Radical
radical (adj.)
late 14c., in a medieval philosophical sense, from Late Latin radicalis "of or having roots," from Latin radix (genitive radicis) "root" (from PIE root *wrad- "branch, root"). Meaning "going to the origin, essential" is from 1650s.
(Etymology)
To whatever question or conundrum is posed, there is probably a radically simple answer; an answer in the root of the query. There are many so-called "right ways" and alternatives to the current unhealthy paradigm we are playing out, it becomes difficult to find personal truth. Collectively, we follow the experts and trust in those who have confidence, but where do we find the answers for ourselves?
Roots
The answer is in the roots. Roots symbolize the beginning and deep support. In a health-conscious world, we have people eschewing one practice while promoting others. The experts market this product and preach the dangers of another. Who are we to believe?
We believe in our roots, ancestors, Mother Earth... our own guts!
We are creatures in the throws of evolution and are constantly adapting to our circumstance and environment, and we must remember the changes from hunter/ gatherer to agriculturist did not happen over night. Any authoritarian claim or heroic measures must be taken with a grain of salt (this may be an issue for those who are on a low-sodium diet). Each individual has specific needs and must listen to their own gut to know what they truly need.
Cellular Memory
I feel inherent in our unique genetic and biochemical makeup(s) is the diversity and spectrum of needs and characteristics. There is nothing that suits us all best, for we are blessed creatures with stories in our cells from individual and ancestral circumstances.
The essence of the the current health movement can be seen as an attempt to return or ascend to some great level of vitality by avoiding or including certain foods, practices or cultures.
But this cannot be found by a modern guru. It is truly found by returning to and understanding our roots. We are children of the Earth, we all have innate gifts and needs, and they are all manifest in a rainbow of expressions within our DNA.
While some prize the paleolithic diet- mimicking our ancestor heavy on the meat & light on grains- is our truest expression, others claim that in only consuming living, raw plants and algae, the body will be pure and in a more spiritually-realized state. Others still insist on brown rice being the perfect food to balance us, while some run from the high glycemic index of grains. There is simply too much to weigh and consider and too many opinions and theory! Without the long term empirical evidence, who can stand behind these claims with scientific proof? One things is certain though, we are not the healthiest species we could be.
Indigenous
By returning to our ancestral roots, connecting to the Earth and being indigenous (of a place) we are able to more know our roots and realize health, which can be seen as a knowing of self and balance in the world. The famous dentist Weston A. Price studied numerous indigenous cultures and came to striking conclusions of oral hygiene. In essence, the various diets and lifestyles of the peoples he studied were based on rootedness to a place and those that followed the traditional diets showed negligible sign of the modern industrial affliction that show up in our teeth. These people were eating in line with their traditions, their home and heritage, and no two cultures shared identical diets, but across the board they were healthy specimens.
What does this mean for us as global internet researchers?
Not every youtube video is based on scientific data, not every blog post or claim is substantiated, and not anyone other than yourself knows what’s best for you. There IS a lot of groundbreaking and inspiring work being done in the field of integrated medicine and preventative healthcare, AND the answers are in the roots.
(Chaga)
What Russian folk lore has be saying about chaga’s (aka inonotus obliquus or “the king of herbs”) use as a strategy against cancer has been proven by dedicated scientific research. The superfoods of today’s acclaim are mostly ancient plants that have fallen out of favour and been rediscovered and marketed on a global scale. The task for us now is to be discerning and make the choices that suit our bodies, our lifestyle and our ethics the best, not to surrender to a guru who has the magic potion for health. There are countless local superfoods that we don't need to be told are superfoods to recognize as the foods our bodies needs. Have the mentality to look for these where you live.
The one-pill-cure-all mentality is what got us into many of the unhealthy patterns today, so why should it be any different when it comes to natural health?
Inside each one of us are 3 neurological centers; our brain, our heart and our gut.
Within this system we are unique and capable of enormous adaptability, in a constant torrent of change in a magical balancing act of biochemistry. There are as many right ways as there are people. The roots we all share lie in the Earth below our feet, and the wisdom is in the plants, fungi, algae, animal, bacteria and other beings that spring forth.
The answer to our questions in search of health reside in the roots, the beginnings, the radicle: the part of the seed that emerges first upon germination to seek water and connect with its new home.
The answer is inside of us where our ancestors still live on through our genes.
Nice info. The sad part is that nature doesn't care as long as your good in reproducing. I'm trying Chaga because i got cancer. I don't believe in it but it for sure doesn't hurt me...
Sorry to hear of your diagnoses, but Good for you for trying Chaga. Curious why you don’t believe in it. centuries of Folk usage, medical studies proving effectiveness and millions of years of evolution May make it a little easier to believe in ;)
Because cancer is often a genetic or DNA damage, maybe Chaga can prevent it but not cure it.!
YES!! @mountainjewel what a gem you are! This article resonates with me on every level!! Magnificent❤️
There is an old myth (now sadly unverifiable) which says that in the dim and distant past natural health pratitioners in China were paid to keep people well, to maintain their good health. Payment stopped if the person became sick.
Like so many things in our technologically advanced reductionist thinking we have got it the wrong way round. We have inverted so many truths about our place in the universe, how to heal, how to connect with our roots, our ancestors, even our own DNA, and in so doing we have lost touch with the reality that was (IS) our birthright...vibrant good health based upon a deep abiding love, respect and connection to our immediate natural environment. And inextricably allied to that is our (mis)use of the natural resources around us...for food, medicine, shelter etc.
Re Chaga...this gift from nature and the wisdom from our Northern Hemisphere ancestors is yet another connection to the past that disappeared from modern memory. And what a gift it is...we respectfully collect from a local birch wood and grind it ourselves in an old coffee grinder. The depth of flavour, the deeply dark woody, mushroomy earthiness plugs you back into the energy flow of our mother the earth in a way that a morning cuppa never did, or could!
Thank you from my heart for the best post I have seen this week! Resteemed, loved and cherished! ❤️
YES!!! Totally agree @liligolughty. The ancestry we all share hold many solutions, of course so do modern adaptations.
The longer I live the more I am realizing our birthright is vibrant health,. You expressed this perfectly!
Chaga is one medicine I’m yearning for here. Although I suppose I’m not missing it, just really value it. Can’t beat this fungi for taste, uses and “earthiness [that] plugs you back into the energy flow of ou earth mother”! AHO.
Thanks so much for sharing such an intentional and thoughtful perspective. So much gratitude for you words. 🙏❤️
So, wait, radish and radical are related linguistically? Interesting.
oh yes! directly related ;) perhaps it is the most rootish of roots. the radish radical! :D
Oh yes, so true. The mainstream media would like to drive us all crazy with their exclamations of some study that found this or that is correct then they come back later with the opposite information. There is so much knowledge, I believe, to be found in our ancient history, our roots as you say, as well as learning from many scientists and researchers who are discovering incredible knowledge through such things as plasma. http://keshefoundation.org/
Haha, yup. Cultural “data” does have a way of flip flopping. I think of how bad butter was, but how now it’s s health food...
I’m with you on learning from history as well as science. Thanks for the link, my curiosity is piqued on plasma...
Butter never had me fooled. I was raised on a farm where we made our own butter. I remember when they came out with margarine for the first time, my Dad was angry, and drilled it into my head that nothing better than butter. I did later try margarine, but never liked it.
There is a ton of information at the Keshe Foundation website. Also on facebook, is a group called the golden age of gans with people actively posting their own projects.
Nice! Love W.A.Price. I am still trying to find a dentist near me that believes in remineralization.
I've been making a chaga decoction and adding it to my teas.
Also have you heard of apricot kernels and B-17? Pretty powerful cancer fighter as well. I read a bit about it in the Cyanide cookbook.
good luck with that and let me know if you find one! i feel like the professions are so behind! Haven't heard of the kernels or B-17, but it sounds intriguing. Anything that fights cancer does! Interesting-- cyanide cookbook- tell me more :)!!
Resteemed! Thank you for helping to propagate the ease back into a natural lifestyle for the human-animal. If your not already familiar, hope you have a moment to check out a quick song from one of my favorite groups Appalachia Rising after absorbing the content of your post, 'the garden holds the shards, the medicine is in the seeds' lyric was repeating in my head and i had to hear the mp3. Thanks again for planting these seeds. Hope your day is bright!
thank you so much! appalachia rising is one of our fav groups too! yessss and just was thinking of this song the other day... medicine woman... medicine man, walking with grace, i know your face, i trust your hand.
bright blessings! <3
very informative post, genes is responsible for heredity
Very important topic
RESTEEMED, posted on FB and upvoted,,, I'd FOLLOW you too but I already do !!! Thats how I saw this most awesome health post of common sense and good info !!!!!!
Thanks for spreading the info around! It sometimes is the most common sense and basic info we can pass over, eh?
Yes, I believe that it is NOT good to worry a bunch about diet, but I don't mean that one should be ignorant and stuff garbage in their mouth,,, no,,, I just mean one should make a small effort toward only eating "healthy" low processed real food (for those who are too young to know that real food use to always be, its what today you call "ORGANIC" food) and not worry about the rest. Some spiritual book people use says its more important what comes OUT of you that what you put in you,,, meaning, one's perceptions of reality (attitudes) dictates their behaviors and those learned bad habits like 'worrying a lot' are damaging to the body.
I love everything you have written here!
How interesting about the dentistry/local diet comparison. Makes one stop and really consider this observation and what it is teaching us.
<3 <3 thanks! yes... that's hopefully what it does for many. we have forgotten these simple truths: local indigenous diets do not cause cavities and dental disease... we need to look at the point at which dental disease started to become the norm and question the diet... the "mainstream healing professions" (with well-intentioned humans, don't get me wrong), have a horrible premise, and that is to treat disease, rather than to cultivate health... we must change that.
Absolutely agree!
One observation I read years ago, and it stuck with me, was that (at the time) every 20 years or so a new dis-ease would manifest, basically coinciding with a shift in how humans grew, prepared and ate food. An example used was when people began using tin cans to store harvests.
I found it fascinating. And scary.
Yes!! yes! Yes!
Such a feel-good post :D Thank you for this!!!!
An interesting topic...Thumbs up ..
By all means. I always felt the ‘science of food’ was among the most absurd things we've ever come up with. We most be the only species on this planet that needs food experts (nutritionists) telling us what to eat so we do not die of it. How crazy is that. First of all, listen to your body. It will tell you what its (i.e. your) needs are. And then just go for it (and look for it locally).
The problems is that junkfood-stuffed bodies tend to loose the ability to feel their needs. But junk food is really a no-brainer – just get rid of it, you most definitely do not need it. 😄
Thanks for the post!
It is crazy eh? We are all such capable beings, it’s a shame to remove ourselves from our intuition and connection. Kids often have such great eating habits if given proper options. My favorite example is hearing of a friend’s child who loved eating raw garlic.
You’re right, Junk food is exactly that JUNK. Glad you enjoyed it.
Great post and wonderful discussion. We do live in a society where new 'diseaseification' seems to occur every week and treatment versus prevention takes precedence. A few years ago, I had the good fortune to discover ethnobotany and listen to great speakers and work they were doing to connect the current to the past. Technology gives us new tools to understand the 'why', but there's no doubt that ancient wisdom had it right, more often than not. I've done a bit of study of TCM and Ayurveda and there's got to be something there with over 5000 years of written history and experience.
5000 years of history is hard to ignore!!! Happy you got into ethnobotony, isn’t it so fascinating?
What I like to see is used by our allopathic medicine system as backup for acute conditions but come from a holistic place allying on tradition system like Ayurveda and TCM.
Phenomenal article! I'm going to share this on FB as well as resteeming. This is my favorite "sum it up" line: "These people were eating in line with their traditions, their home and heritage, and no two cultures shared identical diets, but across the board they were healthy specimens."
I do a lot of psycho-spiritual work with ancestral lines, so it's nice to see someone address the topic from a nutritional perspective. Really well done.
So important to listen to your body and let it tell you what it needs! And eating bio regionally is better for your body and the planet!
Transfer 0.100 SBD to @mrbean1 and put the link of your post in the public memo
I GIVE you 5 FOLLOW AND 5 UPVOT and resteem by @mrbean1