Our health is determined by factors that are created (in part) from our environment. Imagine a spinning wheel in which we are the center or hub; at the outer rim (or periphery) is our natural environment and all its associated energies, e.g.; the sun, the air, water, soil etc. Within this are the spokes, our more immediate environment which includes the geographical area of the earth we live in and its climate and further in it becomes more specific, whether we live in the city or the country, our chosen profession and social relations etc. It is within these very environments that we think, plan and act every day.

So our thoughts and our actions could very well be considered “products” of our environment, as well as the food we eat. Our food becomes a concentrated form of the environment that we internalize three or more times per day. Our everyday thoughts and actions constitute our “lifestyle” and this lifestyle determines our choice of food. And the reverse is true, the foods we choose to eat, in turn affect our lifestyle (thoughts and actions).

Now consider this; our environment, our lifestyle and the foods we eat all combine to create and maintain our current state of health. When we get these things in balance, when our lifestyle and diet are in harmony with our environment, we will experience optimal health. If however, we allow them to become unbalanced or extreme, we lose our harmonious relationship with our environment and sickness will probably be the result. If we persist in this, we will surely develop serious illness and/or chronic disease.

The principles of natural healing are based on positive change and balance. Change, being the law of life, is inevitable and constant. It’s the motivating force and the order of the universe. Fortunately, as manifestations of the universe, we humans have the built-in ability to cause or initiate change through our choices. Each and every one of us is granted the inherent power to change direction, leaving sickness behind and embarking on the road to health and wellness. But first, for healing to begin, we must realize and accept that change is possible and act upon that realization.

The old adage “we are what we eat!” starts to ring true, our daily food and drink really are the actual source of our physical makeup. Our entire bodies, our blood, our cells, muscles, organs, tissues, bones and glands are sustained and renewed by the transformation of the minerals, proteins, lipids, enzymes, water, and other nutrients that we consume on a daily basis. Therefore, whenever we consider any aspect of our physical health, it is necessary that we carefully review the choices we have made in regard to what we put in our bodies.

People are beginning to wake up to the fact that many of  today’s health problems are directly related to the repeated and continuous consumption of meat, eggs, cheese, poultry, and other animal-based foods. Cancers, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and a host of other chronic and deadly diseases are the result of two problems; quantity and quality. Let’s look at quantity; people are eating a lot more animal products now than they did several generations ago, far beyond what is reasonable even for meat eaters. Meats and other animal products have essentially become the mainstay of the modern American diet.

Looking at quality; today’s artificially inseminated, hormone boosted and antibiotic fed livestock bear little resemblance to their natural, grass fed, free range predecessors. The arrival of “Mad Cow” disease and the subsequent European community’s refusal to accept imports of hormone fed American beef emphasizes just how deadly (pun intended) serious these issues have become.

Commercially raised, indoor-caged poultry products, especially chickens and turkeys are becoming increasingly problematic; even more so since extensive advertizing has many people believing chicken and turkey to be “healthy” alternatives to red meat. These birds become so weak and susceptible to infections that they require regular doses of increasingly stronger antibiotics, just to keep them alive. Additionally, they are fed synthetic growth hormones to speed their growth and breast development. One result of these practices, according to one study, is that as up to 95% of the commercially raised chickens on their way to market have at least one type of cancer! Without a doubt, chickens from a modern poultry farm are not a health food as claimed by the industry.

Let’s just suppose someone we care about is facing a health crisis (and there might be more than one), and we know they are overly reliance on a diet of animal products. What can we do to help them change their situation into its opposite, one of healing and improving health? Obviously, the first step would be to encourage them to convert from an animal-based to a plant-based diet.

Contrary to animal products, plant-based foods enhance, rather than inhibit, healing and regeneration of tissue. Daily dietary choices are the central issue in our lifestyle as a whole. They can be viewed as a reflection of our priorities and our way of looking at society, nature, and the universe. Dietary change, combined with an understanding of harmony and balance, can serve as the focus, initiating a positive change in our lifestyle. Unhealthy choices can be reviewed and changed into healthy ones, and then they can be brought into proper alignment with natural harmony, befitting us and our environment.

Of related interest, click on the following…

The Advantages of a Plant-Based Diet (Pt. 1)

The Advantages of a Plant-Based Diet (Pt. 2)

The Advantages of a Plant-Based Diet (Pt. 3)

*Rae Indigo is ERYT500