The War Between Disease & Vitality
Here at the Nourishing Herbalist you'll hear us talk a lot about vitality. It's the theme of our song, an important life goal, a highly desired prize. To fully understand vitality, though, it's necessary to understand it's negative counterpart: disease.
It's true that disease is a fact of life. We battle with various forms of illness, some more severe than others. We dread the Winter and celebrate the Spring simply because disease runs rampant in the winter months. Disease effects all living things . But what is disease, really? When discussing "disease" we mean: a condition that impairs normal functioning. There's an important distinction to be made in this definition. Notice that we've not attached the definition to solely the presence of bacteria, a virus or anything else discovered under a microscope. Disease is more than germs, it's any thing or any state or any situation that impairs your ability to function normally.
Put simply, disease is the absence of vitality. This begs the question: what is vitality? There is variance in definitions, but the universal theme of vitality is: the capacity to live and develop with vigor! By the way, "vigor" itself is a tasty word, too, reflecting energy, health, balance and strength. Mmm, raise your hand if you want some of that!
Equipped with this information, it's easy to understand the relationship between disease and vitality: one is the inverse of the other. If you possess more of one you'll have less of the other and vice versa. Consider an example using the principle of displacement: as you surround and fill yourself with good things, vitality indwells and disease is forced out. And that is a very good thing. Seems like our bodies may just have things under control. Thousands of years ago Hippocrates, The Father of Medicine, recognized the incredible ability our bodies have to facilitate health. He claimed that the body contained within itself the power to re-balance and heal. There is much evidence of this; we are creatures of brilliant design, the workmanship of a Brilliant Designer… and we're capable of warding off both rare infections and the common colds. All. By. Ourselves. It's time we give our bodies the credit they deserve (and the Creator, too, for that matter!). Unfortunately, there is much fear mongering in the area of health education and medical care warning us we can't fight the good fight of disease alone. Perhaps our bodies are faulty. They can't heal themselves. Drugs rule, bodies drool -- quite literally at times. But is this really true? Perhaps so if our bodies are hindered from reaching their full potential, whether that be the result of poor eating, lack of exercise, insufficient sleep or an overly stressful lifestyle. It may also be that we've hampered our body's ability to heal itself because of fear. Raise your hand if your heart skips a beat whenever you child feels feverish. (Hey, we've all been there!) Blame whomever you wish for this instantaneous reaction, but the fact is we're afraid of some bodily responses to disease. When we or a loved one acquire a fever, for example, we sound the alarm and seek to medicate quickly. But what happens when we medicate a fever? We suppress the body's mode of healing and even tax it further by maintaining our active lifestyle since we feel "ok". Not a good idea. A fever is such a great example of how efficient the body is at healing and if left to run it's course will eradicate our diseased state (here we do mean a germ-filled state) and return us to a normal, balanced state quickly and wholly. Unfortunately, our culture has heralded a different message. The U.S. currently leads the world in the amount of prescription drug use per capita, and yet according to Forbes.com ranks only #11 in the listing of healthiest countries. (Click here to see an interactive U.S. map indicating the ranking health of all individual states.) Furthermore, these prescription drugs also come with their own baggage of toxic side-effects and warning labels. Can we really believe we are winning the war against disease when our overall health seems worse off with each prescription drug? A 2008 study performed by Medco Health Solutions Inc. found that more than half of all insured Americans take prescription medications regularly. The overall state of our public health is worsening. We're losing our battle for vitality. Thankfully common sense and Mother Nature -- or as we believe, the Lord -- provide us other ways of bolstering our body and overcoming disease, saving prescription drugs and professional medical intervention for their rightful time -- in critical emergency situations. Here at the Nourishing Herbalist we discuss many subjects relating to natural living, real food, and alternative medicine. As a reader you can be sure of this: if we talk about it, we've tried it (or know someone well who has) and found it a valuable tool for propelling us down the path to vitality. Firstly, as previously stated, the best approach in defeating disease and procuring vitality is a holistic one. If you aren't experiencing wellness in every fiber of your being -- physically, mentally and emotionally (and might we add, spiritually) -- then it isn't possible to experience true vitality. Physical health concerns are troublesome on their own, but even more so when complicated by mental or emotional health that remains in a diseased state. Secondly, some of the key holistic choices available to us for healing and disease prevention are found directly in nature: herbs and essential oils! A close relative to these is homeopathic remedies, which are highly-diluted medicines acquired from herbs and other naturally occurring substances. Together these three provide us with a well-rounded pharmacy to strengthen our body in times of disease. Thirdly, keeping our bodies in a state of health to begin with is just common sense. You can't expect smooth sailing through life with a broken down, leaky ship. And one of the best ways we can maintain our health is by simply watching what we eat, what we put on our skin, and what environments we place ourselves in. It's no surprise that we're passionate about cooking and what we like to cook with are wholesome nutrient-packed fruits, vegetables and legumes, pastured meats, herbs, spices, etc. Utilizing common sense in what we eat and expose our bodies to is the first line of defense against disease. And at the end of the day it's only fair to leave you with this truth: sin's grasp on our world means that physical death awaits each one of us. There is no way around it. (William Shatner's song, "You're Gonna Die" plays here. Blame our husbands for the poor sense of humor.) On a serious note, our goal here is not to cheat death. Our goal is to live the years we've been given experiencing energy and health in ways our culture leads us to believe are impossible. And what a blessing that even in this fallen world there are God-given elements in nature that provide us the tools we need to live a life of health, energy, balance… VITALITY! |
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