The advancement of modern technology has created some wonderful things that have certainly made aspects of our lives easier and more convenient than they were a few hundred years ago eg: the car, aeroplane, refrigerator etc.

One area in which modern technology has actually led us backwards in terms of our health is with our food. Something as natural and simple as the food we eat has turned into something we need a rocket scientist to analyse.

Buying and eating food has become something that now causes confusion rather than enjoyment. We are bombarded with rules and guidelines about what we should eat and what we shouldn’t eat, with a lot of this advice contradicting each other. No wonder we are overwhelmed with all this information or in a lot of cases, misinformation.

The place where we buy our food; the supermarket, has turned into a sterile and unnatural environment with little association to actual food or where it comes from. Here we find food in alien forms; heavily processed, genetically modified, deconstructed, laced with additives and preservatives, denatured, and over-packaged, to the point where there is little recognition to the original whole source of the food.

Unfortunately many people today fail to think about what they are putting in their bodies, and many fail to relate their poor health, illnesses and ailments to the food they eat day in and day out. There is a profound lack of information and education in our communities about nutrition and what is optimal for the functioning of the human body. It is evident that society has lost its connection to nutritious food, with energy drinks, caffeine, and fast foods becoming staples. If change is not generated it is scary to think what will occur in the years to come, if today’s health concerns are not alarming enough (diabetes, obesity, cancer, and heart disease in epidemic numbers).

We all have the ability to create the lives and bodies that we deserve. We all have the ability to make positive changes within our lives, the lives of our families and our communities. Food is a healing, life and energy-giving force that should provide our bodies with what we need rather than deplete us and lead us down the path of disease. Here are some simple guidelines so you can make positive and healthful changes to your life:

• Eat whole fresh foods in their natural source

• Eat organic sustainable food (pesticide, additive, chemical and preservative free)

• Buy meat from humanely raised, pasture fed animals

• Learn to cook. Reconnect with the beautiful and enjoying ritual of cooking good wholesome food

• Avoid eating at fast food restaurants . If you do choose to eat out make sure you ask questions about what is in the food you are buying

• Vote with your dollar. Choose to buy good quality, nutritious food. Support local farmers who treat their animals with respect and use the utmost care in growing the food that we eat (as opposed to large multinational companies that favour profits and quantity over nutrition and quality). The best way to do this is through your butcher and local farmers market.

“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine by thy food”- Hippocrates