It’s often said that the best defense is a good offense, and the same rule applies to maintaining your health, as you may be best off preventing an illness before it even happens rather than dealing with it after it does.
The fact remains that our diet is strongly linked to our health, and minor adjustments to it can go a long way if you know what you’re doing.
Authors T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell compiled one of the most comprehensive studies on the effects of diet on one’s health in their book “Eight Principles of Food and Health“, with the conclusion being that if you’re looking to stay healthy, you may want to change your diet a bit.
We’ll go over some of their findings as well as some of the things you can do to improve your overall health through the power of dieting, so keep reading and prepare to learn more about how your body works.
What are these “8 principles“
In the book, health is described as being highly reliant on one’s food intake, which we all may have felt at least once in our lives.
Essentially, the 8 principles the Campbells go over are the pillars that make up the teachings that correlate diet and health, which have been around for hundreds of years.
The first principle is that nutrition as a whole is represented by a combination of numerous food substances, with the entirety of it being much greater than the sum of the foods that went into it.
It’s followed by the idea that vitamin supplements won’t be enough to prevent any damage to your health that you may take on, and you may be best off increasing your vitamin intake through natural means.
In third place is the idea that animal products don’t have any nutrients that can’t be found in a plant-based diet, which could be up for contention, but with the constant growth in veganism’s popularity, it’s safe to say that it’s at the very least functional.
The 4th principle dictates that genealogy doesn’t impact one’s tendency for certain diseases on its own, but rather, genes only activate and express themselves in response to the nutritional values of the foods we eat.
Campbell’s fifth principle states that nutrition has a strong impact on the negative effects of the chemicals inside our bodies.
It’s closely followed by the sixth, which outlines the idea that the nutrition we ingest as a means of preventing disease in its early stages can be equally as helpful when it comes to halting or completely reversing it in its later stages.
After this comes the notion that nutrition that actually benefits the body in dealing with a specific condition may also lead to overall health improvement within the body.
Finally, the eighth principle states that a balanced nutritional intake can lead to health in all areas of our lives, as everything is tightly knit and interconnected.
Bone health
One of the more common illnesses that befall people in old age is osteoporosis, which is described as a continued loss of bone mass that leads to one’s bones becoming porous and fragile over time.
Of course, our body is working around the clock to maintain our bones, but with osteoporosis, the damage sustained progresses much faster than the healing process, turning into a downward spiral very fast.
Common sense leads us to believe that calcium may be the key to solving this issue, but the issue lies in the fact that many people also suffer from lactose intolerance.
However, there’s still hope, as other foods such as sardines, salmon, and dark green veggies are packed with the metal, and they’re even better at helping the body absorb it.
Magnesium goes hand in hand with calcium when it comes to improving one’s bone health, and it’s often found in whole grains, tofu, spinach, and almonds, which tend to be found in vegan diets.
Brain Health
Being one of the most complex organs in our body, the human brain is an enigma to this day, and scientists are yet to discover how it actually operates.
That being said, it’s one of the most active parts of our body, and all this work can take a toll on one’s brain health if it’s not maintained properly.
A steady and balanced stream of nutrients is required to keep one’s brain working at full speed, and it’s more than that.
Properly feeding your brain helps you prevent and lower the risk of cognitive decline in your later years, and you won’t be surprised to find that the foods supporting brain health are often those that keep the rest of your body functioning properly.
Soybeans and omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for brain health, and while omega-3 are commonly found in fish, vegans can also consume them through an increased intake of walnuts and pumpkinseeds, as well as some freshly ground flaxseeds mixed in with some dairy-free yogurt.