If we look at the four major causes of stress, we realize that they all have the same end-result: free radical damage done to cells because of too much oxidation. We need a balance between oxidation and anti-oxidation. Oxidative stress is the result of this balance being thrown off.
Things that contribute to this imbalance are the stresses of:
poor diet
lack of sleep
toxic-relationships/emotional perceptions
(over)exercise
We'll look at these one by one and see which things we might influence in the right direction - toward balance.
FOOD
We've always thought of food as fuel. It gives us the energy to start the engine and keep it running.
But today's research is constantly showing us that food is also information. Everything that goes into our mouths, be it a leaf of kale, a sip of beer, a snicker's bar, or an apple, carries with it thousands of signals to every cell and system in the body. To make a long story very short, real food (things grown or caught that have just one word to describe them) sends messages that promote healing to every part of the body. Fake food, refined food, fast food, things in boxes and packages with long lists of ingredients not only do not furnish the nutrients for healing but they actually promote disease. Not just "empty calories" but "toxic calories."
Our amazing bodies are self-healing. What an idea! Too bad our computers and cars haven't caught on to that idea! All we have to do, from birth to death, is furnish it with perfect food, mostly plant based, of every color in nature, and that trip from birth to death will be long and pleasant, with the end part quite short.
The food industry has come up with these genius products in packages and they pay food scientists lots of money to design magic ingredients that have extremely appealing tastes so that we will just keep buying more of it. Hence the preponderance of obesity in the last 40 years. We become addicted to these foods and that is the goal. ("Betcha can't eat just one" ad from Frito-Lay) The brain center in charge of the search for food goes off in wild excitement when certain "flavors" are used because all of these flavors are based on MSG, even though things like "natural flavors" and soy protein isolate don't have to specify MSG, even though that's what it is. These chemicals are called "excito-toxins" and that's exactly what they are. They excite the brain cells and the brain demands more. Brain cells die from this over-excitement. it has been proven over and over again that these neruo-toxic substances lead to dementia and Alzheimers, yet they are still legal and don't have to be identified. (Beware of those fake-meat foods that are soy-based and list various soy-protein isolate words that signal high MSG content. Wonder why those things are so tasty??)
More sales, bigger profits. More obesity, more illness, more chronic disease.
And then, there is the pharmaceutical industry, waiting in the wings, to relieve us of our discomfort from eating these foods. No one on an all natural, real food diet, ever develops acid-reflux. Vegetables and fruits and proteins and good fats and pure water can't create this condition in the absence of artificial food. An nobody can over-eat real food. You just get full and stop. (You crave what you eat, so if you eat good food you will eventually crave it.)
So who's at fault here? Is it Con-Agra? or Big Pharma?
Neither. Our own forks and our own pocket books make the decision about what to spend food money on. We are responsible for our own health. Not our doctors, not the medical care system. Just each one of us. And our children are depending on us to take charge and do the right thing.
Happy eating! Have you had your 9 - 13 servings today??
mary
You might as well stand unprotected in front of an X-ray machine as to not eat enough fruits and vegetables" Dr Bruce Ames, winner of the National Medal of Science |