Cells are the basic units of life. The average human body is a community of 50 to 70 trillion cells. Different types of cells come together to form various tissues. These tissues make up the different organs that comprise the different systems, like the ner-vous system or the digestive system. These many systems work together for the health and well-being of the whole body. We are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.

Just imagine 70 trillion individual cells able to work together for a common good. Contrast that with the mere six and a half billion humans who struggle to coexist here on planet Earth, much less work together and prosper. What lessons can we learn from our cells?

Healing is always possible

Your body is not like a statue that, once made, is stuck in its original form. The cells that make up our bodies live and die and are replaced by new ones. Even as you read these words, millions of cells that make up your body are dying, and new cells are being born to take their place.

It is estimated that in a single year you will replace more than 90 per cent of the cells in your body. Your body is constantly renewing itself, seeking to heal, mend, balance and self-repair. The body is actually designed to heal itself. This insight changed me. I realised that there are potentially no incurable diseases. I cannot heal anyone but the body's wisdom is greater than mine. My role is to facilitate the process. Healing is always possible.

Not a victim of genes

As the modern science of genetic engineering evolves, more and more genes are being identified as the causes of different diseases. Tests have been devised to check for the breast cancer gene or the Alzheimer's gene with an attendant recommendation of a particular drug or surgery. This, in my opinion, is a misleading and unhealthy trend.

The truth is, genes do not really control us. It is our environment — internal and external — that controls our genes. By controlling our environment and how we react to it, we control our genes. Genes are like switches that can be turned on or off. The fact that you may be born with a particular gene does not mean that it must express itself and create disease. Because your mother and father are diagnosed with diabetes, that does not mean that you must have the illness too. Even if you have inherited their genes, there is a lot that you can do to prevent those genes expressing diabetes. You are never a helpless victim.

You are what you eat

The new cells that your body is creating right now will be built from the materials like food and water that you put into your body.

The quality of the new generation of cells now being produced in your body will depend on the quality of the food you recently consumed. A key necessity for a healthy body with healthy cells is good nutrition for the cells - cellular nutrition.

Regardless of what the problem may be, I make specific dietary recommendations to every patient I see. I cringe when I hear people say that their doctor told them that they could eat anything they liked.

Because our modern food supply has become so imbalanced, with too much of the unhealthy things and too little of the good stuff, even very conservative medical authorities like the American Medical Association recommend that we all take food supplements on a daily basis.

I recommend a patented programme called Cellular Nutrition as an excellent way to ensure balanced nutrition.

Research has now shown that the right amount of certain nutrients can prevent the switching on of some 'bad genes', while nutritional imbalances may encourage those genes to express themselves and create disease.

You are what you think

In addition to those important food nutrients, the body and cells also need mental nutrition. Thoughts and emotions are extremely powerful energies that impact on the function of your cells. Many, many of our modern illnesses are caused by the mental toxins that we feed on. Chronic anxiety, fear, anger, worry, greed are all too common examples of these mental poisons.

By creating changes in the chemical reactions in the body, thoughts and emotions causegenes to switch on or off and thus express illness or health. Problems, called psychosomatic diseases, have now become quite common. These are physical ailments that have an emotional or mental origin.

We can and must learn to control our mental and emotional processes. I am not just advocating 'positive thinking', although this is of some help. Psychologists estimate that the average human has about 60,000 thoughts each day. Unfortunately, 95 per cent of the time, it is our subconscious mind that is operating and we are on automatic pilot and not consciously controlling our mental processes.

So, feed your body and nourish your mind and enjoy a healthy body with healthy cells.

You may email Dr Vendryes at vendryes@mac.com, visit him at www.anounceofprevention.org or listen to An Ounce of Prevention on POWER 106FM on Fridays at 8 p.m.