What’s on the End of Your Fork Can Kill You. No Joke!

This trio of raw foods sends the body a message to provide lasting energy and to build healthy cells. Photo courtesy Whole Foods Market.

By JANET COOK, NYC Healthy Chick

GOT high blood pressure? Pop a pill.
Got high cholesterol? Pop a pill.
Got a case of the blues? Pop a pill.
Got Type 2 diabetes? Pop a pill.
Got indigestion? Pop a pill.
Got erectile dysfunction? Pop a pill.
Got some other kind of chronic illness or disease? You know the drill.

For 30 days these five ate raw food, lost weight and kicked their insulin habit; others can do it, too. Photo courtesy of Raw for 30 Days.

See a pattern here? Yeah, it’s not a good one either in my humble professional opinion. The big pharma industry has led everyone to believe that the solution to every disease and illness is a pill. Ah, H-E-L-L-O!!!! No way, man, is this the solution. Think about how much the pharmaceutical industry is making from prescription drugs people take every day for common aliments.

What if we simply look at what’s on the end of our fork as a no-cost solution to cure what ails us? Isn’t this brilliant and easy? Actually, maybe it’s too logical for folks who are used to running to the doctor and getting a prescription for every new disease and illness.

What if we people were educated instead of medicated? How would this impact our health care system and medical costs? Consider what chronic diseases and illnesses cost our nation a year:
– heart disease $273 billion
– diabetes $174 billion
– cancer $158 billion
– obesity $147 billion

A diet heavy on animal protein such as sausage will possibly kill you and definitely won't make you better. Photo courtesy of Dreamstime.

What diabetes costs the nation is just about what has been spent on the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terror combined.

Taking control of one's health starts with disease education and prevention. The immune system function of many in the United States has deteriorated by approximately 30 percent in the last 20 years. It continues to deteriorate at a rate of approximately 3 percent a year. Understanding that diseases are merely a dysfunction of body and cellular systems will empower us as we learn to how to rebuild our immune system.

I learned a long time ago that every body is different; responses to food varies. A tonic for one is poison for another. Did you know that what you eat programs your body with messages of health or illness? Watch Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGjVJvOS8SU). This powerful documentary chronicles how six people with diabetes, a chronic incurable disease, greatly reduced or eliminated their need for insulin in 30 days under the supervision of a medical team.

Whole grains and fresh fruit salad are the makings of a light but filling meal any time of day. Photo courtesy of Whole Foods Market.

Chronic degenerative diseases afflict more than 120 million Americans. Fifty-plus million more suffer from one or more auto-immune diseases. Just think, if diabetes can be reversed in 30 days with a raw diet imagine what can be done with other chronic diseases and illnesses in general. A change in diet played a big role in the positive changes.

Ready to rebuild your immune system and stop body and cellular dysfunction? Take the NYC Healthy Chick 30-Day Raw Food Challenge:
· Eat uncooked greens and fruits
· Eat foods cooked under 118 degrees
· Stop microwaving food – it gets chemically altered
· Do a detox program to eliminate cravings for cooked foods
· Reduce or eliminate animal protein and replace it with plant-based protein

The apple and beet combo likes a salad but will go solo, even as a snack. Photo courtesy of Whole Foods Market.

Launch your program with a few of my favorite raw food recipes. One of my plant-based protein staples is quinoa. Combine it with the delicious fresh taste of a mango and the result is a super yummy duo that is filling and fun to eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner. Mango and Quinoa Salad (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3061)

Change the approach to salad at lunch or dinner with Wheat Berry, Apricot and Arugla Salad (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2968). This hearty and full-flavor trio sends good messages to the body, programming it for hours of energy and good health. Need to dress up veggies just a little? Try Apple Beet Charoset (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2924). This combo is good with accompaniments or on its own.

Pills and other drugs are not the answer to most of what ails us. Photo courtesy of Drugs Best Buy.

If you are tired of playing the big pharma games and paying for unnecessary medication, doubtless it’s time to change what’s at the end of your fork. Think of the money we can save as a nation.

We could apply the savings to the deficit, end poverty, eradicate world hunger. Live healthier, juicier, happier lives. Amazing!