Yeah, I’ll Take Some Health Over Here
This past week I went somewhere I haven’t been in a while, some call it Americas favorite pastime, I call it a game of catch. My lacrosse bias is clearly not shy, but I have to admit it was pretty cool going to the Ol’ ballgame, not necessarily because of the game itself but more for the venue. Fenway Park, the belly of the beast, watching the team that I absolutely despised growing up in the early 2000’s, the heat of the rivalry, and 15 years later the taste still lingers. It’s a hell of a night, probably the first warm night (75°) of the season, I had some time to kill (4 hours to be exact) so I decided to start writing from the stands. The plac..
“Beer here”
.. place is packed this late April eveni…
“Dogs! Hot..Fresh… Fenway Franks”
…evening. Sorry bout that, these guys are all over the place. Anyway, this week was my first time actually walking around Boston and I have to say…
“Popcorn Souvenir Helmetsss”
… Jeeze! No! I’m good!
We’re two outs into the first inning, the swarms still filing into the park, forming a sea of red and dark blue. I couldn’t help but notice something didn’t quite fit in, in-fact they stood out with a purposeful distinction, the more I looked the more mustard yellow shirts I found, one in each row like some sort of strategic offensive. The Beer Guy, Hot Dog Man, Popcorn Souvenir Dude and all the other vendors of Fenway made there way around the park, delivering ballgame essential to the 37,000 fans in attendance. And for a small substantially marked-up fee you could get a plethora of snacks, souvenirs and beverages. For the next three hours I watched these Fenway minions (because they’re yellow, duh), work in a systematic way, across designated aisles, to distribute goods to the greater masses. They were naturals, smooth as running water, voices like angels angry rush-hour drivers, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of em’ were born in the park. When their goods were sold they returned to the central hub, restocked and were right back to delivery.
What’s a more efficient way to get each valued fan their goods? I’ll wait…… It certainly isn’t making people get up and go to the concession stands, any more than 20% of the park in line at these stands would be a hot mess. Last week we ventured along the Freight Train of Nutrients, diving into how the food we eat gets distributed along the digestive track, but what the heck happens from there? After the nutrients are absorbed through the gut wall (or have arrived to their City), how do they reach their final destination…The Cells?
The Goods are Here
The goods have arrived, your Carbs, Proteins, Fats, Vitamins and Minerals, all the essentials that you need to prosper. But your just one itsy bitsy cell, among a sea of others, all raising their hand to get the attention of the popcorn guy (hold the butter). Eventually everyone will get their snack…..as long as the supply doesn’t run out. The high-level view of this delivery system is quite simple, your at the game and you want NEED a hot dog (look up how hot dogs are made and you’ll change your mind), the yellow shirt of the ‘Fenway Franks’ guy is making its way towards you, your hand rises up, dog delivered, smiles and high fives all around. If your one of the unlucky ones to hear “Fresh Out” come from dog dealers mouth, you’ll just have to wait, for a re-stock or another vendor to venture by.
So Hows this Translate to our Body?
Your three Essential Macro-Nutrients (Carbs, Proteins & Fats) are all broken down by enzymes during the digestion process and absorbed into the bloodstream. Essentially they’ve reached the ballpark kitchen and now they’re ready to be delivered across the stadium to each fan cell. Before being packed in those heat sealed bags, Carbs are broken down into sugars, Proteins to amino acids and Fats to fatty acids and glycerol. Each play essential roles in the health and maintenance of cells throughout the body. These nutrients hitch a ride across the vast network of walking food vendors (blood vessels or transporter molecules) to reach...You! Sitting all the way in section 208, row 31 seat F.
Fenway Concourse
Each fan may need something different, and the variety of nutrients ensure that they get what they need. Their journey begins in the wide concourse of the arteries, making their way through chaotic traffic, side-by-side with other vendors, staff, and fans trying to reach their desired location(or the bathrooms). The path narrows as they reach the section entrance (or blood vessels), a shoulder bump here or there is a commonality in these hallways. And finally, as the shouting begins (I’d lose my voice after one night) “Hott Pretzleee, Get Ya HOTT PRETZLEE” they make their way to each individual aisle (or the blood capillaries), delivering these broken-down nutrients to the end cell to be absorbed, allowing them to sustain functionality and prosper.
This efficient system, developed over years (billions of em’) is the foundation of how we power our bodies (and enjoy a ball game). These delivery men and women do all the hard work, seamlessly, without us taking a second to think about it, you could call it our body’s standard operations. The catch is (pun intended), they can only distribute what’s available in the kitchen. And what’s in the kitchen depends on what was delivered from the suppliers, in other words – what you put in your mouth. If you consume a typical western diet, (nutrient deficient, high in trans-fats and added sugar) your body will not magically convert it into the powerful nutrients needed to fuel your cells, it delivers what its got. What you Eat is what you Get. And the physical results are obvious (obesity, poor mood, low energy…), even scarier are the results that you can’t see, specifically the number-one killer in the United States today, Heart Disease. Excess fats- driven by poor diet– create a surplus of “bad” cholesterol that begin to clog your arteries, the hallways to deliver items in the ballpark get smaller and smaller until one day they’re totally blocked. And when you can’t deliver essential nutrients to your body…It’s game over.
The human body is built to survive, it’s able to overcome stresses and adapt to the situation at hand, freaking amazing if you ask me. We’re lucky enough to live in a time period of such advanced knowledge and technology, something that we all take for granted. We know so much, yet we apply so little. And what we do apply, is often meaningless in the grand scheme of things. In terms of health, it’s comparable to having the opponents playbook prior to the game…
You Know What you Need to Do…
To Feel Great…
To Live Long…
The question is….
“Why Aren’t you Doing It?”
