Feed your head
A Russian woman celebrating her 105th birthday was asked the usual questions about how she lived so long. She replied emphatically, "I never eat vegetables!"
This sounds like heresy to the food police, but recent studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that eating fruits and vegetables may not be the key to reducing cancer risks. Not surprisingly, the American Institute for Cancer Research protested these findings, saying that the people in the studies (cancer patients) had not consumed enough servings of fruits and vegetables.
The mind-body connection, however, shows that what you put in your head has far more impact upon your health than what you put in your stomach. Research reveals that good health is only weakly correlated with diet, but is strongly influenced by mind-body factors like an optimistic outlook and an independent attitude—one that enables you to question health pronouncements from the authorities.
To promote the sense of well-being that is the foundation of health, nourish your optimism by seeking ample servings of the feeling that all is well in your life.
Notice how your body transforms food, water, and air into energy without your care or concern.
Contemplate the endless renewal of life outside your windows.
Marvel at the inventiveness of humankind, the resilience of nature, the cooperation of strangers, and the bracketing of each day with the restorative transitions of dawn and dusk.
As for those edible natural works of art we call fruits and vegetables, enjoy them as signs of the earth's bounty—succulent symbols of life generously feeding life.
Return to newsletter archive list