When we think of food, we should think as if we were a cell in our body. As a cell, the term “food” means molecules that can help us stay alive or kill us within a short period of time.
These molecules may have originated from within our bodies or were brought to us from the outside world through our stomach and intestine. As a cell, it makes no difference where food molecules came from; what is important is their number and what type of molecule they are.
As a cell, we are essentially a small factory with many doors to come in and many doors to leave. All of our doors have keys which are called hormones and enzymes. Without these keys we cannot survive.
As a factory we employ workers known as water molecules. Without these workers we cannot produce anything and, again, we will not survive.
As you can see, being a cell is a precarious situation. We frequently die, and when we die, you, as our owner, become older.
Our water molecule workers are very humble and very obedient. Their job is to carry the molecules of food and the molecules of hormones and enzymes into our factory and carry our products and waste out into the blood stream.
But, like many humble and obedient people, water molecules are pretty stubborn. Water molecules have a split personality. They are made of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. But those atoms hate sticking together.
Most of the time one atom of hydrogen would like to stay by himself and look for other molecules that he can harass. We call him Ionized and we know he carries a “+”Â sign on his head. When he harasses other molecules, he does so in a sour way, and then we call him acidic.
When food molecules come to our doors, the water molecules rush out to carry them in. The ionized hydrogen ions might destroy some of them, but most survive.
WAITING FOR HORMONES
Waiting for the hormones is very frustrating.
Messages have to be sent to the pancreas and liver andÂ thyroid and adrenal glands and these organs have to send their molecules out of their doors into the blood stream, which may be very congested, depending on the time of day, and water workers or other transporters will have to bring these hormones to the cell doors.
If insufficient hormone molecules arrive, the food molecules have to wait outside and then some of them go crazy. Sugar molecules called the Glucose Group are nasty fellows and if they can’t get in, they turn everything sour.
The Liver which needs the “Glucose Group” to stoke their fires, gets the most frustrated. Its cells turn on the fat molecules and changes them into smaller molecules called Ketone Bodies and turns them loose into the blood stream.
As a result, you, as the owner of all cells, will have a funny taste in your mouth, your breath will smell like acetone and you will behave like a drunk.
THE MOLECULES ENTER
When the hormone molecules arrive, they each take a food molecule by the hand. They then take our their special key and open the door to the factory.
The food molecules are brought in and go into the waiting area or the rooms where things like genes and other machinery are being made. The “Glucose Group” does the hard work of pushing electrons around.
No one in the factory asks where the food molecules came from. It is unimportant to a cell to know whether a molecule came from inside the body or outside of the body.
From the point of view of the owner it is important.
Food molecules come from two sources:
- inside the body, which is called Endogenous and
- outside of the body, which is called Exogenous.
SOURCES OF FOOD
Most people believe that the only source of food is that which is placed in their mouth. This is far from the truth.
Our bodies are a complete food source. Our bodies contain every food group: Protein, Fat, Starch and vitamins and minerals. When our cells eat, they take the first molecules that enter their doors. Most of the time these are the molecules found in our own tissues.
Our liver and muscles have starch molecules which are readily converted into sugar. One of our hormones called Glucagon acts on the liver to produce glucose for our cells when the glucose in our blood is low.Â Our muscles have muscle glycogen which provides energy when muscles need it.
As we know, cholesterol is constantly produced by our liver for use in cells and the extra cholesterol which enters our mouth may be unnecessary or harmful.
Fat, as we know, is a source of energy. Since we have fat throughout our body, that fat will be used if there is no other source of energy.
Glucose is always the first source of energy and the body fat will wait until there is no glucose before it is broken down for energy. Fortunately, if we exercise we can use up all stores of glucose, and the body fat will be converted into energy.
This is the reason why exercise is essential for fat loss.
NOW WE KNOW
We need water for everything. We have fat which ruins our arteries, so we need exercise to get rid of it.
We also need proteins, minerals and fibers. Vegetables and fruit can provide most of this, and when it can’t, meat, preferably from the water will do the trick.