Health And Wellness From God's Perspective

I trust that you were able to look at the YouTube video from the last article about homeostatic control mechanisms.  I want to use this article to discuss some steps that we should intentionally take to ensure that our bodies' homeostatic mechanisms are not overwhelmed.  There was a time when all we had to do was live and eat as our parents and we would live long and relatively healthy lives.  For those of us who live in the western industrialized world, that is now highly unlikely.

I am originally from the Caribbean island of Tobago.  Much of the food we ate growing up was grown right there on the island. There was salad with every meal. We did wheat instead of white flour and brown sugar instead of white sugar.  We intentionally did not use a microwave oven.  We had fast-food about two times annually. I can recall that us having Kentucky Fried Chicken was like going to Disney world.  It happened so rarely that is was really a big deal! We were healthy. I would often go to the family orchard with my father on Saturdays. To get there we drove for about 20 miles then hiked for about a mile. Behind the family house there were all manner of fruit trees: mangoes, guavas, sapodilla, oranges, and limes. We had a kitchen garden too where we grew spices to make our own seasonings. As I am writing this article my younger sister just sent me a picture of her own kitchen garden which has lettuce, tomatoes, celery, chadon beni (Cilantro), chive, french thyme, aloes, basil and small leaf thyme plants. Some things have not changed but yet, so much has!

Many of the people from my native country have moved away from growing their own food and have embraced imported and processed food. It is not surprising then that diseases of affluence like cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure are on the increase there as well. I lost my own way for a while and had elevated cholesterol in my mid-twenties -eating frosted flakes and ice-cream daily- while in medical school. It was not even apparent that this was unhealthy because I was externally lean. I discovered the internal damage after I had screening blood work during my annual checkup. By my mid-thirties, I was physically overweight, had elevated blood pressure, and severe environmental allergies. I referenced this in the initial article, and I bring it up again to make a point here. I had abandoned my roots.  However, once I made the necessary adjustments my health was restored.

What kind of adjustments did you make? Well, I came to recognize that the primary reason for eating was for health and energy not for pleasure. It sounds simple but it was never mentioned in my medical training. Eating for health, not pleasure, is actually quite revolutionary when one considers that it goes against how food has been so effectively marketed and processed to provide the maximum addictive effect.  The truth is had I not been in a place of crisis myself I likely would not have made the shift. I was in a desperate place: fatigued, achy, brain-fogged, and barely existing instead of thriving!

It is not just about nutrition. It is about everything. In my health coaching training, I was told a truth: "How you do one thing is how you do everything." This is true for the big five areas of our lives: health, money, love and relationships, career, and connection to something greater.  To be explicit, the latter, refers to our intimacy with God. In recent years I have had to make intentional adjustments in all of these areas. It is still a work in progress, but it is from a place of rest.

As I close, unless you live in a blue zone you cannot afford to go with the flow. Maybe your grandparents or older parents can. After about thirty years of increased consumption of processed foods, this is the first generation that will potentially die before their parents. Type 2 Diabetes use to be called adult-onset diabetes. Presently, it is a typical diagnosis in obese children. I implore you to change the way you think. Take some time to meditate on the statement: "The primary reason for eating is for health, not for pleasure." Eating for pleasure is quite easy and natural. In the next article we will discuss why using the title: "The Pleasure Trap."

Disclaimer

The contents of article are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This article does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.