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| A Healthy Body Terrain is Critical for an Optimal Life |
We all enjoy a hike in beautiful terrain. It does our soul good to see nature in balance -soil, plants, trees, animals all thriving in a healthy, balanced environment where even the less beautiful elements are there for a reason, when they stay in their proper place.
In some ways, the human body is a lot like that landscape.
It's becoming crystal clear to me that in human health, disease is just a signal, not really the problem itself. When disease presents itself, it's saying that something bigger, underneath in the body's terrain, is wrong and must be corrected or it will return. It's like weeds growing in soils where other life cannot grow so well. Or trees along a mountain trail. When they're healthy and well-watered, they're fine, but deprived of water, they are vulnerable to disease and infestation.We can treat these weeds or bugs, but we should never forget to treat the terrain itself, if we can. Modern medicine is a blessing, but most often, it doesn't look for underlying problems as it should. We need to do this work for ourselves. Determining what is wrong (deficiencies, etc) can be a difficult task but once we do it, we can find more lasting success because our bodies want to cooperate in our healing and will do amazing things to keep it!
It's so easy these days to put our health on the back burner. And yet with today's foods, stress, and environmental factors, it seems we pay more of a price for doing so than we ever have. And that seems so unfair! But like it or not, we have to be more diligent in avoiding disease than ever before. We cannot depend on anyone else to do it for us!
I've corrected a number of things in my own health in recent years, and these corrections are an everyday task. I fall down sometimes, but have been doing much better. Diet is my big challenge. I've frankly been a bit flippant about it, thinking that since I see no outer signals that all my sugar and refined food intake is a problem, that it won't someday be a problem inside somewhere. Sugar (from sweets and from many starches) creates a high-acid environment in the body (among other negative changes), and disease thrives in such an environment. Even if one's metabolism uses sugar well without storing fat, the toxins that it produces are surely not something one should subject their body's terrain to so much, especially with age. The same may be true about certain meats (at least in current amounts) which I am currently researching. And lastly, I just need more live foods. Period. I believe if I were to simply change that, I could buy myself the added energy and alertness I've been praying for, as well as a reduced risk of illness in so many ways.
So I'm wising up.-And it's about time.
Below is my current outline for better health for the DH and me.
We have a lot of work to do, but it's so worth it.
In some ways, the human body is a lot like that landscape.
It's becoming crystal clear to me that in human health, disease is just a signal, not really the problem itself. When disease presents itself, it's saying that something bigger, underneath in the body's terrain, is wrong and must be corrected or it will return. It's like weeds growing in soils where other life cannot grow so well. Or trees along a mountain trail. When they're healthy and well-watered, they're fine, but deprived of water, they are vulnerable to disease and infestation.We can treat these weeds or bugs, but we should never forget to treat the terrain itself, if we can. Modern medicine is a blessing, but most often, it doesn't look for underlying problems as it should. We need to do this work for ourselves. Determining what is wrong (deficiencies, etc) can be a difficult task but once we do it, we can find more lasting success because our bodies want to cooperate in our healing and will do amazing things to keep it!
It's so easy these days to put our health on the back burner. And yet with today's foods, stress, and environmental factors, it seems we pay more of a price for doing so than we ever have. And that seems so unfair! But like it or not, we have to be more diligent in avoiding disease than ever before. We cannot depend on anyone else to do it for us!
I've corrected a number of things in my own health in recent years, and these corrections are an everyday task. I fall down sometimes, but have been doing much better. Diet is my big challenge. I've frankly been a bit flippant about it, thinking that since I see no outer signals that all my sugar and refined food intake is a problem, that it won't someday be a problem inside somewhere. Sugar (from sweets and from many starches) creates a high-acid environment in the body (among other negative changes), and disease thrives in such an environment. Even if one's metabolism uses sugar well without storing fat, the toxins that it produces are surely not something one should subject their body's terrain to so much, especially with age. The same may be true about certain meats (at least in current amounts) which I am currently researching. And lastly, I just need more live foods. Period. I believe if I were to simply change that, I could buy myself the added energy and alertness I've been praying for, as well as a reduced risk of illness in so many ways.
So I'm wising up.-And it's about time.
Below is my current outline for better health for the DH and me.
We have a lot of work to do, but it's so worth it.
The Goal:
Better Body Terrain
The Work:
✔ Adequate sleep
✔ Adequate fresh air/sunshine
✔ Adequate, varied exercise
✔ Stress management
✔ Joy, self-care
✔ Hydration
✔ Deep breathing
__ Adequate nutrition with fewer supplements
The Plan:
✔ Get suggestions from friends
__ Watch "Food Inc."
__ Re-read "In Defense of Food" (Thanks to my daughter Annie for both of these)
__ Review food sources
__ Draft individual diets
__ Integrate diets into meal plans
Better get to it right now. With a little diligence and a lot of prayer, We'll find success. Thank you to the friends I've polled for ideas. I may share more of them later. Here's to a better health landscape!
The Plan:
✔ Get suggestions from friends
__ Watch "Food Inc."
__ Re-read "In Defense of Food" (Thanks to my daughter Annie for both of these)
__ Review food sources
__ Draft individual diets
__ Integrate diets into meal plans
Better get to it right now. With a little diligence and a lot of prayer, We'll find success. Thank you to the friends I've polled for ideas. I may share more of them later. Here's to a better health landscape!
