“The Most Important Things...”
        When it comes to our health, there are some very important things we can do to encourage and even help regain optimum health.  These may not be the types of things you will hear when visiting the doctor's office or a hospital, but they are "tried and true," proven in life and practiced the world over.  I remember our family doctor 'way back in the '50's telling us some of these, as well as learning them in grammar school.

Most Important Things Our bodies need:
        VITAMINS     Did you know that the very best source of vitamins is raw fruit?  The second best source of vitamins is raw vegetables!  Some folks think they are doing well by taking manufactured vitamins, but many are synthetically made from sources such as coal tar derivatives.  Also, the combinations of ingredients are what a scientist in a lab thinks is what our body needs.  Plant based vitamins are better, but why not go directly to the best source and eat more fruits?  We might do well to consider the wild animal world, where no bottled vitamins are consumed, but the "critters" do quite well on natural, unpolluted food supplies.
        MINERALS     The best source of minerals that our bodies can benefit from is raw vegetables.  The next best source of minerals is raw fruit.  Does this sound familiar?  Yes, it is absolutely true that raw fruit and vegetables do provide us with the vitamins and minerals needed to nourish life.  A friend of mine likes to remind us that the Silver Back Gorilla is a strong, even intimidating example of power and strength.  This Gorilla is a vegetarian and never had a "pill" in his lifetime, but has all his nutritional needs met eating raw plants.  I wouldn't even consider picking a fight with him!
        ENZYMES         Enzymes are necessary for digesting food, stimulating the brain, providing cellular energy, for repairing all the tissues, organs, and cells.  All the important functions in the body require live enzymes, nothing happens without them.  How can we supplement our body's supply of these needed enzymes?  By eating raw fruits and vegetables!  (Hmmm,  I begin to see a trend.)
        WATER             Your body is between 70% and 80% water.  Water is key to ALL body functions: circulatory system, digestive system, elimination system, temperature control, etc.  Your brain is about 75% water.  Your blood is about 83% water. Imagine what would happen to these various systems if you became low on fluid!  It is recommended that we consume at least 8 glasses of water each day.  We strongly say that our water must be clean and free from contaminants and chemicals.  Steam distilled water is best.  Also consider the water you bathe in.  Various parts of the body can absorb from 8% to 100% of contacted water.  Steam and mist are also inhaled in the shower.  Consider a quality filter for bath water. 

Most Important Things We Need To Avoid:
        PROCESSED FOODS     The more processed our food is, the less value is has for our body.  In fact, some processed "food" is no longer recognized as being food by our digestive system!  Read the labels on the items in the store.  If it has been baked, boiled, frozen, pasteurized, homogenized, irradiated, cooked, refined, micro waved, genetically engineered, or in any other way "mistreated" which kills enzymes or alters its chemical makeup, then it is no longer the natural, living food it originally was.  This product will not feed your cells; it may actually lead to disease!
        PESTICIDES & CHEMICALS     Is it important to choose organically grown produce when available?  Absolutely!  What will your body do with the chemicals that come along with the carrot or celery you purchase at the local food store?  Do you think the pesticides magically disappear when you digest?  At best, your body has to work hard to recognize and then attempt to prevent these things from entering your cells, tissues and organs.  Our world is so chemically polluted that our immune systems are overstressed and weakened.  I believe many diseases are caused by man-made chemicals polluting our bodies.
        DAIRY PRODUCTS     Cows' milk was meant for baby cows!  Dairy products leave an acid residue in our system.  Our body must use calcium from our blood and then our bones to attempt to neutralize this acid.  We actually LOSE calcium in the process, not replenish it.  Dairy also causes mucous formation, especially in the intestines.  This mucous results in poor digestion, allergies, sinus problems, ear aches and more.  Instead of dairy, let's eat what the cows eat for their calcium: the grasses and plants!
        SUGAR & SALT     Appearing in some form on nearly every label, these two white chemicals seem to provide the taste in most American foods, because if you left them out of products, no one would want the item any longer!  At the same time, these two very addictive chemicals ("you can't stop eating them") also are known to cause diabetes and high blood pressure.  Any doctor "worth his salt" (joke intended) will immediately tell his diabetic patient to restrict sugar and the heart patient to restrict salt!  Then why wait until we are desperately sick to avoid them?!?!?!  We KNOW what they do to us!
        MEAT, FISH, POULTRY     They have no fiber, they are loaded with pollutants, the meat and poultry are loaded with growth hormones and anti-biotics, they cause our bodies to become acidic, if we don't heavily season them they actually have little flavor... why are we hung up on these?  Someone will say we need protein and the B vitamins.  You get the best protein from plants and your body will manufacture the B vitamins if you don't kill the "friendly" bacteria in your digestive tract by poor eating habits.  Instead we eat fatty meats and get heart disease, artificial hormones that upset our hormones, and become overweight in the process.
        This article only scratches the surface of the problems with the Standard American Diet (SAD).  There is much, much more that could be said, but we will stop with "The Most Important Things."