Balance

The other day we had some friends over and we started discussing farming practices and miseducation surrounding it and then on to different diets people choose to follow and miseducation around that. My friend simply stated that he and his wife had been discussing “balance” the other day. For whatever reason that word has been flashing in my brain like a blinking light and got me questioning, what is balance as it pertains to food?

The scientific term for balance is homeostasis. Homeostasis is, “the tendency of a system, especially the physiological system of higher animals, to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function.” The body is really good at this; it’s stores minerals and fats and makes hormones and proteins available for when we apply a stimulis that tips the internal scales. In fact the body loves homeostasis so much that it will release chemicals in your brain telling you that every thing is going fine, even if it’s not, so that you can carry on your daily functions. It can only do this for so long before the deficit becomes too great and that’s when you begin to notice the symptoms of disease it can no longer hide from you.

If your body could speak to you it would say, that by our choices we aid in homeostasis; that we should never cause a deficit in order to maintain optimal health. Ratios vary from one nutritionist to the other but most agree on a protein to fat to carb ratio of 35 to 40 to 25 percent. Ideally that’s what your plate would look like and you would source your proteins, fats and carbs from a variety of foods. If your body could speak to you, this is what would be it’s definition of balance. 

A little bit of a side note but I actually believe our bodies do try to signal us through the state of our digestion, wether or not we have aches and pains, and the balance of our emotions…

Physiologically speaking, balance is not treating yourself to a glass of coke, a chocolate bar, a piece of cake and etc. There are certain foods that create such a large deficit that the only result is an eventual breakdown. For example to bring your body back to homeostasis after a glass of coke you would need to consume approx. 100 glasses of water. 
1. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
2. Drinking coke is no longer a pleasure. 
If homeostasis is your goal there are certain foods you would never touch.

Now, you’ve got some knowledge about balance, you go to your friend’s house and they serve you a burger on a white bun, with a side of chips and a can of pop. Following dinner they want to serve you cake and ice-cream and sing you "Happy Birthday". What do you do? Well, you smile, enjoy the dinner and the good company, because that’s balance too.