APAD: You are what you eat

You are what you eat

The proverbial saying 'You are what you eat' is the notion that to be fit and healthy you need to eat good food.

What's the origin of the phrase 'You are what you eat'?

The originator of 'You are what you eat'
was Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.
His version was 'Tell me what you eat
and I will tell you what you are'

'You are what you eat' has come to into the English language by quite a meandering route.

In 1826, the French lawyer Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, in Physiologie du Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante:

"Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es."
[Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are].

In an essay titled Concerning Spiritualism and Materialism, 1863/4, Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach wrote:

"Der Mensch ist, was er ißt."
[Man is what he eats]

Neither Brillat-Savarin or Feuerbach meant their quotations to be taken literally (that would be rather messy). They were stating that that the food one eats has a bearing on one's state of mind and health. Although they coined French and German variants of 'you are what you eat', the phrase didn't migrate into other languages and wasn't used in English until decades later.

所有跟帖： 

• 早安，美坛。谢谢APAD。 -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 06:25:47

• You are what you eat。呼唤waterfowl水大师，来分享读后感。LOL -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 06:38:28

• 昨天吃馄饨 : ) -waterfowl- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 13:01:09

• 所以您现在是？haha -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 14:04:18

• Be fit and healthy! We need to eat good food. -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 06:40:38

• T.G.I.F -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 07:34:59

• It shows after years of dedication. -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 08:58:50

• 吃啥补啥 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 09:01:37

• 吃哪补哪：） -忒忒绿- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 12:55:00

• 说明洗脑的重要性：）） -卫宁- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 09:51:04

• For brain-washing, one is also what he reads :-) -7grizzly- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 09:58:10

• Haha, if taken literally , that would be rather messy. -天边一片白云- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 11:13:38

• 少吃猪肉 -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 11:27:00

• 噗！ -盈盈一笑间- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 14:28:00

• how about you’re what you breathe:) -忒忒绿- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 12:40:00

• Do u meaning some1 passing by farting? -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/08/2023 postreply 13:15:32