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Dr
Graham Cope
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Many
of the health problems we face today are
largely because we ignore the signs our
bodies are trying to tell us. We have
called these signs Body
Language.
We
fail to grasp the fact that our way of
life is entirely different to that our
bodies evolved to lead.
Our
prehistoric beginnings were in cold,
often hostile environments, struggling
to survive. The human body is generally
very robust, fighting against a series
of insults, to maintain normal function.
But in modern life there are limits to
this versatility, when the assault is
too severe, the body simply begins to
degenerate and illness sets in.
OBESITY
One example is obesity. Simply, this is
when the energy input from food
outweighs the energy expended. When this
occurs over an extended period the body
starts to store the excess energy in its
stores of fat. Our ancestors had to
expend a great deal of energy to search
for sources of food and just keeping
warm. The situation today is that the
vast majority of us have enough money to
buy more food than we need and live in
over heated houses. Unfortunately, much
of the food we buy is processed,
packaged for long shelf-life, with
additives to preserve it longer.
We
evolved such that when a plentiful food
source became available then the body
would over indulge to make stores for
when times were less favourable. Now in
developed countries we have no time of
scarcity so the tendency now is to over
indulge all the time. Unfortunately, the
foods that are plentiful are those which
are high in animal fats, those which
appeal to our instincts and tastes -
the 'fast food revolution'.
Consequently, many people are consuming
large amounts of food that the body has
not evolved to cope with. Evidence is
abundant which tells us that too much
red meat and animal fats are factors in
the cause of cancer and obesity.
We
as human beings should be able to know
our basic food requirements and change
our intake if the balance becomes
unsettled. The sign of increasing body
weight is a warning that there is too
much food consumption and too little
energy expenditure.
The
body's requirements for energy changes
with age. Children and young adults have
a higher energy requirement, because,
generally they are more active and their
bodies are still growing requiring
energy. As the person ages these
processes slow down and the requirements
are less, but the food intake, in middle
age, does not decline accordingly. Hence
the increase in weight in middle aged
people.
OSTEOARTHRITIS
AND INFLAMMATORY DISEASE
The
joints of our bodies are prone to wear
and tear. This is recognised by the body
as the first signs of degeneration.
Trauma or damage to any aspect of the
human body is seen as requiring
attention or repair. The part of the
system responsible for this repair is
the blood, specifically the white cells
or leukocytes. They accumulate around
any site of injury, whether it is a cut,
a foreign body in the skin, or damaged
ligaments. The cells gather, rather like
a motorway repair team, setting up all
the paraphernalia needed for the job in
hand, and like a road repair the immune
response can often be painful. The cells
release chemicals to help destroy the
cause of the insult, as if it was a
foreign body. These chemicals will
recruit more white cells to help, but
also cause pain and discomfort.
Unfortunately many of the chemicals
released by the white cells and their
helpers a derived from animal-derived
fatty acids. These chemicals have more
painful effects than fats from
unsaturated sources. This is the reason
that oils derived from non-mammalian
sources such as fish oils and vegetable
oils are less damaging and friendlier
that animal fats. This is the hypothesis
that fish oils protect against arthritis
and degenerative diseases.
ANTIOXIDANTS
AND FREE RADICALS
Another
aspect of inflammatory diseases which
has been talked about a lot is chemicals
called free radicals, or oxidants. These
are very complex chemicals, in that they
have large amounts of potentially
destructive energy but are very short
lived. These have been incorporated by
the white cells as a major part of their
armoury to defend the body against
invading or foreign elements. Free
radicals can help kill bacteria and
viruses and destroy other unwanted
material. Because of their destructive
nature, if misdirected, can also destroy
the cells, materials and ultimately the
body, which they are trying to protect.
To counter act these free radicals the
body has evolved a very elaborate system
of anti-oxidants. These are often taken
in with the diet and consist of a range
of substances like vitamins A, C and E.
Selenium, uric acid, lycopenes, and
carotenoids. These substances have
become the by-words in many diet and
nutritional advice columns. Without them
the free radicals would soon overwhelm
many of our systems. Degenerative
disease is the consequence, and early
symptoms are signs of vitamin or
antioxidant deficiency.
Some
antioxidants like vitamin C are water
soluble and need to be consumed in the
diet every day. Some like vitamin A are
fat soluble and are stored in the bodily
tissues. When external free radicals,
like UV light, cause damage to the body
the sources of antioxidants are
mobilised. As long as the assault is not
too severe, or too long, then the
damaging free radicals are neutralised
and damage is avoided. If however the
assault is too great and antioxidant
supply inadequate or depleted then
damage occurs, often to the most
delicate parts of the cells. One of the
major sites of damage in the cells by
free radicals is the DNA. And once the
DNA is damaged then there is the real
chance of serious consequences -
frequently cancer.
This
is the reason that fresh fruit and
vegetables, the natural sources of
antioxidants and other cancer fighting
chemicals, are so important. The advice
to consume 5 pieces of fruit and
vegetables come from research into free
radicals and antioxidants and is an
important course of action.
Although
sources of free radicals are all around
us, sunlight, pollution, pesticides, one
of the highest sources of free radicals
is consciously consumed by one quarter
of the population - cigarette smoke.
Experiments have calculated that in each
puff of a burning cigarette there are
6,000,000,000 free radicals. That needs
a massive amount of antioxidants to
prevent damage, and considering it is
smokers who have the poorest fruit
intake, it is no wonder that smokers
suffer so much illness. Not only do they
suffer a greater risk of damage,
particularly to the soft tissues of the
lung, but the tobacco smoke and its 4000
different chemicals severely damages the
immune system. This is why smokers have
more illness, irrespective of cancer,
than non-smokers. The destruction of the
immune system will also damage the
chances of DNA-damaged cells from being
eradicated.
FIBRE
AND BOWEL DISEASE
Another
consequence of our modern diet which is
well documented, is the lack of fibre.
The human digestive tract has evolved
for an omnivorous diet of fruit,
vegetables and some meat and fish.
Previously, fruit and vegetables grown
and collected, and primitive food
production, would produce a diet high in
fibre. Modern food processing has
removed much of that fibre. How many of
us now eat manufactured bread, where
much of the fibre has been removed by
the processing of flour? This is a major
factor in colon cancer.
The
layperson's understanding of the
working of the human digestive system is
poor. This is largely due to the
embarrassment factor; we do not like to
discuss the workings of our bowels! But
if we knew a little more, many of the
diseases which affect our society could
be avoided. Essentially, the digestive
tract starts in the mouth where the
teeth crush and liquefy the food. The
stomach with its acidic environment and
enzymes starts to digest the food and
break it down into its constituent
parts. The slurry from the stomach then
goes into the small bowel where the
nutritional elements are absorbed. The
small bowel is extremely long and has a
very large surface area to allow this to
occur. Once this is done the remaining
material passes into the colon to absorb
water and salts, thus maintaining the
liquid and salt balance of the body. The
function of the colon is enhanced by a
massive colony of different bacteria
which help breakdown the remaining
material that is left in the contents.
Once these different basic functions
have been performed the colonic contents
are expelled as faeces. These are
largely bacteria and indigestible
material, including fibre. The role of
fibre is to provide a matrix for the
bacteria to work, to trap the resultant
gases and to allow the bulk to propel
the contents along the colon. If there
is insufficient fibre there is not
enough material for the colonic muscles
to work against, the contents stay in
the colon too long and excessive water
and salts are removed producing a hard
mass which is hard to push against and
expel. The result of which is
constipation or impacted faeces, often
accompanied by uncomfortable
haemorrhoids. But worst of all, harmful
substances that are in the colonic
contents instead of being removed
rapidly and regularly, causing little or
no harm, they linger and attack the
lining of the colon causing colon
cancer. So, to recognise a healthy bowel function is to ward off bowel cancer.
MINERALS
AND SOIL
Another difference between the modern
and ancient diets is the soil in which
it is grown. At the beginning of
agriculture the cultivators regularly
moved from one growing area to another,
because they found the plants grew
better. When permanent farms were
established they found that rotating
crops and adding animal waste improved
productivity. However, with modern
farming techniques the soil is
supplemented, not with organic matter,
but inorganic NKP fertilisers, which
contain only nitrogen (N), potassium (K)
and phosphorus (P), sometimes iron (Fe)
is also present. This does not add the
other essential elements required for
health plant, and animal growth.
Consequently, we have increasingly
severe mineral depletion of soil. This
means that fruit and vegetables have a
lower mineral content than they did just
50 years ago. So even if we consume a
diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables
we might still be deficient in a number
of minerals. These deficiencies manifest
themselves in a number of ways as
changes to the skin, nails, tongue etc.
These signs and symptoms are our BODY
LANGUAGE. Learn more at www.mybodylanguage.co.uk
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