Food As Medicine
I believe that food provides us with the nutrients and building blocks we need to heal, to prevent disease and to maintain health. Healthful foods contain unique nutrient profiles that can replenish nutrient deficiencies, strengthen weakened organ systems and heal damaged tissues. The choices you make regarding the quality of food entering your body can determine your level of health and vitality.
A few simple choices that can make a large positive impact on your health and create momentum for agricultural change include:
- Choosing organic food whenever possible to reduce exposure to harmful pesticides and herbicides. Research has shown a correlation between the heavy use of pesticides and herbicides and the rise of certain cancers and chronic diseases in the Western world.
- Shopping at farmer’s markets or growing your own produce to ensure you are eating fresh nutrient-rich local produce from healthy soil. Once harvested, the nutrient content of plants diminishes over time. Since the majority of our produce is grown outside of Canada, it travels long distances to arrive on our grocery store shelves. Once that food is available for purchase its nutrient profile has declined to one-half to one-quarter of what it was when first harvested.
- Buying ethical, hormone-free, antibiotic-free lean meat to avoid additional hormone and antibiotic intake. Animals that are not raised organically are given antibiotics, growth hormones, and other artificial drugs to ensure a profitable income. The repetitive ingestion of these hormones and artificial drugs can interfere with our endocrine system and immune function.
- Reducing your intake of commonly monocropped and genetically modified food such as corn, wheat, and soy. Soil needs a dynamic ecosystem to thrive and provide nutrients for the plants that grow in it. When food has been monocropped, the soil becomes depleted in nutrients and the plants have a very slim chance of becoming nutritious. The use of genetic modification of our food still requires more research to determine it's safety and should not be on our shelves until the consequences of eating such foods are clear.
Please click the pictures below for traditional recipes on how to make medicine from your food. More to come!
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