How What You Eat Can Heal You: The Neutraceuticals Quality of Whole Foods - Eating for your best health and vitality
It may seem strange to think of food as medicine. Obviously, all food would not fit in this category. In fact, a lot of the processed foods we choose to eat are the opposite of medicine; they contribute to why we need medicine for conditions such as high cholesterol, colon problems, stomach problems, digestive problems, etc. So, what makes a food a medicine? For one thing, it helps if the food is a whole food.
What are whole foods?
Basically, whole foods are foods that have not been tampered with or altered from their natural state. Whole foods are not stuffed full of additives and chemicals; nor are they processed or refined.
What makes whole foods better for the body?
Whole foods pack a more powerful nutritional punch because they retain the synergy that nature intended, having nothing vital removed or altered. Whole foods contain naturally high levels of important antioxidants that refining and processing can kill, as well as fiber that is lost in the refining process.
Because whole foods have not been doctored with additives to make them taste better while killing brain cells (excitotoxins like aspartame and monosodium glutamate) or enough sodium to cause harmful effects with just one helping, the body can take and use the nutrition of whole foods quickly and fully.
Note: Just because you are eating whole foods, that doesn't mean the foods are necessarily healthy. Rule out GM foods.
It isn't about what you eat but how your body can use what you eat. Your body utilizes the nutrition in whole foods exceedingly well and this makes for better health in the long run. This idea that food can be medicine is not a new one. Hippocrates, the father of medicine himself, said "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food".
That leaves me wondering how western medicine got so far away from the awareness of it's founder. I'm glad we are coming back around now. Doctors now include nutritional instruction that is a lot more detailed than just a decade ago. I believe that, as far as our body and it's ability to function, we really are what we eat. Whole foods help the body function at it's best so why wouldn't we consider that medicine? I do.
Related Nutrition Information: Food and Health ===>>> Are Organics Best?
Health Disclaimer: Giving the body the best nutrition available, getting good sleep, getting adequate exercise and practicing stress reduction techniques are all helpful to living a strong and healthy life. However, this article on whole foods as medicine is not intended to present food as a substitute for needed medical attention. It is simply a notation of the medicinal properties that are inherent in our foods. Be wise with your health.
