I remember years ago when our friend and mentor Dr. Richard Dicks gave us that phrase, ‘running out of youth’. It beautifully points out a common misstep people take with their health. Children process a wide variety of foods without a problem because so much nutrition is directed to growth. Their digestive systems make the most of whatever they encounter. They are accustomed to eating whatever they want and then they run out of youth and what they eat matters.
Truthfully it mattered what they ate before but they had a big margin of error built in that evaporates for adults. What is aging? Damage! Living cells should look like guinea pigs, rounded, sleek and smooth. When the cells flow through the circulatory and lymphatic systems they should barely leave a footprint. When a person eats irritating foods those guinea pigs turn into porcupines. When they go through tubes they leave scratches that eventually leak. One thing you can say about humans, it’s better when they don’t leak. As you go through life your diet may need to change so you can maintain optimal health. Know how to recognize if you are eating the wrong foods? You are sick! 90% of disease begins with diet. Emotional upset can trigger disease easily if the diet is wrong. The way that many people eat today they are walking a tight rope one emotional conflict away from falling into sickness. If your diet is vital, protein rich, free of glues and low in inflammatory fats your emotional body will be resilient, just like your physical body.
After the Second World War 60% to 80% of the American diet was unprocessed food. Currently 80% is processed. The childhood obesity epidemic is the onslaught of today’s fake foods overwhelming that youthful margin of error. There is not enough nutrition in kid’s diets to build the lean, toned body’s they were intended to have.
Parents decide their children’s diets and whining about their inability to control what their kids eat is a sorry excuse when your children are sick. The Paleo Diet may seem an extreme change to a child living on chicken fingers, ice cream and chips but the return to good health is an extreme shift to the good that makes well worth the effort.