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Throughout most of my life, I have heard that "You are what you eat!" Then later, as I became more knowledgeable about nutrition, it became "You are what you eat, digest, and absorb!"

Our world is changing daily. Over the years the quality of our food supplies has also changed. Your grandparents, and possibly even your parents, would purchase food from the grocery store that was not so heavily-laden with chemicals as it is today. Or, perhaps, they grew much of their own food.

I spent several years growing my own vegetables and then either canning or freezing many of them. They were grown organically, chemical free, and were delicious. While at that time of my life, I just heard that "organic" was better for you, I didn't know much about why "organic" was better for you. But I did know things tasted better.

Basically, the same thing rings true with our meats. The cows that used to roam freely in the pasture, getting most of their nourishment from the grass, went to the locker plant mostly chemical free. Today they graze on grass that is heavily fertilized and had weed killers used on it. They are fed grains with chemicals added to help them put on weight faster.

So, even if the consumer is trying to purchase purely healthy-type foods, there are some increased health risks because of the added chemicals.

However, I believe that the biggest health problems are brought about by what choices consumers make. When I go to the super market, I see grocery carts stacked to the brim with hot dogs, white breads, sweets, potato chips, soft drinks and other items that do nothing positive for a person's health! In many cases, the person pushing that shopping cart, is extremely overweight.

And then the same people who stack their grocery carts with junk food wonder why they develop health problems. While genetics does play a certain role in people's health, most diseases and illnesses are nutrition related.

Even people who have been careful with what they eat will be subjected to chemicals in their food and environmental pollutants. Do you ever paint, fertilize your grass, or use chlorine bleach in your home? If you don't have a water filter on your shower head, you will be absorbing some chemicals each time you shower. Is your drinking water filtered? Thus, even the people with good nutrition habits will find the need to detoxify and get rid of the poisons that have accumulated in their bodies over the years.

What about the junk-food eaters? I consider junk food to be greasy foods, white breads, pastries, candy, sugar products, potato chips, soft drinks, and the list could go on and on. The more things you violate in your diet, the more likely you are to get hit with one or more diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, etc. Also, the more likely you are to just plain feel bad, lack energy or get frequent colds.

So, when something happens, you go to the doctor, who may prescribe something to make you feel better. However, you still need to take control of your own health in order to prevent more things from happening to you in the future!

Here are some suggestions:
1.      Eliminate most of the "junk" food.
2.      Make sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables everyday.
3.      Drink plenty of water, preferably filtered.
4.      If you are not having daily bowel movements, add a fiber product.
         Drinking plenty of water with the fiber will help prevent constipation.
5.      Take high quality vitamin and mineral supplements.
6.      Exercise.
7.      Detoxify. The previous points will help the body to detoxify.
         However, you may need additional detoxification to rid the body of
         toxins that have built-up over the years.

One word of caution. Don't make major changes all at once! That's too hard on your body. In fact, if you can locate a naturopathic physician or a good nutritionist in your area, it would probably be wise of you to consult with that person before undergoing serious dietary changes.

To summarize the main point in this article: the more you take responsibility for your own health, the better chance you have to stay healthy and not be a victim of any diseases or illnesses.

Prevention --- It's Up To You, Not Your Doctor!

Contact Judy Thompson