Musings: Healing With Food
Embedded within every crisis is the seed of opportunity. While a crisis means that change is imminent, it also means something new will emerge through the resolution. A crisis is an opportunity to build a better mousetrap, learn from our experience and grow.
Our health care system is in crisis. We are not getting healthier. More Americans are obese, chronically ill or dependent on prescription drugs than ever before. Over fifty percent of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives. The treatments and drugs offered as therapies can carry as many risks of dangerous and uncomfortable side effects as the diseases themselves. “First, do no harm,” has been replaced by, “Try it…you’ll like it, and if not, we warned you!”
With doctors mired in paperwork and malpractice protection, who is treating the patients? And who can afford the most expensive health care in the world anyway? As more Americans lose their jobs and benefits, health care is becoming inaccessible to an alarming number of citizens and the government has to pick up the tab. How long can it absorb all these inflated medical costs? Either the people need to get healthier or the delivery system needs to be adjusted so it costs less and provides greater benefit.
Enter opportunity. As gaps in the current health care system turn into chasms we can no longer ignore, we are forced to look for alternatives. So what’s keeping Americans sick? Our diets, of course! Our basic food staples include factory-farmed meat, fats, sugar, salt, refined and processed food with additives and preservatives making it cheap and convenient for us to consume, especially on the run. We lead such hectic, busy lives, we often don’t even have time to cook and nourish ourselves, thereby allowing the food industry to do it for us in a way that’s most profitable for them, not necessarily what’s healthiest for us.
If we want to regain our health, we need to start cooking for ourselves again. Food is medicine. Learning about what your body needs to stay healthy can help guide you in making healthier food choices unique to your needs. Not only will this help alleviate a variety of symptoms you may be experiencing but it also will work to prevent future disease. The most important changes you can make are
1.) eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, organic if possible
2.) decrease your meat, sugar, salt and saturated fat consumption, and
3.) switch to whole grains instead of white refined flour products wherever possible.
Do it slowly; introduce one new item at a time into your menu. Enjoy feeding yourself healthy food and make it your aim to increase your health with each bite you take.
However, health care includes more than just diet. Humans come from a long lineage of ancestors who, in the absence of hospitals and antibiotics, healed themselves with medicines and food from their local environments. People who live in places without access to sophisticated medical care somehow manage to survive and even thrive providing for their own health care needs. Mentally, we need to regain this sense of power and responsibility for our health and wellness and know that our bodies have the power to heal themselves when properly cared for. This includes eating a healthy diet and focusing your mind on thoughts of healing from within. Believe in your ability to self heal, for the brain is sending whatever messages you give it directly out to every cell in your body.
What is it in the body that cures a wound, expels toxins, mends broken bones, breaks a fever? It’s your built-in self healing system. Although you are not consciously managing the process, your body heals from within via its energy healing system, just as it circulates blood through the circulatory system and digests food through its digestive system. We know we can assist the body in those automatic processes by eating good food, keeping our bodies clean and getting exercise and rest. How can we help the body in self healing?
While western medicine certainly deserves its share of credit for bringing amazing medical miracles and advances to the world, it has trained us to believe that healing occurs through the power of a doctor, a drug or a procedure. We have forgotten we were once our own healers. As fewer and fewer people have access to affordable western health care, the resulting crisis brings us closer to remembering that we have healing power within us. We can communicate directly with our cells, and by using the amazing power of our brain and energy system, we too, can perform medical miracles.
While such a shift in public opinion doesn’t happen overnight, the best investment our government can make to strengthen the country is to educate our citizens about simple self care practices as public service announcements. Not only would our population grow healthier and stronger, but we could see a reduction in long-term health care costs. More of the government’s budget could be funneled into providing universal coverage for trauma and emergency care and genetic disorders, rather than treating chronic conditions, which are better cared for by preventing them in the first place.
This issue of Spirit of Change is loaded with insightful nuggets of information on a variety of health care and healing food topics. Often, just one sentence of information can become the catalyst for starting a new healthy habit or a whole new way of life! A few years ago I read a recommendation to drink two glasses of water first thing in the morning to flush and cleanse the system and I’ve done so ever since. Although I have no medical data to “prove” it helps me in any way, my intuition and common sense tell me that my body and bowels are very grateful for this morning cleanse. It’s a small step, but I know it’s in the right direction for keeping me healthy. My body tells me so.
Carol Bedrosian is publisher and editor of Spirit of Change. Visit www.spiritofchange.org.
