C4 Challenge #23 - Capacity

Nutrition. We are what we eat.

Up to now we’ve discussed many facets of a man’s character, heart, and mind. Now it’s time to start considering the body that holds the man. We cannot be fully realized, sound in thought, and true in emotion if our bodies are not healthy.

So, the focus for this C4 Challenge will be on nutrition.

Nutrition can be a highly inflammatory topic. Many people know they should be doing better but feel confused by conflicting information. Many sources focus on macros - how many carbs, how much protein - without any thought to quality. Unfortunately, our food supply, and in fact many of the products we use in our homes, wear on our bodies, and put on our skin are laden with chemicals that synthetically raise estrogen levels in our male bodies. This hormonal disruption makes us susceptible to everything from increased weight, inflammation, lethargy, moodiness, low energy, brain fog, poor performance, cancers etc. That oft-joked about “dad bod” with gynecomastia and middle aged weight gain are likely contenders and a direct result of high estrogen levels.

But before we we get into the details of how to avoid these chemicals, let’s first take a look at some nutrition fundamentals.

It may seem overly simplistic to make the recommendation to eat unprocessed foods, but this is the most basic, foundational place to start. So, what’s a processed food?