Your Lifestyle = Your Healthby
Margaret Durst Previously by Margaret Durst: Stressed Out? – Could it be 'B' Vitamin Deficiency?
Natural health is a lifestyle. All too often I meet someone who just wants a pill to fix this or that. Occasionally there is something that works that way, but usually a diet or lifestyle change is an important part of restoring health. Natural health is about a lifestyle of healthy habits. When I give advice to someone about their health, it may include nutritional supplements to help balance their diet, but it always includes recommendations about what to eat and drink and what not to eat and drink. America is plagued with deteriorating health. Look around you. The sick just get sicker. Does anyone ever get well? By well, I mean really well as in feel good, with all their organs and glands intact and don’t need prescription medications. I am not against the medical profession, I just have an opinion that they are not truly about health and wellness; rather they are a system of disease care – which is definitely necessary. They manage diseases by prescribing pills that control symptoms, but very few, if any of the pills actually restore health and wellness.
I hear all too often from the medically oriented that there is no cure for such and such or so and so. It is easy to get taken in by this kind of thinking, but remember, the body can heal. I have met many people who have changed their diets and gotten well from so-called “incurable” things such as cancer, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver and more. Those people believed that wellness was possible and were willing to change their lifestyle. Lifestyle changes account for most of the success of any natural health program. If everyone could eat a good diet and live a stress free life, there would be no need for nutritional supplements. However, this is America. We like to process and preserve our food to death. Much of our everyday food tends to disagree with most of us. Yet when I suggest someone give up white flour products or sugar or coffee, they think I must be a lunatic. Those that follow the nutritional advice usually come back and tell me how much better they feel, while those that don’t – well they may come back in, but they want a pill to make them feel better. “Food as Medicine” was the theme of an Acres organic farming conference. Think about that – food as medicine. Hippocrates said “let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” Think about your lifestyle and how you can be healthier. Most people know what in their lifestyle is bad for them and what could be better – they tend not to have time to make better choices. My basic tips to cope with a typical American lifestyle are: Take a high-quality multiple vitamin that is tailored to your specific needs. Take an omega-3 oil supplement. Take a digestive enzyme at each meal. Take a green food supplement to make up for the minerals and the vegetables that are not in your diet. And make sure you eat a good breakfast that includes some form of protein – this does not mean cereal or cereal bars. Remember, your health is a direct reflection of what you eat, assimilate, and do not eliminate.
February 22, 2011 Margaret Durst owns The Green House, a vitamin, herb and health food store in Mason, Texas. Copyright © 2011 Margaret Durst
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