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We’ve all heard the sentence “you are what you eat” and with the exception of genetic diseases and other pre-existing medical conditions, it’s probably true in most cases.

That said we really “consume information” and with it “create our individual reality” across a wide spectrum of life’s manifestations using all of our mind’s senses (not just taste) — including touching, smelling, seeing and hearing.

Attention to Attention

When reading this article, remember the old saying:

Where your attention is, there you are.

What your attention is upon, that you become.

In fact it’s not only what we choose to focus on. It also includes what we skillfully circumvent, thereby avoiding confrontation with what feeds our inner demons, e.g.:

* the emotions we keep taking in;

* the fears we simply don’t want to face;

* the thoughts we let run idle;

* the feelings we rumble upon others;

and many more examples, making attention a complex, but cornerstone aspect in the work of world-leading life coaches, explaining why social media algorithms are optimized to keep us addicted and why there are patent filings aiming to commercialize our attention (including subconscious mental activities as well as conscious bodily activities) thereby extracting financial value from it.

If trust is the “ultimate currency”, then “attention” is the ultimate “economy”.

The Great Poisoning

Let’s go back to the original meaning of the sentence though. If we are what we eat, but don’t understand what nutrients (or poisons) our body extracts as essence of the foods we supply ourselves with, what do we really know?

You might think — “as long as I can choose the food I eat, I’m still in charge”, but are you?

The fluoride in tap water surely isn’t great, yet there are ways to filter it (or buy expensive mineral water instead). However, did you know that:

* 5% of the fat contained in chocolate may not be related to cocoa butter at all;

* (most) wines contain all sorts of animal products due to fining;

* (as of this year) — the EU has given permission to add insects (e.g. house crickets but also maggots, worms and beetles) to baked goods, pasta and other semi-finished products “for the general public” with the only labeling requirement being that they contain e.g. “Acheta domesticus” powder?

So you might want to check with your local bakery how vegetarian your organic rye bread really is, or as Tamara Breitschneider puts it on her blog:

“The exterminator used to be responsible for insects. Today it’s the chef.”

Luckily there are some good initiatives, such as ILBList (Insects Food Blacklist), which is doing an excellent job in trying to keep up with the ever confusing question: ARE we STILL WHAT we EAT?

As for the E numbers on packed food items which are used to identify substances such as food additives, the “Zusatz Bot” is a useful tool to quickly navigate what each code is about and what it could mean for your health.

That said: What if there isn’t even any labeling in the first place?

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