Do you speak to your body in ways that will enhance or impair your health?

“I cheated and had queso.”

“I was bad and ate a piece of bread.”

“I feel so guilty about eating that chocolate.”

 

The words you use have a powerful impact on the health of your organs, your cells, your entire body. Did you know they can actually affect the way your body processes food?

Think about how you feel when you use words like bad, cheat, fat, guilty. You can feel your gut clench. Your throat tighten. A feeling of heaviness form in your torso.

These are all physical reactions resulting from the use of negative words around food and they will directly impact your digestion.

Your body needs to be in a parasympathetic, aka “rest and digest” state to properly digest food. If you feel heavy, tight or anxious, optimal digestion is just not going happen.

 

Words can make you sick.

And anxious.

And heavy.

 

Words can make you energized.

And glowing.

And light.

 

When I have something fun and delicious I want to feel happy and light when I eat it. Using negative words like “cheat” or “bad” isn’t going to do that for me.

Scratch the word “cheat” from your vocabulary regarding food. It’s ugly and takes away from the pleasure of eating. “Treat” is such a better word. Say them both to yourself and notice the difference in how they make you feel.

 

TRY THIS. The next time you eat something that you really love but may not be on your current eating plan, or be a food that you think is healthy, pay attention to how you feel when you eat it after calling it a cheat food, and how you feel when you eat it after calling it a treat.

Do you feel that shift?

Our health is dependent on the foods we eat, the water we drink, our connection to people and nature, but also our thoughts and our words. Start with small shifts in all of these and watch your health shift along with them.