As helpful as the access to information is in so many ways, it also presents challenges, especially in terms of our health. Food fads and myths permeate so much of what we read, hear and see. The overload of information is often too confusing and leads to frustration over what to eat and what not to eat.
Beware of the elusive GoGo berry from East Borneo.
Never before has common sense, discernment, and simplicity been more important. As complex as our bodies are, the nourishment that’s essential to good health is very basic. When you see an ad for the cure-all “GoGo Berry” from East Borneo that is only effective when taken during a full moon while Mercury is in retrograde, try to resist. It takes some courage to avoid these miracle cures, but remember, food is medicine, and medicine is food. Eating close to nature (Good Natured) is the best advice.
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There are diets that offer cures for almost everything, from flat stomachs to weight loss. There are supplements for anything that ails you, and powders and drinks for endless stamina and strength, however, diets don’t work (there is more weight gain than loss from dieting). And protein shakes, if taken in excess, get stored as fat. Then there are the miracle foods that I affectionately call the “GoGo berries” from East Borneo. If you read the label carefully you will find that they are manufactured in East Podunk and are full of sugar and chemicals—in other words, fads and myths.
The core of the problem is that we have been
taught to treat symptoms, not causes.
Band-aids go only so far if the real wound is not treated. Why are so many of us overweight? Diabetic? Suffering from high cholesterol, and heart disease? We have been lulled into believing that GoGo berries will cure us, while ignoring the power of foods to heal and treat the whole, not the parts. I recently saw a diagram of a cell and some of its functions. Everything in that cell was connected. The diagram showed the introduction of a “miracle cure.” It hit its target, but what about the thing that target was connected to? And the next thing it was connected to? And the next, and next, and next? If we are targeting the parts and not the whole, what good is it? Unlike one pill, good foods bathe us in overall wellness, it is not a band-aid, it is a cure.
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The Age of Information brings another challenge to our health. Though remarkable in many ways, the overload of information and how to handle it is often very confusing. Almost anyone can design a study to prove anything they want to prove. It’s left to us to separate fact from fiction. The mountain of information makes it difficult to discern the bottom line, let alone the truth.
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Thankfully there are responsible people in the nutrition world to help us with this overload of information, and they have our best health in mind. I’ve done my best to sort it out.
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With all these challenges at hand I developed a way to make it easier for us to use the body’s default button, which is to heal. Good Natured Cooking® is based on common sense, discernment, and getting back to nature. I strive for truth not fiction, avoiding fads, flexibility and openness, because science is constantly making new discoveries, and because humility is important. Our best health and how best to achieve it is my top priority…
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And oh yes—delicious food!