You Are What You Eat Meaning

The old saying, “you are what you eat” is one we’ve heard time and again.

But, is it really true? Does what we eat really affect our bodies and our health?

Dieters often find themselves primarily concerned just with how many calories they eat, without giving thought to the quality of those calories. But, there is a lot of truth to the saying, “you are what you eat”.

What is Meant by the Saying “You Are What You Eat”?

People concerned with their health have known for centuries that the type of food we put in our bodies directly affects our health.

This is where the saying “you are what you eat” comes from. It simply means that some food helps our bodies to perform its functions at its best, while other foods fail to give our bodies what they really need.

How Good and Bad Foods Affect Your Health

The saying “you are what you eat” is true and reminds us that the way our bodies perform is directly affected by what we put into them.

For example, healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins and minerals. These vitamins and minerals support our bodies’ functions in many different ways.

Vitamin C, for example, which is found abundantly in citrus fruits supports a healthy immune system and can help us avoid colds and other viruses. The calcium in milk and other dairy products helps build strong bones, and the potassium we get from eating fruits like bananas and strawberries helps regulate blood pressure.

Every significant function that our bodies perform requires help from the nutrients that our food supplies.

One of the biggest components to the “you are what you eat” saying refers to the components in good foods, like the ones mentioned above. Our bodies suffer when our diet lacks those good components.

The Consequences From Consuming Bad Foods

But, there’s another side to the “you are what you eat” adage. That’s the negative side of eating bad food.

You see, when you eat unhealthy foods instead of healthy ones, not only are you failing to provide your body with the nutrients that the healthy food offers, but you are also putting things in your body that can have a negative effect on it.

First of all, bad foods are often calorie laden, while fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins are low in calories and high in nutrients. When you eat a lot of fat and sugar laden foods, you are what you eat literally, because these fatty foods make you fat.

The types of ingredients in unhealthy food have a lot to do with the problems they cause.

For example, not all fats are bad fats, and not all fats will make you fat. The fats found in fish, olive oils, avocados and nuts are actually good for your body. They are high in calories, but as long as they are eaten in moderation, they are very healthy. So, you are what you eat when you eat these foods, because these foods are very healthy.

The bad fats, like trans fats and saturated fats are found in unhealthy foods. Junk foods like pastries, snack cakes and high fat processed meats are laden with these trans fats and saturated fats because it makes the food taste good, it gives it shelf life and it is inexpensive. But, if you are what you eat, then when you eat these foods, you’re going to find that you’re very unhealthy.