I’m not talking about starvation due to a lack of food…so these words are not only directed to those of you who might be dieting to loose those extra pounds put on over the holidays!  I am talking about starvation due to a lack of nutrition.

It used to be that the big threat to health was illness caused by disease, primarily due to unsanitary living conditions.  Coinciding with the improvement to general living conditions, we moved from the agricultural (farming) era into the technological (mechanical) era.  Suddenly we had the ability to process and chemically-preserve our food.  Now, instead of people suffering from smallpox, diphtheria and tuberculosis, they are reeling from heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes.[i] Each of these diseases can be linked to nutritional issues so one could question if this really represents progress.[ii]  But perhaps more useful questions might be:  What can we do to help prevent these illnesses?  And, what contributes to good nutrition that supports wellness?  Here are some basic guidelines:

• EAT WHOLE FOODS:  Plants come with vitamins and nutrients in the perfect proportions for your body’s needs.  Most bodies can easily handle the ingredients of an orange, but when you drink a large glass of juice squeezed from several oranges, it can put your system into over drive in attempt to balance the abundance of sugar.  Rather than drinking a glass of orange juice, consider eating an orange. Or, if you feel a need to drink some orange juice, dilute it with water so that you drink less, which will reduce this burden.

• EAT FOOD IN ITS NATURAL STATE, as nature intended it to be eaten.  Limit altered processed foods.  ‘Processed’ means food that is boxed, canned or otherwise packaged.  Keep in mind that when you eat out, processed food is predominantly what you are getting.

• PREPARE FOOD PROPERLY:  Cooking—especially at high temperatures—kills most of the beneficial nutrients and enzymes in our foods.  Minimize the cooking time and temperature, and make sure to include some raw foods in your daily diet.  Make healthier choices: a cut of lean meat from a healthy animal that was raised without hormone or chemical additives carries beneficial nutrients that the body can use.  But a ‘chicken-fried steak’ typically involves a poor quality piece of meat, devitalized breading and unhealthy oils that create a burden for the body.

• EAT ORGANIC FOODS:  Foods raised organically typically avoid the use of synthesized pesticides, fertilizers and growth-regulating substances.  Organic practice also respects the need to rotate crops.  This nourishes the soil which then can contribute the needed vitamins and minerals.  Consider buying organic.  If money is an issue, perhaps you can at least buy organic for the foods that you eat frequently.

• GET ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS:  The body needs these but does not produce them, so they must be provided.  EFA’s can be found in oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel as well as in nuts and seeds, healthy oils such as cold-pressed olive oil and coconut oil, and even in some leafy greens. It’s equally important that you eliminate trans-fats and hydrogenated fats from your diet, which are the fats used in fast-food restaurants as well as in processed foods.

What else can you do to promote your nutritional health?

• RE-EVALUATE WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TAUGHT.  Genetics plays a part in how our bodies develop but oftentimes eating habits and tips that we learned from family members—and advertisers—influence the outcome.  You can minimize and sometimes even overcome these obstacles by making healthy choices.  Another consideration is to re-evaluate the food recommendations that are promoted in the government’s ‘Food Pyramid’.  These recommendations are being scrutinized as possibly being one source of some health problems because—for example—some people cannot tolerate the ingredients in grains, and yet that’s the foundation of the pyramid.[iii]  In addition, it isn’t only the CHOICE of foods that is important, it’s also what’s DONE to the food that you eat and the Pyramid recommendations don’t address this.  The details for this scrutiny are too lengthy to address in this article but, in general, we are eating way more carbohydrates than our bodies need and taking in way too little of the necessary vegetables, fats and oils.

• TAKE SUPPLEMENTS when needed.  Look for pharmaceutical-quality, properly formulated solutions, such as the ones that I sell.  The goal is to create health, not add to the body’s burden of processing and eliminating.

LIFE FORCE…One’s source of vitality, spirit, energy and strength.[iv]

Nutrition is not about eating merely to fill your stomach or your desires.  Learn to choose the foods that support your health.  Learn which foods are vibrant and full of Life Force; choose foods that provide you with a source of energy and help you to build optimal health.