Do you know this old expression "You are what you eat"?
Sure you heard the exact expression of something similar.
We've all heard some form of the expression. When we take the intention literally, the idea is eat more healthy foods and be more healthy. Yet, large swaths of the modern world continues to consume mass quantities of sugary soda, pizza, cheeseburgers and french fries.
I need to let you know, I am not the food police because I enjoy pizza (when I'm in New York) or salty crunchy chips & salsa (when I'm on the West Coast). Those two foods are my eating achilles heel, well I guess I should add french fries and buttery popcorn, but hey so what I can't keep my hands off of a few small snack food pleasures.
Besides, the whole idea about what is good for us to eat and what is not seems to change every few years. I drink red wine and cognac because scientific studies produced in the recent past report red wine in moderation provides us with good anti oxidants. Because cognac is made most often from red wine grapes I've included it in my anti oxidant regime too. I hope one day real soon scientist will get to work proving the health benefits of pizza and chips.
So why some much to say about food when the title of this post is about BOOKS?
Like food books can be dangerous, we become what we read.
Like the scientist who provided those wonderful studies that tell us drink red wine in moderation and gain good anti oxidants. There are scientist that have studies the power of storytelling and it's effect in humans. Science now tells us STORY can change our biology.
Whoa, wait a second!
I completely get the we are what we eat because when I put the ingredients that make up the food I eat or the beverages i drink into my body then my body integrates the food stuff to fuel my body, make muscle and or build fat stores and more. So I get how we are what we eat.
Story has the ability to change the biology of humans:
Here watch this short video that tells the story of Paul Zak Phd & Neuroeconomist who conducted a study to determine what happens when humans hear a story. What he discovered is thought provoking and compelling.
When you hear a story the evokes your sense of empathy our bodies begin to increase the level of oxytocin in our blood stream. Oxytocin has been called the moral molecule or the love potion. When we see/hear/read a story of someone is in distress our bodies begin to produce increased levels of cortisol which is often referred to as the stress hormone.
So, when humans interact with story, where a story is a painting at the Museum of Modern Art, the latest Spielberg film, the ballet, the opera, the poetry slam or just you in your comfortable chair, with your favorite brew reading a book. The stories that grab our attention also change our biology because humans are wired for stories.
There is a point to this post. This post doesn't have a moral to share. Just my musing on how powerful the stories we choose to interact with are, how much those stories literally change us. The changes the make us sit on the edge of our seat, make the hair on our necks stand on end happen because we are being more than carried away by the storytelling we are being changed.
Read more good books, watch more interesting movies.
Remember pizza and fries are like those movies and book I love because they include car chases, battles and explosions every five minutes and the result are the same whether it's bingeing pizza or doing the same with 3 or 4 of the American director Quentin Tarantino's films, the results may be the same. You would achieve better healthy wellness outcomes by choosing your food and story diet wisely.