- Health Principle #1 - Closer to Nature is Best

Principle #1: Closer to Nature is Better

My stomach hurt so bad.  I didn’t want to work and couldn’t sleep.  I knew the food was killing me but I had no desire for healthy eating.  Sometimes a thought would come to eat raw fruits and vegetables for a day or two.  Trying it gave my body a break.  I could just focus on my favorite fruits and veggies that were the best tasting to me.  No one told me this idea, it just felt right.  Every few months I would feel this way, to break from the norm and just eat raw foods for a short while.  Each time it was exactly what I needed.  It helped me sleep better and my aches and pains seemed to feel better.  My digestion certainly was improved.

Many problems arise from processing and cooking food.  We need a guiding principle that will help us navigate this mess.   If only one health principle could be learned, eating closer to nature is the best one.  Eating closer to nature can guide every health choice we make for the rest of our lives.

I find it expressed best by a former Secretary of Agriculture to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Secretary Ezra Benson said, “In general, the more food we eat in its natural state and the less it is refined without additives, the healthier it will be for us.”

Let’s break down what he said and be clear about why it’s important.

Mostly Raw

"In general,” here we see he's not saying that all foods need to be eaten in their natural form.  Some few foods in nature have a little poisonous substance that gets cooked away.  For example, eating a raw Russett potato can be problematic because of a poisonous substance in the skin called solanine.  For the most part this wouldn’t kill you unless you ate 10 big potatoes raw in one setting.  Most people are not inclined to eat potatoes raw anyhow.  I have sometimes and chose to eat the potato peeled, sliced and enjoyed scooping up my favorite hummus.  The vast majority of common foods at your local grocery stores can be enjoyed raw.

Another issue with eating all and only natural foods is depleted soils.  The profit motives of mass food production on giant farms over the last 100 years has led to depleted soils.  Supplementing what we find lacking in our nutritional intake has become a large industry and rightly so.

More Raw is Better

"...The more food we eat in its natural state…" Here we see that eating more of the good foods in their good raw form is a win.  We don’t have to be perfect and have everything be whole and raw.  There are a few people in the world who eat 100% whole and raw foods but they are rare.  If we just look at our present fare and begin to add more foods in their natural state we will gain better health.  Of course some unnatural foods we eat will have to go or be lessened to make room.

Natural Foods

     "In its natural state," means a healthy plant food grown in a healthy soil and eaten fully ripe without modification.  Most of our food is grown in poor soils, hundreds and thousands of miles away, sprayed with poison, picked early and presented in a way so we won’t think it’s a bad idea.  In any situation all we can do is choose our best option.  

     The natural food for humans is plants.  Animals as food for humans is second hand and not ideal.  No animal foods contain fiber which is so essential for our digestion.  Meats contain too much protein.  Animal proteins cause cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and many other problems. You can choose to skip it.

     On a budget a person may not be able to afford the organic tomatoes, but could spring for the organic bananas.  If while at a restaurant with friends or family you could choose to have a side of fruit or start with a small salad.  Old habits and cultural traditions will taunt you while taking steps to improve your health.  Yet, there will often be an option to calmly decline and choose something new.

Whole Foods

"The less it is refined," is paramount! What God has pronounced good is good already.  Mankind thinking to improve something already good by dividing it up, is understandable, but misguided.  The elements in each plant food comes in a proper balance from nature itself.  If you would like to learn how to prepare food simply without reducing nutritional value, check out this book.

Foriegn Additives

"...Without additives," is a strange concept in today’s food manufacturing.  The logistical need to preserve food during shipping and flavor experts monkeying with natural tastes by adding many additives.  Even restaurants are purchasing ingredients that have been pre-prepared to be exactly right for consistency and taste.  When a food is divided up into its basic parts we lose so much.  In fact it’s no longer a complete food but a substance. Can I get an Safety Data Sheet3 with that entree please?

The most ideal situations would be to get food grown locally either from grocery stores and farmers markets which sell fresh produce from local farmers, garden it yourself or take advantage of coop deals that will send food more directly from farmer to you.

     Our reality is clear, we need food that is whole and raw.  So give it a try, what will your next food choice be?