“No matter how spiritual you are, no matter how much self-esteem you have, I doubt that you’d put a Diet Coke in your automobile and expect it to run well. It would gum up the works so badly that your car would be in the shop in no time. Yet our current diet has us putting the most atrocious substances in our bodies and expecting to have good health.

As an automobile needs premium fuel to operate well, our bodies need real, fresh food to maintain health. Packaged food creates dis-ease. There’s no nourishment in it. The body can only handle it for so long. Then, when you do have a problem, you usually take an over-the-counter or prescription drug. This is another form of poison.

However, when you reach the age of 40—after years of eating a high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar, highly processed diet and taking these chemical drugs—your body begins to rebel. It has nothing to do with aging. It’s because the body has become toxic and can’t handle these poisons anymore.

So often when I read your emails and letters, the nutritional problem jumps out at me. It speaks louder than the mental problem. I want to say: “Please stop eating all that junk food and turn to a very simple diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, and protein. Drop the sugar, cut back on wheat products, and eat very small amounts of dairy.” I know that your health can return very quickly when you do this.”

Louise Hay