The image below is an example of marketing propaganda.
Years ago, someone marketed my story as a "Christian Nutrition Prescription."
I may have lost weight, lowered cholesterol, and dropped triglycerides—but I eventually gained a very dangerous eating disorder.
In the early days, I wholeheartedly believed that everything I put into my mouth was either killing cancer cells or growing them.
But then a close friend, who was a diehard nutritarian, died of cancer. (A nutritarian is a mixture of vegan and vegetarian with a focus on optimal nutrition.)
She was only forty-nine-years-old.
Then, another friend, who was also a nutritarian and relatively young, died of cancer.
After their deaths, my shell began to crack.
Both friends didn't expect to be cured via nutrition; but they certainly didn't expect to die so suddenly from a disease they thought could be mitigated via optimal nutrition.
At one point in my journey, someone persuaded me to believe: "You are a public persona now. People look up to you to set an example, and that means not getting any serious diseases in your future, like cancer."
Let's be honest, that's psychological manipulation on steroids.
Such an unrealistic expectation lacked common sense; requesting someone not to get cancer is totally messed up.
This holiday season, as you consider various diets to follow in the New Year, it's important to have realistic perspectives.
Food is food.
It may have the potential to improve or harm one's quality of life, but it's not medicine. One can still die of cancer no matter how perfectly they may eat.
God has each day numbered. . .and no amount of precision nutrition will extend that number.
Fuel your body with nutrients that will enable you to feel and perform your best each day.
Leave the details of your death to God Almighty.
Be at peace.
Emily Boller, wife, mother, painter, and author is on a mission to create expressive works of art in her lifetime; and to bring awareness to the potentially harmful traps of diet-wellness culture. In her free time, she loves to chase skyscapes, grow flowers and vegetables, and can homemade soups.