WOULD you like a pill to slow the ageing process? Being healthy and living to a ‘ripe old age’ is almost an illusion, and the years beyond the 50s seem like an unattractive, unattainable achievement paved with disease, aches and pains.

Many have joined scientists in the quest to find an anti-ageing pill, but we need not look further as the anti-ageing medicine is already present in fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts.

Although we often forget, He who made our bodies directed our diets and also made herbs for the healing of the nation. It might be right to say our vain suffering is from lack of knowledge.

We are often too busy and our interests misplaced. When we look at our bodies, we fail to read the label: Fragile, handle with care.

Diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and HIV/AIDS are curable. Yes, this is probably the best kept secret of the ages. It is true that modern science and technology have no known cure for them, but every day herbs grown worldwide and a healthy diet have been confirming the age-old truth that there are herbs to heal the nation.

HERBS AND FOOD

Herbs and food influence our healing mechanism in different ways. Daily, they can cleanse, strengthen, reprogramme, and rebalance devitalised humans.

This is my favourite part of any healing programme, but it is incomplete without adequate sunbaths, exercise, fresh air, pure water, and physical as well as mental and spiritual rest.

Sunlight provides intracellular energy for people of dark-complexion (melanin-rich) and helps to regulate sleep and dreams and contact with other dimensions of life.

Only rocks and trees can live without physical exercise. Lack of exercise causes our blood to become thick and diseased, much like stagnant water.

Intelligent reasoning inspires us to appreciate the work muscles accomplish as they contract and relax, like the heart, improving circulation and eliminating waste from the body — keeping us strong.

A proper breathing technique will not only prolong life, but improve the quality and strength of a man’s erection. Without water our bodies will wither and die, and drinking sodas only makes matters worse because they are high in salt and sugar concentration, and our bodies will then demand far more than eight glasses of water per day to decrease the harmful effects.

I am often asked about the role that faith plays in healing and I must say faith is the icing on the cake. A good herb and wellness programme heals in many cases, but faith miraculously releases diseases that were often deemed incurable, even with the best wellness plan and the most gifted physician.

The truth is we are fearfully and wonderfully made with a strong will to survive. I am thankful that we all can be disease-free today. A happy, healthy mind, body and soul should be your first gift to yourself for the new year.

Maureen Minto is the chief naturopathic consultant at the Healthy Living Herbal Clinic and president of the Caribbean Natural Remedies Association. Contact her at 940-1197 or e-mail healthylivingjamaica@gmail.com