There are many comparisons being made between what is happening in America today and what happened in Rome before its fall.
The similarities usually include political polarization, moral exhaustion, loss of civic trust, wealth inequality, social resentment, global burden, and various forms of distraction and entertainment that keep people pacified instead of awake.
I am no expert on Rome, just a reader who has started to pay attention.
And all of this has brought me to a question:
Could one overlooked root cause of America’s potential decline be hiding in what we eat and drink?
Has our modern food supply helped create such an epidemic of chronic inflammation that we are, slowly but surely, becoming too depleted to preserve sovereignty on physical, mental, and spiritual levels?
Taking a closer look, chronic inflammation often gives few obvious symptoms at first. But over time, it is associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune disease, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline, chronic kidney disease, fatty liver disease, asthma, COPD, skin disorders, chronic pain, and periodontal disease.
But here is where we are different from Rome.
We have access to information.
So maybe we start by looking at what has happened to our food.
It appears we have been programmed for comfort, convenience, and addiction by means of sugar, processed ingredients, and various additives.
And this does not just affect weight. It can affect the microbiome, energy, sleep, mood, cravings, inflammation, and apparently even the brain itself.
Check out the impact of some processed foods on dopamine.
Food companies know this, of course. They know how to create foods that hit the “bliss point” — the combination of sugar, salt, fat, flavor, and texture that makes people eat compulsively.
It is known as engineered compulsion.
Maybe it is time to stop feeding this system — the one that seems to be keeping us inflamed, distracted, addicted, and tired.
In other words, maybe it is time to start eating real food.
The scan indicated a benefit of eating sweet potatoes and blueberries this week.
We are also focused, energetically, on clearing stress related to dryness, autonomic nervous-system involvement, gland conflict, Triple Heater congestion, fluid depletion, phlegm, digestive/stomach stress, blood deficiency, and emotional fretfulness.
But it could be that no amount of energy work can reach its full potential if we refuse to change a few eating habits.
So here is the next-to-last chapter of our fairy tale.
And just so you know, the final chapter will have a happy ending, as all fairy tales should.
Chapter 6: The Fifth Door — The Pyramid on the Wall
The next doorway had a triangle painted on it.
It opened, and Tess stepped into a school cafeteria.
Children sat at long tables under fluorescent lights.
At the front of the room, towering above everything, was a giant food pyramid.
The cafeteria wall shifted.
The pyramid grew larger.
Now Tess saw adults around a long table, drafting recommendations, revising language, arguing over servings, categories, charts, and national advice.
“Who are they?” Tess asked.
“People helping shape what a nation would be told to eat,” said the angel.
The poster kept glowing.
Tess looked at the pyramid again.
“So this advice became common sense?”
“Yes,” said the angel. “Posters. Classrooms. School lunches. Doctor’s offices. Grocery habits. Family beliefs. Generations of people learned to think of food through this shape.”
The pyramid puffed itself up proudly.
Then Tess saw the years pass.
Food became more packaged.
Portions grew larger.
Low-fat products multiplied.
Sugar slipped into sauces, cereals, yogurts, snacks, breads, and drinks.
Children became adults.
Adults became patients.
The nation became heavier, more tired, more inflamed, and more confused.
“So the government told people this would make them healthy.”
“Yes,” said the angel. “And many people tried to follow the advice.”
“But the country did not get healthier.”
“No,” said the angel.
Tess watched as the pyramid cast a long shadow across the cafeteria.
In that shadow, food companies grew richer, the medical industry grew busier, and ordinary people grew more confused about what real nourishment even was.
