If we were to enter a time machine and find ourselves suddenly standing next to prehistoric man, our first observation might be the changes humans have made. In cataloging these changes, we might overlook the fact that we are actually quite similar if not identical to prehistoric man in our body functions. Like prehistoric man, our bodies share the same basic needs for air, water, food, sunshine, exercise and rest. Humans today, just like in the prehistorical past, need to shop to obtain foods to live. A comparison of today’s shopping with prehistoric shopping reveals a change in pattern. Prehistoric shoppers had only Nature’s environments for a supermarket, but in the past few centuries, Nature has been getting some very stiff competition. Today overly refined processed foodstuffs and unnatural synthetic laboratory products have flooded the world markets and are all too available for human consumption. The United States Department of Agriculture many decades ago stated, “living under the conditions of modern life, it is important to bear in mind that the preparation and refinement of food products either entirely eliminates or in part destroys the vital elements in the original material.” For a disease free and robust life these vital elements are of the utmost necessity for the body’s health.
Fiber is one example and prehistoric peoples ate 300-400 grams per day. Cancer of the colon is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. In our constipated colons, because of low amount of fiber, the stool passes very slowly through the intestines. Is this healthy? In third world countries, where diets still consist of whole natural foods full of fiber, bowel cancer is almost nonexistent. A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) years ago concluded, “Many of the diseases of western civilization have appeared only in the last century (1800’s). We believe that they owe their origin, at least in part, to the removal of fiber from our diets.” More examples are the protein, enzymes, vitamins and minerals, which are in natural foods destroyed by heat in the cooking process. No animal eats cooked food except us humans.
Food gathering was difficult even before the advent of modern supermarkets and processed foods. Finding good, ripe, natural planetary food today is also very difficult. In our society, rather than the pure, whole and natural foodstuffs that once nourished the population, there is an ever-increasing progression of artificial, devitalized and over-processed energy-less non-nutritive food substitutes concocted by a food technology that has lost all touch with Nature. The solution lies in choosing and eating mostly if not entirely natural fresh whole ripe seasonal foods grown in rich fertile soil as Nature intended, uncooked. Hard to find, you say? Very true, but once enough people create the demand, a supply will follow. “Whole foods for whole people” is the cry and motto for all of us who want to be naturally healthy.
REMEMBER: Health is not everything, but without your health, everything else is nothing.
WELL-BEING: IT’S A CHOICE
In becoming physically and mentally well, whole and strong, there is one very important process that all of us need to understand. That process is change. In fact, nothing in this life is really permanent except change. Whatever the experience, the evidence that life and its circumstances change is always present. Without change, our lives, our minds, our bodies, our health, our well-being would always be the same. So if you want to take charge of the quality of your life and the quality of your health, do something different, take charge of the process of change.
How well our bodies eliminate what doesn’t belong in them and how well we acquire Nature’s evolutionary designed essentials (such as clean air, pure water, nourishing food, sunshine, exercise, rest and mental calm) determines our degree of physical and mental health. Keeping the tissues and fluids of our bodies clean is one of the body’s chief functions and chemical filtration of the cell’s waste and all other non-nutritive materials from our tissues and fluids is the most important contributor to bodily health. The more you keep balance between what you consume and what you eliminate, the healthier you will be.
Everyone knows that too much of any kind of stress, whether we are aware of it or not, be it positive or negative, can be detrimental to our well-being. For example, too much exercise can be as stressful as no exercise at all. So if you resist Nature and its balancing processes, you will not have an energetic, enjoyable and stress-free life.
Nature intended all its creatures, including mankind, to be healthy. Subjecting ourselves to non-supporting, non-nutritive and unnatural materials, which must be processed using energy and nutrients to eliminate, does not make any sense. We are not being physiologically economical when we consume any artificial substances that are stressful to the body; we are not being psychologically economical when we consume artificial thoughts that are stressful to the mind. All this body and mind stress will need to be disposed of using energy and nutrients. If these irritants are not disposed of, the body and or the mind will have to store these waste materials and like a landfill, will become a problem later in life.
Become aware of your life and your health and how you cause its quality. Your past choices affect you today. Your chosen experiences today will affect you in the future. Change your choices, your bad habits, and see that the effects will change also in time. You will become healthy and free of diseases. When the correct conditions are met, the body is self-healing, self-repairing and that too is a function of the process of change.
Remember: We are not changing the world, just ourselves.
PEACEFUL MIND: IT’S A PRACTICE
Our natural intelligence has mastered natural living here on this planet. Its nature is to give every life form, plant and animal, the necessary knowledge to reproduce in order to continue that line of genetic life. Natural intelligence has survived successfully all these millions of years. We’re born with a history of successful living imprinted in the DNA of cells that are becoming our bodies as we grow to maturity. Look, see for yourself; we’re living proof that we are one of the planet’s perfected designs.
To be physically healthy and free of disease, we need to control what enters our bodies, creating constructive habits over time that support a life of breathing, drinking, eating, sunning, moving and resting. To be mentally healthy and free of disease the same is true, we need to control what enters our minds, creating constructive habits over time that support a life that’s breathing, drinking, eating, sunning, moving and resting while thinking and observing this natural world.
Our minds, like our bodies, are about consumption and elimination. The body consumes the creative edibles of Nature’s planetary designs and then eliminates a waste product to compost and fertilize the ground. The mind consumes the receptive thoughts of a God’s heartfelt design that comes from within to consciously program this practice that’s producing this successful living, which is here on this planet that we call Earth.
Our brain works by recording our experiences. If they are good experiences, we respond by learning something useful that helps us to live. Knowledge put to good use is then stored in long-term memory. Experiences like where to find clean drinking water or where to find nourishing food are ingrained in our DNA. We know what’s good; we know what’s not good naturally. Healthy minds ignore thoughts that don’t support life, realizing the experience is not worth repeating.
Bad experiences are valuable because that’s how we learn, then it’s stored in the subconscious. Good information is shared to help future generations live. Natural thoughts are about growing the life that’s inside of you that’s changing. Artificial thoughts are producing images that do not change. Living today, it appears, only wild plants and wild animals are creating a life with any real natural intelligence.
Thoughts travel in one of two directions: up a heartfelt parasympathetic response or down a knee jerk “fight/flight” sympathetic reaction. Natural consequences of heartfelt responses have a long history, so accept your life and surrender to our planet’s proven way. Artificial consequences with fearful reactions confuse us in thinking that a material life is the way to live. Conscious breathing, feeling the in and out air and its temperature at the tip of the nose, is one way to control unwanted thoughts.
REMEMBER: We destroy ourselves from lack of knowledge, so use your brain wisely. There is natural wisdom everywhere and it is programming us for living from within us.
DENTAL HEALTH
To understand dental health, ones needs to know that bacteria are very small forms of life found everywhere and like all living forms of life they need to eat to live. What most people do not understand is that the bacteria that live in our mouths eat only leftover food debris from our meals and not our teeth or gums. Also what most people don’t know is that bacteria culture and multiply faster on cooked and processed refined foods than on the raw uncooked planetary foods of Nature and that this growing mold in the mouth is called plaque.
The harm that affects the teeth comes from bacterial excrement; it’s their cellular acidic waste. This microscopic bacterial debris, produced while the bacteria eat, is an acid that will remove minerals from the teeth. With continuous exposure, this acid, over time, dissolves microscopic holes becoming cavities in the teeth, which is called tooth decay. The gums are harmed by the bacterial growth, the actual physical multiplication of this growing plaque population. Food left between the teeth and just under the gum line causes this bacterial growth. With continuous exposure this exploding bacterial population irritates the gums and if not stopped, the effect is bleeding gums and gum tissue destruction, which is called gum disease.
Bacterial growth in the mouth is a living process and for millions of years all animal teeth were disease free because they were maintained by the brushing affects of Nature’s fibrous foods for herbivores and bones for carnivores. Also the mineral rich alkaline saliva of these healthy animals neutralized the excreted bacterial acid. Today the human animal has weak saliva that does not protect the mouth. Also the poor hygiene habits leave food debris from our processed cooked meals, packing it between the teeth and in the gums. The over all effects of these problems are tissue destruction to the teeth and gums. The solutions to these problems are a good source of minerals in the diet like seaweeds and removal of the food debris after every meal. Bacteria that have nothing to eat can’t grow and can’t eliminate their acid waste.
The best method for cleaning the teeth and gums is one that works after every meal. Brushing your teeth is as easy as chewing raw carrot or celery sticks at the end of a meal if a toothbrush is not available. Cleaning out food debris left between the teeth and along the gum line can be done effectively by tracing these areas gently with a contoured fitting toothpick, if floss is not available or appropriate. Our teeth were meant to last a lifetime and when your dentist restores them, it pays to invest in superior materials and craftsmanship. Quality dental restorations, like gold and porcelain, properly taken care of will not break and again your teeth will last a lifetime. Taking care of your teeth is an investment you will never regret.
REMEMBER: Be true to your teeth and gums or they will become false. Just one of many choices we have in life. Be true to yourself or become false is another.
CHEWING
No matter what you eat, it serves your body to chew your food until it is creamy. It’s not what you eat that counts but what you assimilate into your blood and lymph systems so they will be utilized by the cells. The purpose of eating is cell nutrition and even the most balanced diets are useless if energy and nutrients cannot reach the blood stream and get to the cells.
Digestion and assimilation begins in the mouth. Good chewing triggers many mechanisms within the digestive system that prepares to receive, digest and process the nutritious foods. So do yourself a favor and chew, chew, chew! Not only will you be healthier physically, but also you will benefit mentally if you slow down to enjoy your meals. If you cannot chew well due to a poor dental condition or false teeth, see a good dentist and improve your chewing ability.
HEALTH ENHANCING ADDITION TO YOUR DIET
Fruits: Eat ripe, raw and organic fruits with the skin. Choose locally grown and in season. Fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates (energy), food enzymes and protein. They are an excellent source of fiber and the best source of pure water because it’s filtered by the plant or tree.
Vegetables: Eat young and ripe, raw and organic vegetables with the skin that’s locally grown and in season. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, food enzymes and protein. They are an excellent source of fiber and pure water. Steaming is the best method of heating if you need to warm them but don’t cook them to death because that will destroy their living properties.
Sprouts: The best are from organic seeds and nuts. The raw seed or nut has been soaked in water and has started to become a vegetable in the soil. They are easier to digest, very rich in vitamins, minerals, food enzymes and protein.
Wild Algae: These raw plants from the ocean and fresh water lakes are rich in trace minerals, food enzymes, vitamins, high in protein and fiber. Dulse, nori and kelp from the ocean are three of many sea plants that humans have eaten and blue green algae from Klamath Lake, Oregon is another example from a fresh water source.
Drink Clean Water: Steamed-distilled or purified is best.
Sample Book List: A few classics health books from among the many to read.
Mucusless Diet Healing System by Arnold Ehret Ph.D.
Enzyme Nutrition by Edward Howell Ph.D.
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston Price D.D.S.
Toxemia Explained by John Tilden M.D.
A Cancer Therapy by Max Gerson M.D.
Vibrant Health by Norman Walker Ph.D.
Hippocrates Diet by Ann Wigmore D.D.
Learn more about mind/body health, read “The Fertile Ground” by Dr. T. K. Stone. You can read 15% of this ebook for free at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68203.