Are You What You Eat?

Addition of fats, sugar, salt, synthetic chemicals in cooked and processed food affects the health of the consumer. Fried foods are best avoided.

- DR P.S. VENKATESH RAO

French gastronome Jean A Brillat-Savarin wrote in his 1826 book, "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are," suggesting that the food we consume significantly impacts our health and physical state. His simple, elegant phrasing popularized the adage "you are what you eat." A recent Netflix eight-week docuseries by the same name comparing twins on a vegan diet with omnivores was panned by critics as "biased and skewed towards political and environmental activists and vegan manufacturers" and "food fear mongering and sensationalism." The saying "you are what you eat" has roots in philosophical and medical thought of ancient cultures, highlighting the importance of mindful eating and how dietary choices can affect our physical and mental health, energy levels, and mood.

A balanced diet provides the components necessary for growth, repair, and sustaining bodily functions. A deficient, unhealthy diet leads to various health problems.

NATURAL DIET OF HUMANS: All animals eat what they can digest raw and evolved to survive on locally available food sources, e.g., ruminants (cattle, buffalo, bison, sheep, goats, deer, giraffes, and camels) have a special organ called rumen for digesting grass, and evolved on grasslands. Carnivores evolved with claws, teeth, and a digestive system designed for fiber-free raw meat with bone fragments, where large herbivore populations existed. Birds developed gizzards to grind seeds and grains. Vultures have evolved highly acidic stomachs and specialized gut bacteria that efficiently process decaying flesh and neutralize harmful pathogens. The human digestive system and teeth are designed for a high-fiber herbivorous diet of fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, sprouts, nontoxic leaves, flowers, and mushrooms.