It’s quite shocking and terribly sad to think that in modern Britain a teenager can go blind through malnutrition. We live in a time of huge abundance in terms of food choices and availability, yet this child was allowed to grow up on a diet of white bread, chips and crisps – a diet desperately lacking in the essential nutrients that make up our immune systems, allow our bodies to function properly and fight disease
Where did it all go wrong?
The benefits of modern medicine provide a mixed bag of benefits and pitfalls to human beings. On the one hand we can marvel at a surgeon’s ability to replace a human heart or liver, or get us out of pain, but on the other hand, as a society we have forgotten what it means to be in touch with nature and appreciate the healing power of healthy, “live” food
Nearly all disease has its root cause in nutritional deficiency
Linus Pauling, 2 times Nobel Prize winner, was famous for saying: “You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency”
Should we keep treating the symptom rather than the cause?
Modern medicine invariably treats the symptom – you have a pain so you take a painkiller
A more holistic approach is to treat the cause – why do you have the pain and what can you do to prevent it in the future?
Let’s take an example that might be familiar to you:
You have a sore joint so you keep taking painkillers and anti-inflammatories but it doesn’t improve, so you go to your Doctor and have a hydrocortisone injection. This powerful steroid removes the pain and gives you relief for several weeks so you go back to normal activity. The steroid wears off and your joint pain returns because the injury has only been subdued. Your Doctor might agree to give you another injection but you are only meant to have 2 in a calender year due to the side effects, which are:
- headache
- increased sweating
- trouble sleeping
- unusual hair growth on your face or body
- upset stomach
- increased appetite
- nausea
- weight gain
- strain on the kidneys
Perhaps your sore joint needs some proper nourishment! Here is a list of nutrients that all contribute to joint health:
Minerals Vitamins
Calcium Vitamin D
Magnesium Vitamin C
Zinc Vitamin B6
Iodine Folic Acid
Boron Vitamin K
Copper
Manganese
Molybdenum
Essential Fatty Acids: EFA’s are required to produce the fluid secretions that lubricate the joints. EFA’s help deliver minerals to the bones and help assimilate vitamins that assist bone formation.
This is just one example, but in general terms, vitamin and mineral deficiencies are caused by:
- Medications
- Drugs and alcohol
- Pesticides
- Food processing
- Inadequate levels in the farm soils
- Cooking methods
- Poor digestion
Modern farming: Here is a quote that is particularly eye-catching, not just because of the content – more relevant is the date. Its from the 74th Congress in the USA in 1936!
"The alarming fact is that foods, fruits, vegetables and grains, now being grown on millions of acres of land, no longer contain enough of certain minerals. No man of today can eat enough fruits and vegetables to supply his system with the minerals he requires for perfect health because his stomach isn't big enough to hold them"
Conclusion: We will all need the benefits of modern medicine at certain times in our lives, but we can mitigate their need by adopting a more holistic approach to health. Our instincts will normally guide us towards what is healthy and what should be avoided. Here are a few of each:
Unhealthy:
- Processed foods like margarine, bacon, salami, plastic cheese
- Foods containing refined sugar and sweeteners
- Too much red meat
- Fried, BBQ’d and microwaved foods
- Trans fats and hydrogenated fats
Healthy:
- Plenty of organic raw fruits and vegetables
- Organic seeds and nuts
- Shitake, maitake and reishi mushrooms
- Steamed vegetables, organic chicken and deep water fish
- Organic cold-pressed virgin oils
Supplements: Be very selective!
99% of so-called “natural” supplements come from the same manufactured, synthetic chemicals. Our bodies need food nutrients to be able to absorb, use and retain them properly, so only buy food based supplements. They are very effective at “filling in the gaps” that exist from insufficient farm soils, and will boost your immune systems, slow down the ageing process and allow you to enjoy healthier living