ABSTRACT
It is increasingly evident that diet and lifestyle play a pivotal role in chronic disease especially heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Research is now revealing that the quality and lack of diversity of food in the modern diet is a major risk factor in disease. It has proven that the processing of food e.g. additives, preservatives, artificial colorings, caking agents, emulsifiers, etc., interfere with the micro biome of the gut causing inflammation, weakens the immune system which is the cause of chronic illness. The human micro biome is designed to assimilate plant and animal nutrients sourced from unadulterated nature, not from food that has been altered for commercial reasons. Modern agriculture is a major player in the production of food using billions of tons of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, ripening agents and herbicides in particular glyphosate, the active ingredient in “Roundup.” Food is grown for weight and appearance not for nutritional value which is severely compromised because soil does not rebuild when chemicals are used. Chemicals, antibiotics and hormones used in factory farming make agriculture a main contributor to water and soil pollution. Recent research has shown that the micro biome of soil is closely related to the human micro biome which gives credence to the theory that health depends on healthy soil to provide healthy food. The “Holistic Healing Village” explores an alternative approach to care by demonstrating an ancient ayurvedic principle “Food as Medicine” in a healing environment for those whose lives are devastated by chronic disease.
