"TO YOUR HEALTH - YOU ARE IN CHARGE"
By: Svetlana R. Stivi, M.D.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that our health status is determined by:
50% individual life style (of which 80% is determined by nutrition), 20% environmental factors, 10% medical care and only 20% are hereditary. It is evident that we as individuals are the key factor in determining and preserving our own health.

The Ecology of Food
Our personal health is impacted by global changes that were set in motion half a century ago when the economically developed countries established the system of INDUSTRIAL NUTRITION. In our efforts to produce food for mass consumption, we increased the use and production of refined/processed foods and systematically turned natural foods into lifeless elements by removing the outer shells which contains vitamins and other vitally important micronutrients. Although rich in calories, this diet have overtime created a malnourished effect in people. This in turn pushed a growing number of people to over consumption of food just to meet the basic organism requirement for essential nutrients. This incorrect rationing of foods and the deficit in vitamins and biologically active nutrients has lead to the development of ADAPTATION ILLNESSES and to an overall decrease in public health. The appearance of fashionable “modern civilization diseases” such as: atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, peptic ulcer disease, allergies, obesity, depression, and cancer in the second half of 20th century are directly linked to the industrial feeding process.

A good example is processed white sugar. When the sugar is in its natural brown state, it contains vitamins and microelements with healthy and positive attributes for the organism. When sugar is processed, it becomes nothing more than nutritional waste. Similarly, bread baked from lifeless white flour, was shown to cause cancer in animals (mice and rats) after prolonged consumption.

There is another very important factor contributing to the derogation of our nutrition with negative consequences on our health; the multiple synthetic chemicals that are added to the food processing like preservatives and other additives designed to prolong shelf life, and “improve” taste and color and the use of pesticides and fertilizers designed to “protect and improve” crops, that actually deform and contaminate our foods.

Additionally, industrial agricultural practices utilize artificial means of planting and harvesting which led to exhaustion of mineral content form the soil. As a result, the concentration of mineral elements is continuing to decline in the plants all over. The content of iron in the fruits fell by 57%, potassium 46%. Cabbage lost 85% of potassium, and wheat lost 46%.

The dependency of people in today’s urban society on industrially processed food weakens the ability of our protective mechanisms to withstand risks of surrounding environment and predispose us to increased risks of chronic disease.

The Health Paradox
The state of human health is at a crossroad. We live in a time when medicine is leaping forward with12,000 pharmaceuticals, nuclear/magnetic diagnostic tests, organ transplant, cloning, and yet the number of sick and afflicted is increasing. It would seem that progress and technology has its drawbacks. Thanks to technological progress, our wishes have come true—more than enough of any foods, warmth in our dwellings, automobiles, lazy-boy chairs, TV’s with remote controls. This comes at a heavy price of destroying our own health by overeating, and muscular inactivity. It would seem that the human organism is not adapting too well to the modern marvels.

The New Health Evolution
Progress can not be stopped. The surest way for sustainable long term preventive solutions to ailments is for human being to adapt to these global changes by following some healthy lifestyle rules used by our ancestors, which are:

1. The ultimate responsibility for our health cannot be transferred to other people (your physician, family members, fitness trainer, fast food restaurants, or our government). Each and every one of us is responsible for our own well being. By making the right choices in foods, physical activity, frame of mind, each individual defines his state of health and ultimately his longevity. To become and stay healthy, regardless of age, one needs to invest efforts and time.
2. Remain cognizant of our nutritional intake and add biologically active food nutrients (vitamins/minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, etc) to our daily ration.
3. Eat a balanced diet of protein, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber in evenly distributed meals throughout the day. Proper daily ration of food should contain 600 nutritional components which translate to 32 different food elements essential to sustain optimum health.
4. Keep a balance between caloric intake and energy expenditure of your organism by remaining physically active.
5. Do not become over dependent on modern medicine and pharmaceuticals; it treats acute conditions well but cannot make a person healthy.
6. Do not believe in the “health in a pill” notion and the illusion of a fast cure all that pharmaceutical therapy have created—an idea that many busy people subscribed to.
7. Support progressive agricultural practices that take into account the Earth’s cyclist nature. Following the biblical law of the seventh Shabaton year is a good example.

Being healthy is foremost a commitment to make your health a priority followed by a determination to seek the knowledge necessary to sustain your health. You are in charge.