FOOD IS POWERFUL MEDICINE
The majority of people turn to pills and supplements as a method of healthcare. In an era where ‘a pill for every ill’ is an advertising mantra, both the medical profession and public seem hypotised into thinking that the answers to disease lie in pills and, now vaccines. Many have lost sight of the fact that food is the most powerful medicine. It builds the foundation of how we look, the way we move, handle stress, and gives the energy with which we interact with others and much more.
However, you are unlikely to find your GP telling you that. In this digitalised world of modern conventional medicine, nutrition has been relegated to a few snippets of dietary advice given to patients in diseased states.
Why are so many people sick these days? Why are unprecedented numbers of young people suffering from chronic fatigue, brain fog, stress and anxiety? This was happening even before the Pandemic. It may seem hard to imagine, but heart disease was an uncommon cause of death at the beginning of the 20th century. Even as late as the 1960’s and 70’s, people looked healthier than now. If you look back at photos of people on beaches from that era, you will notice that bodies looked generally slimmer and that there were very few children. Compare that to now where NHS statistics record that 67% of men and 60% of women are overweight or obese in the UK.
The dwindling spiral
The dwindling spiral of the nation’s health has been driven by the major changes in our diet over the last few decades. Our ancestors were healthy because they ate healthy food that comprised of locally sourced lean meats, fish, fruit, vegetables and whole foods. Cooking methods were designed to extract the maximum amount of nutrients out of foods. Before fridges and processed foods, all food was fresh, whole and real. Before cars, people exercised more and ate more nutrient-laden foods. Before Big Agriculture, the soil was richer in nutrients.
Why don’t people eat right?
There can be many reasons why people don’t eat right - fixed ideas, family habits, low energy, economic stress, misinformation, food addiction, not enough time, social pressures, cultural attitudes/beliefs.
In the early 1030’s, dentist and nutritional researcher Weston A. Price (1870-1948) began a series of unique investigations in order to discover the factors responsible for good dental health and the causes of physical degenerative diseases. For over 10 years, he travelled to isolated parts of the globe to study the health of populations untouched by industrial civilisation and industrial foods. The remote populations studied by Price were found to have beautiful straight teeth, no tooth decay, good physiques, resistance to disease and optimistic outlooks in life. The diets they ate were typical traditional diets appropriate to their location, all rich in essential nutrients.
Compare to the Americans of his era, Price found the nutrient-rich diets contained at least TEN times fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) from animal foods such as butter, fish, eggs, shellfish and organ meats - the very foods denounced by governments and the medical profession today as so unhealthy. Dr Price discovered that where native peoples had been persuaded to switch to an industrialised diet of modern convenience foods composed of refined flour, sugar and vegetable oils, their health took a dramatic nose dive and they developed the modern ills we are so familiar with - dental decay, overcrowded teeth, heart disease and other degenerative ills we are so familiar with today. I think this information says it all!
In the 1970’s, two medical pioneers Drs Linus Pauling and Abram Hoffer, believed that pharmaceutical medicines would become unnecessary if nutritional medicine became the new paradigm. Alas, vested interests have never allowed that! I don’t think we can look to our Governments for good health advice, do you? Where was the nutritional advice during the Pandemic? The Government’s Eatwell Guide says to base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbs. Now, the average person is a sugar addict, consuming around 24 kilos of sugar a year. The number of fruits and veg we are encouraged to eat daily has dwindled down to 5. Unfortunately, as you hit your sixties, getting your 5 a day too often refers to the 5 different drugs needed to manage your complex condition.
Food as powerful medicine
There is a clear message in all this - if you want a quality life and would prefer to be chasing your grandchildren than your prescriptions in later life, you must break away from the addictive, convenience, chemical-laden Standard Western Diet and start eating real unpolluted foods. You may need to learn a few basic cooking skills. Ironically, we are a nation that loves cooking programmes, yet we don’t cook!
Here are a few tips that may get you thinking of food as powerful medicine:
Food is information for your cells at a molecular level, and not merely entertainment. Real, fresh food will deliver higher energy to the cells than processed, devitalised food.
It is a myth that eating healthy foods is very expensive. It costs more to live on convenience, takeaway meals.
The concept of “I’m too sick to prepare good food”is a trap. If you don’t eat real foods, you’ll stay sick. Labour saving devices like a NutriBullet, slow cooker and air fryer can cut food preparation time drastically while using real, fresh ingredients.
The low-fat, high carb diet much loved by governments, supermarkets and advertising companies is a metabolic disaster. People get fat by eating too many processed carbs and sugars, not fats.
People are not eating enough proteins, good fats, vegetables and are eating too many grains, confectionary and hidden sugars. They are seriously deficient in vital nutrients for a long and healthy life.
Political ideology has no place in nutrition. It is a health issue!
All calories are not equal. 100grams of carrots is not the same as 100grams of sugar!
The move away from critical pasture raised animal foods has brought a move away from resilience and vitality.
The various colours of vegetables and fruits deliver the different groups of polyphenols, essential for a long and healthy life.
Keep gluten and cows’ milk products completely out of a diet to remain healthy.
Vegetables and fruits are not interchangeable. The amount of vegetables eaten should be about 4 times the amount of fruits consumed. Aim for half your plate to be filled with vegetables.
Try to source locally produced seasonal foods as much as possible. Diversity and rotation of foods helps build a stronger microbiome and immune system.
Knowledge is Power
The more knowledge you have about food and health, the more responsibility and control you can exert on your food choices. Here are some more good information sources I recommend that you explore:
The Weston A. Price Foundation website: Timeless Principles of Healthy Traditional Diets (leaflet)
Your Guide To Eating Well by Cytoplan (online pdf)
Online videos by Dr Sarah Myhill
Book(new publication): Reset eating: Reset your health and resilience by turning what and how you eat into powerful medicine by Rob Verkerk PhD and Melani Aldridge (caters for all types of diets).
If you would like help finding the right diet for you, please contact the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com to request a free 30 minute Enquiry Call or book an appointment. Please note that an Enquiry Call is not a consultation but an exploratory call to see if this a clinical approach you wish to pursue.