Rooting Around In The Earth
The Earth, Herself and the soil we walk around upon, is loaded with microbes. It is the way of Nature. Our bodies have more microbial cells than human cells (The human body contains trillions of microorganisms — outnumbering human cells by 10 to 1.) Modern Human’s obsession with destroying every microbial organism is creating imbalances in our bodies and health, in all living beings, and in the general health of the entire planet.
The Earth, Herself and the soil we walk around upon, is loaded with microbes. It is the way of Nature. Our bodies have more microbial cells than human cells (The human body contains trillions of microorganisms — outnumbering human cells by 10 to 1.) Modern Human’s obsession with destroying every microbial organism is creating imbalances in our bodies and health, in all living beings, and in the general health of the entire planet.
In college for my RN degree, we learned the germ theory of disease. This germ theory (remember it is a theory not a fact) states that microorganisms, bacteria, virus and fungi, are the cause of most diseases. It is the cornerstone of modern medicine and treatment of diseases.
As soon as I finished nursing school, I began (honestly, continued) my training / learning in Natural Medicine-Natural Health. In my mid 20’s, I read a book by a talented and wise herbalist, James Green, called The Male Herbal: The Definitive Health Care Book for Men and Boys. James Green introduced me to a theory called Terrain Theory. This theory stated that germs cannot invade the body if the body is healthy. So when the terrain, the soil of our bodies - our flesh, is unhealthy, we are wide open and susceptible to inviting in micro-organisms that are not a natural part of our body’s terrain. Obviously, this will cause upset in the body’s health.
Think yeast overgrowth in the vagina. Yeast is normal there, in the vagina, but when the body is unhealthy, BAM, prime opportunity for the yeast to overgrow /over populate the vagina and you now have an irritating problem.
A light bulb went on in my head. This made so much more sense to me than the mindset that we are walking around constantly at war with every microbe we cross paths with.
Let go of the trauma of the 1950s people. Everything does not have to be heat, hot water, and/or chemical sterilized to death. Learn to live in harmony with microbes because when you kill them off with antimicrobials - antibiotics, you are killing the beneficial as well as the not so beneficial microbes.
Living in harmony with microbes means taking care of our body as Nature intended. See this link on Lifestyle Choices. Your natural living habits are your amazing Lifestyle Medicine habits that keep your terrain nourished and healthy.
Eat Dirt: pull an organic carrot from the soil, wipe off obvious Soil (Dirt as W. B. Logan calls this Ecstatic Skin) , eat the carrot & be grateful for the Soil Microbes you are not paying 50 bucks for in encapsulated form out of a supplement bottle.
100% Whole Food Eating: food are the Sacred substances that nourish your every body cell
Stop using antimicrobial hand sanitizers
Stop using chemical and antibiotic antimicrobial cleansers in your home (see image below)
Eat organic food
Avoid all chemical in home, yard, garden, garage, etc.
Live from a space of Nature because you are Nature.
Our Gut Microbial Health (digestive tract) is of top notch importance in the development, or not, of
auto-immune conditions
mood disorders: think anxiety & depression
small intestinal and colon ill health issues
The list goes on & on…
Upcoming classes at Five Elements Living to create Healthy Gut Microbial Lifestyle Habits: https://www.paulayoumellrn.com/the-science-of-functional-medicine-classes
Live a Whole Health Lifestyle for Your Well Being
Examining Fertility
No, no, this article has nothing to do with sex, reproductive issues, and human fertility (well, not human egg and sperm fertility, per se).
Fertile fields at Birdsfoot Farm, Canton, NY
What are these two farmers sitting and squatting on?
Come on, guess....
It is soil. Fertile soil makes the world go round. Dirt is one of the earth's most precious resources, period.
How so you ask?
Read on my friend!
Fertile soil grows food that is intact, whole. I am always talking about how important it is to eat a 100% whole food diet. That whole food diet starts in whole soil; soil that is rich in nutrients and life, loamy, and fertile.
The fertility of the soil is the fertility of your body... and not just your reproductive fertility. Your body cells reproduce every day. Cellular health in reproducing vibrant, new cells is dependent on what feeds the parent cell. Read on for some soil and cell enhancing wisdom.
Soil is one of the foundations of all food, life, on this earth.
Healthy Soil = Healthy Food!
Soil + Sun + Water (and a seed or two!) = Food / Life!
Gratitude to: http://www.lappolis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Sun-Soil-Water.jpg
When we pay attention to soil, maybe that plot of garden where we grow herbs or veggies, we see a microcosm that is teeming with life. Healthy soil is a living, breathing, dynamic organism: sand, silt, clay, air, water, minerals and organic matter crawling with earthworms, moles, grubs, centipedes, millipedes, snails, slugs, beetles, ants, fungi, insect larvae, bacteria, mushrooms, and many other organisms and micro-organisms. The sum of the whole, all parts working in synergy, is a well-orchestrated symphony. Nature is truly poetry in motion and that very poetry is what contributes to the heath and wholesomeness of the food you eat.
Your food is only as healthy as the soil it grows in. Your animal based foods? Only as healthy as the soil supporting the plants that the animals are free-range grazing on.
Farmers who understand and live / work in harmony with this soil symphony are amazing people contributing to your whole health.
I have always loved dirt: playing in it, smelling it (dirt in your yard smells different than dirt in the woods...), smelling dirt after a warm summer rain. You know... when you go outside and all you smell is that damp, musky, wet dirt smell? That is a smell that always makes me smile.
Learn more about the dirt that grows your food.
Know your soil.
Know your farmer.
How does your farmer(s) interact with the soil they grow food in and on? Do they compost, rotate crops and animal in the fields, use cover crops to feed the soil... what are the soil nourishing habits your farmer uses to grow your food?
Rich soil, teeming with life and inorganic matter, grows food rich in vitamins, minerals, phyto-nutrients, and anti-oxidants. Get into your dirt. Study the dirt that supports your health and life! Find a farmer who makes soil care a top priority. (Consumer demand for good farmers, real farmers, will create better food, better soil, and a better world!) Thank your farmer for caring for the soil.
Please, share your dirt loving stories below!
Looking for some interesting reading on Dirt? This is one of my favorite books. I read it when it first was published and it is a book I keep in my "loved" book collection.
The below kid's book on dirt was one of my favorites to read to my kids. Not sure they were so enamored with the life in our soil but I was!
