A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE
Shun sentiments and broaden your diet horizone!
A positive mindset is essential in all things… dieting inclusive! Wrong mindsets make healthy eating habits very difficult to achieve. Some of these mindsets can literally enslave one to acting contrary to their body’s needs. The mind is a powerful tool, nothing you do is undecided by your mind, even when you think you have not given it a good conscious thought therefore you did not actively participate, well, your subconscious mind played a part In it, it acted on its formation….
When it comes to our health needs it is vital to apply our mind consciously and think through our dietary habits in order to benefit from the foods we consume. Our bodies have only one sentiment and that is” replenish me with nutrients”! The body’s functioning depends largely on nutrients, nutrients are its only fuel source, and when the body replenished adequately it sure does amazing things…
Even science may never be able to fully reveal the human body’s wonders… But one thing we know for sure through numerous researches is that when the much needed essential building blocks found in a balanced diet are supplied the body, your body is charged with vitality to fight off diseases, foster good health and promote longevity and even heal itself!
Even though nutrition forms the crux of human survival and healthy dieting is a big part of any successful lifestyle, yet a great many people pay little or no attention to this topic. As a matter of fact, it is a less important issue for a great many Nigerians especially in the face of economic challenges… Little do we realize that ignoring this topic may bring more hardship in the long run, for health is actually the real wealth and offers much more freedom than financial security will ever offer…
Imagine that you have pursued material wealth all your life and achieved it. While you were pursuing the material comfort you greatly neglected your nutrition, day after day you fed on junk foods and did see anything wrong with your dietary habits. And just as you are about to retire and enjoy your achievements suddenly you begin to develop health issues.
Whenever healthy dietary principles are ignored chances are that a form of deficiency would have begun to slowly build and eventually mutated into a full on health challenge that would require expensive treatment. While some of the medication we use to treat disease are said to possibly cause other health problems. For example, diabetic medication may increases risk for high blood pressure, many people with diabetes need to take medication to lower their blood pressure while high blood pressure is attributed to other risk factors such as kidney failure, strokes, and others, which may also still require additional medication to treat.
In the end, all of these would have become so expensive and exhausting mentally and financially. But by simply eating a healthy diet you would have avoided many problems. Always keep it at the back of your mind a stitch in time saves nine!
From interacting with many people in the course of my nutrition training and sharing meals with guest on my nutrition show(Diet Africa) I have come to realized that poor dietary habits in the country is indeed a mindset issue. This attitude stems from many variables such as outlook, self esteem, indifference, obliviousness and primitive sentiments. I will try to elaborate on the above stated as best as I can.
What is hindering you from proper dieting?
Could it be any of these?
Outlook: An outlook is a person’s way of understanding and thinking about something. When you view food as a means to simply appease hunger rather than to foster growth, reproduction, and repair, maintain health, protect against disease and all the beneficial bodily processes, you tend to eat the wrong foods.
Recent research indicates that 99% of the foods we pick on super market shelves are heavily parked with preservatives; yet, we buy them anyway because the goal is often to fill up the stomach and not replenish the cells where it really matters. In addition, our culinary habit tells the story much clearer: It usually begins with bleaching oils way past their smoking points (the point where heat burns out the nutrients in oil), large amounts of artificial seasonings are featured as major condiments, and then food is over cooked destroying the possibility of nutrients remaining in the food. Only with the reshaping f the mindset towards foods that a change can occur or these rend will be corrected.
Esteem Issues: when you have a certain opinion of yourself and project to things to serve your purpose. For example some people are simply not completely comfortable in their skin so they create perceptions to portray their desired effect, starting from their diet. Because the seek to be seen as western they choose junking since junking is more representing of western dietary standards. For this reason a great many folks, especially young stars consume tones of processed flour which is the base of many junk foods.
This flour is refined and void of nutrients, and more so the flour is bleached with a chemical called chlorine gas. Chlorine gas is said to be dangerous and is an irritant that can be lethal. It is also very highly glycemic and bad for blood sugar. Other commonly used ingredients in junk food are Processed Meat Like hot dogs, sausages, bacon, etc. These foods have excessive salts (chlorine based salt which is said to induce high blood pressure) and chemicals. Some studies show that people who regularly eat processed meats increased their chance of early death by as much as 43 percent.
Another practice in fast food joints is the heating of foods in microwave with plastic containers; re-heating prepared foods further destroys nutrients, but using plastic containers is much worse! The plastic chemicals would leach its harmful residue in to the food. The junk foods and the other processes used significantly contribute to the rise of health conditions such as obesity, diabetes heart related ailments, allergens and many forms of cancers, which greatly impact quality of life and productivity.
Indifference: Dieting is often treated passively; collectively the purpose of food has been turned to a hunger appeasing fiesta where anything goes…. This routine is very well represented in a typical Nigerian meal which comprises of mostly carbohydrate, generous amount of animal protein, and an obvious splurge of oil (rich or poor do same, the difference is usually in quantity or quality of oil). The lingering oils are often perceived as an indication of sumptuousness of the soup. It is worthy to note that oils are the major causes of heart problems. The same way oils can clog in the kitchen sink is the same way oils clog arteries. Consequently, the arteries are overwhelmed and eventually go into a stroke. As a result about 160,000 Nigerians suffer from strokes and other heart related ailments annually, and children are not excluded. We need to pay more attention to our diet choices to improve and maintain health and ultimately preserve life
Obliviousness: The attitude of a people determines their belief, dictates their actions, and in the end they would reap according to the deserving yield as a result of the active believing…. Majority of Nigerians respond to what they see which makes it difficult to convince an average Nigerian of the essence of proper dietary habits since the initial benefits are felt deep in our cells.
Often times when the subject matter is perceived irrelevant to their financial pursuit or has no monetary value attached to it, they often feel it is a waste of their time. Rather than listen and analyze the facts and follow reason, they would rather expend huge energies on excuses… They even go as far as comparing how the same foods sufficed in our forefathers’ days, and how they lived ripe to an old age, therefore, they do not see the fuss about doing things differently.
Little do they know that times have changed and so are the farming process and the quality of the soil, which reduces the nutrients content in the foods we consume today. There is no rocket science to this, if we continue on this self-destruct part, our nation will be ravaged by disease even beyond malnutrition. Sickly bodies are uninspired, weak and unable to work hard, much less take on actualizing lofty heights. As a people, we need to relearn better dietary practices that will foster health and even reset our lives clock towards longevity!
Primitive sentiments: In spite of the assortments that abound in the different cultures in Nigeria, our diet still remains rigid, limited and insufficient to nourish our bodies to say the least. The culprit is no other than the divisions we often practice along tribal and religious lines, thus separating foods along same lines.
In light of what our bodies require to foster growth, repair tissues and function at its best, the current diet we consume in Nigeria is too rigid and limited to support the body’s initial operative plan. The key to achieve better adequate nutrition plan is to broaden our diet horizons, to inculcate the assortment we have right here in the country in our regular diet regime, ignoring the cultural, tribal boundaries and religious sentiments. For if we continue harboring primitive sentiments we will continue to under-nourish our bodies.
I have heard people say things like no I can’t eat that o that is Igbo food, that is Hausa food, or that is Yoruba and so on…We need to change these stereotypes and begin to see food as a necessary component of human existence rather than a means to appease hunger or channels of projecting insecurities, or avenues to express dogma’s or express love of sect. Because none of these is helpful for the body, continuing to feed on only what is planted in our cultural sects is simply not enough to accomplish the body’s’ needs
The great news!
Mindsets can be relearned if we choose to. A shift in our mindset can assist greatly in creating a healthier, prosperous future for our nation. After all, when foods are prepared right, all healthy foods are palate friendly, and can be enjoyed by all no matter where it originates from. With the right mindset and proper dietary attitude we could very well achieve the body’s nutrition need with our domestic assortments, and easily improve our health status, life expectancy and reverse our malnutrition ratings. According to research Nigeria is the most malnourished country on the Africa continent.
The idea is to help you refocus your priority and benefit from a healthy mindset. Always keep this in mind, your body is the only tool you will ever own so hone it wisely to serve you optimally.
We all have a responsibility to make wise and informed choices each day about our health. These tips are your ally to a healthy lifestyle so generously incorporate them in your daily routine!
For questions on culinary/ grocery tips, diet-plans please drop me a message.
Email: sussannajacob@gmail.com, newleeznlife@yahoo.ca
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