Dr Tony Vendryes

THE HUMAN body is a complex, intricate aggregate of as many as 70 trillion cells. There are more than 200 different types of cells known to medical science. Cells are the basic units, or building blocks, of life. In the body, these cells are organised into organs and systems. Each cell has a specific role to play in how the body functions. It is the harmonious collaboration of all our cells that allows the body to operate.

Your health depends on the health of the cells in your body. When your cells are healthy, you are healthy. When cellular function goes wrong, disease develops. Dysfunction in even one cell can spread to others and create havoc, as in the case of cancer. Maintaining healthy cells is the key to a healthy body.

The lifecycle of cells

Each cell is a living entity - it is born, it lives, and it dies. Amazingly, each day, millions and millions of cells in your body die and millions are born to replace them. Your body is constantly renewing and repairing itself.

For example, the cells lining your stomach are replaced every 48 hours, a liver cell lives for 90 days, a red blood cell for for months, and brain cells for more than 50 years. It is estimated that each year, the human body replaces more than 90 per cent of its cells. Right now you are living in your 2012 model!

Because your body is designed to constantly renew and restore itself, you are never stuck with your health problem. Healing, repairing, and improvement in health is always possible. Indeed, the Psalmist was right, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Feeding the cells

Your cells eat. They use nutrients, from your diet to produce energy, to repair damage, and to create new cells. The nourishment your cells receive is, therefore, critical to your health. Modern medical research clearly indicates that many common illnesses are the result of imbalanced nutrition. It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of all doctor visits are for nutritional-related disorders.

Our cells are not being nourished well. Our modern foods are extremely imbalanced, we make poor dietary choices, and we live stress-filled, lives that further depletes our body's nutrients. In fact, cellular malnutrition is our biggest health problem, and good cellular nutrition is the real solution.

Nutrition is powerful medicine

I am fully convinced that nutritional supplements are necessary for optimal health and even the conservative American Medical Association now agrees with me. If anyone tells you that you do not need to supplement your diet, they are out of touch with modern medical research.

For almost two decades, I have used patented nutritional programmes carefully designed to provide the body with optimal nutrition at the cellular level. The concept is called cellular nutrition, and it has contributed greatly to my own excellent health and the tremendous results that my patients regularly report even when challenged by severe illness.

A simple way to apply the concept of cellular nutrition is by using a meal-replacement drink called a shake. Although there are now many shakes on the market, very few can be designated "a meal- replacement shake". It must first fulfil very stringent nutritional guidelines set by the FDA. The cellular nutrition shake I recommend satisfies those requirements and is a real meal replacement. It is a nutritionally complete and perfect liquid meal. The idea was initially developed by NASA as a way of providing convenient, highly nutritious food for the early astronauts. Top scientists used space-age technology to create this super food. Now this shake is available to the man in the street around the world and here in Jamaica.

Medical benefits

The impact of the shake can be amplified with a patented herbal tea blend, based on green tea concentrate. While providing cellular nutrition, these two drinks also supply soy protein and green tea. Endless medical reports testify to the numerous medical benefits of these two foods for the health of the heart, colon, breast, and prostate. The research shows that they positively impact many other common medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and cholesterol disorders.

Replacing one regular meal with the shake and tea each day can profoundly affect how your body functions because of the cellular nutrition it receives. The shake and tea make an excellent and nutritious breakfast. You can also use this combination to lose weight by replacing two meals with this combination.

The words of Hippocrates, the grandfather of modern medicine still ring true today when he said, "Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food."

You may email Dr Tony Vendryes at tonyvendryes@gmail.com, or listen to 'An Ounce of Prevention' on POWER 106FM on Fridays at 8 p.m. His new book 'An Ounce of Prevention, Especially for Women' , is available locally and on the Internet.