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Enhancing the Immune System

Harris Chiropractic ClinicClarksville, TN – Nutrition is defined as the sum of the processes involved in taking in nutriments and assimilating and utilizing them. (Dorland’s Medical Dictionary) As a person understands and accepts this definition the field and scope of nutrition expands far beyond the basic considerations of the chemical building blocks of food, vitamins, etc. It is no longer a simple matter of trying to find and ‘get’ the many ingredients that experts claim comprise the perfect diet.

There is much more than mere biochemistry. Today there is as much discussion and research surrounding food handling, storage and preparation, as there is concern over the raw nature of food. It is well known that even the best quality food may be ruined by poor preparation and handling. As well there is growing awareness that the psychological and physiological condition of the consumer influences the nutritional benefit derived from ingestion.

It seems as though it will one day dawn that almost everything in our lifestyle may be seen as nutritionally influential.  To begin to consider some of the diversity of this influence there may be four aspects considered.  Receiving Food from the Earth, Handling Food with Care, The Art of Food Preparation, Awareness of Purpose in Eating.

Receiving Food from the Earth  

Releasing the idea that one must somehow acquire the right food from the environment then there begins to be a more natural flowing experience of receiving that which our earth abundantly provides. This attitude shift impacts behavior in the marketplace, and in the kitchen when the grocery list is being prepared.

Subtle sensing of food interests may be explored when biochemical manuals are put down, and even body compulsions/cravings may be considered as intelligent and not immediately discredited as vice. One may walk through the market finding intuitive resonance with certain foods, and may find that on a week to week basis this changes.

No longer is each week a repeated diet experience, but there begins to be diversity and the balanced nutrition that this brings. As well this alludes to the fact of varied diet phases throughout the course of one’s life, so that children are not prompted to eat as adults, and seniors may avoid gastric distress from foods suited to younger metabolisms focused in growth. 

Many of the suggested diets today imply that the right foods must be hunted down and acquired. There is an abundance that becomes increasingly apparent when we lift our eyes from the books and see what is before us.

Handling Food With Care 

Most food is rudely handled, stashed in bags, tossed in carts and trunks, hurriedly distributed into the shelves and drawers, and then only considered again as it goes into the pot, all the time ignoring the fact that this food was alive, and hopefully still carries some life essences.  In this way most of America finally kills the food before consuming.

Working with any gourmet it is immediately obvious that food is to be respected and handled with reverence. In this way food is energized and much less bruised.  There should be a difference between food that has been in one’s possession for a period of time and that which one is newly receiving, and that difference should be finer quality.

The Art of Food Preparation

Currently there is much talk about proper food combining, preparation, and presentation.  Even mild interest brings one to the subtleties of proper cutting techniques respecting inherent fibrous structure in food, effective steaming to prevent leeching of nutrients, proper storage and protection of food from heat, light and prolonged aeration (oxidation), and methods of cleansing food of pollutants (chemicals, toxins, additives, etc.)

Actually there is much that may be done at this stage to renew and restructure depleted and damaged food.  For many that ignore competence in this field there develops a dependency for pure, wholesome food sources, never knowing that each one may assume the responsibility of providing.

Awareness of Purpose in Eating

Eating in the main has become a mindless routine of filling the belly and satisfying the appetite.  Eating is actually a stage of completing the process of receiving that which has been given.  Food is being received into the body. This process may be graceful and sacred, and in this way there is right use for table manners and etiquette, an increasingly rare commodity.

Conversation surrounding a meal influences the nutritional experience, as do such things as TV and music. For many that find compulsion and obesity a problem simply enhancing awareness in eating may prove very powerful.  If one will learn to go slowly with compulsions one will not go so far with them.

Many forget about food once it passes the epiglottis (unless the gut talks back), yet there is a marvelous experience to increase awareness sensing the way food feels in the stomach, noticing as it passes through the intestines, and recognizing that which is released through the bowel.  Most of the visceral organs are involved with digestion.  This proclaims the diversity and degree to which one’s nutritional experience may expand.

A Word About Supplements and Nutrition Therapy 

Certain foods and food extracts therapeutically effect the body to focus its attention upon tissue targets.  This idea is not new to our era, but was common throughout the ages when it was often understood that certain foods were ‘good’ for certain aspects of the body. The master chemist that designed food created specific complexes of nutrients, perfectly balanced in vitamins, minerals, protein, catalysts, fat, carbohydrate, co-factors, synergists, enzymes, activators, buffers, antioxidants, etc.

To use extracts taking only pieces of food is to arrogantly ignore the many complementary factors present, factors known presently and some as yet still unknown.  For this reason food concentrates which preserve this inherent food formula are preferable to supplements which extract and fortify with additives. Many supplements give nutritional assay information but fail to describe the food source used, and these leave one uncertain of what they are.  Another distortion to the inherent formula of food is megadosage supplementation.

Some levels of ascorbic acid being consumed commonly exceed the amount which could be gained living in an orange grove for a month, and yet this amount is ingested daily.  Often large dosages must be used to boost the influence of impotent food extracts which are missing the many factors which make whole food concentrates so gentle and effective.

Final Encouragement  

This has not been written to suggest any brash principles in the nutrition field, but rather to stimulate questions and thought. From this may come individual answers and experiences uniquely suited to phases of life, specific healing processes and each person’s needs.

Larry Harris
Larry Harrishttp://www.harriscare.com/
Larry Harris graduated from Austin Peay State University in 1974 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in 1991. Dr. Harris founded Harris Chiropractic Center in 1992.
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