This post has been swirling in my head for several weeks. It is a topic I have grown to have such deep passion about. I think Hippocrates said it best, "Let food be thy medicine and let thy medicine be food." There lies deep power in our diets. Deep, deep power. Power beyond what even the best scientists are able to fully understand. But we are missing out on so much greatness and are making ourselves fat and sick with our highly processed, sugary diets, which are void of nutrition. Today, the American diet takes over 60% of its calories from processed foods and less than 5% from unrefined plant foods (fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds). from Super Immunity, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
"American children and most children in developed countries eat less than 2 percent of their diet from natural plant foods such as fruits and vegetables. American children move into adulthood eating 90 percent of their caloric intake from dairy products, white flour, sugar, and oil. Amazingly, about 25 percent of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits and vegetables at all." -from Disease-Proof Your Child, by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
I think almost everyone has heard and would possibly even agree that vegetables are "good for you." But we do not really understand what that means! Plant foods, especially green vegetables, are bursting with nutrients that our bodies desperately need to run efficiently, to prevent disease, and to give us superior immunity.
"Natural plants are complex packages of biologically active compounds. The term 'phytonutrients,' which means 'plant-nutrients,' was coined to represent these thousands of plant-sourced compounds that have functional effects in animal tissues with subtle but profound effects on human health and immunity. Superior nutrition is the secret to immunity. Natural plants are complicated and wondrous life forms; they contain thousands of intricate cells and biochemicals working in harmony. When we eat healthy food, we become healthy; when we don't, we develop disease. Essentially, we are made from the food we eat." -from Super Immunity, by Joel Fuhrman M.D.
That icky stomach bug going around. The one that's run rampant through the entire family. And those colds that just seem to go in circles for months. Did you ever think it just might not have to be that way! That maybe you can actually do something about it? It's okay to roll your eyes. Two years ago, I would've rolled my eyes, too. But the more I read (and read and read...I'm a little obsessed) about food, nutrition, and health, the more I believe that we have way more control of our health than any of us know.
"The answer to the American health crisis is the food that each of us chooses to put in our mouths each day. It's as simple as that."
-from The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II, MD
See, I have had these conversations with friends lately. Friends that also have completely revamped how they and their families eat. Plant-strong. Plants, plants, and more plants. Whole foods. The conversation where we've quietly confessed to each other how unusually healthy our families have been this winter. Yes, I just said that out loud. I've whispered it a few times, with my fingers crossed, but I'm okay with saying it out loud now. Because people need to know. YOU need to know! That there is power in the food we eat. We can choose disease, sickness, slugishness (more later on the connection between increase in diseases of affluence and our high animal protein/sugary/processed diets)... Or we can choose health, immunity, healing, and life. And that is my heart. To share the 'gospel' of food, with people just like you. To encourage and to inspire you to want more for your body, your health, your children, your spouses.
Since having kids almost eight years ago, I have felt like I spent my winters running a hospital. Somebody was sick all. the. time. Because this seems to be the norm among families with young children, I never ever thought to question it. For the last 5-6 years, I myself have practically spent the entire winter on and off antibiotics, ibuprofen, and other stronger prescription drugs for ongoing (& increasing in intensity) problems with my sinuses. As of last spring, we were finally talking surgery.
"Kids become ill not because they just naturally pass around germs or have bad genes, but because their diets are inadequate. Medications cannot prevent these problems--only a diet of nutritional excellence can." -from Disease-Proof Your Child, by Joel Fuhrman, MD
This winter, the kids have each had 1 cold. That's it. I have had 1 cold and it went away on its own. Anyone that knows me and my sinus history, knows this is unheard of! I don't even remember when I got a cold that went away on its own and didn't turn into some bigger long-lasting mess. It's probably been at least a decade. I have friends who also eat very healthfully, that have experienced unusually healthy winters, too. And there are a handful of other more personal health improvements we've each experienced, that could only be explained by a very healthy diet. Tomorrow, I'll probably get a cold. Just because I said this. But that's okay, I'll still be a believer that our Maker created our beautifully intricate bodies to function at optimal health, with a diet high in foods of pure perfection, gifted to us in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 1:29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
And, I'll still be passionate about sharing it with you. Because it's too great a gift to keep to myself...
Make today matter-
Dawn
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