The Healing Power of Food – Medicine the way nature intends

Food – the ‘right’ food – is pure, unadulterated power in its natural form. It is sustenance for our bodies that make us tick, talk, and grow. Food is what nourishes; without it, we can’t carry on. It only makes sense that, for many conditions and ailments, it is the wisest medicine to follow to help us heal and restore our bodies to its desired natural state of balance.

As humans are natural beings, being composed of elements and matter of the earth, our bodies are not designed to effectively eliminate any chemical compounds that we ingest from our over-industrialized world. Polluted air, water, processed food, and pharmacological medicines interfere with our bio-chemistry. Since our bodies, like the earth, cannot rid itself of unnatural chemical compounds and pollution, they accumulate as toxins that build up in our bodies and fill-in in any cracks in the immune system they can find, showing up as cancer, and other diseases.

Our bodies are biodegradable. We ought to only ingest what’s biodegradable. It’s the law of nature.

Every day is a balancing act of bio-chemistry of vitamins and minerals. By the time we reach adulthood, our bodies are ‘broken’ in some way. We are often pre-disposed through negative aspects of genes we’ve inherited and social conditioning of our immediate environments. Not to mention we are all different, driven by varying impulses (egocentric) that work to impede our desired state of equilibrium which is optimal health.

When Eve was convinced that the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst
of the garden was good for food and was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was
to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some
to her husband, and he ate. (Gen. 3:6)

Thankfully, nature’s alchemy is abundant. Harnessing its power in the form of plants and minerals is an ancient art which science has mimicked with every step in mankind’s evolution. The bark of the willow tree is our precursor to modern day aspirin. Morphine is derived from the poppy seed; and the salve of the aloe is used in modern day ointments and cosmetics to name a few. One doesn’t have to look far to learn that natural medicine is as old as the ages. Mankind has been uncovering the secrets of the earth’s bounty for many centuries, with new health applications still being discovered every day from the compounds in trees, plants, minerals and fungi that already occur in nature. We have an opportunity to evolve each time we direct the healing properties of natural food towards a holistic health purpose.

When your learn how to pay attention, by focusing your mind (after all, the brain is the super-computer that rules each of us) our bodies will tell us what food it needs to strengthen and heal. It will never tell you it needs chemicals.

Food, however, is only part of the healing equation. The energy and healing properties of food need to be directed with our minds in order to tap into its healing power. The critical ingredient must always begin and end with the mind.

The quality of your thoughts produce a powerful energy, much like food. When you combine the two, you assert control of your condition, instead of the other way around. As a first step in using food to heal, one should begin with a cleanse of both our minds and bodies. We take great care to keep our bodies cleansed on the outside and often forget about the inside. A detox works like an internal ‘wash’ to prevent the accumulation of toxins from counteracting the healing properties of food. A detox will clear out a build up of impurities and even allow the mind to perform better.

There’s a reason for the old adage of you are what you eat.

Food and health go hand in hand—they always have and always will. Food has been healing people for centuries and will continue to do so for many more. Unlocking its power is clearly linked to our psyche and our ability to align the trinity of mind, body, and spirit. The pharmacy found in nature will do the rest.

Author's Bio: 

From corporate Wall Street banking PR to author, Sindy Mils offers insight into addiction behaviour in contemporary society through her two books, The Smoker’s Diet, a self-help guide to quit smoking and Purple Mike, addiction fiction for at-risk youth. She holds a Bachelor of Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University and lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.