Читать книгу Pure Health - Henri Chenot - Страница 11

Why do we eat? The answer is simple: because our brains tell us to. It’s an order. This major organ has important and inescapable duties. One of its priorities is to feed itself and feed the body in order to manage metabolism, to renew cells and to look after itself. These demands must be immediately satisfied.

As the keyholders to the development of our lives and the regeneration of our bodies, each day our brains must obtain a quantity of indispensable material to make the whole body function properly.

What do we understand by the word ‘regeneration’? Each day we lose billions of cells, and it is essential that they are reproduced. Equally, we must also produce all the necessary hormones, enzymes and the energy to keep the body temperature at 37ºC. If all these conditions aren’t met, the body cannot function. Thanks to a complex and fundamental process, it develops a phenomenal amount of nutrients that are intended for all kinds of chemical transformations.

When the body demands its fuel, we experience a rational and legitimate irresistible feeling of hunger. In this book, we will see when and how to curb this demand. One thing’s for sure, it’s definitely the brain that imposes these desires to satisfy ourselves, and which conveys the body’s fundamental needs through a feeling of hunger.

Unfortunately, when an appealing piece of food – such as something sweet and tempting – is near, the pleasures of the eyes can divert the brain’s orders. Likewise, a depressive or euphoric state can both lead to an irrational order. We therefore mix up the brain’s natural signals with the desire to make up for these psychosomatic shortages or deficiencies with food or drink.

The need to eat can produce unjustified cravings grounded in emotional sensations, irrespective of other factors. Fortunately, we can regulate them. The brain is likely to be distracted by a diet that it’s not accustomed to, a diet with multiple flavours, different tastes and concoctions that are slyly hidden in tempting ready-made food. These can distract the brain from its nutritional requirements, tempting it into irrationality with flavoursome bait, and thus the brain loses its bearings, which affects its control of appetite.

The brain carries out our machine’s operation with an extraordinary dedication. Because it understands and dictates our need for nutrition to function properly, it deserves the utmost attention.