Grow a Garden . . . Grow Your Health
I’m so thrilled to have the acclaimed doctor Alejandro Junger write a special piece for all of you. Alejandro the New York times best selling author of Clean has become the go to doctor for cleanses and health regimes. His cleanse (which I have not yet done but plan to) is designed to be easily incorporated into our busy lives. Below he writes about why he believes growing our own food can be so beneficial to us on so many levels.
Having your own vegetable garden is a great way to learn about your health, even before you eat any of the food you are growing.
To grow strong healthy plants you must focus on 2 main things, the roots and the soil. This is where the magic happens, where nutrients in the soil are absorbed into the plant and sent to distant places up in its leaves and flowers. For this to happen, all the nutrients needed, including water, must be present in enough quantity and in a form that can be absorbed by the root. Some nutrients are only usable by the plants if they are pre-digested by worms and fungi, so these must be present in the soil around the roots too. There are other bugs and worms that compete with certain nutrients, or simply chew at the root and plant, which must be kept at distance for your veggies to have a chance.
Others prefer to do it in a more natural way, such as using herbs (neem for example) to keep opportunistic bugs away and adding probiotics to the soil. Those that go farther may compost their leftovers and use them as a natural fertilizer. Keeping good quality soils result in healthier fruits and vegetables.
The root-soil-good worm relationship is almost identical to the one between the intestines-food-intestinal flora. The nutrients necessary for your body to make itself and function must be present in the food you provide to the intestines, where they are absorbed and sent to the rest of your body. The fruit in this analogy is your body, and the vitality you experience. Your intestines also need help digesting certain foods, for which a healthy intestinal flora is essential, just like the worms around the roots are to your plants. Keeping opportunistic bacteria and parasites away is part of the equation, just like in your vegetable garden.
When it comes to your health, you have different choices to deal with the issues above, just as you have in gardening.
I first use the same principles with my patients that I use in my veggie garden. Always looking at the roots (the intestines) and the soil (food) for clues to understand how things went wrong, and working on creating the right conditions for the body to thrive and produce the best possible fruit, a long and vibrant life.
Here are the main basic principles to treat your body as you would an organic vegetable garden;
1) Use good quality soil. eat real food and not ‘edible products’. eat lots of vegetables and fruits
2) Avoid the foods that will negatively impact your roots ( sugar, coffee, alcohol, gluten, dairy and all chemicals in processed foods)
3) consume cultured and fermented foods to upkeep the good bacteria ( sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir…) and feed them well (lots of fiber)
4) drink plenty of good filtered water
5) expose yourself to the sun
6) spend time with your community and loved ones
