ORGANIC IS LIFE!

Do you like your present state of health? If yes, what can you do to maintain it? If no, what can you do to get it to where it was before now? Many people are frustrated in their journey to reclaim their health. And so they are asking the question: “Is it possible to turn the clock back and go to the point in my life where I wasn’t sick?”

It could be 5 years ago or 10 years ago, that point where the body hasn’t broken down yet. The answer is YES!

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

Keep your body cells at their normal level. The basic unit of human life is the cell. The entire human body is a bundle of cells. The body that God created for us is a phenomenal one that has the power to heal itself if its cells are kept at their normal levels.

WHAT NORMAL CELLS ARE EXPECTED TO DO

Normal cells perform great functions essential to maintaining good health.

Normal cells must be able to take in nutrition. Normal cells must be able to eliminate waste and toxins. Normal cells must defend themselves from unfriendly intruders like bacteria, fungi, viruses and free radicals.

Normal cells must repair the damage done by these intruders i.e. heal themselves. Normal cells must work together as a team communicating with other cells to achieve optimal organ and immune system function. When cells fail to achieve ANY or ALL of these functions, a disorder occurs, which if not corrected properly and timely will lead to cell damage.

WHAT DO CELLS FEED ON?

The answer to this question is the key to a healthy life. Cells must get the right nutrition for them to perform normally. When cells perform normally they will naturally do the things highlighted above. If cells perform all these functions then you can be sure of good health. So what do cells feed on?

The food of cells is known as nutrients. Nutrients are naturally occurring bio-chemicals essential for cell formation and cell health.

Doctors have known for years that in order to maintain optimum health, we need at least 90 nutrients. These nutrients include a minimum of 59 minerals, 16 vitamins, 12 amino acids and 3 essential fatty acids. Since our bodies don’t produce these, we must get them from our diet. Diet refers to our nutritional food intake.

The BIG question however is...

WHAT CONSTITUTES OUR DIET IN THE LAST 60 YEARS?

Our diet in the last 60 years is a combination of the following: refined sugar and sweeteners, refined flour, carbonated sodas and fruit juices, homogenized dairy products, pasteurized foods, hydrogenated oils or trans-fat, chlorinated water. For the purpose of space I have put them under those broad categories. I encourage you to look them up in your search engine so as to gain a knowledge of the particular foods under each category.

Are these naturally occurring foods? No they are not.

Naturally occurring foods are those that have not been altered by man through the addition of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, growth hormone, genetically altered material, or chemical food additives. Another name for naturally occurring foods is organic food.  

WHAT IS IT ABOUT ORGANIC FOODS?

Natural foods or organic foods supply “life-giving energy.” When food is chemically altered, or genetically altered, or highly processed, or contains chemical additives the "life-giving energy" of the food is dramatically altered. When the "life-giving energy" of food is radically altered by chemical additives, processing, or genetic engineering, consuming and eating that food actually causes the body to go out of balance and CAUSES disease to develop.

So what do we eat and drink? Well, ideally you should eat all-natural things, fruits and vegetables, and get them organic. You may not be able to get all these natural foods from the food markets or grocery stores so I suggest you look for organic food growers and markets or start growing your own food – organic, free of any additives.

Organic lifestyle I must confess is a journey and we all should try our best to start and continue the journey no matter how challenging it may seem. By that we will save ourselves and our planet at large a whole lot of “unnecessary” troubles. Let me conclude with this: As we go through everything that we put in our mouth, whatever we eat and whatever we drink, let’s always ask ourselves: “Is it as nature intended?”

Organic is life, embrace life!

DISCLAIMER

The author says, I am not a doctor; I have no medical training; I am not a health-care practitioner; I am not prescribing medical treatment; I am not treating any medical condition; I do not treat patients; and I am not making any attempt in this blog to prescribe, diagnose, or treat any illness, or treat any patient. I present all this information simply for educational purposes only.

You and only you are responsible for your health. You must do what is right for you while consulting with a licensed health-care practitioner.

WHAT IS YOUR DESIRE: LONG LIFE OR HEALTHY LIFE?

What is your desire: long life or healthy life? That question may sound ridiculous and I know most if not everybody reading this article would answer “both” to the question. All of us desire to both live long and live healthy. However, based on personal observation of people and their attitude to health and healthy lifestyle, their supreme desire is just to live long and not live healthy. Why did I say that? I said that for two reasons.

First, the way many of us live, we consciously or unconsciously throw caution to the wind when it comes to our diet and lifestyle – the two most important ingredients of healthy living. It is not until we sense or actually have a health challenge that we begin to reconsider what we feed our body,

how we feed our body and the manner in which we live our lives on a day to day basis.

Secondly, in the midst of health challenge, our major pre-occupation is not how to regain vibrant health and maintain it but how not to die. The fear of death is one of the reasons why many of us comply strictly with the prescriptions given to us by the doctors and not the fear of losing our health again. I said that because we habitually retreat to our “old” and “normal” lifestyle the moment our health challenge is under control. The Ebola virus outbreak of 2014 in our country Nigeria is a typical example of what I’ve just said.

How many organizations, institutions (including hospitals and clinics), families and individuals still engage in regular hand washing – the simplest, easiest and cheapest way to stop the contamination and spread of bacteria? Let’s ask ourselves, “How many of the people who have been diagnosed and treated for diabetes have completely done away with carbonated drinks and processed fruit juices? How many of the people who have been diagnosed for early signs of osteoporosis or arthritis have abandoned their sedentary lifestyles

to engage in conscious regular movements of their bones and joints via simple exercise such as walking? How many people after visiting the hospital and taken medications for bacterial infection resulting in diarrhea, syphilis or cholera have resolved to maintain cleanliness and good personal hygiene? How many people have reduced their salt intake or taken steps to find alternative to food seasonings containing monosodium glutamate (MSG)

after being treated for or have shown signs of a cardiovascular (hypertensive) disease?” The list goes on and on. How many of us who now enjoy some form of relief from a particular health challenge is doing anything serious in terms of our diet and lifestyle to keep that health challenge away permanently?

My point is this, it’s not the number of years in our lives that counts but the quality of life in those years. Who wants to live to seventy years if he can’t recognize his closest family members because of dementia? Who looks forward to eighty years suffering severe joint or back pain because of arthritis?

We often misplace the priority when it comes to evaluating our approach to healthcare: we put long life before healthy life. Come to think of it, it seems most people dying nowadays do not die of old age anymore. What do you think is killing people the most nowadays? You know the answer as well as I do: ill health.

Let me ask you again, “What is your desire: long life or healthy life?” I hope this piece of information will help you refocus your priority when it comes to healthcare. Always remember that it’s much easier to maintain health than it is to try to regain it after it has been lost.

WHY GROW YOUR OWN FOODS?

In September, 2014 my wife, on her way from work bought and brought home some groceries including this “fresh looking” vegetable called bologi (solaneceo biafrae). It is known as “worowo” in south west Nigeria. I love this vegetable because of its nutritional value and natural scent. But about four hours after dinner that fateful day all of us including my then 3 years old son started purging seriously. I felt for my boy and my wife because she did not know that what she brought home as food was actually contaminated and the young lad was seriously affected. My wife didn’t plan to poison us but it happened that we ended up eating something that had food poison. We had to throw away the whole pot of soup. But that experience was a “blessing” in disguise because it marked the beginning of our journey into urban gardening. I thank God I’m alive to share this experience.

In my last post, I promised to discuss how to get started in the urban gardening journey in my next post. But I think it is important you know “why” you need to go on the journey before you even take the first step. So I’ve decided to share with you in this post “WHY GROW YOUR OWN FOOD?” In other words, why do you need to get involved in urban gardening? Aside the horrible experience I just described, the following are some other reasons I decided to embark on the journey two years ago. I’m sharing them perhaps they may motivate you to start the journey too. And whether you start the journey or not these reasons are like laws – they cannot be broken!

REASON NO. 1: Better-Quality Food Safer Foods

Now I go to bed with peace of mind every night knowing that my family has not consumed contaminated foods or genetically modified foods that will harm their health someday. I take responsibility for my health and family’s and the environment by growing my foods organically and this gives me a sense of relief. Now I confidently share my garden produce with friends, family and neighbours knowing that their health cannot be compromised by what I give them. My family eat better quality and safe foods particularly fruits and veggies whenever we want to and in whatever quantity we want and we are not under the pressure of cost simply because we grow them in our compund. If it were to be a time such as this when the economy of our nation is in recession, we may have thought twice about throwing that whole pot of soup away. Perhaps we would have considered it wise to remove the already poisoned meat for another soup. I believe people can and should eat healthy and safe food that cost less. This is one of the goals of Grow Your Own food project. 

REASON NO.2: Better-Tasting Foods

Most foods particularly fruits and vegetables sold in fruit markets and supermarkets are grown with inorganic substances for the purpose of profit. These foods are harmful to health and the environment and do not taste good. Urban gardening enables urban dwellers to grow and enjoy better tasting foods.

REASON NO.3: Save Money on Food Bills

From personal experience, a family of 5 living in urban area spends a minimum of N800 (about $3) on vegetables weekly in wet seasons and a minimum of N1200 ($4) in dry seasons and these do not include the cost of fruits. When fruits are included the cost goes to about N1500 ($5) in season and N2000 ($7) during off season.

This high cost expended on fruits and vegetables alone accounts for the reason why many urban families lack nutritional vitamins and minerals in their diets which amounts to spending more on health bills due to ill health arising from the deficiency of these vital nutrients. With urban gardening, your family saves money on food and you are healthier because you grow what supplies some of the daily required amounts of vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids that your body and your family’s requires for optimum health.    

TIME TO GO ORGANIC 2

What is organic? Organic refers to the way agriculture products, food and fiber are grown and produced. The following excerpt is the defini

tion of "organic" that the National Organic Standards Board adopted in April 1995. "Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony."

Why Go Organic?

Organic products are grown without pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, genetically modified organisms, and synthetic man-made chemicals. Living an organic lifestyle is a great way to protect our environment and our bodies from these polluting chemicals.

Organic farming methods help to "nourish the land" by returning nutrients to the soil and keeping the air and water safe. Organic raw foods have superior taste, quality and a higher nutritional value than conventionally grown foods.

When you "go organic" or "go natural" you will learn it's not just about food. Organic also encompasses your nutritional supplements, skincare products, cosmetics, laundry soaps, hand soaps, toothpaste, shampoo, lotions and more.

Does this lifestyle appeal to you? If so, start the transition now. It is not all that easy I must confess but each time you want to buy something think of its effect on you, your family and the environment. If you cannot think of the immediate effect, think on the long term effect. This is because every chemical leaves something hazardous either in the body or in the environment. When you begin to get conscious about what you consume, the transition becomes easier with time.

Organic Lifestyle is the path to a happier, healthier you and a healthier, safer environment. It’s time to go Organic! Start the journey today if you are yet to.

In my next post, I’ll discuss how you can start the journey. Until then think organic, live awesome!!

TIME TO GO ORGANIC

What happens if we keep having extreme rain, unusually strong winds, and our farms are unable to keep up with our food needs? The recent flood disasters in Nigeria and the recent flooding of some communities and towns across Nigeria should give you a clue.

We rarely give our food sources a thought. Farming is not given its due honor, as really, the source of what is basic to us: food. We assume that food will continue to be at the markets and grocery stores, and prices will stay the same because food is not scarce. We assume that vegetables and fruits will always be grown, harvested, and delivered to us. Why did I say that we rarely give our food sources a thought? It is because our agricultural practices are intentionally or unintentionally tailored towards the degradation of agriculture’s most important resource: soil. Or what do you think we are doing when we contaminate the soil through the voluminous use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides? For example, in conventional farming, pests and disease are controlled with pesticides and herbicides. These chemicals kill the bacteria and fungi, which reduces the mineral content of the soil dramatically. To counteract this, we use a chemical fertilizer that contains only nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – NPK. Plants can grow with these limited available minerals but they are less nutritious and far more susceptible to disease. It becomes a vicious cycle of more pesticides and more chemical fertilizers to sustain life. This method is especially absurd when you realize that the same effect can occur naturally on its own and provide us with a healthier outcome.

But we can avoid this absurdity, protect the soil which is our main resource for continuous food supply and provide safe and healthy food for all humans. How can we achieve that? It is simply by practicing organic agriculture.

Organic or Ecological Farming ensures healthy farming and healthy food for today and tomorrow, by protecting soil, water and climate, promotes biodiversity, and does not contaminate the environment with chemical inputs or genetic engineering. Organic agriculture is claimed to be the most sustainable approach in food production. It emphasizes recycling techniques and low external input and high output strategies. It is based on enhancing soil fertility and diversity at all levels and makes soils less susceptible to erosion. Organic farming is the most effective strategy to adapt agriculture to future climatic conditions. A mix of different crops and varieties in one field is a proven and highly reliable farming method to increase resilience to erratic weather changes. Organic farming both relies on and protects nature by taking advantage of natural goods and services, such as biodiversity, nutrient cycling, soil regeneration and natural enemies of pests, and integrating these natural goods into agro ecological systems that ensure food for all today and tomorrow.

In conclusion, organic farming, when practiced sustainably, nourishes the soil more than it destroys it. Let’s guarantee food security for today and tomorrow and avoid further expensive climatic chaos we put our world into by going organic.