We cook, then we eat, and we enjoy delicious food. Who doesn’t love food? everybody loves food, not unless one has a health problem and couldn’t eat (or drink). I am not talking about gluttony here. It’s all about basic human instinct to eat. Well, food is any stuff normally eaten or drunk by living beings. Food helps all living things to thrive and survive. It provides energy for activity and growth. For us humans, food is important for our overall health and well-being. Without food, humanity and all other living things will vanish.

There are five main food groups. These are fruit and veggies, starchy food, dairy, protein, and fat. Then there are also seven types of food groups according to their nutrients – carbohydrates, fats, dietary fibers, minerals, proteins, vitamins, and water. And I could go on and on writing about tons of food classifications which will be never-ending and boring. Let’s go straight to what I believe is the best food classification. And they’re only three – food for the body, for the mind and for the soul or spirit.

Food for the body – it’s the food we normally eat and drink to give us energy and nutrition as I’ve mentioned earlier. We have this idea that we are only feeding our bodies when we eat but we have to be aware that we are feeding our brains too. The foods we eat affect more than just our physical bodies. These foods are the brainfoods or foods for the mind. They can have profound effects on our mind health as well. These are not just the literal foods that we eat but are the things that we put inside our brains like the thoughts we entertain. These thoughts can either be positive or negative, depends on what we feed our minds. So, what do we feed our minds? We feed our minds through the books we read and anything that we watch and focus on.  

Much attention is given to the foods we use to nourish and sustain our bodies. But equally important are the foods we use to nourish our spirits or soul. Just as healthy foods are best choices over junk foods, there also exist preferable nourishing spiritual foods. Physically fit bodies won’t matter if we do not have peace and tranquility within our soul. A person’s mind, body and spirit/soul are all codependent and correlated. What affects one affects the other.

When you go to a doctor, during a checkup he might ask you about your appetite. Why is that? Because a lack of appetite could mean something is wrong with your health. It is a sign of bad physical health. I am pretty sure that you are familiar with this verse, “But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). If you have no appetite for the bread of life, it could be a sign of bad spiritual health too.

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”, these verses are from the Books of Philippians chapter 4 verses 8 and 9. The Bible contains every word that proceeds from the mouth of God – our Bread of Life, our Spiritual Food and the Living Water. Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13, 14 The Woman at the Well)

May we prosper in all things and have wellness in body and mind, just as our soul prospers.