Not only does it help us to commemorate the most special occasions in our lives, bond with family and friends, and enjoy the great flavours that come from things like air fryer taquitos, but it also has the ability to influence our energy levels, our health, and even our happiness.
Today, there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty surrounding food, with many different diet plans, culinary philosophies, and ideas out there about the best way to eat.
Well, in order to simplify things a bit without advocating for any one particular diet, here are a few positive food habits that have a good chance of significantly improving your life.
Stop eating several hours before bed, and do all of your day's eating within a window of about 12 hours
Until recently, how often we ate, and when we ate, wasn't widely considered to be very important, other than with regards to how many calories we ended up consuming as a result.
Recently, however, leading circadian rhythm researchers have found that eating too close to bedtime can totally upend our circadian rhythms, while at the same time disrupting our sleep directly.
As if that wasn't enough, there is also a growing body of research showing that people who eat constantly throughout the day - from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep - are more likely to put on weight and experience negative health consequences as a result, regardless of what it is they are eating, even if they are consuming the same number of total calories as a control group.
The solution seems to be to stick to the process known as " time restricted eating," which involves consuming all of your day's meals within a window of about 8 to 12 hours, starting with breakfast, and with dinner being at least a few hours before bed.
Fall in love with the art of cooking, using different recipe books
There are immense benefits to getting into home cooking, ranging from being able to impress your romantic partner with your culinary skills, to being able to take a more active part in directly influencing your own health.
Even if the food you're cooking isn't exactly healthy, you will at least know which ingredients you've put into it, and these can be adjusted as and when you want. And there appear to be very significant health benefits, in general, associated with simply reducing the amount of processed foods in your diet.
Falling in love with the art of home cooking, using different recipe books that can allow you to quickly get started with preparing delicious meals for yourself, can be a real game changer.
Eat to nourish your gut microbiome
The microorganisms that live in our guts - collectively known as our gut microbiome - are increasingly being found to play a major role in everything from how much we weigh, to the state of our emotional health and well-being.
So, how do you nourish a healthy gut microbiome? Well, one part of the equation is eating fermented foods like sauerkraut and kombucha, but the major part of the equation, according to recent research, appears to be getting as many different varieties of fruit and vegetables in your diet as possible.
No matter what else you choose to do with your diet, eating a broad range of fruit and veg each week appears to be the key to getting those healthy microbes on your side.
