"AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE"

A few days ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to listen to a phone conversation put on by Emmy Vadnais, an occupational therapist herself, who started a holistic occupational therapy group on facebook, and Karen Massey, another occupational therapist, but more importantly, a certified health counselor. 

Karen educated us via the phone conversation regarding the importance of nutrition. My favorite quote from her, which she stated a few times, "Food is fuel and it controls everything we do." She also said, "How much we put into our bodies powers everything." I think that this is such an important message, especially in our culture with so many obese people, and sadly obese children, the diabetes epidemic and how much cancer surrounds us. Unfortunately, I believe that we are doing this to ourselves, all through the over-processed foods that we are choosing to eat.

Here are some interesting facts that Karen pointed out:

• 1 in 2 people will have cancer
• We are the most over-fed, yet malnourished country in the world
• The American Heart Association's guidelines do not support a healthy diet
• Doctors get absolutely no formal training in nutrition (or preventative care for that matter, I am stating), yet, they are the first that we go to when we are ill
• An absorbent amount of money is spent on heart surgery per year. Yet, it only takes 2 weeks of healthy eating to begin to decrease those risks associated with heart attack and surgery
• The quality of foods in hospitals and nursing homes is toxic 
  
• Food in our country is based upon misinformation, lies and corruption. Do you see commercials telling you to go out and buy an avocado?
• There are so many addictive properties in food that cause Americans to keep over-eating unhealthily
• Most school lunches are made up of fat and complex carbohydrates instead of being loaded with nutrients and phytonutrients, which are so essential
•  Meat and dairy are the hardest foods to digest (this does not mean become vegan!) - a lot of energy goes into digesting these foods so when a person is ill, finding the right foods that are easily digestible for them is important
• Seek out help from a nutritionist instead of a dietician (especially hospital based dieticians). Many, not all, dieticians are focused on disease management instead of prevention and they follow the AMA's guidelines, which do not promote eating healthy, whole foods, providing plant based nutrition. Many hospitals and the AMA also receives funding from Coca-Cola and Nestle. Hence the drink Ensure, which provides no source of goodness
• Food does not only affect us physically, it also impacts psychosocial and emotional well being
• Herbicides and pesticides are creating diseases and killing the earth
• GMO's are in so many of our foods, but people have made a lot of money off of them! Monsanto - Need I say more?

 So, with all of this against us, what can we do?
EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE! I started on this "healthy, organic trend" close to 10 years ago when I worked with an amazing physical therapist who opened my eyes to all of the crap, literal crap, that I was putting into my body on a daily basis. This physical therapist has become a dear friend and I owe my health and the health of my husband and children all to her! She guided me through so many questions over the years and the more I learned through Rebecca, books and documentaries, the more I was sold on how beneficial this lifestyle is for our health, minds and the normal, healthy development of our children. Prevention is key and in our house we eat organic, healthy whole foods, take plenty of vitamins and have an arsenal when someone begins to get sick. Teething is honestly the only thing that I haven't figured out yet!

Let's begin educating! Some resources that Karen informed me about through the phone conference include:

1. Number 1: Food Rules by Michael Pollan - an AMAZING resource   

2. Documentaries:

• Hungry for Change
• Food Matters
• Healing Cancer from the Inside Out  

3. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn - Cardiac Care; Heart Attack Proof

4. Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine 

5. Great for Kids - Nutrition Detectives by Dr. David Katz

6. Apps to help you make decisions regarding healthy foods on the fly - especially if you can't always afford organic:

• Dirty Dozen
• What's on my Food? (a project of pesticide action network) - I use this one a lot and you will be amazed when you start looking at how many carcinogens, hormone disruptors and neurotoxins are on the food we eat

I hope that this has been helpful to anyone reading. I know that it was very helpful for me to bring more of this knowledge into my OT practice and also into my home. If you have any questions, again, do not hesitate to contact via the information at the side of the blog. 

Happy and Healthy Eating!