Food: Rx for Health

As I'm fasting today for World Food Day, I reflect on my relationship with food, both past and present. Being raised in a household with a southern (U.S.) grandmother and mother, there was no shortage of tasty food for my pallet. But what is good to you is not always good for you. My mother always told me to clean my plate because there are "children starving in Africa." To my dismay, this is still the case. This thought taught me not to waste food, unfortunately, it also taught me to eat too much. Food was my best friend. She comforted me, celebrated with me, brought me closer to people, and helped me fill a void. But I took advantage of food, I took her for granted. I thought I could manipulate her by consuming as much of her as I want in any form and she would always be my friend. Then one day, she turned on me. She gave me gallstones and started me on a journey that would change my life.

People don't realize that food has been rebelling against us for  mistreating her for years. The things we do to food is reprehensible. We add chemicals and additives, we abuse animals farmed as food, we prepare food in unhealthy ways, we serve it, at least in America, in gluttonous portions, we abuse food. She began rebelling, much like people in America and the world recently have: occupation. We aren't even aware that food is occupying our bodies and refusing to leave. Even as our scales begin to tip and our waistlines grow wider, we are unaware that food is waging a rebellion. Because we haven't listened to her, she has gone to the next level: causing disease. In this country diabetes, especially childhood diabetes rates are way up. Heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, are all diseases that can be linked to the amount of or types of food we eat. Yes, food is livid, and we'd better start listening to her demands.

Four years ago, after I had my gallbladder removed, I began to make amends with food. I wanted to repair our relationship because I need her. I became vegan and started using organic foods as much as possible and I looked to food for healing. I only use medications when absolutely unavoidable because now that food and I are besties again, she let me in on a little secret: she's a healer! I already knew that in her natural state she could provide me with all the vitamins, minerals and vital nutrients I need to stay healthy. But she also has healing powers. When I got pneumonia, tea made with thyme was the only thing to help me breath. Ginger helps me with digestion, onions relieve nasal congestion, and garlic is a natural antibiotic. There are many fruits, vegetables and herbs that are not only healing, but also prevent disease. I have included links to sites that show you which foods are good for what ailment or disease.

A year ago, three years after I had my gallbladder removed, I awakened one morning to a familiar pain in my abdomen. I had no gallbladder, so it couldn't be another gallstone attack, but it certainly felt like it! In the emergency room, they were sure it was an ulcer. I wasn't convinced, so I went to see my doctor who scheduled me for an endoscopy. I asked the nurse if she could find a natural remedy for my pain so she went on the Internet and saw a doctor had recommended cabbage juice for his ulcer patients. I had a juicer so I was ready to try it. Sure enough, an ounce of cabbage juice eliminated my pain immediately. For a week I only drank cabbage juice and fruit smoothies because I felt like food was stacking up in my stomach. Oh no, I thought, food is turning on me again. What had I done to her this time? Turns out, it was a wayward gallstone that had blocked my bile duct. Ok ok, food, I learned my lesson the first time!

I've learned to respect food. I no longer live to eat, I eat to live. I let food do her job. I make sure she is organic, healthily prepared, and I only have her in moderation. She, in turn, gives me vital nutrients, energy, a strong mind, and pleasure. Instead of avoiding her or manipulating how I eat her, I eat healthy meals and snacks and she helps me lose weight and stay healthy. When I am sick, I go to Dr. Food first. I am grateful for the relationship I have with food now. I wish everyone could have the same relationship. Food is our friend, a friend we can't live without. If we treat her right, she will treat us right. Listen to her demands. Love and light, and good eating.

http://www.juicing-for-health.com/healing-foods.html

http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/foodsthatheal.html

http://www.healingfoodreference.com/

World Food Day-The Challenge

Have you ever been so hungry that you actually said, "I'm starving?" I know I have, many times. The sensation of hunger, a lack of food in your stomach, is universal. But there are different manifestations of hunger which are each measured in different ways:

 

• Under-nourishment is used to describe the status of people whose food intake does not include enough calories (energy) to meet minimum physiological needs for an active life. At present, there are 925 million undernourished people worldwide, most of them in developing countries.

• Malnutrition means 'badly nourished', but is more than a measure of what we eat or fail to eat. Malnutrition is characterised by inadequate intake of protein, energy and micro nutrients and by frequent infections and diseases. Starved of the right nutrition, people will die from common infections like measles or diarrhoea. Malnutrition is measured not by how much food is eaten but by physical measurements of the body - weight or height - and age.

• Wasting is an indicator of acute malnutrition that reflects a recent and severe process that has led to substantial weight loss. This is usually the result of starvation and/or disease

Tomorrow, October 16, 2011 is World Food Day. I present a challenge for you all. For tomorrow only, I challenge you to fast for the entire day, going to bed without eating to experience a tiny fraction of what 925 million feel everyday. Then, take whatever money you would have spent on food, say if you are craving tacos, or you were going to make a chicken dinner, and donate to an organization that feeds the hungry. Perhaps you are unable, for whatever reason, to fast, how about volunteering at a soup kitchen (they're not just open on holidays) or collecting can goods from friends, family, and neighbors and taking them to a food pantry. Or simply go to one of the websites at the links provided below, gather some information and share it.

There is enough food in the world for everyone to have the nourishment necessary for a healthy and productive life. As daunting as the task of feeding 925 million people seems, it absolutely can be done. John Agyekum Kufuor and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have been chosen to jointly receive the 2011 World Food Prize for their personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the presidents of Ghana and of Brazil, respectively, in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries. Check out what they did here to greatly reduce hunger and poverty in their countries.

The only hunger this world should see is the hunger for knowledge. Despite what you have been told, we are our brothers' keepers. Join me in the fight to end hunger. Please share this post and spread the word, and leave comments about what you did for World Food Day. Love and Light.

 http://www.worldfooddayusa.org/

http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/facts.html