"I know I should eat more fruits and veggies" - I hear this all the time but rarely do they really know why?
Our body uses compounds from meats, fruits and vegetables to create biochemical reactions necessary for life to occur. Without these cofactors our body can not function. These compounds for the most part are essential nutrients meaning our body can't make them. We must get them from food. If we don't have them we die. Almost all symptoms (fatigue, pain, anxiety) and disease are caused and/or facilitated by nutrient deficiencies. Tracking your nutrient intake is an important step to making sure you stay healthy and vibrant.
Every second cells in our body are dying and new ones made. Skin and bone cells live for a few weeks while colon cells live about 4 days. These cells are made from what we knowing and unknowing put in our body. Food is the main supplier of these nutrients... so depending on what you eat your bones and muscles could be made of the best and strongest building material like that found in a paleo diet or from the nutrient weak, chemical laden SAD diet.
The Standard American Diet (SAD) is high in transfats (which jam up our body like sticking gum in key lock), preservative, chemicals and pesticides. Many of the ingredient are focus on getting people to eat and buy more... not feed the body. Google "intake enhancers" and learn why the jingle "bet you cant eat just one" is actually a multi-billion dollar science industry that has a complete disregard for human health. If you eat processed food you are literally building a body out of crap. Crappy bones, muscles, organs.... and its no wonder why tissue mutates in to cancer cell so commonly now.
The next time you look at your plate.... or your child's... think about how the food will be used to make the cells necessary to sustain life, support the biological processes and create new cells.