Fitness and nutrition professionals often advise taking food as “fuel.” We disagree for several reasons.

Something has been bothering us lately. We keep hearing this analogy:

“Food is fuel,” just like gasoline.

And we keep hearing:
“The human body is like a high-performance race car, like a Ferrari.”

Therefore, you need to acquire enough fuel to power your Ferrari without overdosing on it – or else its owner — you — may become obese!

Fuel for your Ferrari must also be of top-quality and expensive nature or it will gunk up and fail prematurely, leading to engine breakdown.

We have all heard this analogy — this tale — repeated over and over, to no end.

And we think this is a serious issue.

What’s Your Food Story? Just last week on Facebook we posted this:

Food is fuel. Of the many responses given, 33% mentioned it as such.

At that point, it finally dawned on me: For most people and especially fitness people, food can only ever be described as fuel.

That concerns us greatly. Food is so much more than mere fuel or calories; even when considering its physiological impacts alone, by focusing on “energy” and “calories” alone we only tell part of the story.

Yes, food contains macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) which contain “energy” or calories; or more accurately put, chemical bonds that break apart to form ATP when needed for energy production.

Food contains not only micronutrients and other vital elements such as phytochemicals and zoochemicals but also water and more.

Imagine these as the supporting actors of a film: they don’t provide the focus of attention but add substance and texture nonetheless.

Yet their dynamic interactions provide the spark. Without them, there would be no show.

Unfortunately, the “food as fuel” story tends to overlook these crucial players, so let’s briefly address them here.