Ginnie Maurer

Falling Waters

As we continue to live through this pandemic, some may be wondering when the next one will hit. We've already experienced several in the 21st century, so we might as well get used to these events. But how can we each individually take responsibility for our own health so the effects of a widespread outbreak don't affect us and our loved ones with great intensity.

First, we need to know what a healthy being looks like. One who takes dozens of pills daily is most likely treating symptoms and not underlying causes. By starting with underlying causes, we can build our health one step at a time-or more appropriately one vegetable, grain, fruit, bean, and nut at a time. Yes, healthy eating is the cornerstone of a healthy body. Twinkies and potato chips, sodas (diet or otherwise) do not support our wellbeing. In fact these and many other foods do just the opposite. But our health care system seems to be okay with that as few health care professionals are taught much about human nutrition though that is the one thing their patients rely on daily to live.

Additionally, our healthcare system treats diseases after they occur instead of nurturing healthy living so that many of these diseases can be avoided. We have a medical model that supports the use of pharmaceuticals to cure all ills, when in fact those very same pharmaceuticals may be masking underlying causes and may even create illnesses of their own. Pharmaceutical companies don't make money if you can get your "medicine" from the produce aisle or farmers market, so they are invested in getting you hooked on all sorts of pills, potions, and procedures.

We learned the sad truth that tobacco kills long after many people died from smoking-related diseases; do we have to wait years to learn how deadly animal-based foods are to our lives, do thousands/millions need to die before we realize that three times a day we are actively destroying ourselves? No pill can do what you need to do for yourself which is to embrace a plant-based program of eating. In numerous, long-term studies with thousands of participants, plant-based eating has been shown to slow the progress of or reverse our major killers: heart disease, cancer, diabetes, among others No pill can cure you of these diseases but eating a plant-based diet can go a long way in easing symptoms and possibly reversing them. But why wait until you get one or more of these diseases? Start eating a plant-based diet today and you may not be living your life on the edges of health. And while you're healing yourself, you will also be educating your health care professionals on an alternative to pharmaceuticals.

Follow this link:
Healthy eating is the cornerstone of a healthy body - Martinsburg Journal