Choices…
The smaller choices we make have the greatest impact on our health long before any treatment becomes necessary for disease.
Our genetic constitution has remained relatively unchanged over the last 40,000 years. However the way we eat, the amount we eat, the nutritional content of the foods we choose and the increasingly high levels of toxins in our environment could not be more different. Evolution is a slow process and our bodies have not yet evolved to utilize toxins as fuel! If we will not eat the ideal diet for any reason then we must be prepared for the consequences.
The US National Cancer Institute recommends that we eat 5-9 varied servings of fruits & vegetables every day; including: cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and turnip), citrus fruit, dark green leafy vegetables and yellow/orange/red vegetables with three different colours per day. However, the vast majority of us in the West will not follow this advice – less than 10% of the population in fact.
We Humans have evolved as hunter gatherers consuming small amounts of a wide variety of foods; over 100 in most localities, including: roots, beans, nuts, tubers, fruits, edible flowers and gums; with the occasional game when available.
We have evolved to be at our best, our healthiest & our most able to prevent and fight disease on such a diet. The typical Western diet is made up of approximately 15 foods – this is a recipe for poor health (excuse the pun!).
Diet and lifestyle have been reported to be the cause of up to 30% of cardiovascular deaths, 60% of fatal cancers and 80% of diabetes mellitus cases – need I go on?
Sadly for many, eating well is not the end of it. Today it is not so much a case of ‘you are what you eat’, but rather, ‘you are what you can absorb’!
Stress is a significantly under rated cause of imbalance and disease to our body. Whether the stress is on a physical, mental or emotional level, it directly impacts on our ability to digest food and can set up a nasty downward spiralling effect – if you are unable to absorb nutrients from your food to meet your body’s requirements, it is then less able to deal with its workload or stress. This further impacts on digestion and further reduces nutrient uptake and your ability to cope with its effects multiplying down the line.
Furthermore, stress triggers hormones that can imbalance an array of body systems leading to pituitary, thyroid, immune and reproductive imbalances to name a few.
Your body will deal with just about anything you care to put it through as long as it gets the resources it requires to keep up with demands. When required, professionally prescribed herbals, glandular products, minerals and probiotics are the solution here.