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2) A lack of the essential nutrients needed by the body.

Toxins:
Toxins are continually entering the body. Every cell in our body uses energy from the food we eat along with the oxygen we breathe to “live” and function. The by-products of metabolism from our cells as they use the energy, nutrients and oxygen we take in for them are toxic. Fortunately, our bodies are beautifully designed with a liver and kidneys to take care of these toxins. These are the body's "major organs of purification." If these organs become overloaded with more than they can handle or weakened by a lack of nutrients they require, there will be more toxins coming in than leaving.

As we age pathogens increase in our body. As they live inside our bodies their waste products add to our own metabolic waste products and this puts more stress on the kidneys and liver. To complicate things further, pollutants from our environment, preservatives in our food supply, altered foods like partially hydrogenated oils and thickening agents add to the toxins we have to deal with. From here on it becomes a vicious cycle. As we become older, weaker and more toxic, the amount of pathogenic organisms in our bodies increases and as the pathogenic organisms increase in number we become more and more toxic.

Pollutants in our environment come from such things as the water we drink (especially if we live in cities or farming communities) the food we eat (especially if we eat prepared foods, prepackaged foods, and processed foods or foods that contain pesticide or herbicide residues) the lotions, deodorants, make-up, toothpaste, hair color and permanent solutions, etc. Everything we expose ourselves to needs to be detoxified by the liver and eliminated by the kidneys or dumped into the large intestine. Without protective agents (anti-oxidants) these chemicals are very destructive to the body.

Processed and refined sugars, poor digestion, and a lack of normal flora mixed with the mucosal lining of the large intestine create a layer or tube kind of like a rubber tire along the lining of the large intestine. This makes a wonderful place for pathogens to thrive and toxins to pool. Eventually toxins become blocked by the old hard fecal material lining the colon and rather than getting dumped out of the body they become reabsorbed. Retained fecal material in the intestines and pathogens in the digestive tract are at the root of Ulcerative Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's Disease, and many digestive disorders, etc. They are also at the root of most other sicknesses. Many doctors, naturopaths, etc who have helped people get well from serious illness through the years have used bowel cleansing as their starting point.

Nutrients:
Nutrients eaten rarely meet the requirements of the body. They estimate our food supply today gives us 85% less nutrients that the same foods supplied in the early 1900’s. The soils of today are terribly depleted in trace minerals and healthy microorganisms. This is because only a few synthetic minerals have been added back to most soils, while year after year there have been crops produced. And in addition, herbicides and pesticides have killed off much of the micro-organisms that are vital to a good soil ecosystem. With a lack of good minerals and nutrients the plants need, a pH that is not in optimal range, and no normal flora, most plants are in the same position we here in America are. Just as we need good normal flora in our guts to digest our food properly, plants need good soil flora in order to assimilate and utilize the nutrients they need. They have nutritional requirements just as we do, and they also need the good flora, just like us. Unfortunately, good soil organisms have received very little recognition as being important to crop production, only a few synthetic minerals are even recognized as important to plant health, and this has caused our food supply to be less nutrient rich. As an aside, it is some of these soil based organisms that the plants need that are being sold as soil based organism to people to help repopulate their digestive tracts with normal flora. It seems if we have healthy soil with good organisms in it, then somehow in eating the fruits and veggies from this type of an environment gets these healthy organisms into us, too.

Unfortunately, most people in America do not eat nutrient dense food. Very few people raise any of their own food, and fewer yet can by organic or from friend, neighbors or at farmer's markets. Most people do have time to prepare meals any more. The result of this is that there are lots of refined, processed foods consumed today. These are quick and convenient. Our life styles today make it hard to eat healthy. Unfortunately, there are no “super-foods”, no raw animal products and very few nutrient dense, foods eaten by most Americans. You find very little really healthy food at restaurants. Processed foods that deplete our bodies of needed nutrients are consumed much more often rather than foods that build the body up and nourish it.