Health. Feeling good. Enjoying life. Right down at the core of this is FOOD. This includes “Primary Food”--all those parts of life that give it meaning: relationships, satisfying work, a sense of purpose.

Yet the actual FOOD that we eat is what makes our bodies “tick”. Our DNA provides the blueprint. How well the body expresses this blueprint depends in large degree on the quality of the building materials we put into it. We have at our service the Master Architect: Mother Nature herself.

If we hire an outstanding architect to design our home, yet entrust the construction of it to a builder that uses shoddy materials, what happens? The house may seem pretty okay for a while, but after a time it starts breaking down. Without adequate supports, parts start to sag.

Various pieces malfunction. It becomes more and more of a headache to live in and manage, until we are spending major amounts of time and money getting it repaired.

If that house is built, from the start, of excellent materials that are appropriate for what they are forming, it is strong and durable. Parts that begin to wear out are faithfully replaced by new material as needed, making it an enduring structure.

Even outdoing that well-built house is the amazing human body. Its gift of self repair and self renewal seems miraculous. “How can it know how to do all that?”  As in all biological systems, its workings, right down to the tiny structures within each cell, are enormously complex. Its ways of processing the food we put into it, to carry out all its intricate functions, are jaw-dropping if you are new to the study of biology and physiology. Besides transforming our breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks into human tissue, it continuously REPLACES each cell as it ages. 

In order to do all this, it requires a number of specific nutrients. What if our food doesn't supply all of these? The body is capable of manufacturing many of these, but this extra manufacturing process requires more expenditure of energy. If it still doesn't have what it needs, the body makes do somehow. But not as well as if it had what it needed. And eventually, breakdowns can occur, i.e., disease.

Not only does this marvelous organism do all that, but also it must cope with whatever toxic substances it encounters in food and all around us. Over 80,000 synthetic chemicals have been created since World War II. Unfortunately, many of these are used in processed food products, personal care products, cleaners, and other manufactured items. Then there's the toxic pollution issuing from coal and oil burning, and from the processes of manufacturing just about everything.

At this point you may feel like shuddering and thinking about something else instead. But wait! You can take control of your own health. Knowledge is power.

The purpose of this blog is to offer you knowledge you need in order to take charge of your body and your life. With each post I'll call your attention to facts you may not know, with resources for further information. I'm happy to receive your comments, questions, and suggested topics you'd like to read about here. Thank you!

Marilyn