When it comes to eating healthy or trying to get in shape, what do you think about when choosing your food? Do you count carbohydrates (carbs), sugar content, fat content, or do you go off on the calorie tangent? It can be hard to know what the best diet is for you. For me, I had to let go of a lot of misguided conventional food habits I acquired growing up, to allow the space to consider there are other, perhaps better, ways of eating. Then, I made a conscious decision to make what I eat my own business and a top priority. It took a few years of research (I still read studies nearly every day) and I had to look past the marketing.  To find what I believe to be the truth about what food is best for my body, I discount any advertisements linked to any products or diets, and any studies published by anyone who stands to gain financially from its results. Now I feel confident with my food choices and I have a good idea of the effects my food has in my body...to the point where if I wanted to lose weight, I could. If I wanted to put on weight, I could. If I want more energy, I know where to get it. And if I up the ante exercise-wise, I know how to support my body. Here are 2 of the most influential "breakthroughs" I had which largely determine the food I choose to eat.

Carrying on from my first piece about land, water is the second topic that majorly influences what I choose to eat. You may be surprised at the world's current water "status" and how much water you you are indirectly consuming through your diet.  Approximately 92% of the water we use is invisible and it is hidden in our food. Is the global drive for "progress" through certain industries coming at the expense of one of our most basic needs: water? More than just trying to follow the latest fashionable diet or appeasing your tastebuds, your diet affects people all around the world as well as the next generation.

(Part one in what I now realise will need to be a series of articles)

What do you think about when you are perusing the isles of the supermarket deciding what you’re going to eat today? Do you do the thinking or does your stomach do most of the thinking? Do you think about what is healthy for you or what you desire at that point in time? Both perhaps? Do you think about the impact your ingredients have on the planet, its inhabitants or fellow human beings? If so, does that make a difference to what you buy or is price and convenience more influential?

In my opinion ignorance is not bliss when it comes to food choices. Ignorance can be detrimental to the lives of others and disastrous for the planet. Even if only for our own continued survival as a species, I believe we have a moral duty to know and take into account how our food gets to our plate and the impact it has on the environment. In a world interlinked as never before, I have learnt (and am still learning) that your food choices aren’t all about you (or me) and in fact many other people are affected by what we eat…that global issues of food and water shortages, deforestation, global warming and the likes, should take precedence over your desire to follow today’s most trendy diet or to satisfy you craving for a Big Mac, coke and fries.

For the past few years, I’ve been actively seeking the truth about our food. Of course, I don’t know all the facts, however from the research and evidence I have collected over the years, I now feel compelled to share the matters that have the biggest influence over what I choose to eat.