So while everyone is arguing about who pays for “healthcare”, let’s explore a more basic question: what is healthcare?
Is it antibiotics? No, because that’s a treatment for an infection. Is it heart bypass surgery? No, because that’s an end run around a clogged and diseased artery. Is it anti-depressants, pain medicine or anti-inflammatories? No, they are all symptom relief strategies, – illness care – not healthcare. And it certainly isn’t chemo-“therapy”, which is administering poisons for a disease caused by toxicity.
Real healthcare is taking care of yourself. Real healthcare is replacing missing nutrients. Real healthcare is movement that strengthens and stretches and improves your mood. Real healthcare is cleaning up your internal environment and your toxic beliefs. Who should pay for that?
We all know the truth, – healthcare is your responsibility. But wouldn’t it be nice if your insurance would pay for fitness training and organic food? For cooking classes? For herbal medicine and homeopathic remedies? For a nice massage each week?
This might seem as radical an idea as car insurance paying for new tires. But wouldn’t it make sense prevent a blowout that might cost thousands, or even your life. Good medicine is common sense.
But common sense is not common. Let’s look at some cost-saving health care measures you can do for yourself.
So the first thing you can do is look for variety in your diet. If you always eat what you’ve always eaten, you’ll always have arthritis. Why? Your knee is trying to tell you something. You are probably allergic to what you’re eating. Corn, for example, is processed with sulfites, – sulfur containing compounds that many people are allergic to. Did you know that more than 40% of the products in a typical American supermarket are made from corn? Corn is a great crop, it grows fast and straight (lots of stalks per acre), it has learned to love petroleum based fertilizer. (What? you say, oil in my corn? – read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan if you don’t believe it!) Food allergies can cause intestinal cramping, bloating, diarrhea, as well as joint pains, sinus congestion, headaches and chronic fatigue. The energy dip many people experience after lunch may be a consequence of food allergies. Wheat, dairy and eggs very commonly cause food allergies. So instead of taking pills for all your ills, just stop eating foods that are working against you. Try new grains, – quinoa is lovely, spelt is smart, millet is different. There are forty-four pages of different varieties of rice in the Wikipedia, – how many have you tried?
Next, what kind of sweetener do you use? Did you know that when researchers want to make a laboratory rat fat, – they feed them aspartame? Not only that, but the stuff kills brain cells too! Whoever wants to be fat and stupid would do well to use the blue stuff!
Many types of toxins are present in processed foods. Besides sweeteners, there are preservatives, food colorings, emulsifiers, drying agents, anti-caking agents, and so on. A Twinkie will last indefinitely on the shelf, without refrigeration. Can that be called food?
No, you want to eat foods that are just the way they come from Nature. Unfortunately we are not told which foods have been genetically modified (GMO) and so you don’t know if you’re getting fish genes in your popcorn, or insecticide in your soy.
The take-home message is, take the best care of yourself that you can, enjoy your life, don’t stress over it and forgive yourself if you’re not perfect! But keep trying!
Carol L. Roberts, MD
www.wellnessworks.us
813 661-3662
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2009.