Functional Foods

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Functional foods are foods that have a potentially positive effect on health beyond basic nutrition.”

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/functional-foods/AN02088

Examples of functional foods include oatmeal (or anything with fiber), ginger, turmeric, green leafy vegetables, beans, green tea, yogurt and kefir. These foods are not going to give you the same pleasure as eating a plate of french fries. 

All foods are functional to some degree in that they help keep you alive in the short run. In the middle of a famine, nobody is going to be checking nutritional labels.

 

If you happen to live in an area that allows you to choose what you eat, then it might be a good idea to consume foods that keep your vital organs running in the long term. If you are building a house, wouldn’t you choose materials that are known to be durable?  Would you knowingly build your house with diluted concrete or sub-standard, toxic materials?

Consider what we stuff our minds and our days with. Are we filling ourselves with pursuits that are functional in the long run?  Or do we satiate our hunger with temporary comforts?