About twenty years ago, a new phrase changed the world of nutrition for the worse: superfoods. A cookbook published in the 1990s, entitled Superfoods, written by Michael Van Straten, was considered responsible for the invention of the term.
Even now, many people are still obsessed with the discovery of new superfoods in their various forms, be it turmeric, kale, or miracle green juices that will cure every disease known to mankind and beyond.
But this fad is not limited to superfoods; the obsession with finding “miracle” cures means that we are constantly bombarded with a barrage of contradictory opinions about antioxidants, enzymes, essential fatty acids, the indispensable virtues of vitamins; not to mention the eternal obsession with eating ‘enough’ protein.
These tactics make some people very rich, while the majority of the public remains ignorant. They are easily tricked into believing “external” things and mathematical formulas will provide them with the healing they seek.
People search for that magic nutritional formula or silver bullet that will surely fix all their health, ageing, and weight problems; not realising that the very concept they are pursuing is flawed: foods do not heal!
When you hear people claim that this “green juice” miraculously cures disease, and that “healthy” oils prevent this or that disease; and that some white powder pharmaceutical grade “superfoods” promote heart health, weight loss, etc.; they are nothing more than deceptive marketing tactics designed by snake oil salesmen to feed an often ignorant public; obsessed with the medical model of health and its ever lucrative search for cures.
The truth is, when you decide to improve your health, taking a holistic approach is the smartest way forward, because ultimately, food is the fuel – and only our body has the true ability to heal itself.
A typical example of this is the role that exercise and physical activity play in our system. Exercise not only helps us to improve our physical mobility, the strength of our heart and organs, etc.; but it also affects the powers of digestion, absorption, and elimination of nutrients.
This means that you can eat the most perfect and properly combined plant-based diet, but without also doing sufficient physical activity, you will not achieve good health. In addition, recent studies in Europe have shown that inactivity “kills twice as many people as obesity” [1]. Shocking, isn’t it?
Have you also noticed how wild animals need to exercise to get food every day of their lives? That’s how Mother Nature works – meaning that regular and vigorous physical activity should be natural and “necessary” for all of us; and as much a part of our routine as eating and breathing.
So, what is the point of obsessing over a fragmented and flawed approach that extols the virtues of certain foods, juices and so on, while neglecting the bigger picture; be it mental health, getting sufficient rest and sleep, sun exposure, or many other aspects of health that are just as essential and connected to our overall wellbeing as is our diet?
Have you heard the expression: “Your health is only as strong as its weakest link”? If you suffer too much stress for long periods of time, no matter how healthy you eat, it will most likely kill you.
In writing this article, I am not suggesting that there are no benefits to drinking vegetable juices and supplementing with vitamins when necessary; but to all those scientists, nutritionists, doctors, “quacks”, and lay people who exaggerate the importance of these falsely called “superfoods”, and profit in their name: shame on you.
It is also worth remembering that eliminating the symptoms of illness is not necessarily healing. You can take an aspirin, drink some juice, or take some herbal medicine in order to get rid of a headache or other symptoms; but it does not mean you have become healthier.
Since symptoms are mainly “manifestations” of disease, suppressing them will not make you healthy any more than trying to extinguish a fire by dissembling the smoke alarm.
Unfortunately, most nutritionists, dietitians, and health educators do not take a holistic approach because they have been brainwashed by big pharma and the medical establishment into believing in miracle cures. After all that is where the money is.
My approach of telling people what NOT to eat is not very lucrative, as people don’t want to hear this. I would make a lot of money if I told people they could eat whatever they want; just add that special juice in the morning, take that pill, or any other trick.
Believing in quick fixes and magic cures for our health problems, as opposed to allowing the strong innate ability of our bodies to heal, belongs only to the stupidity of mankind that somehow thinks we can outsmart the very intelligence that created us.
If you are serious about improving your health, eating the right diet while framed in the context of a holistic approach, is surely the most effective and intelligent way forward.
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