plant based wellness
Stock the Kitchen with Healthy Essentials by Wendell Fowler
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broad spectrum of basic vitamins, minerals and micronutrients are required to fuel the thousands of functions of the human body. Food from the earth is, and has always been, the original source of nutrition for all life forms. Vitaminrich foods can cure diseases related to vitamin deficiency. Oranges and limes were famously shown to prevent scurvy in vitamin-deprived 18th century sailors. And research has long shown that populations that eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, tend to be healthier than others. Since the miracle of life first appeared here, at least 3.77 billion years ago, Earth has generously provided a boundless cornucopia of nutrient-dense plant foods and clean animal protein for all life forms to subsist. Foods from 18
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nature and proteins are information for our DNA and cells. However, despite Mother Earth’s abundant food supply, research reveals Americans are significantly vitamin deficient. Several factors for the “well fed but undernourished” epidemic sweeping our super-sized nation include: high intakes of dead, processed foods, GMOs, and animal products from factory farms. Also to blame are declining levels of nutrients in our soils due to mono-crop farming and the increasing prevalence of chronic health conditions that influence nutrient needs. The quantity and quality of vitamins and minerals in fresh, raw plant foods depend on their variety, growing conditions, weather, timing of harvest, genetic modification, and storage conditions. Even dietary
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supplements may contain slightly more or less than the amount shown on the label, so due diligence is advised. Visit your locally owned vitamin groceries and make friends with their vitamin specialists. In biological terms, homeostasis refers to the ability of the body to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions. The stability, or balance, attained is called a dynamic equilibrium; that is, as changes occur, the body works to maintain relatively uniform conditions. This is our birthright of optimum, disease-free holistic health. Livestrong.com states: “To contribute to the overall physical equilibrium that sustains life, each system must meet its metabolic needs through the nutrition from food. Clean, dietary protein, unrefined carbs, and healthy fats that supply both caloric energy and elements such as amino acids used to form cells. Compounds in dietary minerals and vitamins may act as hormones or catalysts in reactions needed for body functions, such as the regulation of blood pressure.”
