Food is any nutritious substance usually of plant or animal origin, that contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, water, vitamins, minerals, which when eaten, produce energy, promote growth, repair worn out cells and regulate various metabolic processes in the body.
Medicine is an agent such as a drug or other preparation used for the treatment or prevention of disease.
Is it possible to make my food, my medicine? Yes. According to Hippocrates “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
Do I have to wait till I fall sick before I make my food, my medicine? No, the time is now. Benjamin Franklin’s old saying of “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” should be taken to heart.
Are there special foods that help prevent diseases? Yes. Plant foods (fruits and vegetables) have special molecules called phytonutrients that can turn on and off our DNA to help prevent and heal diseases.
This field of study is known as Nutrigenetics and it researches into how we can change our gene expression by the type of food we eat. Fruits and vegetables are a rich source of several nutrients including antioxidants which reduces inflammation and prevent free radical damage in the cells.
Which food(s) did God command man to eat at creation? Genesis 1:29 – And God said, behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat (KJV). The phrases in bold letters refers to fruits and vegetables.
At creation, God intended man to eat only fruits and vegetables, so he planted the Garden of Eden and put man there to tend and keep. It was after man’s fall in the garden of Eden, after the Noahic flood that God permitted meat to be added (Genesis 9:3). In the beginning, it was not so.
Why then do we fall sick?
It is as a result of our disobedience to God’s initial plan for mankind.
How then can we overcome getting sick? By tracing our steps back to the Garden of Eden and concentrate on eating fruits and vegetables. Let us use Daniel who purposed in his heart that he will not eat the king’s delicacy as our example.
He requested for pulse (vegetables). Daniel 1:11-15 – Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king’s meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.
How then can I make my food, my medicine? By accepting in its totality that food is the most potent drug we have. There are quite a lot of foods (fruits and vegetables) that can help to prevent/manage a lot of common chronic diseases like cancer, diabetics, high blood pressure, macular degeneration, arthritis, obesity and other metabolic diseases. To be continued.
Dr Olubukola Babalola writes from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
