In our last article we shared the possibilities of healing that allows our body to restore form and function after an insult.
But we also shared how that chronic diseases can also be healed – conditions like hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, auto-immune disease, and even early cancers.
Of course, it is better to prevent these through healthy behaviours, but what is necessary to restore health if we have already developed these conditions?
It is true that sometimes the disease is too far gone, and all that is available is to try to manage the consequences.
But documentation exists of even improvement of renal function, reversal of peripheral neuropathy, and opening up of narrowed arteries which has occurred with intensive lifestyle changes.
We have a potential gold mine of helpers to effect this.
It consists of our 100 trillion micro-flora, the microbiota which inhabits almost every tissue in our body, but especially the large intestine.
These micro-organisms provide around 200 000 genes – the microbiome – to assist our own 20 000 genes to help restore normal function.
These micro-organisms protect against chronic inflammation and ensure protection and integrity of the intestinal wall.
They produce short-chain fatty acids that have multiple effects around our body enhancing physiology, and help produce psycho-active chemicals to ensure mood stabilisation, as well as protecting against intestinal cancers, and many other functions.
And all they ask of us is to feed them with a wide diversity and sufficient quantity of plant fibres.
These are found in a diet rich in the rainbow colour of fruits and vegetables, a range of whole grains, a diversity of legumes (beans, peas, etc), and some seeds, nuts and herbs/spices.
Unfortunately, the typical western diet severely limits the diversity and numbers of healthy micro-organisms, and results in the condition called dysbiosis – a disordered gut microbiota.
This is a huge contributing factor to the pandemic of chronic diseases spreading to almost every country.
If we are to reverse this trend we need to get back to eating a diet that supports our internal friends, and a lifestyle that contributes to health through regular physical activity, adequate restorative sleep, stress management, social support and connections and avoidance of harmful substances.
Dr Dave Glass
MBChB, FCOG(SA), DipIBLM
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