The Benefit of Understanding the Effects of the Food We Eat

There is a movement out there gaining momentum, urging us to pay attention to what we eat. We've been hearing it quietly for years but perhaps haven't paid to much attention to it.

Sometimes the message is relayed by organizations/people we recognize as experts.

The last couple of weeks I took part the Canadian Diabetes Association - Kawartha Branch - 2009 Celebrity Challenge. During this event I learned about the shocking increase in diabetes diagnoses and a great number of the patients could delay or even PREVENT the disease if they watched their diet, exercised and checked with their doctor.

Last night I watched Jamie Oliver's "Ministry of Food" as he motivated participants to learn how to prepare fresh food from scratch and share that knowledge with co-workers, friends and family. I realise that this was a re-run - but I hadn't seen it yet. His message: Obesity is an epidemic which can be helped with knowledge and some basic skills that seem to be lost in our world of processed and pre-prepared foods.

Sometimes the message is in a more person form - your own health.

Early this year my dear husband became very ill. His condition was eluding a diagnosis, worsening weekly and after a few visits to the emergency department (like many, we don't have a local family doctor) we decided we needed to look for another approach. Although the medical field doesn't like you to self-diagnose, there are times when you feel that it may be your only option. The side-effects from the prescribed drugs were about as bad as the original symptoms. There were many possible illnesses that could explain what my husband was going through. Knowing this, helped us push for more tests.

During the last four months, while we were looking for a diagnosis from the doctor, my husband was also seeing an RHN - Registered Natural Nutritionist. She worked with us to determine foods that were causing distress, foods that would aid in healing and supplements that would help heal and aid in the digestive process. "Carol" is a wealth of information and has helped Don immensely. He still has a way to go, but he is getting stronger every week.

The more I researched on the issues Don was dealing with, the more I realized how many people are having the same experiences. I cant tell you how many case studies I read where people suffered for months, even years before they made the connection of how foods made a huge impact on their healing process.

The benefit of understanding the effects of the food we eat is that we can change our future outlook.

This isn't a commercial or a recommendation for products. It's just a simple message: if you're having health problems, take a serious look at what you're eating. Talk to a nutritionist. Eliminate food with preservatives. It can make a world of difference!