Health
Augustine Shamuyarira
D
ue to the
advances in
technology,
a n y o n e
anywhere
can
have access to foods
from any country, and
in any season. Progressive
as this may seem, it poses a
major challenge to health which
many choose to ignore.
These foods are often highly processed
and are kept in cold storage for long
periods of time, rendering them of no
nutritional value to the body. The human
body is a miracle of creation, a finely
balanced combination of substances,
which, unfortunately, we often abuse
(frequently unknowingly).
Like everything, it operates perfectly
when in balance. This balance is between
acidity and alkalinity. If we are out of
balance our acidity levels are too high.
This balance is best achieved by what
we eat.
People today need to be made aware
that the food a person eats influences
not only their health, but also their
behavior. In the past people
were worried about how
much they ate. Today
they need to be
concerned
about what
they eat.
Most of
w h a t
we feed
ourselves
h a s
been processed to increase
the shelf life of the product.
Unfortunately,
this
processing of our foods
does nothing to improve
the quality of life or the state of
health of the people who consume
them.
Our children, for example, are at a
great risk even before they are born.
If a mother has been on the pill, on
a low fat, weight reduction program
just before she conceives, this can
impact on the health of her child. Oral
contraception, for example, destroys the
important B group vitamin-Folic Acid
which is essential for the prevention of
birth defects, like spina-bifida.
Attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity,
asthma, allergies and many other
disorders can be as a direct result of the
nutritional status of the child’s parents
before conception, and the mothers,
during pregnancy.
In their book, “Chemical Children”
Published by Century, (1987). Dr Peter
Mansfield and Dr Jean Monro, have this
to say:“We are facing a medical problem,
which is only about fifty years old. It is
now affecting a large minority of young
people throughout the developed world
- estimates vary between ten and thirty
percent. Children, teenagers, and young
adults in their twenties are the first
generation to have grown up totally
cocooned in chemicals.
The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine
“Each year’s new babies encounter
a stiffer challenge to their physical
constitution than was faced by older
children in their day, a year or two before.
The numbers of children adversely
affected by chemicals now amount to
an epidemic which ought to be obvious,
recognized, taken seriously and dealt
with.”
Genetics, as well as maternal, hormonal,
nutritional, and environmental factors
contribute to a child’s growth. Good
nutrition is the single most important
factor affecting growth and development.
Nutrition affects a child’s physical
growth, body composition, immune
function, and mental function.
Most of the food we eat is stored,
preserved, chemically treated and then
over-cooked. This is not what nature
intended. Eating organic foods would be
the best way to strengthen the immune
system. Unfortunately, the challenge
we face in this regard is that organic
growing of crops has been replaced
by chemically based food production,
thereby diminishing people’s access to
organic foods.
Non-organic foods often have pesticide
or herbicide residue which can build up
to toxic levels over time and have the
potential of overloading consumers. Mass
production fertilizers such as phosphates
used in non-organic food production can
remove minerals from the produce.
It is important, however, that even
faced with the challenge of non-organic
food production, we must carefully
choose what foods to eat, bearing in mind
that water - carbohydrates - proteins and
fats are the basic building blocks of a good
diet, as well as vitamins,
minerals
and
macronutrients.
We
should
choose
and consume them in
their healthiest forms
to assist the body in
functioning
properly.
TP
April 2013
Page 79