Last year, I decided to get more intentional about what I was eating. I wasn’t trying to go ultra-healthy or trendy—just curious about what was really fueling my body. I figured I was in decent shape: I cooked often, didn’t do a ton of fast food, and bought mostly organic. But the more I read labels and paid attention to ingredients, the more I realized something quietly shocking.

For years, I thought “core strength” was code for six-pack abs. Or at least something you trained for purely aesthetic reasons. And as someone who was more into long walks and yoga stretches than planks and crunches, I figured core work wasn’t essential—just extra credit.