Featured Article in the Healthy Times Newspaper, Sept/Oct 09, Vol. 7 issue
By Louise Rosen, CTN, CNC
So, what’s the big deal?
The annoyances of aches and pains, digestive troubles, difficulty in sleeping, nervousness, stress, and other “little problems,” are so commonplace in us that we just accept them as being part of living. We never think of ourselves as being able to conquer these troubles, gaining a sense of well-being, and feeling strong and vigorous.
Good nutrition is the key; the right foods, appropriate to the individual, can pave the way toward the elimination of obstacles to true healthfulness, where one is not only free of disease, but strong in living, and joyful in feeling truly WELL.
The field of nutrition has come a long way in a relatively short time since the vitamin hypothesis was first set forth in 1911 by the Polish-born biochemist, Casimir Funk. We have come to learn that there are more effects from an inadequate diet than merely the clinical states of scurvy, pellagra, and beriberi. Evidence has revealed that good nutrition could help to prevent the occurrence of diseases normally associated with infection by microbes. That thesis marked the beginning of Orthomolecular Medicine and nutrition awareness as a scientific approach in research.
There are, however, impediments to the advancement of Ortho-molecular Medicine and the nutritional sciences. First, we are living in a time when scientific knowledge is being revealed at an accelerated rate. Revelations about these advancements are described in articles and various publications every day. They are coming along so fast, most of the data will be modified by the following issue of the publication. For those lay persons interested in nutritional data, this blizzard of information is too intricate to assimilate without an interpreter who can understand the implications.
Conventional medicine has long used the “magic bullet” principle of treating the disorders of man. When the magic bullet cannot be applied, either because it is not yet available (cure for cancer, etc.), or not applicable because of complications, medicine is left with treating “symptoms.” The treatment can consist of “masking” the symptoms by using a variety of drugs to bring relief and comfort to the patient.
The nutritional philosophy is to offer the body all of the known nutrients that it needs to keep itself operating at top efficiency, warding off the effects of diminished strength, fighting that consequent loss of robustness. When all the ingredients for good nutrition are consistently present in the body, the body can select what it needs to service the millions of biochemical functions taking place within.
Only the Body can Heal…
Most diseases and disorders of the body can be traced to either some type of deficiency, or a variety of outside interferences to its efficiency; stress for example. When the body and mind are working together, we are walking the path of health and well being. We must provide the body with the raw materials it needs and allow it to do its job without outside interferences. One of our objectives is to combine these points into longer, more healthful living both for you, and for those in your life.
You are what You Eat…
The idea that in our land of plenty we do not have to concern ourselves with good nutritional choices is really wrong and that is the groundwork for lack of energy and the onset and progression of health problems. The percentage of people in the United States suffering from a combination of obesity and mal-nutrition is surprisingly high. It is ironic that the abundance of choice in the supermarket and fast foods have contributed to this state of poor nutrition.
We have paid the price for that folly. When we ignore that we are part of a balance in nature, we pay the price for those choices, and we pay it countless times through ill-health, a foreshortened life span and the drain on our financial resources as well. The inter-relationship between the life of man and the bounty of nature has been the subject of study by many of the world’s greatest philosophers. In the study of nutrition and the human body it can clearly be shown that when one seeks the balance within the body, progress in the form of a more healthful robustness can be achieved in a relatively short time.
Thomas Edison once said: “The doctors of the future will give no drugs but will practice nutrition.” Nutritional therapy can be a life-changing experience which can regenerate and heal the body – making a difference in the way you feel and how you look.
