Every individual, irrespective of the social, or educational status can indeed achieve good health - with all the resources (grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, etc.), which nature has provided us. Unfortunately, many people have lost the intuitive ability to differentiate between what is harmful to the body from what is beneficial to it that could promote its healthy upbuilding.

Furthermore, many believe that with their wealth, they can afford to ‘buy’ at anytime, the good health from their heathcare providers. Consequently, living in tune with nature becomes a matter of secondary importance. To these group of people, Dr. Beverly Winikoff of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York - once advised; that the:

"... Widespread and unfounded confidence in the ability of medical science to cure or mitigate the effects of such (nutrition related) diseases once they occur. Appropriate public education must emphasise the unfortunate but clear limitations of current medical practice in curing the common killing diseases. Once hypertension, diabetes, arteriosclerosis of heart disease are manifest, there is, in reality, very little that medical science can do to return a patient to normal physiological function".

Studies have shown that, all things being equal, with good nutrition and sometimes with the guidance of a healthcare provider most of the present-day degenerative diseases could be prevented.

Good and adequate nutrition or diet which have been known to form the first line of defence against all forms of diseases, physical and mental degeneration and premature aging of the body is not just a question WHAT is eaten, or the question of counting calories, but HOW well, the food is digested and nourished the body - without placing any form of extra burden on the digestive organs.

Gabriel Cousens, M.D. in his book", Spiritual Nutrition And The Rainbow Diet" (1986); wrote that:

"Foods can b classified into four categories according to their cell renewal and regenerating capabilities: biogenic (raw sprouted nuts, seeds, grasses, and grains), which is cell regenerative; bioactive (raw fruits and vegetables), which maintains cell energy at high level; biostatic (cooked, but organic), which creates a slow depletion of cell energy; and bioacidic (processed and adulterated) which is cell degenerative".

In natural medicine, vegetables and fruits are classified as Bioactive foods, foods that heightens and maintains cell energy. Also, they are called protective foods, since they best provide the body with the necessary upbuilding raw materials such as, vitamins, enzymes, minerals, photochemicals and many more yet unknown substances - which nature has given for the building of a strong immune system.

Vegetable salad which we are considering in this write-up, is a mixture of raw fresh vegetables and often with some wild herbs appropriately prepared and taken alone or in combination with other foods.

Vegetable salads could be skillfully prepared in a variety of ways depending on the season of the year and also on the nutritional needs. Many housewives and cooks are aware that no particular foods on its own can provide all the vital nutrients needed for the upbuilding of a strong, healthy and disease resistant physical body. For this reason and with their knowledge of the medical and healing values of some vegetables - they make their salads - with a variety of products according to the need of their family.

Salads are usually prepared with the following vegetables:

-Deep green leafy vegetables like, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, parsley, dandelion, celery, nettle, cauliflowers

-Fruit vegetables, such as cucumber, avocado pear, tomato, green pepper, green pea, egg plant, maize.

-Root vegetables like carrot, beet root, potato, onions, garlic leek, etc.

For dressing, olive oil, sesame seed oil, lemon juice, honey, soy oil, onion, garlic etc., are often used.

-The vegetables that are to be used for salad preparation should be organically grown, devoid of genetical manipulation, artificial fertilizers and other health damaging chemicals.

-They have to be as fresh as possible. Storing vegetable for a long time, or freezing reduces their nutritional and healing values.

-Fresh vegetables for salad preparation provides the best nourishment for the body when they are in season.

-The modern man is burdened with the health problems associated with the excessive consumption of cooked proteins (e.g. the red meat), stress factors and environmental pollution. Eating plenty of salad each day - preferably at lunch time will not only furnish the body with anti-oxidants that will help mop up health damaging effects of free-radicals, but will equally provide the body with blood cleansing nutrients that will help the body rid itself of accumulated toxins.

It is important to note that those who eat excessive meat be it white or red meat are strongly advised to eat plenty of vegetable salad with it in order to prevent excessive acid formation. In fact, it had been observed that eating plenty of vegetable salad or that if our vegetable and fruit intake constitute up to 70 to 80 per cent of our daily diet - we would hardly develop any of the degenerative diseases (like arthritis and premature aging) that are common today.

The vegetable salad, when eaten daily may not just be taken as an ordinary food, it could also serve as an effective medicine that could be prescribed for the healing of disease and its prevention.

1)Deep green leafy vegetables have been found to contain biologically active substances chlorophyll that give them their deep green colour - chlorophyll helps to build a clean blood, strong nerves, healthy tissue and nourishes the glands. Chlorophyll is one of the best natural sources of magnesium which helps in the utilisation of calcium in the human body.

2) The orange coloured vegetables are the important source of carotenoid (Vitamin A which is now known to help fight any form of growth in the body.

3)Generally, vegetables are the important sources of vitamin A, B, C, K, etc., that helps builds the body and protects it against diseases.

4)Vegetable salads furnishes the body with minerals and trace elements like calcium, magnesium, iron, iodine, etc., which builds the blood, maintains the body’s alkaline reserve and gives a favourable composition of the blood.

5)Vegetable salads are the important sources of dietary fibres (cellulose) which slows down the absorption of glucose into the body cell - also helps in regulating the blood insulin level. Scientifically, it has been shown that high fibre diet gives protection against diseases such as constipation, haemorrhoids, arteriosclerosis, intestinal, colon and breast cancers.

6)Vegetable salads are the best sources of food enzymes. Enzymes are said to be the life factor in foods - which are capable of making other substances change their form, without changing themselves. The enzyme contents of vegetable salads restores the up-building elements of the body - which are used up in the process of food digestion and other metabolic process. Enzymes helps to change the foods we eat in forms utilisable in the body.

It is important to note here, that cooking vegetables in any form destroys most of health giving nutrients, their taste and flavour. Excessive cooking at the sametime changes the nature of vegetables - consequently, when such are eaten as food - the body defence mechanism treat them as "foreign" body.

Consuming excessive cooked foods without balancing them with adequate amount of raw foods like vegetable salad exposes the body to a very high susceptibility to degenerative diseases.