Hey Miche! Food as Medicine

Hey Miche,

While watching television this morning, I saw a commercial for yet another new medicine for an even newer disease.  I sat and listened to the side effects and shook my head at the contradictions.  I didn’t think much of it because after a while all those commercials look and sound the same.   Later that same afternoon, a commercial for that same drug came on again.  Only this time it wasn’t telling me to ask me doctor if I had any of the following symptoms, but rather that if me or someone I knew had a heart attack, stroke or died, even death by suicide, while taking that medicine to call the number on the screen.  After seeing that I thought about my last few doctor’s visits and it seems like there was a prescription for every complaint I had.  The side effects usually scare me off and I google some natural remedies instead once the doctor gives me a diagnosis.  What else can I do?

Concerned in Austin

Dear Concerned,

I’ve never been big on taking pills.  Even with my frequent migraines, my preferred prescription is a dark room filled with white noise and a lavender-vanilla candle.  It has to be a really lingering pain for me to finally resort to an Ibuprofen, the only over the counter drugs in my medicine cabinet.  My mother had a hard time with a lot of prescription and over the counter drugs when she was younger so she shielded my sisters and me from them except as a last resort.  A natural vegetable laxative is her cure-all for most things and if that doesn’t work she’ll move on to herbs, plants, some old South Carolina home remedies and rest.   These methods usually work and cost mere pennies as opposed to the hundreds of dollars we pay for a handful of prescription pills that the doctor tells us we need to stay alive.

America’s prescription drug prices are the highest in the world and the pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable business in this country.  America is one of only two countries that allows pharmaceutical companies to market directly to the people/consumer.  There is a pill, ointment or shot for every bodyache and bad thought we have and they all come with side effects that are similar or identical to the very thing we are trying to cure, or even worse…death.  It is cheaper and more efficient to prevent sickness, disease and even obesity than it is to cure it or even relieve the symptoms.

We have an ever-growing dependence on drugs to keep us mobile and even happy in this country.  One of the ways we can reverse this dependence is to regain control over the foods we eat.  As a country we have gotten away from cooking our own meals and rely heavily on fast food, take out, pre-made and frozen entrees.  What we fail to pay attention to is the fact the food has become big business and the cost-cutting methods the major food companies are taking to turn a profit are not taking our health and safety into consideration.  The preservatives, additives and chemicals in our foods are making us sick and slowly killing us.  In 2010 Americans spent $307 billion on prescription drugs and another $23 billion on over the counter medications to relieve the symptoms of bad eating.

There are more than 3000 preservatives, additives and colorings used in American foods that are not found in nature and have no health benefits but have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as they make the manufacturing of the food more cost-efficient and therefore increases the companies’ profit margins.  They make food taste better, look better and last longer but have no health benefits themselves.  In fact, they actually DEPLETE the nutritional value of the foods they’re added to.  If a company has an additive they want to use that is not already on the preapproved list, the FDA does not require them to reveal what is in the additives as long as the company finds a panel of experts to classify the food as “GRAS” or (Generally Regarded As Safe.)  These experts are hired and paid for by the food companies themselves.  They require no tests to evaluate the long-term effects or how the additive will interact in the body with the other 3000 chemicals that are already on the market.   Toxins are fat soluble so the body creates fat to store them and protect the body.  This “toxic fat” is MUCH harder to lose and blocks nutrients from getting where they need to be in the body.  This is one of the key reasons Americans are so fat. We rely heavily on ready-made foods that contain these fattening, deadly chemicals and the companies that make them care more about their profit margin than the consumer.  When these poisons make us sick we buy antacids, arthritis relief, stool softener and all the other bottled solutions to our preventable problems.  The more processed a food is, the further away it is from its natural state. The further away from its natural state, the harder it is for the body to digest it.  Many of the ailments that we blame on stress, “food poisoning,” work etc. are actually these unnatural foods depleting the nutrients from our bodies.  This leads to poor health, illness obesity and eventually death.

Our busy schedules and hectic lifestyles won’t allow many of us to cook ALL of our meals at home but it is important enough to make time for.  So what can we do?  There is no quick solution to our dependency on ready-made foods but it is important

that we start somewhere.  Here are a few tips:

• Cook foods in big batches to have leftovers for lunch or double up your recipes and freeze one for later.
• Pay attention to what you spend your money on. Read the ingredients list and if the first 3 ingredients are not a real food, don’t buy it.
• To avoid the toxins and poisons of big business, try to purchase your meats and produce from your local farmer
• s market or opt for the options at your grocery store that contain no GMO’s, preservatives or fillers.
• Drink lots of water because a hydrated body is the most efficient.
• Try to include fiber in your diet whenever you can to help flush out the toxins.

It may cost a little more to eat real food as opposed to a processed $1.00 burger but you’re  actually saving money in the long run if you factor in the cost of the co-pays and medicines you’ll undoubtedly need if you continue to fuel your body with junk.

Always,

Miche