Are You Healthy?

society that most people who suffer from them

consider themselves to be healthy. The maladies

By Roe Gallo, M.A. cited in the above instances are very unhealthy,
yet they are usually considered healthy or

Are you healthy? What is your answer to this reasonably healthy. Reasonable health is

question? commonly considered to mean having some or

all of those conditions. But, how can you feel

My cousin thought her father was healthy, and good, look good and have energy to do what you

when he suddenly died of a heart attack, she want to do if you are so diseased? You can't!

was shocked. "But Roe, he stopped eating a lot Because of this false perception, I feel there is a

of red meat, and he took his blood pressure and need to clarify what it means to be truly healthy.

medicine regularly."
"Good health", according to Dr. Philip Maffetone

Meeting a friend from high school I inquired in his book, "The High Performance Heart"

about her dad. "Oh," she said, "my dad is still the (1994), "is a state where all your bodily systems

same, you remember, he never gets sick. He's are functioning harmoniously (p. 18)."

68 now and is still really healthy." But when I

asked why he was living with her she said What does it mean to have the bodily systems

matter-of-factly, "Well, the doctors thought it functioning harmoniously? This is explained in

would be better after this last bypass operation. the sixth edition of "Human Physiology" (Vander,

This was his second and it left him pretty weak." Sherman and Luciano, 1994) as follows:

These are just two out of many examples of the ...the overall effect of the activities of organ

illusions people harbor concerning their state of systems is to create within the body an

health. Clients tell me all the time about how environment in which all cells can survive and

healthy they are. Then, when I take their health function. This environment surrounding each cell

(or, I should say illness) history, I find out they is called the internal environment (p. 6).

have one or more of the following: allergies,

constipation, heart disease, atherosclerosis, The function of the body is to create and

headaches, high blood pressure, diabetes, maintain an environment suitable for the survival

esophogal acid reflux (heartburn), migraines, of its cells, because the health of the body is

excess fat, lethargy, sleepless nights, and determined by the health of its cells. And healthy

nervous tension. And the list only starts here! cells require a healthy internal environment.
French physiologist Claude Bernard clearly

If you have any of the above-mentioned described the central importance of the

conditions or symptoms, whether they've been extracellular fluid. Bernard said that the purpose

diagnosed as "diseases" or not, you are not of the body is to preserve and keep constant the

healthy! These maladies are so normal in our conditions of life in the internal environment
(Bernard, 1957). How can you keep you internal
environment healthy?
The digestive system system is primarily
responsible for determining the health of the
body's internal environment. The foods that you
eat and drink have a major effect on your
internal environment and thus your health. Fruit
and green leaves are our natural and therefore
most healthful foods - they nourish the body and
help maintain the balance of the internal
environment. Foods must be eaten raw,
because cooking changes their chemical
structure and appreciably or totally destroys their
nutritional value. Water-rich, fresh
organically-grown fruits and leafy greens are
ideal foods, because they contain an abundance
of the raw materials required by the body for it to
synthesize vitamins and build the proteins
needed to keep the cells nourished while
maintaining the integrity of the internal
environment.
Your internal fluids are compromised when you
ingest any of (continued on page 4) Are You
Healthy? (continued from page 2) the following:
animal products (the only dietary source of
cholesterol); salt; sugar; cooked/processed
foods (roasted, steamed, fried, baked, dried,
stir-fried, heated, boiled, fermented); saturated
fats; chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers,
preservatives); and drugs (alcohol, nicotine,
caffeine, recreational, over-the-counter, and
prescription). These are all poisons which pollute
the body! A poison is any substance which is not
inherent, or natural, to the state of the internal
environment. What does this pollution do to your
cells? It destroys them!
If you compare human cells to our planet's flora,
you can see that polluted water supplies will
destroy the vegetation and the planet will die.
When the body's internal environment is polluted,
the cells are progressively destroyed and
ultimately, the body dies much sooner than
would happen naturally.
Eating poisons leads to illness and, eventually,
death. Being healthy, at least physiologically,
means maintaining a healthy internal
environment. In order to be healthy, we must
make changes in our diet and lifestyle which
promote the body's self-cleansing (detoxifying)
capabilities, keep the internal environment free
of pollution, and nourish the cells.
This brings me back to the original question,
"Are you healthy?" Probably not! However, don't
give up hope. The goal of this newsletter is to
support you on your journey to good health. In
subsequent issues, I will give you detailed
information on how your food choices positively
and negatively affect your body chemistry and
health. I will also address psychological,
emotional and spiritual health.
REFERENCES Bernard, C. "An Introduction to
the Study of Experimental Medicine". Dover, NY:
Paperback, 1957.
Maffetone, P. and Mantel, M. "The High
Performance Heart". Mill Valley, CA: Bicycle
Books, 1994
Vander, Sherman, Lucino. "Human Physiology".
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1994