Fountain of Health Secrets

Part 1- Good Food, Eating for Health

“  Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”-Hippocrates, Father of Medicine

People who are health conscious or used to good health get so surprised when they find themselves ill. The reality is that everyone gets sick and there are no exceptions. The difference is that those who maintain their good health usually recover quicker and have less possibilities of contracting chronic diseases. Food as medicine is not new to us but we prefer to believe the paradigm   that medicines are the pharmaceutical, prescription drugs and pills that we take when we have ailments. 

Most doctors of the modern world have been trained to use only the pharmaceutical approach for the treatment of diseases. They do not tell us about food as medicine. The good news is that more medical doctors now are joining the crusade for better diet. Eating good food daily was the foremost remedy practiced by the Traditional Medicine System.

In traditional Asian medicine, doctors are paid to keep their patient well and are not paid if their patients get sick. Western cultures do the opposite.  We also tend to wait until we have symptoms of a disease, then we go to a doctor who often is able to treat the symptoms not the underlying causes.  So unless we enjoy getting sick and having to scramble to find relief, we should try the traditional way and stay healthy in the first place.


How many of us visit Nutritionists or  Alternative Health Practitioners for our health concerns? My guess is only very few, doctors who prescribe drugs that create more side effects than cure solutions are more popular in our  modern society. Alternative Health Practitioners and Nutritionists on the other hand recommend food for medicine, a diet based on unrefined and unprocessed foods which they refer to as ‘Wholefood diet.’ Wholefoods should not contain food additives and wherever possible, they should be organic foods.

Wholefoods are the good foods, no preservatives, colorings or flavorings and crops that are grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides,  meat from free-range poultry and  animals raised  without antibiotics or hormone supplements.  Our well-being and vitality greatly depends on our choice of food and the habit of eating for health.  The  above food experts say, “…getting the balance right is the first essential of healthy eating.  It is vital that the proportion of the various nutrients of the food we take is correct.  The body needs carbohydrates, fats and proteins in varying quantities plus vitamins, minerals and fiber to function well and to maintain itself.  People’s needs differ, depending on their age, way of life and metabolic rate but these are nutrients that everybody needs.” 

Balance Nutrition

Other food scientific research states that no matter how we spent or to what lengths we go through in shopping to preparation or raising our food will not make it to be good food if the proportion of the various nutrients is not balanced. Too much or too little of each nutrients can lead to poor health.  There is no need for sacrifices of not eating our favorite foods but we have to check the balance of our diet. Good nutrition balance is eating plenty of bread and cereals as much as fresh fruit and vegetables as we can eat and a  moderate amount of protein will give the nutrients our body needs  Hearty and wholesome meals, simply cooked or not cooked at all can be varied to include our favourites.  Good food  is only simple enjoyment without fuss, fads and extravagance.

If the doctors of today do not become the nutritionists of tomorrow, then the nutritionists of today will become the doctors of tomorrow – Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research

References:

Mindell, Earl. (2003). Goji: The Himalayan Health Secret 2^nd ed. Lake Dallas, Texas: VideoPlus, Inc.

 The Reader’s Digest Family Guide to Alternative Medicine (1992). 1^st ed. Australia,Pty limited.