal protein. Sounds like the secret recipe to many fast food chains! This combination of macronutrients lights up the reward centers in our brain very intensely. We crave fat because of the high amount of energy it can provide for our bodies in the long term. We also crave carbohydrates because of the immediate burst of energy it can give us; and if we don’t use it all, it’s easy to store as additional fat.
But aren’t fat, carbohydrates, and protein good for you? Yes and no. THIS is where I think people get confused. We’re all generally smart enough to realize that we should look at the nutrition facts and see how much fat or sugar a product contains. We might have even taken it to the next level and also know about the micronutrients. However once a food enters our body, we give it no further thought about how this food will be digested, absorbed, and utilized by our bodies. If you can’t see it, then it doesn’t exist!
But it DOES exist! Imagine if you could see your glass of orange juice go down your esophagus, into your stomach, and into your intestines as it gets digested and absorbed into your blood stream. Do you really think you have orange juice for blood now?! NO!!! It was broken down into its simple carbohydrates before ever making it to your blood stream.
Now lets get a little more complicated and think about that fried chicken. Do you now have a chicken leg or thigh floating around in your blood stream? NO! Your digestive system broke it down to fat, protein, and carbohydrates (because it was breaded and deep fried in oil/lard/fat). The rest went out the other end!
So why are these things broken down to such a small level? Because a single cell of your muscle doesn’t eat a chicken leg by itself. It can’t fit! It also cannot fit in a liver cell, a brain cell, a pancreatic cell, a bone cell, or any individual cell in your body. Each and every cell needs nutrients which ultimately come from what you eat and digest. Your cells use these nutrients to perform its daily functions on a microscopic scale.
Each of us has an internal restaurant with millions of patrons. You take your body’s order. Then you go shopping and provide your cook with the main ingredients by eating or drinking what your cells would like to have. Your digestive system will then act as the cook by preparing and digesting the food in a way your cells will find appetizing. Your blood stream acts as the waiter/waitress and serves this delicious food and drinks to your cells. It will also clean up the table for them if they make a mess.
Now what happens in a badly managed restaurant? The patrons ultimately leave! (BAD news if we’re talking about your cells) They complain about the terrible service, how long it took to be seated and orders taken, bad food, unclean dishes and cups, etc. Every component does not ruin the dining experience by itself. But they eventually add up until it just gets to be too much!
Where do these complaints come from? You might say, “Well the patrons are the ones complaining. So it’s obviously coming from them.” But that’s NOT TRUE! The patrons are complaining BECAUSE OF the reasons I listed above. The patrons are only expressing their frustrations. Therefore they are only a symptom of the underlying problem (much like pain is a symptom of underlying pathology that may be occurring).
The real reason the patrons are complaining (the symptoms are occurring) is because the restaurant is poorly managed. The manager is responsible for overseeing the quality of the food brought into the restaurant as well as how well the food is prepared. They are responsible for making sure all dishes as well as stove tops, ovens, refrigerators, and all other work stations are adequately cleaned so that the cooks and workers can do their job efficiently. These examples are just what goes on behind the scenes. A manager ensures that customers are treated well and seated in a timely fashion. The manager knows ALL the orders of every table in the house so that IF something were to go wrong, he/she knows exactly what to do to fix the problem quickly and effectively.
So too must you manage the restaurant of your body. With millions (and even billions) of patrons, you have the ironically singular job of making sure your cells are content. Thankfully, you do not have to memorize billions of different orders. However, you DO have to ensure the quality of the food you provide your cooks (the digestive system). You have to make sure they have clean work spaces (by drinking plenty of water to remove cellular toxins) so that your cooks are not gummed up with unsanitary conditions and your patrons enjoy a clean dining experience.
Remember, your patrons actually WORK FOR YOU! They don’t just come to eat. Each and every cell of your body needs the proper nutrients and the proper dining experience in order to perform their duties well! For example, they may not work in the kitchen or as the host, but they may specialize in maintaining the building of your restaurant (ie: your muscles and skeleton). Others might specialize in making sure the HVAC system is running well to keep the patrons warm/cool and happy (ie: your hypothalamus actually maintains your body temperature at about 98.6F or 38C). And still others might make sure the computer system is up to speed (ie: your nervous system is in full operation with fast cognitive function and quick reflexes).
Your restaurant is the ONLY restaurant who’s patrons do not simply leave when they are done eating. So if you do decide to drink orange juice, eat fried chicken, or anything else, think about how your cells will see the food you eat. Consider how they experience the food you are thinking about eating. And then think about whether they will be able to use this food to perform their tasks well and help you live a vibrant and healthful life!
Please leave comments below and tell me if this was helpful to you. I want to know if it helped/ didn’t help and how. That way I can adjust accordingly.
