Healing Foods, Special Diets and Nutrition for Healing

Ok, let's face it. Once and for all.

If we are what we eat (and we are!), then it follows that we are also what our food eats... Think about this for just a minute. 

Would we eat anti-biotics on our breakfast cereal? Oh... wait... Chances are that box contains GMO grain, GMO sugar, high fructose corn syrup and a host of other non-food items. Wow. 

And we wonder why we are sick, tired and sick and tired of being sick and tired. Look no further than the pantry shelf!

The term "healing foods" is a bit of a misnomer, as all natural foods can be healing... But in these days of lab-produced, genetically modified and pesticide/herbicide laden foods, unfortunately we seem to need a term for the type of foods we should be eating.

The idea that the food you eat can be healing is as old as humankind itself. The Bible references many dietary rules or "laws" and many herbs specifically for health.

In the last couple centuries, special diets have arisen for specific diseases. The main point is giving your body what it needs while eliminating toxins and other garbage from the system so that your body will heal itself.

Our bodies are remarkable machines - designed to operate indefinitely given the proper fuel and energy. 

Nutrition for Health and Healing

Despite the fact that the nutrients you put into your body are of critical importance, your doctor has received precious little training in the field. Further, as more and more information becomes available, its nearly impossible to keep up!

Each vitamin, mineral and enzyme in your food has a very specific action in your body. If something is missing, and in some cases if you have too much, your entire system becomes unbalanced. Neither situation is good, and you will feel the effects.

Healthy eating also involves how you combine foods within a meal as well as how you prepare them. Certain vegetables must be cooked, others are ok to eat raw. The cooking method used on your meats will affect what nutrients and amino acids your body has access to.

Next is the idea that we should be eating healthy food. How and where was it grown? How was it processed? How long has it been in transit or storage? Healing foods are foods that are grown, stored, prepared and consumed in healthy ways.

The push for access to locally grown foods as well as the demand for accountability in the area of fertilization and genetic engineering is a symptom of people being more awake than corporations that provide the bulk of food to the population. Healthy food produces a healthy body.

What Healing Foods Should Be:

There are a number of criteria which should ideally be used in choosing the foods you eat. Don't worry... NOBODY chooses healthy foods 100% of the time I sure don't!

But, these are general guidelines for ideal choices. Don't beat yourself up if you can't do this all the time - even (and perhaps especially) if you are ill. We'll get to that aspect in another section.

If we lived in a perfect world, you could easily purchase food that is:

• "Real" - (not synthetic lab-produced garbage)
• Organic - (grown without industrial/chemical fertilizers)
• Non-GMO - (hybrids and GMOs are very different!)
• Local - (produced as close to where you live as feasible)
• Affordable - (no trading rent for groceries!)
• Healthy - (good soil, ample water, real sunlight)
• Fresh - (no long-term storage, injected gases, etc.)
  

Meat or No Meat? 

I am an omnivore. Most humans are. For various reasons, though, some people are not. Never met a truly healthy purely carnivorous human, though some seem to come pretty close!

Some do not eat certain kinds of animal products, others shun all animal based products. It can be for health, aesthetic, religious or political reasons. I am not here to judge.

Many diet and lifestyle choices do, however, come with certain caveats.

Some specific vitamins and amino acids are lacking in certain diets for various reasons. If you practice one of those choices, please be sure to get the proper nutrition while doing so! 

Even meat-eaters have certain issues with diet as well. Usually, these are issues of excess, though, rather than lack. I will be addressing that as well (especially since I have lived with several of them in my 52 years on the planet!)

While specific classes of healing foods will address many deficiencies, very specific individual foods for detoxification tend to address the excesses.

I will not be splitting hairs over tooth structure etc etc, as I feel it wastes time and is off the point. We are each individually entitled to the food that makes us look, feel and live a healthy and productive life!

We will address those in the section on special diets. That is where vegetarianism, veganism, and so on, will be found.

Food Allergies and Intolerances

When I was growing up, you never really heard of too many food allergies. Now, we are slightly less "normal" for not having them!

Nowadays, there are children with such aggressive reactions that they cannot be in the same building with peanuts! Some are having literally life threatening reactions just to breathing air in the same classroom. 

People are becoming intolerant and allergic to gluten. Gluten sensitivity can range from a simple runny nose to life threatening. "Nobody" was allergic to bread and wheat products when I was a kid. At least nobody we ever heard of.

The top ten food allergens on the planet are all (with one exception - unfermented soy) foods that we have eaten since humans started eating! Obviously something is horribly, terribly wrong.

Disease - heart disease, diabetes (both I and II), cancer, and so on are epidemic in today's society. Healing foods and healthy diets can make an impact here, both for prevention and treatment.

Superfoods to the Rescue!

There are certain fruits and vegetables which are (nowadays) called Superfoods. Some may surprise you, but others have been known so long that they were already cliché when the United States was founded.

These may also be referred to as Medicinal Foods. The effect is the same - if you need help with a certain condition, these specific foods eaten in larger quantities or on a regular basis will help.

Apples - an apple a day does keep the doctor away! Packed with anti-oxidants and disease healing goodies, be sure to eat fresh apples often - and don't peal them.

Broccoli - This healing food tops the list of Superfoods because of its many benefits. Not only does it pack more nutrients into a mouthful than almost any other food, but it also has other amazing abilities. 

Oranges - not only do they prevent scurvy, but oranges are also linked to heart health!

Onions- this anti-inflammatory Superfood may also help prevent and treat certain forms of cancer. 

These are only  a few of the healing foods which are being touted as Superfoods recently. There is much more detail in their individual section.

Metabolic Typing - What and Why

The idea of metabolic typing is not new either. It is based on the precept that each person's body will benefit from certain classes of foods more than others.

For instance, some people thrive on grains. Others can't tolerate them... Same goes for veggies and meat, and to an extent to various forms of fats.

There are simple tests that you can do, or have done, that can give you your metabolic type. From there, incorporate more foods that are specifically good for your type, and limit those that are not.

I am rarely an all or nothing type person, and this applies for me here, too. Some are a bit more strict.... 

Metabolic typing is useful when using healing foods for specific conditions. Gradually, eating by your type would ideally become more of your standard in day to day living, but it can be especially important for acute circumstances.