The First Step to Dietary Change: What is a Healthy Lifestyle?

Detoxification is the first step in a dietary change that will improve your physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being daily.

The average person accumulates about 2 to 8 kg of extra waste in the colon!! Their interior, including all the twists and villi of the intestine, would cover a tennis court. There's no doubt that in such a large area, there are many hiding places for waste.

To maintain health, it is very important that food passes properly through the digestive system, as should waste. If it does not pass correctly in the colon, it accumulates, rots, hardens, and causes many problems such as constipation, parasites (Candida, Helicobacter pylori - stomach bacteria, worms), abdominal pain, digestive disturbances, damage to the immune system, weight gain, chronic diseases up to cancer, and even mental illnesses like depression.

A wise person foresees and if we are smart enough to safeguard ourselves, as commanded by our sacred Torah, and prevent diseases before they come through a healthy lifestyle, we will achieve a state of well-being that helps us live good lives to serve Him, blessed be He, with joy!! What is a healthy lifestyle? Consuming healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds, legumes, grains, and various types of nuts. Additionally, each of us needs: clean air, controlled exercise, proper breathing, pure drinking water, joy, timely sleep, spiritual life, music, proper social life, sunlight, and most importantly, solitude (direct conversation with Hashem every day) - all these allow a life of joy, satisfaction, purpose, and genuine health.

The modern man has not learned the natural needs of his body and soul. He learns a profession for livelihood but does not learn how to maintain and nourish his body and soul properly, which is why today we encounter people suffering from diseases due to poor nutrition and a very unhealthy and unnatural lifestyle. Nowadays, everyone - men, women, and children suffer from malnutrition. They are nourished by toxin-laden food. When the body's systems receive the necessary nutrients for their maintenance, in addition to maintaining a healthy lifestyle as mentioned above, then the body and soul will function in harmony and the person will achieve complete health, with Hashem's help.

A normal person would never fill a diesel-only car with 95 octane fuel. The car would break down after a few minutes of driving and would not continue to run, so why would this normal person feed their body a bottle of cola and pizzas every day? The body does not work differently than the car. If we fuel the body with the wrong fuel, it will also stop and refuse to function, albeit after decades of unhealthy lifestyle and not after ten minutes like in a car. Blessed is His name that the Creator made us in such a way, and He is patient with us. There is repentance in the world and the possibility, in most cases, to turn back the clock when it comes to health.

In addition, it is very important that the consumption of household products for the family is wise. In supermarkets, there are countless food products that attract our attention. The interest of food companies is to sell as many products as possible for as much money as possible. Usually, the health of consumers is not taken into consideration. Food companies do whatever they can to keep products on the shelf for as long as possible. Therefore, they often load them with strange chemicals that stop or delay the natural decay processes of the food. To make the food taste better, artificial flavors and scents and sometimes addictive substances are often added, alongside generous amounts of salt (which stimulates the taste buds and increases appetite), sugar, and fat. To make the food more aesthetic, food coloring is added, making it more visually appealing. It's highly advisable to avoid using all these chemical substances, especially when it concerns products we habitually consume daily and accumulate in our bodies as toxic waste that directly harms our health. Therefore, we consumers must be wise. It is better to consume products as they are without any processing, preservation, stabilization, etc. We must be suspicious of everything inside a package and read the labels on the products (including the fine print). The list of ingredients should be clear and understandable. If unfamiliar foreign terms appear, it's likely an addition of substances we don't want to find out about, and rightly so, because they are probably unhealthy.

In addition to toxins in food, there is the world of pharmaceuticals that are no less harmful. Western medicine sees diseases as resulting from external factors: bacteria, viruses, etc., and matches medications to each disease factor, turning the sick person into a dependent and helpless being in need of drugs, sedatives, surgeries, etc., until their death. It's important for people to understand that diseases are an accumulation of toxins in the body in various organs, according to the individual's personal genetic weakness in each organ.

It's important to remember that diseases lead to untimely death, and people sometimes forget this. What do our sages say about the timing of death? In the Jerusalem Talmud and Midrash: "Ninety-nine due to negligence, (because they neglected to maintain their health), and one by heavenly will." This means that although each person's lifespan is determined from above before birth, through the power of choice in their hands, they can harm themselves enough to shorten their lifespan. Our sages even add not-so-simple information revealing that only one person out of one hundred dies at the age predetermined for them before birth, while all the rest sinned in maintaining the health of their bodies and therefore died before their time!!! This revelation requires you to learn the fundamentals of health management rules and apply them to the best of your ability in everyday life. For in the verse: "And you shall protect your souls," is included the instruction to preserve your soul and extend your days in your body by adhering to the rules of health and maintaining environmental quality, to attain those additional years of life to continue shaping and building your spiritual world and personality. I wish you, dear readers, to reach a ripe old age in good health, joy in your hearts, and great faith in Hashem. And if you act this way, you will avoid many troubles and live a better life, full of energy, joy, and vitality to serve Him, blessed be He.

"...Decreed above, that he shall be healed by a certain medicine, by a certain person, on a certain day."

(Rabbi Nachman, Likutey Moharan, Tinyana Torah 3).

To purchase the book 'Secrets of Nutrition - Detox, Heal, Lose Weight Easily' visit Hidabroot Shops or click here