The human body: a vast network, lake link
, of living cells responsible for feeding the body with life sustaining nutrients. Each person has approximately 100 trillion cells that are in a continuous cycle of cell dying and reproduction. In fact, the cycle of old to new cell construction occurs at a rate of 300 million per minute.

As the process of cell dying and replacement happens, new cells are formed by the nutrients available to them at that time. The strength or weakness of the new cell formations is dependent on the degree of nutrients that are gathered from the foods that are eaten. Therefore, if one eats “junk” the cells are at risk of weak composition. If the cells are fed nutritional foods, the chances of healthy cell production are greater.

During cell replacement, a complicated chemical process occurs, lake link
, that can lead to the production of harmful atoms known as free radicals. Free radicals begin a chain reaction that can result in cellular damage. The best defense the human body has against free radical damage is adequate amounts of molecules known as antioxidants. Antioxidants have actually been found to reverse the damaging effects of free radicals by terminating their chain reaction.

These imperative molecules are most commonly found in, lake link
, many of the vitamins provided by different fresh fruits and vegetables. The big news is that the human body cannot produce these nutrients on its own – they can only be acquired in the foods that are eaten!

Think for a moment about an arcade game that emerged in the early 1980′s, lake link
, known as Pac-Man.

In the game, Pac-Man roams the game board looking for little pac-dots to devour.

The more, lake link
, dots he “eats” the more points he gains. Antioxidants are, lake link
, like Pac-Men: roaming around looking, lake link
, for deadly free radicals to overtake and destroy before they can accumulate into major cell damage – cell damage that can result in illnesses and diseases.

According to Gerald Lemole, M.D., Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Christina, lake link
, Care Hospital in Newark, Delaware, a look at history shows us that our ancestors rarely died of diet related illnesses; their diets were healthier and they were more active.

Most people raised and consumed most of their own meats, fruits, and vegetables. In his book The Healing Diet (2001), Dr. Lemole states that in 1940 processed food constituted only 10 %, lake link
, of the American diet, whereas today’s diet is 90% processed. He goes on to say that the North American diet consists of high quantities of dairy products, sodas, and white bread products that as a whole do little to meet our nutritional needs.

Jordan Ruban, author of The Maker’s Diet (2004), states that processed foods do not contain the nutrients needed for healthy living, and they also are full of preservatives, additives, artificial flavorings, and various harmful chemical agents.

A 2005 report issued by the USDA stated every person should consume between 5 to 13 servings of fresh vegetables and fruits daily. But, what is the average American person of today feeding their body? Current findings indicate that, lake link
, only 1% of American children meet their basic dietary necessities.

In addition to that alarming statistic, a recent national survey indicated that 40% of American people eat NO fresh fruits and vegetables on, lake link
, a daily basis! In knowing that they contain the important antioxidants needed in the fight of harmful molecular attacks on the body, is it a wonder that we have a rise in health issues, learning difficulties, and developmental disabilities as we do in this country? Over the past 20 years, there has been an unprecedented rise in illness and disease, lake link
, such as cancer, learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and developmental, lake link
, differences such as autism.

Even when one attempts to eat a well balanced, nutritional diet, the truth is the fresh foods that are generally available to most Americans have been compromised by mass production and sprayed with harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers, lake link
, that build up as toxins within the fatty tissues of the body. The brain is one of those areas that toxins can accumulate. A variety of recent studies indicate that the fresh vegetables and fruits consumed by the American people now contain significantly lower amounts of minerals and vitamins as compared to those of 50 years ago.

So, just how important is food intake to the process of learning? Many studies that have been conducted on this relationship show very distinctive links between the nutritional, lake link
, values in foods to a child’s cognitive development and behavior patterns. Children who do not get adequate amounts of nutritional intake can be less attentive, more hyperactive, easily distracted, lacking in motor development skills, disorganized, and demonstrate emotional abnormalities.

They can demonstrate learning with disability patterns and suffer underachievement in the functional activities required of them on a daily basis.

In summary, do the foods consumed affect the overall functioning of the human body and mind? Are we what we eat? What roles does nutrition have on the physical, neurological, and emotional health of this society? Big questions! In all actuality, is the proof in the pudding?

References
1.

Lemole, M.D., Gerald. The Healing Diet. New York, NY: William Morrow & Company-An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. Ruban, Jordan.
2. The Maker’s Diet.. Lake Mary, FL: Siloam, 2004.

Lucy Gross-Barlow: As a Speech/Language Pathologist of over 26 years and having practiced in a wide variety of therapeutic settings, Lucy brings to her clients a diversity of patient care knowledge. For the past 12 years, she has specialized her practice in the area of processing disorders and remediation of learning impairments, and she has a passion in seeing her clients succeed in their communicative and learning skills. Lucy now desires to extend the knowledge she has gained in processing and learning remediation to as many children as possible to enable them to reach their full learning and communicative potential in life.

To view more of her intervention with children and gain knowledge in how to better assist struggling learners, please visit http://www.learningsolutionsathome.com. To discover how you can become a healthier you visit http://www.zoelifestyle.com/thetherapygroup.

Source: ezinearticles.com