Relearning the Self

Hippocrates (460 - 370 B.C.), the father of medicine, once said: “Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food.” Take a step further: let food be the “only” medicine for you. If you have developed a degenerative disease, start thinking of food as your medicine, in fact, the best medicine, if not the “only” medicine. Your body is designed to digest and utilize food to get its nutrients and energy. But only wholesome food can do that—not even supplements, because supplements are just what they are called.

If food is the “only” medicine for you, you will empower yourself with knowledge about food, and you will then pursue a proper diet with high-quality, non-toxic, nutritious food. That means, you will refrain yourself from eating any of those commercially-prepared and chemically-loaded foods obtainable at supermarkets. When food becomes the “only” medicine, you will also learn to trust your body; that is, you will relearn what your body is telling you, and how it responds to real and wholesome foods.

When you do become sick, you should also relearn how to use herbs as medicine. Herbs from different parts of plants have different therapeutic values that promote self-healing without the use of dangerous pharmaceutical drugs. As a matter of fact, many common herbs, such as cinnamon, garlic, and ginger, have been used as “food” medicine for thousands of years. According to a Chinese saying, “You can never draw a line between foods and herbs.” Indeed, herbs can cure many common ailments, such as constipation, cholesterol, high blood pressure, with little or no side effects. For example, use ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties to fight arthritis pain and nausea; use hawthorn berries for your cardiovascular health; use aloe juice to cure an upset stomach.

If food is your “only” medicine, you will make good use of it to improve your health and heal yourself of any disease.

Longevity is always drug-free. This makes sense: taking too many pharmaceutical drugs means your body is stressed by physical ailments. Ironically, these drugs may do you a further disservice by ingesting more toxins into your already toxin-loaded body. However, it does not imply that you must desist from taking your medications prescribed by your doctor. Rather, it suggests you should be more alert to the side effects of the drugs you are currently taking; you should not readily reach out for unsafe pharmaceutical drugs, especially those over-the-counter, without any second thought as if they were coupons or silver bullets.

Hippocrates had also said: “Healing is a matter of time, but it is also a matter of opportunity.” Therefore, give your body that opportunity for natural self-healing by going drug-free, although it may take more time.

Remember, when you give your body a drug that replaces a substance your body is capable of making itself, you body then becomes weaker, and begins not only to manufacture less of that substance, but also to become more dependent on the outside source, which is usually the drug. Over time, you will become no longer drug-free.

Unfortunately, no drug can give you insight into the circumstance that created your problems in the first place. At best, it can only temporarily assuage the physical pain created by your situation. Remember, there are no miracle drugs—only wholesome natural healing. Relearn to utilize your body’s natural healing power, rather than relying on unsafe pharmaceutical drugs. Keep yourself drug-free as much as and as long as possible!

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau