“Using food as thy medicine is so simple yet so powerful… and open to all of us to put into practice” http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4070977.htm
Catalyst Program ABC televised two part series on Gut Reaction August 2014 to investigate paradigm-changing new discoveries on food in nutritional medicine.
Diets and different food combinations have been around since the dawn of time. Modern food fads, a term used to describe simple, catchy diets, often used simplistic ingredients such as a grapefruit or weight method such as low carbohydrate foods to gain popularity for short term weight loss. However there was little regard for promoting healthy balanced diet or long term weight maintenance and people over time often regained the weight they had lost and the dietary cycle was repeated.
Historically our dietary habits depended on seasonal changes such as climate, time of year, location, availability of food. Cultivation of different food crops depended on the elements such as sun for heat, rain for water, quality of soil for nourishment and growth. Food produced in season was of highly nutritious value, less perishable, distributed locally and consumed in season. Eating nutritious, natural foods, grown locally, created a healthy gut environment supplying beneficial bacteria for the maintenance of good health.
Since industrialisation in the 19th century our dietary habits have changed significantly as food is no longer produced in season but rather to satisfy high demand. For example, food products found in supermarkets could have been grown thousands of miles from where they are purchased and consumed. Out of season produce can be supplied from all around the world and controlled environments are used to extend the season of some fruits and vegetables such as apples can be stored in a low oxygen, high carbon dioxide environment and remain crisp and edible for the whole year.
As a result of these changes there has been an increase in fast food outlets, scarcity of naturally grown seasonal foods high in nutrition leading to chronic lifestyle diseases globally. “The bottom line is the modern Western diet could be making us very sick contributing to diabetes, asthma, MS, and the list goes on.” according to Dr Graham Phillips.
Until more recently there been little evidence accepted in the medical profession for the role beneficial gut bacteria plays in the maintenance of good health, though research into healthy gut bacteria has been going on for decades. Generally bacteria had been regarded as dangerous germs that needed to be eradicated with antibiotics. Called the “forgotten digestive organ” in a 2006 medical study by the National University of Ireland, gut flora consists of a population of 100 billion bacteria from 2,000 different species inhabiting the mucosal lining of the digestive tract. It is essential for human function.
While these new discoveries in the nutrition medical field provide new evidence that managing digestive imbalances improves immune signalling and brings health benefits as featured in a recent Catalyst program on Gut Reaction, Eastern medical systems such as Ayurveda, Tibetan Medicine, Chinese Medicine and Yoga believed that having healthy digestion with the right diet, food and lifestyle is the key to good health.
According to Ayurveda principles “you are not simply what you eat, but you are what you can digest and assimilate” (Derok. S. 2014). This connection between diet, quality food, how it affects your life and energies of the body, provides immunity and enables digestion of nutrients essential to life.
Derok, S. (2014). Rejuvency BodyHealth. Queensland. Rejuvency Project
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