Food has always been considered one of life's greatest pleasures, but if we admit the truth, it is quite an exhausting job to think every day about what to eat, how, where and when. Whether you like to cook or not, it's probably not easy for to think of new things you want to eat daily - and that's certainly true if you have children, a busy schedule, or a budget that doesn't allow you to splurge on restaurant meals or deliveries every night.
And that brings us to the obvious solution that many of us adopt without noticing - to simply eat the same thing all the time, without devoting too much thought or effort to it. Although such a decision makes it much easier for us and diverts the mind to worry about bigger troubles, it can also harm our health.
When you eat the same things every time, there is a good chance that you are simply not getting enough of what you need to maintain your health. So why does this happen and how do you solve it? Here are three main reasons that you should understand.
1. Your "good bacteria"
Year by year, people better understand how much gut bacteria affects health. As you may have heard before, many call these bacteria the "second brain" because they work and communicate with each other in a way that closely resembles the functioning of the human brain. In addition, studies show that the balance of bacteria in the gut may affect many aspects of health and even the mental state and cognitive abilities.
When you eat the same foods all the time, it is difficult to impossible to have a positive effect on the variety of good bacteria in the gut. And this is all the more true if your regular foods aren't exactly the healthiest choice at the supermarket. And according to some experts, this situation can even have a negative effect on the immune system and increase the risk of various diseases.
2. Vitamins and minerals
Every child understands that it is important to eat fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods, in order to get enough vitamins and minerals into the body. The official guidelines recommend eating fruits and vegetables of five colors, lean meat, green leaves, grains, legumes and a long list of other foods that are not always at hand in the refrigerator or kitchen cupboards.
To fill this gap, you may prefer to take supplements that will allow you to continue eating junk without feelings of guilt, but in practice, studies show that the absorption of these supplements is much less effective than eating healthy foods. So yes, when you eat the same thing every time, you may be getting a lot of that particular component that your body needs, whether it's chicken breast, cheese, avocado, banana, eggs, or any simple salad with cucumber, tomato and onion. But in practice, you should also think about what you are not getting from your regular meals, and how you can make up for it.
3. The general balance
Balance is an important matter, but it is also very individual. For example, some people have trouble losing weight, even though they don't eat much throughout the day. Others will not feel full after a large meal and will want to snack more and more later. An imbalance can also manifest itself in a tendency to get sick more than others, in general weakness, concentration difficulties, chronic fatigue and a long list of other factors.
When you eat the same thing every time, certainly if it is a poor and unhealthy diet, which does not provide the body with the important components, it can increase the risk of deficiencies, not only in vitamins and minerals but also in proteins, fibers or even carbohydrates and fats. Each of these ingredients, in too high a proportion, can cause damage to health, but if we don't have enough of it, it may damage just as much and sometimes much more.
Bottom line, just as evolutionary studies have shown that people with a more diverse genetic background are at low risk for various types of diseases, so too in nutrition - diversity, novelty and abundance have broader and more powerful health benefits.
So it's true, even if we know what's healthy and good for us, it's not always easy to cook varied and rich meals every evening when we are "done" after another exhausting day at work, but if we understand the importance, we'll plan ahead and think outside the box. It might help prevent diseases and medical problems that will surely be distressing, painful and much more expensive later on.