justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

You are what you eat!

I’ve always been fascinated by the saying, “You are what you eat.” Using Dogpile, my favorite search engine, I found out that its origin was first stated in some form at least 150 years ago. (And here I thought it was a more contemporary edict from the National Institute of Health on the dangers of eating junk food!)

Just recently, an article in the British Journal of Health Psychology gave us a new twist on how what we eat influences our productivity. The proverbial bottom line from this study is “The more fruits and vegetables people consumed, the happier, more engaged, and more creative they tended to be.”

The study goes on to amplify what my mother told me as I was growing up, about eating my fruits and vegetables: “Fruits and vegetables contain vital nutrients that foster the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the experience of curiosity, motivation, and engagement. They also provide antioxidants that minimize bodily inflammation, improve memory, and enhance mood.”

Can’t say it any better. You were right about what I eat Mom, and about so many other things to which I should have listened.

This all makes sense. The article also emphasized the following: “If you’re serious about achieving top workplace performance, making intelligent decisions about food is essential. The good news is that contrary to what many of us assume, the trick to eating right is not learning to resist temptation. It’s making healthy eating the easiest possible option.”

So, as with most solutions for life’s challenges, it’s up to me to make eating decisions before I get hungry. The choices I make about the food I eat will impact in a major way the quality of my thoughts, attitude, and actions.

(Now where did I leave my Snickers bar?)