The Ultimate Healing Remedy

Probably no nation has developed and deployed as many high-tech and ever higher cost weapons in its own self-defense than the United States. The Stealth Bomber, self-guided missiles and a thousand other weapons all testify to one thing - this nation is committed to defending both its people and boundaries.

But while we as a nation stand well prepared for potential military attacks, our defenses on a different battlefront have been far less effective. In the front-lines of our personal lives, where we (and not the government) make daily decisions affecting our personal health, a host of poor choices have infiltrated our ranks. So much so, in fact, that eight of the ten leading causes of death in this country are related to unhealthful lifestyle factors. In other words, the majority of deaths in America are preventable (or at the very least, “delayable”)! Here, for your review, are some of the grim statistics:¹

A National Tragedy

Could it be, that while we as a nation have prepared well for assaults from the outside, we have neglected our own personal defense against the ravages of disease? It certainly seems so.

Of course, for many Americans there is still time to “snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.” By focusing on health and making positive changes in our way of living, we may reverse or even conquer many of the lifestyle-related diseases threatening us today.

“How Can I Be Healthy?”

But “How can I be healthy?” you may ask. To answer this question is to answer the question “How should I live?” For the way we live is, without question, the most significant factor affecting our health.

“But what about heredity?” you may ask. “My family has a history of heart disease, or cancer, or diabetes. Am I not destined to have the same?”

The truth is, genetics plays a very small role in determining your general level of health. “Heredity loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger” - a time-honored teaching I learned in medical school - is still very true today. The way you live is the primary factor in determining your health.

Often we go to the doctor asking for a remedy, and our hope is that through that remedy we will recover our health. But while the many and various remedies available today may certainly have benefit, a “benefit” cannot remove the problem! In fact, it’s impossible to achieve true healing without addressing the cause of the problem.

Hitting Ourselves With A “Hammer”

Imagine hitting your knee repeatedly with a hammer. Your knee hurts, so you ask the doctor for some prescription pain medication. But you don’t stop hitting yourself with the hammer. And you soon find that while the medication does provide some relief, the pain inflicted by the hammer exceeds the power of the medicine.

“How ridiculous!” is the obvious response. Yet so often, the “hammer” of lifestyle is the basis for our disease. And we need to stop hitting ourselves with that hammer, which is really unhealthful living in all its many forms.

In the equation of health, unhealthful living plus a healing remedy simply do not add up. Rather, healthful living is the healing remedy that can establish a basis for healing. Our bodies were designed by the Creator to heal - and when we cooperate by living healthfully, healing happens!

Healthful Living Defined

The next obvious question might be, “What is healthful living?” In her book The Ministry of Healing, written in the early 1900's, Ellen White defines the elements of healthful living as:²

• pure air
• sunlight
• temperance
• rest
• exercise
• proper diet
• the use of water, and
• trust in divine power.

These components are described as the true remedies. Of course, implementing these remedies requires personal commitment, or sense of responsibility - which may or may not be desired. This is a common problem, and one that Ellen White recognized, for she wrote about it on the very same page:

“The use of natural remedies requires an amount of care and effort that many are not willing to give. Nature’s process of healing and up-building is gradual, and to the impatient is seems slow. The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of body and health of mind.”³

Proof Positive?

Nearly 100 years later, many of the health principles described by Ellen White have been proven by medical researchers and scientists. In his thoroughly and scientifically documented book Proof Positive, Dr. Neil Nedley validates healthful living as the ultimate healing remedy. In one chapter, Dr. Nedley reviews the famous Breslow study comparing lifestyle factors with longevity. In this classic study involving approximately 7000 Californians, seven lifestyle factors were identified that influenced how long people lived:

1. Sleeping 7 to 8 hours each day
2. No eating between meals
3. Eating breakfast regularly
4. Maintaining proper weight
5. Exercising regularly
6. Moderate or no use of alcohol, and
7. No smoking

Those who practiced all seven habits lived the longest. In addition, as the number of practiced health habits decreased, there was a direct decrease in life span, or a direct increase in actual health age. Notice the following revealing statistics:⁴

As you can see, a thirty-year-old man practicing only three health habits would really have a health age of 39.1 years of age. In contrast, a 30-year-old man practicing all seven health habits would really have a health age of 18.9 years of age. Talk about turning back the clock - healthful living really is the fountain of youth!

A Focus On Symptoms

Unfortunately, the primary strategy in health care has focused, and still is focusing, on treating the symptoms rather than the causes of disease. I have seen these principles in action- both during my residency in Family Practice and when my medical practice expanded into Lifestyle Medicine.

Current standards of medical care are important for they can and do significantly reduce pain and suffering. However, I learned early on in my medical practice that treating symptoms cannot and does not treat the underlying causes of disease. Yet stopping at this point in the therapeutic process is all too common. As a result, the diseases are managed (instead of cured) as they progress.

Is There Hope?

Lifestyle Medicine goes a step farther than current medical practice, promoting what should actually be the first step in medical care. Of course, that first, all-important step is proper lifestyle or healthful living.

When healthful living is emphasized as the ultimate therapeutic objective, healing results. I have observed people recovering from a wide range of lifestyle diseases through healthful living, such as:

• coronary artery disease
• hypertension
• adult-onset diabetes
• obesity
• arthritis
• asthma
• allergies
• depression
• irritable bowel syndrome
• and many other conditions, including diseases resulting from immune system dysfunction.

While these results are unparalleled, they occur because of positive lifestyle changes - not chance.

A Healing History

More than a hundred years ago the “lifestyle” philosophy of health care rose to worldwide prominence in Battle Creek, Michigan. Under the direction of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the Battle Creek Sanitarium served literally thousands of patients, in the process teaching them many of the healthful principles that are recognized as being so effective today. Although the doors of the “San” closed some time ago, its legacy of care has circled the globe, bringing blessing to millions. Many health centers and hospitals have joined that “circle” - by purposing to advance healthful lifestyle as the major principle of healing.

Learning Your Way Around

Imagine finding yourself in an unknown city without directions or even a map. This would be very frustrating - until you learned your way around by personal experience. Once you’ve been there, you know the way.

The same is true for healthful living: experience is the key. Hearing the directions and landmarks may have little value until the experience is your own.

Making Good Choices

Healthful living requires a commitment to, and participation and cooperation with, the lifestyle principles we have discussed in this article. And we can rest assured that when we make healthful choices, we are following the will of God.

The whole idea of healthful living has its origin with the Creator God, for the Bible establishes the foundational principles of healthful living for the whole person. And upon this foundation, scientific validation provides compelling evidence to strengthen faith and commitment.

In various places the promise is given that God’s love has provided a basis for forgiveness of sin, even cleansing from all unrighteousness, and healing from all diseases. Precious promises! He redeems our lives from destruction! But we must respond. By faith we must believe and act.

“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give ear to His commandments, and keep His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptian: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” Exodus 15:26

This promise purposes our complete restoration physically, mentally, and spiritually. This is God’s will for our lives, and by doing our part to live healthfully, we can help bring to pass the heartfelt wish of our God and Savior: “Beloved, I wish above all things that you mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 2.

Bruce R Hyde, M.D. former Medical Director, Battle Creek Lifestyle Health Center
1 The following points and statistics were taken from the book Proof Positive, by Dr. Neil Nedley, pages 2, 3.
2 The Ministry of Healing, Ellen G. White, page 127.
3 Ibid., page 127.
4 Proof Positive, Dr. Neil Nedley, pages 3, 4.