Food or FAD

By: Shaista Khurshid, Calgary Alberta

Eating is the process of getting nourishment to survive. But it can be a joy too. However, when we overstep the fine balance of food intake - between survival, pleasure and cultural demands - things get murky.

In the past, food was used to nourish, now we need food to indulge, entertain, grieve, celebrate and more. Though agricultural advancement has added ease to our food supply, this ease has also given us a variety of ways to indulge in non-nutritious items. On average we might go through food advertisements multiple times a day; not including several videos on the internet. Our access to food has eased, but it has also increased our pitfalls.

Our mindless indulgence has increased our portion sizes to dangerous levels. The amount of food is enormous and no wonder our waistlines are getting bigger and bigger. We eat our meals and snacks in between with a dessert on the side too. We assume if we burn our calories, we are good, because calorie in and the calorie out seems like a good value for indulgence. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

The food we eat goes through our digestive systems to be used as energy. But, when we overeat thinking we can burn it off, we are putting our digestive system and its normal balance at risk. The food, once eaten, passes through various organs, each requiring its own set of enzymes and hormones to be digested and to reach the cells - not to mention the physical labor the organs go through. When it reaches the cells, it uses the nutrition for various purposes of maintaining, managing, using nutrients and energy to help the body function properly.

When we eat more, we flood our digestive system with macronutrients, micronutrients, and junk; we put our digestive systems on overdrive. Thus, we push our bodies to over produce various hormones and enzymes - to get rid of or use the items we ingested. This continuous overeating or undereating or not eating properly pushes our body to become overworked and fatigued by constantly tackling food in the stomach and dealing with amounts which it must digest, transfer, store or discard somewhere. Over time the body's digestive organs start to fall behind and become sluggish or just stop working.

The world provides its solution to this dilemma in the form of fad diets and fad exercise regimens. The internet is filled with hundreds of diet plans. Their promise: to make you lean. So as the world gives us conflicting messages about food, from food advertisements to diet promises, the main victim of all this commercialization is our body.

The environment, culture or commercialization has defined a certain criteria for how a body should be. Whether we do it to look a certain way or are health conscious and we go to great lengths to achieve this. Adding insult to injury, our weighing machines, our waistline measurements, our fitness trackers, remind us of this criteria every day.

To maintain the above yardsticks, we adopt a diet regimen and follow it religiously. We use diets of several kinds. Deprive ourselves, then binge, then feel guilty, and try it again, and later permanently give up. It does not work. The body suffers through our overeating, dieting and even over exercising.

So, what is the solution to this conundrum? Health Canada recommends adopting 9-inch dinner plates with ½ plate for our non-starchy vegetables, ¼ for protein and ¼ for carbs, adding a small fruit and a glass of milk on the side to make it complete. Combined with 150 minutes of various activities per week adds the physically active part to this diet. As with food intake, adopting portion sizes, exercising, managing stress, or using our body in different ways, whether it's walking, running, yoga, cardio, strength, vacuuming, washing cars and dishes, cleaning or helping our neighbors, you name it, moderation is the key.

The critical thing to understand here is that our body, though it serves us relentlessly, does have limits. If we overload our digestive system with poor choices or over or under indulge it, we successfully push our bodies to do things which it is not designed for. As a Muslim it is important for us to understand the rights of our bodies too. Keeping it physically, mentally, and spiritually nourished, is one of them.

And after doing all this, we can still get sick. We still might end up with debilitating and deadly diseases. Regardless of the outcome, we must pay respect to our bodies as they deserve. On a side note, when our body is active and absorbs nutrition without being fatigued, stressed, stretched beyond limits, or sleep deprived, it performs better. A rested and positive body, however big or small it may be, should keep us healthy and away from the cycle of abuse our bodies have endured in the name of fads and diets.

Reference: https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

Title Photo by Kelsey Curtis on Unsplash