Are we the rulers of our own destinies or mere products of social conditioning? This age-old question takes on new meaning when directed at our dietary lifestyles—and in light of the adage that “you are what you eat.”

From infancy we are trained by our parents, our peers, the media, and other authorities in widely accepted eating habits and behaviors. For better or worse, right or wrong, we blindly absorb these habits (and literally absorb the very substances that we consume) deep in the fabric of our beings. The road to health, weight loss, and enlightenment begins with an awareness of our social conditioning—or our social programming.

When we act without consciousness, without asking why or discerning between truths and illusions of truth, we are no better than programmed computers. The fact is, we humans are highly programmable, which is good to a degree. We can retain a lot of information and our bodies are governed by certain important codes—such as the consistent rates at which our hearts beat, how we metabolize food, and how our bones grow. Beyond basic involuntary functions, however, we must remember to exercise free will, imagination, and consciousness whenever possible.

Here’s the problem: The modern breed of human, programmed by social behaviors and chemical stimulants (such as processed sugars, flour, caffeine, and countless prescription and over-the-counter drugs), generally runs on autopilot. Even highly creative and innovative people who work outside the mainstream still fall prey to dangerous habits and food addictions. Modern people have become terribly predictable in patterns of social interaction, consumption, and physical degeneration, whereby every action becomes simply a reaction to a programmed (albeit socially accepted) behavior. It takes much vision, courage, and determination to get out from under the years of social conditioning to discover our true, healthy selves.

Along the way, at least for a time, most of us fall for the conventional wisdom that the key to health is to be found in the almighty calorie, fat gram, and grueling gym workout. Consider the common daily practice of eating large, fibrous breakfasts, snacking on low-calorie processed foods, consuming cooked animal flesh, and logging countless miles on the treadmill. Now consider the common sense of detoxifying and nourishing every cell of the body through juicing, consuming fresh fruits and vegetables in simple, digestible combinations, and using gentle cleansing methods—which are at the heart of my diet philosophy.

In my years of practice as a nutritionist, I’ve seen the painful effects of the conventional “healthy” diet on countless individuals and families. People today are riddled with symptoms and have little understanding of the root causes. For example, many a client struggling with their weight will be surprised to learn that skim milk, chicken breasts, and diet bars are only going to make them age faster and accumulate more unwanted weight due to the biochemistry of those foods (despite the ads and articles to the contrary). Clients who struggle with constipation are amazed when, after I adjust their diets and take them off of their fiber and flax supplements, they start eliminating on their own like never before. Parents are shocked when I point out the connection between their child’s chronic ear infections and the child’s consumption of milk or soy products—which are deemed “health foods” by conventional authorities.

We are told that while scientists are hard at work finding a cure for cancer, regular mammograms, colonoscopies, and check-ups are the best preventative measures. Nowhere is it explained that the organs will protect themselves from the onslaught of toxicity that saturates the tissues from decades of harmful consumption by creating tumors (little houses of toxicity to keep the poison out of the organ) as a last resort! Cancer can also be passed along through the DNA from generations of unfit living (which corrupt healthy DNA codes), and can become manifest in the body from repressed, intense emotional pain.

Who among the programmed masses will recognize such truths and change their lives accordingly? This blog is for those among you with the ears to hear and the eyes to see that we must rethink our whole approach to health. Remember, real change begins in the mind, our creative source, which has the power to conceive new ideas and birth them into reality.

Are you ready to liberate yourself from the programmed masses, to lift yourself up and out of conventional consciousness and open your eyes to greater self-realization? Are you ready to shed away the years of marketing and cynicism, the pounds of junk food and junk ideals that have preyed on your worst fears? Are you ready to release yourself from the grip of fear and self-loathing to achieve your goals?

When you are ready—whether it is now, or in a week, or a month from now—you will know it. You will know because it’s an amazing feeling suddenly to look upon your old belief systems and watch them fall away from you, one by one, as a liberating consciousness rises in their place. You might even worry that no one in the world will understand you anymore, but I assure you that every day more and more people are awakening to the possibilities of this new way of living.

When you realize how the body was intended to eat, how it struggles to function under the onslaught of unfit substances that are the social norm, you will start to see how many other aspects of social conditioning you have blindly accepted that do not serve your wholeness. As you discover the true meaning of nourishment, you will look and feel better than you ever thought possible!

Next time, we’ll cover Part II of “The Danger of Social Conditioning”—about the effect of unfit consumption on DNA and the future of our offspring.

Your friend and fellow weaver of heaven on earth,

Natalia