By: Dr. Paul Mach, DN

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking,
so that other people around you won’t feel insecure.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It’s not in some of us.
It’s in everyone.
And as we let our light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
(Nelson Mandela from Marianne Williamson)

Hope you enjoyed the quote. This has been one of my favorites for the past year. I must confess I enjoy philosophy, quotes and things that make me go hmmmmm. The first time I saw this quote was on the casket of a very close and amazing friend. She was 41 years old and had battled for two years with cancer. It was one of those knock down and dragged out fights. It won, or did it? We all are born to die. In Stephen Levine’s book “One Year To Live”, it discusses that whether you have been diagnosed with one year to live; or you think you will be around another 10, 20, or 50; it’s not until we accept and embrace our temporary humanity that we give ourselves full expressive permission to LIVE. The awesome thing is that once we realize our time is temporary here on this earthly plane, the sooner we can get down to an excited, energized, enlightened and passionate loving means of existence. In interviews of centurions the regrets of things missed in life included not getting the education they wanted, wishing they would have taken more risks, and not slowing down to enjoy life’s simple gifts more.

I have been very fortunate to meet so many patients here who have been able to teach me so much. This education incorporates much of the innate intelligence and learning of many years of knowing the land and watching the United States change and evolve over the last century. Here is how the scenario goes. We are having a conversation/consultation about one of several health conditions that repetitively plague our country. I start to suggest some basics such as drinking more water or to increasing consumption of organic fruits and vegetables and before I know what hit me I am getting a full-blown education from my patients on topics that I have only read and studied about. The knowledge of the land and its bounty and workings are something that a city boy like me only learns about from books and second hand experience.

People possess a great deal of knowledge and information regarding diet and nutrition. It is called instinct. The sad part is it’s just been forgotten or been reconditioned by the monster conglomerates who have their bottom line held in highest regard at our expense. It is hard to think sanely or rationally, or follow instincts, when businesses spend billions to recondition our thinking to purchase their product. This is done manipulatively girls in bikinis and muscular males (sex sells everything from toothpaste to beer) to talking spud dogs and cool camels. Blatant lies tell us if we utilize their product we will be happy and fulfilled. We will be sexy and irresistible with the opposite sex. In fact they will be chasing after us. Unique because you deserve a break today; yet accepted and part of the group, you know you’ve come a long way baby ;and feel as free as a cowboy out on the range in his country. Advertisers even tell us how to spell relief- “ROL…”. We become victims of mental manipulation and Pavlovian conditioning. Humans seek love and acceptance. We want to be happy and have our worldly fears dissipated. The best marketers capitalize on these fears and desires. Our intelligence often goes out the window when we see the girls in bikinis, the happy faces and house parties, and the laughing clowns selling us on aspects completely incongruent with their product. They become the panacea that we need to evolve and make our life fulfilled and complete. Like zombies we all reach for these products that the TV promises us will bring us pleasure, and alleviate all our self-image concerns, fears and pains. We all know that peace, love and healthy people and families can’t measure up to the appropriate toilet tissue, value meal, or drinking the appropriate beer or cola. This is ultimately what life is about.

Children are perfect examples of this manipulation. If you take a young healthy child who hasn’t been marketed to and conditioned, but has been allowed to use his innate God given reasoning instead of Madison avenues brainwashing, he/she would reach for foods that would nourish their bodies and allow them to grow healthy and strong. Fruit should be a natural snack to a child, but a playground and a sales clown is to much for the little tykes to resist. This conditioning then causes the positive life long association between pleasure playground and the low nutritional content “food” that is served there to correlate as warm fuzzies. Do you really want to raise your child on foods your intelligence tells you, you shouldn’t even eat? Heck when the children try to feed it to the dog you stop them by reprimanding them that this food will make Fido sick. What about Junior? Does this “food” grow healthy young bodies? Obviously not. Obesity is rampant among children along with a multitude of health conditions like diabetes, asthma, ADD and behavior disorders.

People often don’t think. Advertisers and the government love this. It makes sales, taxation and control easier. Realize all that you know and put the pieces together. It just all doesn’t fit together and make sense. As your health coach I want you to know that you are powerful beyond measure. No individual can afford to yield passively to all the appeals of a society of salesman and advertisers. Utilize the magnificent thought process you possess and think outside the box.

One example of a mutually enlightening conversation I had during the last couple of weeks goes like this. Conversation #1 with Mr. X was about eating increased amounts of fruits and vegetables as well as increasing water consumption throughout the day. I then suggested he try to eat organic meats, such as beef and chicken if possible. Well, I hit a real nerve with this man. He had been a cattle rancher for over 40 years. He went on to explain the beef and pork (cattle and pig) industry in ways that I had only read about. He explained the evolution in raising animals that had been forced to occur due to deflated market values and increased drug utilization. He explained how in his day animals were healthy, free ranged and strong. Nowadays they are sickly and full of antibiotics and growth hormones. The growing conditions of these majestic creatures had forced them to be fed foods inappropriate for their well being, but implemented to expedite their growth. Drugging of cattle and pigs is standard protocol. These are not healthy animals. They are production line cattle and pigs. Antibiotics are standard protocol because of the inhumane conditions. It’s a race against time to quickly raise the animal as fast as possible on growth hormone, medicate the animal, and keep it alive. The object of the game is to get it huge, as fast as possible, and then kill it in the nick of time before it dies from of the many illnesses from which it suffers due to conditions. Mr. X went on to explain how this disgusted him and saddened him. He stated he still had a few cattle he raised the old fashion way for his own family.

The conversation continued with talking about health in a way he had never thought of before. These areas of concern in his industry had never carried over in his thought process to other aspects of the agriculture. You could see the look on his face as if seeing the world from a different paradigm when he realized how many poisons, chemicals and toxins were utilized in the fruit, vegetable and produce industry. It was the putting of two and two together. That made sense now. He had been so focused on the injustice that was occurring to what he held near that he neglected to realize the toxic exposure in other industries. This enlightenment scared and motivated him to do his own growing and canning again to ensure quality and nutrients along with minimal toxic exposure.

THINK. Do you know the sources of your food? Eat simple. Organic or the best and healthiest locally grown produce and meats are best. What about all those big words and chemicals that are in the ice cream you eat and the corn chips that you munch? Do you realize what those chemicals, preservatives and stabilizers really are? My with the rancher ended on the subject of the world and how it had changed in his lifetime. Your assignment between now and my next article is to view the foods you see in the grocery store and consume on a daily basis and to think about how we have altered our food consumption, diet, and lifestyle in America over the last 100 years. Has it all been for the best? What the heck is that stuff your putting in your mouth? Is it nutritious or better utilized for rust removal and taking corrosion off your car battery? What is the purpose of food consumption anyway? As an animal, are you feeding yourself better than your dog or would you be upset if someone fed Fido the food that you ate, fearing for his health? Is there any nutrition in that food or have you just been conditioned to eat it without giving it a second thought? Do you even really like the way it tastes or have you become a creature of habit and instinct? THINK. It will scare the heck out of others. In fact be so bold as to THINK OUT OF THE BOX. Don’t be afraid to “be all you can be”. “JUST DO IT!” “Life is a game play hard.”

Next week: have we progressed over the last 100 years or just simply evolved to making great Star War sequels?