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
