You Are What You Absorb – Junk Food and Gut Flora

“You are what you eat” would be better expressed as “You are what you absorb”. From the day of birth everything that we consume contributes to the formation of our body cells. If good food is the norm from the outset your cells will be healthy and this will have a profound impact on your health and well-being throughout life.

If the food is of good quality much less will be needed.  A well balanced meal providing a combination of the 6 tastes – sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent, will leave you feeling satisfied and nourished.

Junk food, with its overabundance of sweet, sour and salty tastes, gives a short-lived sense of satisfaction, hence the term ‘comfort food’, but the truth is that it will eventually lead to discomfort and imbalance of the doshas.  Because these foods are so lacking in nutrients they do not supply us with the necessary energy and so we end up craving more. Weight gain, eventually obesity, are the natural outcome. The system becomes clogged, and the digestive fire (Agni) is suppressed as the quantity and quality of digestive enzymes is reduced.   A coated tongue, bad breath and brain fog are all symptoms of the build up of ama (toxic wastes of incomplete digestion).

In the long run, even when quality foods are eaten the body is no longer able to effectively extract the vital nutrients. The digestive tract becomes a breeding ground for bad bacteria, fungi and parasites.   Digestive problems like gas, bloating, heartburn, constipation, diarrohea, IBS, and more seriously, Crohn’s and colitis can result.