The Importance of Food

 

Beginning the day with healthy food is essential for a quality, healthy life. Breakfast refers to a breaking in our overnight fast, and it is crucially important. After sleep, as your body awakens, it needs energy to start working. In the morning, your body wants to be fed and energized. If you skip breakfast, your body will feel a need to conserve energy, and this can result in poor overall body functioning, as well as fatigue and other symptoms. Eat generally around the same time, as this will program your body to adjust. If your body becomes accustomed to receiving food on a regular schedule, it will be better prepared to handle it.

 

The best thing you can do is start your day with a glass of room-temperature water with real lemon squeezed in. If you take systemic enzymes, this is the perfect opportunity to take them.

 

Next, go through your regular morning routine. Perhaps this involves meditation, visualizations, energy balancing, reviewing your gratitude list and goals intentions, or saying a prayer. Meditating early in the morning is a great habit that will help you have a better day overall. It will shield your mind from the onslaught of potential negativity later during the day. Regular meditation also helps you remain calm and composed, even if you face a really bad day.

 

After your morning routine, enjoy a hearty breakfast; ideally, this should be eaten within the first hour of waking. Never, ever leave your body to starve till lunchtime. When it comes to breakfast, keep in mind that you have to feed your body and mind. Give yourself all the nutrients you need for a fresh start. Eat plenty of eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers, or enjoy some homemade guacamole, fresh berries, or even cheese or a piece of turkey if you are not allergic. Eggs are a great source of protein and energy, and perfect for breakfast. Vegetables will provide the fiber needed for proper digestion.

 

Avoid oatmeal or cereal, as those typically available in most stores are packed with sugar, offer very poor nutritive value, and contain chemicals that will lead to mental underperformance and addiction. Cereals often contain dried fruits, which rapidly increase the blood insulin level. For breakfast, you need slow-release energy that will last until lunch. Over-sweetened, chemicalized oatmeal and other cereals will only lead to health problems, without providing the energy you need.

 

Homemade, unsweetened tea with lemon juice is a great addition to breakfast. You may also have a fermented drink, like homemade kefir, in which you can add ground flax or chia seeds, pollen, plankton, or green powder. Thicker liquids like homemade kefir are excellent for helping you swallow your morning supplements. Even a small espresso is fine.

 

Notice that most of the above breakfast suggestions are homemade or natural foods, not over-processed, industrialized foods that were probably manufactured ten months ago and have been sitting on a shelf ever since.

 

For lunch, enjoy an avocado with lemon and tomatoes. If you are not a vegetarian, opt for turkey, chicken breast, or fish. Avoid heavy and most usual combinations of carbs and proteins, such as fried potatoes with red meat; in fact, it is ideal to avoid all meat. Carbs slow digestion and do not make good partners with meat. Instead of potatoes, eat cabbage, string beans, or broccoli, as these are healthy and packed with fiber.

 

There is an entire branch of science dedicated to the art of combining foods, because some go well together, while others block each other or interact badly, causing gas, digestion problems, and constipation. You can find food combination tables on the internet; print one out and place it on your refrigerator as a reminder and guide. If you combine foods correctly, you will feel lighter and will need less time to come back to your senses after lunch. The secret is to combine as few foods types as you can and eat only one or two different food types at each meal. The more you mix your food types, the greater the chance of negative interaction that could leave you feeling bloated and tired.

Some suggest that you should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. This is wise advice! Breakfast should be plenty abundant, albeit not exaggerated, because it is eaten at the beginning of the day. This gives you a chance to refill your reserves, and you will have a whole day to process and spend the energy you gain from the food. Lunch should be medium in size. Dinner should be the smallest meal of the day, since it is eaten only a few hours before bed, and you need minimum energy for sleep.

 

For your evening meals, eat something small early in the evening, no later than six p.m. Avoid carbs as much as possible; if eaten at all, these should be eaten earlier in the day, as those eaten late will only be stored as fat.

 

Snacks are not good for us, especially late at night. Ice cream is particularly dangerous. Most snacks are carb based and have little to no nutritional value; they are really just empty calories that offer no nutrients, and they can lead to weight and health problems. If you crave snacks, it means you have eaten too many refined carbs, and your blood sugar is crashing. The more carbs you eat, the more you will crave them. It is far more advisable and healthier to enjoy more natural fats and proteins.

 

Some of the greatest advice there is when it comes to food is this: Eat food, not too much, and mostly plants. This short, simple guideline holds great power in helping you take control of your health.

 

Also, remember that food is more than calories, nutrients, and stored energy. Food also contains information and instructions that communicate messages to our hormones, genes, immune system, gut flora, and every system and cell in our bodies. Give food the respect it deserves and use it to your body’s advantage.

 

 

 

Chapter Summary

• Start your day with lemon water.
• Eat breakfast within an hour of waking.
• Breakfast should be packed with proteins and good fats; an excellent choice is eggs.
• Avoid oatmeal and cereal.
• Dinner should be your lightest meal of the day and should not include any carbs.
• Don’t eat snacks; if you crave snacks, try eating more natural fats and proteins at mealtimes.
• Eat food, not too much, and mostly plants.