FILEX 2017 PRESENTER
LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE
NUTRITION FOR INFLAMMATION
Taking a cue from ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates , we look at how nutrition can be used to help clients dealing with injury and inflammation .
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WORDS : DR KRISTA SCOTT-DIXON
f you ’ ve been working in the fitness or nutrition fields long enough , you ’ ve probably seen this quote from the ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates : ‘ Let food be thy medicine , and medicine be thy food .’
Too bad Hippocrates didn ’ t have Twitter 2,400 years ago , because he ’ s a pretty quotable guy . He also had some handy tips like :
• ‘ The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well .’
• ‘ Everything in excess is opposed by nature .’
• ‘ It is far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has .’
• ‘ Walking is the best medicine .’
• ‘ Make a habit of two things — to help , or at least , to do no harm .’
He also , pertinently , said ‘ There are two things : science and opinion . The former begets knowledge ; the latter ignorance .’ So what does all this mean for you and your clients ? Let ’ s take a look at how nutrition can be used to help clients dealing with injury and inflammation , and how Hippocrates ’ advice is still useful , thousands of years later .
‘ The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well .’
Hippocrates didn ’ t know about the biochemistry of immunity and inflammation in 400 BCE , but he did figure out that some system in the human body was responsible for healing and recovery – what we now know as the immune system . Inflammation is one of its jobs , but it has lots of others , such as :
• recognising what is ‘ self ’ and what is ‘ foreign ’
• keeping foreign material ( such as viruses or unfriendly bacteria ) out
• kicking the butt of any foreign material that gets in
• cleaning up the mess after aforementioned butt kicking .
The immune system usually keeps things in careful balance , and even within our immune system itself there is ideally a balance between its various components .
When our immune system detects something foreign in the system , such as a virus , or damage , such as an injury ( which might also let pathogens in , if the firstline defences , such as the skin , are breached ), it goes to work .
NETWORK AUTUMN 2017 | 11