— Healing the Life Force Within Us

Although perceptions about aging are changing as people around the world resist stereotypes about growing older, many of us still recognize the signs of advancing age when we look in the mirror. Sometime during our late 30s, the body starts to decline. We stop producing free-radical scavengers (which keep us healthy), and growth hormone (which builds muscle and keeps skin youthful and elastic).

As wrinkles begin to appear, and we stop healing as quickly as we once did, our bodies start performing a kind of triage: Vitamins and minerals needed for immediate survival and reproduction are used first, at the expense of longevity proteins that defend against the diseases of aging and promote long-term health. The fact that a large percentage of the world’s population lives under constant stress and is deficient in one or more essential vitamins and minerals, only serves to compound this decline – among the poor, the deficiency is largely due to malnutrition; among the affluent, it’s caused by malabsorption of nutrients thanks to a damaged gut.

Centuries ago, without being able to explain biochemistry, Amazon shamans found ways to switch on the longevity proteins and repair longevity genes damaged by stress and short-term survival needs. They discovered the plants that remove toxins and debris from inside the cells and repair the power centers that convert energy from food into a form the cells can use. These amazing power centers are the mitochondria, and switching on the longevity systems begins with their repair.

Our Paleolithic ancestors didn’t have a clue, of course, what mitochondria were. They simply referred to whatever prevented aging and decline as “the feminine life force.” Today, science offers a less mystical explanation of this life force: Handed down through our mother’s genes, these tiny thread-like organelles are the keepers of the body’s death clock, controlling the process of programmed cell death known as apoptosis. When the death clock is running properly, old cells know exactly when they need to die to be replaced by healthy new ones. When the death clock is off, cells don’t know they need to die, resulting in cancer. Or they may die off too quickly, resulting in accelerated aging.

Without healthy, high-functioning mitochondria (which have their own separate DNA), every cell is at risk. Some 200 ailments we suffer from today – such as cancer, heart disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, cirrhosis, and migraine headaches – have been linked to mitochondrial breakdown. Mitochondria are easily damaged by toxins, including pharmaceuticals such as psychotropic drugs, statin medications, certain analgesics and many others.

Just as updating the operating system on your computer lets you run new, more powerful programs and applications, you must upgrade your brain and body to enable new, more constructive thinking that can enhance your physical health and emotional well-being. Nourishing your body and brain with nutrients and activities that support health will also help you avoid the diseases of aging and modern living.

Following my own journey to recover optimal health, I wrote One Spirit Medicine as a step-by-step guide to repair damage to the body and brain. You can get a condensed version of the One Spirit Medicine regimen in this free copy of Hacking the Human Biofield, which includes my complete 30-day detox diet. You can find all the supplements you’ll need for the regimen in our store or you can purchase them separately from other vendors.

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