You're an animal

Last week, I suggested that we are all plants. That we are all made up of the same atoms and elements. I may have even called your Mum a plant. I meant no disrespect by this. Obviously, your Mum is not a plant. We, as humans, are actually animals.

We are a member of a large subgroup of animals called mammals. Scientists have divided us further into subgroups, from primates, to great apes and from great apes down into another subgroup called the hominids.

Why is this important? Because one of the greatest disservices to us as humans is that we have been led to believe that we are outside of this ecology. That somehow we don’t have to play by the same rules as the rest of the mammalian population. We have been marketed literally to death that we can eat and drink whatever we want, and everything will be ok.

We know not to feed the dog chocolate, or not to put too much food in the goldfish tank. We know that if we get a dog as a pet for the family, that someone is going to have to take it outside for some exercise every day. But do we place the same rules on ourselves? Do we even know what the rules for keeping a human healthy are?

When our dog gets sick, we say, ” Honey, what did you feed the dog? ” and wonder what the dog ate or drank.

But when our kids get sick we think, what does she or he need to get better? I wonder what I can give her. What pill or potion or treatment do she need. Why has her body broken down, done the wrong thing, and gotten sick?

Do you see the difference? I’m not saying that we may never need a medical, or natural intervention for us or our child, but we jump to different conclusions when we are dealing with a sick animal and a sick human.

There are only two main reasons why we get sick. Toxicity and/or deficiency. We are either toxic in something that our body has to deal with or we are deficient in something that the body requires to maintain health. Toxicity and deficiency are at the root of all disease.

What I believe we should say is, I wonder what my son or daughter is toxic with that made her get to this point, or what is she deficient in? What does he or she require for health that they are not getting.

Do we put a chocolate bar in the dogs dish for a treat? Or dump a box full of chips from McDonald’s in their dish? Do we feed ourselves or our kids this stuff? Somehow we came to believe that because we are humans, we don’t have to play by the same rules. We believe that because the government, or the FDA, or the food pyramid, or the agricultural industry says it is ok to eat it, that we can eat it, or drink it. As much as we like. Have a coke and smile. We are lead to believe that all those chemicals, preservatives and colouring dyes are fine for our bodies. That all that sugar won’t harm you and your body knows what to do with all that junk once you put it in your mouth.

What we need to do is figure out what the human species requires for health, and provide that. AND, we need to figure out what things are bad for the human species and get rid of that. You can break this up into eating,moving, and thinking. What does a human need to eat to be healthy? How much does

a human need to move to be healthy? What thoughts, stress levels, social environments are required for humans to be healthy.

We need to look at health like a biologist would look at health.

If you came across a herd of giraffe and one was sick, do you think you would have to do a whole bunch of blood tests, MRI scans and other expensive tests to find out what was wrong with it? Figure out what blood type it is to see what it should eat? Or, would you find out what the rest of the healthy giraffes eat and feed it that. Would you learn everything you can about healthy giraffes in the wild, what they eat and drink, how much they sleep, what their social requirements are? Bears, for example, require different social arrangements to wolves. Bears are solitary, wolves are pack animals. If you take a pack animal and force it to live on its own, it won’t be as healthy. The same thing would happen if you tried to make a few bears live in a pack.

Humans are pack animals. We require support from our friends and family. We require certain nutrients from our diet, and a certain level of exercise every day. And we require a healthy, positive mental attitude.

Lets start looking at our lives as a biologist would.

Your questions and comments are welcome and appreciated.