Modern man, Homo sapiens, migrated from the Southwestern tip of Africa with the retreat of ice. His digestive system and body evolved by consuming wild and nutrient dense food taken from nature. What sets him apart from other animals was his use of fire, which helped him to unlock greater nutrition and grow a larger brain.
Today’s environment is very different. The U.S. produces or imports billions of pounds of chemicals per day. These chemicals are found in the air we breathe, the food we eat, the cosmetics we apply, the household products we handle, the plastics we use, and are even found in the blood of the umbilical cord of unborn children. Air pollution, a carcinogen, will become the leading cause of death by the year 2050. Our bodies are not evolved to handle these chemicals.
Earth is an ecosystem of life and we are a part of that system. Our gut, like the root system of a tree, provides the nutrients our body needs to thrive. Our gut is our inner ecosystem consisted of many more bacterial cells than human cells. Some of these bacterial cells help us by unlocking the nutrients our bodies need from the food we eat. A lack of bacterial cell diversity is the reason for our current obesity epidemic and type 2 diabetes. We unknowingly may have disrupted that diversity through the use of antibiotics which indiscriminately kills the bacteria. As stated in the movie, “health starts in the gut.”
Inflammation is the common denominator for autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and many more. “Within the first six meters of our intestines, lies about 70% of our immune system.” This system helps our bodies identify what is friend or foe. The food additives, found in the new foods we consume, are not recognizable by our bodies, and thus create a potential for chronic inflammation. Even the wheat grain, found in breads and pasta, has been modified in recent years; therefore, unrecognizable by the immune system. Environmental toxins and unnatural foods are hurting our bodies. The movie suggest that “we are ancient beings living in a modern world.”
Organic agriculture and pasture raised beef provides a better food source, as it more closely simulates what we were designed to eat. Some folks are returning to the “traditional family farm” and working with nature to produce healthier food. We can support these farms by “voting with our forks” several times per day to change how our food is raised. Good food should be considered our first defense in health care.
**All quotes were taken from the movie.**
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