Mind-blowing: The outside world enters your body through your mouth in a long meandering tube that exits at your tush.
The only thing protecting you from what’s taken into your digestive tract is your gut wall which, wait for it, consists only of some interlocking singular cells. That’s right, that tube down there? It’s only one cell thick.
Second to the air we breathe, our largest exposure to the outside world is the food we eat.
Indeed, our relationship with the outside world is more intricate, delicate, and interdependent than you might have thought.
And so it stands to reason that what’s good for the earth is good for our health — and what’s bad for our health is bad for the earth.
The notion that caring for the planet is indeed caring for ourselves is an important one.
Here are just a few examples where doing the right thing for the earth is the right thing for you:
Our Food
Pesticide use and tillage in conventional agriculture are known to have detrimental consequences to soil microbiology and are responsible for soil depletion. Foods grown conventionally produce less nutrient-dense food, and therefore negatively impact human health.
This might help: Support Regenerative Organic farms and eat their nutrient-dense food, or grow your own!
Our Mental Health
As the environment continues to degrade, climate events like fires and storms increase, and the air becomes harder to breathe, our mental health suffers under the pressure of climate anxiety, stress, and isolation. When people feel this way, they’re more likely to numb themselves by over-consuming (online shopping and imported goods), which is not healthy for the planet.
This might help: Focus on healthy ways of feeling better like practicing yoga, exercising, getting enough sleep, pursuing a hobby, growing a garden, or being civically involved in your local community.
The Plastic
It seems everywhere you look in the house, there’s plastic. Plastic food storage containers, plastic blender cups, plastic bottles, plastic baggies, plastic utensils, and so on. More and more we’re learning that plastic can be harmful to our health. All you have to do is go to the beach or look at images of sea turtles trapped in plastic netting, or dead sea birds full of plastic in their tummies to understand the harm it’s causing our oceans.
This might help: Steadily eliminate plastic from your environment and choose alternatives that are much higher quality, look more natural, and are better for your health!
Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash