Do You Think of Food As Medicine? – Part 1

01 Sep Do You Think of Food As Medicine? – Part 1

Hippocrates Said it Best

The man that many regard as the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, wisely stated over 2500 years ago, let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. This Greek physician knew the healing powers of nature and practiced his theories successfully on patients and himself. I find it fascinating in an age where most people never saw the age of 40 (460 BC), Hippocrates is credited with living a life somewhere in the range of 83-90 years old. Hmm…sounds like the old dude may have been on to something! The fact is, now that we have a much greater understanding of how the human body works (and how it doesn’t!), we can see the foresight in his teachings. What we put into our bodies has everything to do with what we get out of them. It’s clear that we must consider food as medicine.

Our Cells Need Help

Humans are a huge conglomeration of living cells, about 90 trillion of them. Though each one has a particular function, they all have remarkably similar components and structures that control the work they do. Our cells depend on us to feed them the needed nutrients so that their employment remains active. These nutrients fit into these seven classes: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, and water. Of all these nutrients, water could be considered most vital. Humans can die after 3-5 days without water, whereas life can be sustained for weeks without food. Macro-nutrients, in the form of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats help rebuild our cells and provide energy for them to do their jobs. Micro-nutrients, in the form of vitamins and minerals, aid our body’s enzyme activities to help release the energy stored in our food choices, help control chemical processes in our bodies, and keep our immune systems strong to fight off illness and disease. Related to the micro-nutrients are phyto nutrients.  These mysterious elements are present in healthy, whole foods. Scientists know phyto nutrients cause great things to happen in our bodies; they just haven’t completely discovered how they work yet. These phyto nutrients can only be obtained through whole, nutritious foods. Can you see where I’m heading with this?

Society Has Changed Our Nutritional Outlook

We have become a society that, by and large, places the responsibility AND blame for our health on the medical community. We continue to eat and drink substances devoid of the nutrition factors our bodies need to keep our healthy homeostasis intact. We then look to our physicians to provide a pill for whatever ails us, from heartburn to heart attack. People…this is backwards!!! We are nailing our own coffins shut, and its time to stop! Lets shift the perspective, just a small click… are you aware how many people die each year from following a sound nutrition plan, consuming whole organic vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, nut and seeds, and drinking clean mineralized water? ZERO.

Trading Our Health

Take a guess how many of us die each year from pharmaceutical-related issues (wrong meds, deadly interactions, misdiagnosis, etc.) By one estimate, taking prescribed medications is the fourth leading cause of death among Americans. In 2017, there were 47,600 deaths from prescription opioids alone. The Center for Disease Control says that more people die in America every year from prescription drug abuse and misuse than die from heroin and cocaine combined. Did you know that the average drug label contains around 70 negative side effects, though many popular brand name drugs have been found to contain 100 to 125? There are drugs that list up to 525 negative effects on the label. These drugs are being prescribed by doctors to “treat” patients, when the drug side effects are routinely worse than the very illness they claim to treat. Have you ever seen side effects stickers stuck on the side of an organically grown cucumber? Holy Cow, kids! Whats happened to us? We have stopped eating for our health, and have placed our lives in the hands of companies that make A LOT of money from our poor lifestyle habits. The time to reverse this trend is now…your life depends on it.

What’s the Answer?

How do we do it? Its really not that hard… like I said earlier, its starts with a change in perspective. Its the small shift in your thinking that leads you to consider what the food you’re eating does for you and your health. Do you really think that double cheeseburger, large fries, and the 42 ounce soda is going to help you to become a person that is truly healthy… full of energy, firing on all cylinders, able to do whatever task you assign your body? C’mon, really? Pull through that same drive-thru if you must, but utter these words towards the order board speaker, “I’ll have the grilled chicken sandwich, a side salad with light vinaigrette, and large water please.” See there… you just took a small first step toward saving your own life. We’ll talk about how to complete this cycle next time, in Food as Medicine Pt. 2.