In Awe

I think I can call this a rant, but I'm not sure it qualifies.

Have you ever thought about the amazing creation that is the human body? My husband is learning a little about the capacity of the body in school and confessed to me he's finally understanding a little why I'm so fascinated with the body's abilities and forgiveness, capability to heal and carry on despite injury. (Which is huge to me... all the time we've been together he's never understood why I'm so interested in anatomy and physiology, much like I don't understand why he's interested in geology. Finally he gets it! But I'm sorry to say I still don't understand the fascination with rocks. Sorry husband.)

But, really, the human body is an amazingly and intelligently created machine, a network of systems that carries out an unfathomable number of processes all at once, (mostly) without a hitch. We exist in a world where, despite our understanding of so many things around us (or our perception of understanding), we still don't have a complete grasp on the human body. We recommend foods, exercise, and wellness practices and yet over the last 100 years we've seen an immense increase in disease and morbidity. Despite these challenges, the human race still seems to thrive. We exist and grow in a world of processed and artificial food products, of chemicals, additives, and unknowns. And yet, the human body still reproduces, grows, and appears to thrive. God has created this amazing thing we call the human body that can overcome the environmental, emotional, physical and social obstacles created by the modern world to grow, create, demolish, and live. His creation can live through the incredibly artificial and damaging world coming up around us. The more I learn a out the human body, the more I'm in awe of what God has created and given to us. The ultimate gift, in my opinion.

What if we treat and fuel our bodies the way God intended? What if we ate real food, that comes from the ground and living things; food without labels (literally), without a laboratory to produce them, without additives and artificial chemicals? What if we could not only thrive but flourish and set our future generations up for the same? What if we could protect ourselves and out babies from chronic modern diseases like diabetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease? Would you be in?

Eat real food. We've all heard it before. Unfortunately it's harder than we'd like to admit. It appears that everything at store has a label, with crazy ingredients we have to sound out to pronounce. (Kinda makes you feel stupid, right?) Let me tell you folks, that's not real food. The "food pyramid" will try to tell you otherwise.We are inundated with recommendations, especially from the USDA and other government organizations. They tell us grains are good for us, to eat low fat, don't eat real butter, be afraid of raw dairy, everything must be pasteurized and sterilized. Grains aren't nutrient dense, nor are they good for us particularly in the modern forms we're fed today. They're genetically modified, bleached, stripped of nutrients then added back in artificially in a form the body is unable to process. Fat is essential to the production of hormones and other chemicals in the body, it's essential for neurological health by insulating our neurons, and supports fertility in both men and women. Raw dairy is incredibly nutrient dense, full of good bacteria and flora to populate our gut and assist in proper digestion. Pasteurization and sterilization rob our food of beneficial bacteria, depletes nutrients, and damages any fats present essentially making any food we eat useless. Modern food production throws the balance of omega 3 fats off in the body, depletes the soil of nutrients (which in turn takes them away from our food), poisons our meat supply with antibiotics and hormones (which has unknown long term repercussions on the human body, as well as animal physiology). We've gone too long allowing the government to adulterate and change our food with negative and sometimes unknown repercussions. Cast your vote and play your part by eating real food. Grow your own veggies (without pesticides of course). Buy your food from local and sustainable sources when you can. Understand that where you spend your money makes a difference by supporting what you believe in and support with your dollar.

I understand that can be hard when you're on a budget. Believe me, I know. Do the best you can.

Let's take a moment to reflect on ourselves. Are we honoring God with the food we eat and the way we move out bodies? I've come to learn that I can further honor God with the way I treat my body. He has created this amazing thing, this outstanding machine that can overcome so much. Let's set ourselves up for success.

The human body is an amazing thing. Don't you think?