Is Food Really the Best Medicine?

 

I typically cite food as the best medicine.  To keep the regulators happy, I will define “medicine” herein as “stuff that makes people healthy so they feel better.” I don’t want to be accused of trying to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure diseases that are tied to legal definitions I know little about. But getting back to my point, food, specifically, naturally grown food that has not been exposed to synthetic chemicals can perform many functions that make people feel better.

Now why is naturally grown food important?  Well, you see, synthetic chemicals disrupt the structure and function of those natural microbiomes that support good health by cycling nutrients, detoxifying waste, and adapting to changes in our environment. When these chemicals are applied to our food, they remove these critical functions from our food.

 Today it is difficult to access whole, unadulterated foods in the United States. Regulations and policies claiming to protect us interact with industrial forces to produce food using methods that help the food look good, but fail to preserve the nutrients and functions contained in food that is natural and locally grown.  For this reason, it can be challenging to find foods that are good medicine. In fact, much of our processed and industrialized food has been linked to disease.

It is no coincidence that 50% of the adults in the US have been diagnosed with chronic disease, and 33% live with chronic pain.  Recognizing the impact that chemicals in our food are having on our health, and the impact that our health is having on our economy should be sufficient inspiration to restore microbes to our food and health systems today. Our physical health and our economic well being depends on it.

 

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