The human body, among other bodies, is made up of many colonies of cells working together in a super-colony. It is astounding that all these cells bother to work together at all, and it takes a lot of effort for them to do so. Our bodies are not particularly elegant devices, and are stocked with inefficiencies and extraneous parts, no matter what you consider our function to be. If that function is to replicate our genes, well, there are many more ‘efficient’ ways of going about it.

Our cells could simply disband and replicate their genes on their own, each for itself. Indeed, they sometimes do so — we call it cancer. Sometimes the complex systems in place to make our cells cooperate (but not with antagonistic cells carrying foreign genes) fail, like our immune system — and then we get autoimmune diseases.

Generally, heterogeneous groups cooperate only as long as things aren’t stressful. A recent study using mixed-species bee colonies managed to keep the bees mellow by giving them plenty of food, removing troublemakers and other sources of stress. I’m sure this works for our bodies’ cells as well. If things get tough or confusing, they might just decide to go it alone.

That’s why it’s important to keep our bodies’ systems working harmoniously. Drugs and medical intervention never quite cut it — it’s like trying to patch holes in a leaky boat while you’re at sea. They cause problems as well as fix them (you’ve heard the side-effect disclaimers on prescription drug ads), and they don’t address the root causes. If a person’s lifestyle is causing their cells to rebel — and usually there are plenty of warning signs beforehand as the systems start to tip off-balance — then lifestyle needs to be addressed. Otherwise those delicate systems will ultimately collapse.

I highly recommend The China Study for its excellent review of the current medical research — as well as relevant but buried historical research — about diet and its effect on major diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and more. The common thread that emerges is that eating animals, especially animal protein in meat and dairy, is more highly correlated with Western diseases than anything else. Yet even while people are willing to cut out whole macronutrients from their diets (like fats or carbohydrates), they are not willing to face the idea of giving up animals.

The author of The China Study was convinced by his own studies and the studies of others to switch to a whole-foods, plant-based diet. I would be too if I hadn’t already done so! And after listening to over 100 episodes of Fitness Rocks, the bulk of medical research supports the idea that this is the healthiest way of eating. It can reverse heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, and negate the effects of even the most potent carcinogens. Calories from unrefined plant-based foods are used or burned off as heat instead of being stored as fat. Meanwhile diets high in animal foods cause or promote things like prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes (even Type 1), osteoporosis, and obesity. I’m just surprised this information is suppressed in the media in favor of expensive pharmaceuticals and invasive medical practices that aren’t half as effective at treating the symptoms, and do nothing to fix the underlying problems!

A human is not one entity. She is a swarm of swarms, a vast metropolis of living cells and immigrant bacteria. What a crazy idea! It makes my head spin to think how complex it all is, and it makes me wonder at how it all stays together. Thankfully, they — I mean I — want to stay together. And I’ll definitely listen to myself closely, and make sure I have what I need to remain one colony and not several rebel states fighting turf wars over the body I want to use to live my life.

No offense to the colonists, but I think the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. Take note, fellow colonies! Keep your metropoles free of crime and vandalism — eat more plants.