Dietary Philosophy & Practice
Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat. ~ Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero
The essential issue of diet centers on one’s adopted philosophy of food. The Collective think of eating as a pleasurable experience: at its best, a culinary delight. Bon appétit.
The other side of the coin is that food is fuel. Few approach food as nutritional exercise in good taste.
Treating food for pleasure is an invitation for cumulative health problems. There are no obese 90-year-olds, nor fat and sassy 70-year-olds, who invariably suffer from chronic maladies by that age.
What a person eats is a vivid statement of awareness and spiritual maturation. Dietary selection and how much a person eats is a statement of character.
Apologists for the viewpoint that these life choices are not entirely a matter of will are simply in denial: themselves lacking what they deny is critical to healthy living. What comes out of one’s mouth, and what goes in, are within the control of every adult.
Eating healthy is simple. But consistently eating healthy can be a serious challenge when those around do not do so. Dining is commonly a social activity.
Diet is a practical application of the maxim to carefully choose one’s associations. For better or worse, the energy and habits of close relations exert a persistent influence on eating habits.
Fast foods are quick, reasonably priced, and readily available alternatives to home cooking. While convenient and economical for a busy lifestyle, fast foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar, and salt, and may put people at risk for becoming overweight. ~ McDonald’s Corporation internal web site
Junk-food eaters can live a long life and suffer a miserable old age full of health problems. Eating in moderation, consuming fewer calories, and avoiding fatty foods is not an adequate dietary formula for good health. Selection is paramount.
Nutrition itself is directly associated with the development of multiple chronic diseases over time. ~ Chinese physician and nutritionist Zumin Shi
The body’s daily biological (circadian) clock, which is critical to health, is primarily set by 2 influences: light and diet. Artificial light can throw off circadian rhythm. Likewise, eating at irregular hours can subtlety create a cascade of detrimental effects.
The circadian clock is a very deep timing system that controls a large part of the physiology and behavior in all cells in the body to shape multiple processes. ~ American neurobiologist Charles Weitz
