ROUND 1 - NUTRITION

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said "Let thy food be thy medicine."

All of the trillions of cells in the body are nourished by the blood. The blood carries nutrients from the foods you eat and liquids you drink. The chemistry of the food you eat eventually becomes the chemistry of your body.

But knowing this, why do the vast majority of people continue to fill themselves with unhealthy food and colas? The phrase 'junk food' is so overused that people forget that much of the food they eat really is junk. I repeat.JUNK.

Would you want to live by a landfill?

Are you treating your body like a landfill?

Go to many restaurants and the portion sizes for one person could feed a small family.

There are the biggie size fries, monster hamburgers and appetizers that could be a meal by themselves. Most of the food we eat is too processed, high in refined sugars and lacking in nutritional value.

But hey, it tastes good. However, it doesn't do a body good. Is it any wonder that cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity rates are skyrocketing in the United States ?

Let's not forget the soft drink industry. I remember a photo of a grocery store aisle of colas and soft drinks and the caption underneath it said "The first form of child abuse." Amen to that.

We've all acquired bad habits involving food and drink. I think our unhealthy food consumption habits might one day be considered a type of eating disorder.

But every day is a new day, a new beginning. Habits are acquired by the 3 p's; practice, patience and perseverance.

The USDA Food Guide Pyramid recommends 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased risk of all the above dis-eases. Fruit juice isn't a serving. One slice of tomato on your burger doesn't count either.

Reducing fats and consuming more complex carbohydrates is important too. Drink water. It tastes great and it's very filling. Most of your body is made of water, not cola. Cola companies don't care about your health. Do you?

Dr. John Knowles of the Rockefeller Foundation said, "Many adult diseases are related to what we eat throughout our early years in life." Prevention is the key.

Did you know that all the red blood cells in your body undergo a complete change approximately every 28 days? Dr. Gabriel Cousens, author of There is a Cure for Diabetes , has found that it is possible to reverse diabetes in 21+ days by healing with raw food.

Every day is a new to start re-establishing healthy eating habits. Change your eating habits, change the chemistry in your body. Change the chemistry in your body, change your health. Change your health, change your life.

Your body is the most amazing machine and deserves to be well fueled. Some people take better care of their cars than they do their own body. Are you ready for a tune-up?

It's equally important to look at other habits concerning food.

Do you eat when you're hungry or when the clock says its lunchtime? Do you eat snacks that are sustaining and health enhancing?

It's time we start nourishing our bodies from the inside out. The quality of your life depends on the quality of the food and drinks consumed.

In order to succeed in the fight against disease and illness, realize that this will involve changing deep ingrained habits around food. Developing a better relationship with food is a process that requires patience, discipline and willpower. This may be the toughest part of the fight, but developing good eating habits can be done.

After all, you are what you eat.

Ben Franklin said, "The strong are those that can conquer bad habits." What bad habits around food would you like to KO?

Make a list today and check it twice. People who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them.

You can listen to Sumya's radio show, "Beat the Health Out of You,"

Sundays 1-2 p.m. live on the internet at www.710kcmo.com www.sumya.com

Sumya Anani is a former 4X world Champion in professional boxing. She is an Asst. Professor of Physical Education at Johnson County Community College , where she coaches 11 sports teams with weight training conditioning and yoga. She teaches yoga and leads annual yoga retreats to Jamaica , Guatemala and Colorado .

The yoga retreats are titled ' The Path of A Spiritual Warrior .'