Let Food Be Your Medicine

Our bodies need good nutrition in order to work properly. Vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and protein are nutrients that we need in sufficient amounts to function optimally. Unfortunately, much of what we eat today is devoid of nutrients. What’s more, we are ingesting toxic substances from the additives in food as well as from the air we breathe, the alcohol we drink and the drugs we take – including over-the-counter remedies. Our bodies are becoming less able to rid themselves of these harmful substances because of the lack of nutrients, and so are unable to work as efficiently as they should and ill health becomes the norm.

Every cell in your body is like a miniature factory with a particular job to do. This may be to pass on a message or produce a substance needed for a certain reaction to take place. But if the factory is full of waste products (toxicity) and lacking in the raw materials it needs (nutrients), each cell is unable to function properly. This paves the way for health problems and often a vicious circle where more drugs are taken to treat the symptoms.

The aim of good nutrition is to build a better cell or factory and hence body. Body cells are continually being replaced. A blood cell lasts for 60-120 days so in three to four months your whole blood stream is completely renewed. In a year, all your bones are replaced, constructed entirely from the nutrients that you eat. This means that although improved nutrition will have some immediate benefits, you will have to wait for months or even years for your body to reach its full potential for optimal health.

It’s not unlike a neglected house plant: if you start feeding and watering it, the leaves will perk up a bit from the improved nutrition, but you have to wait for the old leaves to die off and new ones to grow before you get a really healthy plant. In the same way, you can’t do a three day detox and expect miracles to happen. Building good health is about changing the way you eat long-term.