Don't wait to get ill before you do something about your health!

On Friday 21st February I had the pleasure to meet Nina Joy +Nina Joy at one of our 'Open Source' Link4Skills events held in Peterborough and arranged by +Nikki Pepper . Nina received some pretty shocking news in the summer of 2012 she was told she had an aggressive form of breast cancer that had already spread to her lymph system, bones and liver... chemotherapy was the only treatment on the table. I'm not sure how I would react to news like this, but Nina explained how by developing gratitude that this was her not her sister or neice that had to deal with this, some small chinks of positivity began to creep in.

Nina refused chemotherapy and took herself off to Germany on a 5 week course to prepare herself mentally and physically plus learn what nutrients she needed to take on board to tackle what was going to be the biggest challenge of her life. The facts are clear to see... 40% of those diagnosed with Nina's condition would have passed away by Christmas 2012... here in February 2014 Nina looks amazingly well and doing what
she loves doing, inspiring people with her story and making people aware that we can stop this cancer epidemic if we just start looking after ourselves better.

Now many who know me also know that I'm all for "prevention is better than a cure", but we live in a difficult time where food and diet are concerned. We're all so very busy now, convenience takes precedence over almost everything, and our obsession with low fat, low sugar, low cholesterol has resulted in what? More people than ever are obese, more people that ever are suffering from cancers and cardiovascular diseases, the incidence of diabetes are reaching critical levels (especially when looking at the costs involved). What on earth is going on?

... all the guidance we are receiving appears to be taking us in the wrong direction. What if many of the 'truths' we've been told are actually lies? ... What if the very products we're being sold as good for us are actually bad? ... what if the low fat, low sugar products are actually making us obese? ... However we must accept responsibility for our own health, if you don't care about you, then no one else will either... we have to say 'Time Out', I deserve better than this, and begin to make better food choices. We do have a choice... those doughnuts / burgers / ready meals might taste good... they might satiate the craving for sugar or salt... but they are also slowly killing us too... let's put a stop to it... now!!

Food companies are selling us rubbish non food... low cholesterol... low fat, zero sugar... the list of ingredients is full of items we can't even pronounce and chemicals that have no place inside our bodies... the rule should be, if they are advertising it, then it's probably not good for us! ... How many times do we see top sports people advertising sugar laden energy drinks which are really bad for us. In truth their nutritionists would have a nightmare if they saw them drinking these products! Water is in every case better for us than these chemical laden drinks.

But we have a real challenge when even the Health Service is supporting an education programme which is factually dubious. Look at this which I learned was being sent around schools... sponsored by... Nestle the national partner that can help reach a much wider audience than the largest employer in the land; the NHS...

Now of course the Change4Life programme has its heart in the right place... it would like to change the eating habits of a nation, it would like to get people making better food / drink selection choices... this is all good... but at least look at the facts! ... not just listen to the marketing spin of companies like Nestle...

Change butter for margarine or low fat spread? Unfortunately most of these low fat spreads and margarines are one molecule off being plastic with very little in terms of health benefit and a whole heap of man made compounds that the body has no idea what to do with. Butter the body knows what this is... and ok, eat in moderation not to excess... but it isn't bad for you! ... same goes for milk... there is evidence to suggest that the semi skimmed and skimmed is actually worse for us... if we were going to swap milk why not Almond milk or hazlenut milk? ... these are much more beneficial to us and dairy free overcoming lactose intolerance issues which seem to abound these days...

How do we really get to change the eating habits of a nation? ... not in my opinion by telling them... I think we have to have leaders, people who are walking the walk and sharing that it is not difficult to eat healthily... in fact part of the solution is really to stop worrying about food.

We were designed to be able to each a whole raft of foods... in the distant past we were hunter gatherers... we picked and ate what was growing naturally. Each season provided different foods and these provided us with the nutrients we needed. Now things are much more complex, we can have strawberries every day of the year... eat exotic fruits whenever we fancy... and we have processed and pre-packed foods that contain many things we would not normally eat.

Time to go back to the simple times... fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, and some meat and chicken but more of a bonus rather than the norm and certainly in smaller portions than we've been conditioned to consume... So we need a simple programme...

1. What foods to buy and what to avoid
2. Demonstrations and examples of things anyone can cook
3. Ideas for planning a weeks meals and how to make the most of the foods we buy
4. Education... no nonsense straight forward advice and guidance without the profit motive of big business
5. Leaders who are walking the walk... not on TV, but amongst the community, sharing, talking, assisting people on to the right path
6. Community, where we can support each other on the journey
7. A naturally evolving central resource / library where people can interact, ask questions and help each other

When we've done this right... and we've done this through community, then we will make lasting change. This is a movement to put right what was destroyed by greed and the lust for profit at the expense of our health... it is time to start down the path of good health now we know that the food industry can't be trusted to provide us with proper food...