Nowadays, many men and women desire a healthy body image, which is often a reflection of their overall health. Men and women may look at their bodies differently: men focus on their chest, arms, and abs, while women concentrate on their waist, hips, and thighs. But weight loss for both men and women begins with a healthy food relationship.



What is a food relationship?

Everyone, irrespective of the gender, has both a physical and psychological food relationship. The former has to do with satisfying the physical hunger, while the latter has to do with the appetite, that is, the "desire" for food, which is mostly psychological. Effective and permanent weight loss is contingent on a healthy physical and psychological food relationship.

To establish a good physical food relationship requires an understanding of the science of eating.

Firstly, you have to understand that you eat to live, and not live to eat. You become what you eat: what you eat and drink becomes your body chemistry and your body constitution. If you think you can eat whatever you like and still get away with it, think again!

Eating determines if you are living in harmony with Nature, which is the key to living a long life. You need to know the logistics of eating: what to eat, how to eat, and when to eat, especially the components of food. Eating is a science, so treat it as such.

You eat only when you are hungry. Avoid voluntary eating, such as when you make a beeline for the refrigerator as soon as you walk into the house. Avoid emotional eating to appease your emotions. Avoid sensory eating, which is eating to satisfy your senses.

You eat only what is good for you. You need to understand food criteria. Some of the foods you eat may not be foods at all. For foods to be called "foods," they must meet certain criteria.

Foods must be living: they must contain enzymes. The vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and proteins in foods are all lifeless unless they are activated by enzymes. Heating and preserving easily destroy the enzymes in foods. Therefore, the way you cook your food, and the types of food you consume are important to your food relationship. Processed and preserved foods neither protect nor preserve your health. To preserve enzymes, go for a raw food diet every now and then, and do not overcook your food. Steaming is the healthiest way of cooking because the food does not have direct contact with the heat source. Deep frying, on the other hand, is the worst method of cooking.

Foods must support your internal bowel ecology. They must facilitate absorption of nutrients and disposal of toxic waste. Foods must help digestion and elimination, which are critical to healthy eating.

Foods must not trigger unfavorable food reaction. Dairy and wheat products may cause food allergies.

Foods must not cause sharp surge of molecular changes in your body, such as a sudden increase in your blood sugar level, or wide fluctuation of neurotransmission caused by caffeine or other chemicals.

Foods must provide adequate calories for your physical activity, but not "empty" calories, which provide little or no nutrients. Consuming empty calories is tantamount to working extremely hard while being unfairly underpaid.

Foods must balance your body chemistry in order to neutralize and eradicate free radicals, which are oxidative stresses that destroy your body cells. Foods must balance your the acid and alkaline level in your body, with no more than 30 percent acid-forming foods, such as meat proteins, and 70 percent or more alkaline-forming foods, such as most fruits and vegetables. All pharmaceutical drugs are acidic. Many health experts believe that a balance of acidity and alkalinity, known as balanced pH level in your body will make you disease-free.

Eat only quality foods: eat, whenever possible, only organic foods. Some of the best foods in nature include the following:

Chlorella is a green single-cell algae cultivated in fresh water ponds. With its grass-like smell, it has the highest concentration of chlorophyll than any other plant in the world. With more than 20 vitamins and minerals, as well as the essential 8 amino acids, chlorella is the perfect food. In addition, it detoxifies by removing toxins and metals from your body.

Wheat grass is another life-giving food rich in enzymes easily assimilated to boost your immune system. It is one of the best sources of chlorophyll, which provides oxygen for your brain and body tissues for longevity. Wheat grass absorbs as many as 92 of the known 102 minerals from the soil. Wheat juice, in particular, is a superior detoxification agent compared to carrot juice. It enhances your digestion, relieves your sore throat, keeps your bowels open, reduces your blood pressure, and improves your cholesterol.

Make the effort to establish a healthy physical food relationship through your choice of food and your method of cooking. Learn to follow Nature's prescription of suitable times for your meals. You lunch should be the heaviest meal, since your digestive fire is at its maximum potency. A late dinner or binging before bedtime may interfere with your body's mechanism to detoxify and digest food from the day, making you tired the next morning on waking up.

A healthy physical food relationship is a must for weight loss and optimum health.

(My next article will be on psychological food relationship.)

Copyright (c) 2007 Stephen Lau