Ep 07 - Health Care: Food, Movement, Mindset

In this heartfelt return to the mic, host Natiki Hope Pressley opens up about her time away and invites listeners into an honest, empowering conversation about America’s growing health crisis — and the opportunity hidden within it.

Despite record-high spending, our nation is sicker than ever. Chronic diseases, preventable conditions, and mental-health struggles now account for 90% of U.S. healthcare costs. But instead of panic, Natiki offers perspective — and a plan.

Through the three pillars of holistic healing — Food as Medicine, Movement as Healing, and Mindset as Power — she reminds us that real healthcare begins with self-care. 

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by rising healthcare costs, confused about what “healthy” really means, or disconnected from your own body, this episode is for you. It’s an invitation to return to wholeness — to nourish your body, renew your mind, and anchor your spirit in hope.

💫 Listen now and begin reclaiming your power to heal.
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Transcript

0:01

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to Health Healing and Hope. Thank you for being here. I know there are so many other places that you could be, but you chose to spend your time here with me and I'm so grateful. Before we begin today's, topic, I wanna apologize. I have been away from the microphone for a few weeks dealing with a family matter and some other personal issues, but I'm back. I am back excited and eager to get started and excited to reengage with you because I truly miss. These conversations. I really miss talking to you. I'm, I miss sharing from my heart with you and I miss the feedback that I've been given. Some people have asked, when is the next episode coming? So for those of you who were encouraging me and and telling me to come on back, as soon as possible, thank you for that. As many of you know, this podcast was born out of my own health journey through illness, through recovery, and then of course through revelation. Thank God, and I'm not a doctor, but I am a witness to the fact that the body, mind, and spirit can heal. When we give them what they truly need, we can heal. We can facilitate that healing when we do our part. We don't have full control of all aspects of healing, but we can do our part to facilitate that healing, and I'll talk about that more a little later. We're gonna talk about the healthcare crisis, but not from a place of panic, not, you know, hair on fire. We're gonna look at it as an invitation. An invitation to take control of your health care. Because what we eat, how we move, and what we believe can change everything. What we eat, how we move, and how often, and what we believe can change everything. So let's start with some truth. America spends more on healthcare than any other nation in the world. Nearly$4.9 trillion, and that's about$14,570 per person. That's according to the American Medical Association, and yet with all of that spending, our outcomes are declining. More people are getting sick, not fewer. The cost of care is increasing while the quality of care remains unchanged. Okay? So we are spending more, but we are getting less. We're spending more. And getting less. The Center for Disease Control reports that 129 million Americans are living with at least one major chronic illness like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. That is over one third of the entire population. A third of us are dealing with chronic illness. And we're gonna talk about why that's significant in a minute. But even more alarming, about 42% of adults have two or more chronic conditions, and 12% have five or more. Now, here's the reality that hits home. 90% of our national healthcare spending goes towards chronic diseases and mental health conditions. That means we're spending billions of dollars trying to manage preventable diseases, not spending to help prevent them. We're spending money to manage preventable diseases, but we're not spending money to prevent them. And while costs rise, the quality of care and access continue to fail. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 44% of Americans report that it's difficult to afford healthcare, and 36% have delayed or skipped care due to cost. They just decided, I'm not gonna go to the doctor because I can't afford it. That's the crisis, but here's the opportunity. What if instead of waiting for a system, our healthcare system to help us, we start helping ourselves? What if you and I could facilitate our own healing? Facilitate our healing? I'll get back to that. But let's redefine what healthcare really means. Healthcare isn't just about hospital visits or prescriptions. It's what we do every day. It's how we eat. It's how we move. It's how we think. It's how we believe It is really our totality. It is our holistic selves. It is our complete selves. Caring for our total health. So today we're focusing on three powerful pillars. Food is medicine, movement as healing and mindset and spiritual health. And if we can get these three things to work together because they do work together. They work in conjunction with each other. They are working in collaboration. It is a symphony. We can not only prevent illness, but we can reclaim our vitality, our energy, and our peace. Let's talk about food as medicine. Let's start with what's on your plate. Because food is the foundation of healing. What we put in is what we get out. You've heard that before, right? We know the law of reciprocity. Well, it works with food as well. If I put in junk, I get out junk, I put in good stuff, I get out good stuff. And you heard that saying you are what you eat, but it's deeper than that. You are what your body can absorb, transform, and use to sustain you. Because your food is what you absorb, that transform and sustains you. The food that you eat is then transformed into nutrients that then transform your body and your cells, and it feeds your cells and it helps to sustain life. Well, maybe food is life. Because it's not just medicine. Without it, we would not be. We would cease to exist. The research is clear. Poor nutrition is linked to nearly half of all deaths from heart disease, stroke and type two diabetes, highly processed food, refined sugars, trans fats. Are major drivers of inflammation. That's the silent spark behind most chronic illness. And I don't know if a lot of people know that, but inflammation is a killer. Your body needs certain amounts of inflammation, but excessive amounts of inflammation will cause. Dysfunction or what we call dis-ease. But here's the good news, food can heal too. So I often say when you eat whole living foods, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. You are literally feeding life back into your body. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Now I know it can be very controversial to talk about fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Without talking about animal protein. Most of us are conditioned to follow the sad diet. That's the standard American diet, which includes things like milk, from cows, as well as meat, protein, poultry, beef, and of course fish. So I wanna make sure to be clear about this, that right now I will be talking more about a plant-based diet. Plants are an important part of your diet; Every meal is a message. Ask yourself, is this meal telling my body to fight? Or is it telling my body to heal? Is it telling my body to fight off whatever bad chemicals and and poor nutrients I'm giving it? Or is it saying, Hey, here's some medicine to help you heal. I'm gonna facilitate my own healing with this meal, what you put on your plate, and of course, what you then put in your body. Matters. The scripture says in Genesis 1 29, I have given you every seed-bearing plant. They will be yours for food. God designed food to nourish and sustain us not to destroy us. Food is not intended to kill you. It is intended to heal you, but we've taken food and we used it to fight against our own. Life. We are self destructive. And I know that's hard to hear because we don't wanna believe that, you know, we have started to create a daily routine where we are working hard against ourselves, where we're now our own enemy. And I laugh, not because it's funny, I laugh because it is a sad reality that we all have lived in. Whether you are now on a healthy journey or you're still working towards it, we can all relate to that, that there was a time when I ate food that was designed to destroy me. I don't know if that was the intent of the design, but I know that that is the result. So let's take some action steps. Why don't we start small? Let's start small. Let's replace one processed food with one real whole food every day. This week, let's just replace one thing that you eat. Maybe it's the back of potato chips. Exchange that for some mixed nuts and seeds, like a trail mix, maybe you put some raisins in there for sweetness to make it more satisfying, especially if you really are working through the sugar addiction. Replace one processed food with something real, something whole, taking small steps. And I'm not here to hurt you. I'm not here to make you feel bad. The intent is to help you get through it because I have been there and I'm working through it. And I'll tell you in. Another episode, what I eat in a week. Maybe that's helpful. Maybe if I just share what I do that might encourage you a little bit more. Maybe it'll be more practical for you. But I wanna get through some of the more important, areas that we need to address and why, and then I'll tell you what I do, if that helps. If you'd like to hear that, let me know. Drop me a little note and let me know that you'd like to know what I eat every day. Okay, now let's talk about movement. We talked about food. Let's talk about movement. And I've spoke about this in previous episodes, but I wanna talk about it as it relates to our overall physical health and how it connects to the food that we eat. The World Health Organization says physical activity increases the risk of early death by 20 to 30%. Okay. Pause. If someone said, I can help you live longer and stronger, and I'm gonna give you the keys, would you take them? Especially when it's within your power to do. It's not like you're asking them to do something for you. They're just gonna tell you how to do it. If someone said to you, I can tell you how to live longer and stronger by 20 to 30%, would you do it? And if you said yes, okay. So increase your physical activity. Start moving. Start moving. The CDC also tells us that about 25% of adults meet the recommended physical activity guidelines. So there's just 25% of people who are actually moving enough, just 25. So 75% are not. Considering that movement doesn't require us to spend money, you don't have to join a gym to get moving. So that means that three out of four people aren't moving enough to maintain basic health. 75%. But here's the thing. Movement. Doesn't mean you have to run a marathon, right? You don't have to run every day, start jogging everywhere. But it can just mean a walk around the block, dancing in your living room, stretching before bedtime or stretching while you wait for your coffee to brew, or stretching in the kitchen while you're making dinner. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Think of it as medicine in motion. So we said food is medicine. Now we're saying that motion is too. It's medicine in motion. Exercise improves heart health, lowers blood pressure. It boosts your mood. It even helps prevent certain cancers, specifically as it relates to. The cancer that I battled, colorectal cancer. The statistics say if you increase your movement by doing activities, at least 30 to 45 minutes a day, and of course you can, you know, figure out how to do that within the week that you will decrease your chances of getting colorectal cancer. Medicine in emotion. It's also one of the most powerful tools that we have against things like anxiety and depression medicine. Emotion one, Timothy four and eight says Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things. There is some value in. Working towards your physical health, but your spiritual health is an imperative. That means that God honors both. He cares about our body and he also cares about nurturing our souls. So this week, move your body with gratitude, not because you hate it, not because you're like, oh man, it's don't do it. Grudgingly like, oh, I gotta get up and do something. Find something that you love. Find something that you enjoy. I don't do it because you hate it. Do it because you love it, because you wanna add to your life. You love that. And if you don't, you should commit to 150 minutes of movement this week. That's 30 minutes, like I said before, 30 minutes, five days a week, walk, stretch, dance, breathe, move around, walk in place, jog in place. Let your body remember what it feels like to move. The more you move, the more your body wants to move. And of course, the less you move, the less your body wants to move. You have to tell your body what to do, not the other way around. Now, let's talk about the most powerful part of healing is your mind and your spirit. You can eat all the right foods and you can have all the physical activity every day, but if your thoughts are toxic, your spirit will still be sick and it'll eventually work against you. It'll keep you from eating the proper foods. It'll keep you from consistent movement because if your thoughts are not in line. With your desire for healing and health, then your activity will be an opposition to healing and health. Your thoughts turn into actions. If your thoughts aren't in line with the things that you desire, then the actions will also not be in line. Does that make sense? I hope so. Proverbs 23 7 says, as a man, think if in his heart, so is he. So I become my thoughts because my thoughts become my action. And what I do then determines how I experience the world, how I experience life. Life is supposed to happen through me. Not to me. Life happens through you, not to you. Our life is an expression, or our experiences in life is an expression of our thought life. I learned that from the great pastor ar Bernard. Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York. Shameless plug, but stress, fear, and hopelessness weaken the immune system. Raise your blood pressure and create inflammation in the body. Stress, fear, and hopelessness weakens your immune system. This is how it happens. Raises your blood pressure and creates inflammation in the body. But gratitude, faith, forgiveness, things like that, they restore the balance in your body. Okay? Okay, so what am I saying? What are you saying? Make it plain. Your thoughts, what you believe in general and what you believe about yourself. Impacts greatly on your physical health. There is a connection between the mind, the body, and the spirit. We are made of these three things, mind, body, and spirit. They work in collaboration. They are connected. They work in harmony where they should be in harmony. I. In order to have an harmonious experience, all those things need to be working together. Isaiah 26 and three says that God will keep me in perfect peace when my mind is steadfast because I trust in him. What does that mean? That means that when my mind is aligned, steadfast, and aligned with God and the way in which God orders things, his divine order, when I'm aligned with his divine order, then I can be in perfect. Peace. I have to line myself up. Mind, body and spirit have to be in line. That's spiritual health, trusting that your life has purpose, that your healing is possible and has meaning, and that hope is never lost. So here's your challenge for the week, every morning before you check your phone and open your email and all the other things that you do in the morning after you pray. Tell yourself today, I choose health today, I choose peace. My body is my ally and I will treat it with love. I will treat myself with respect in honor of God. I will treat this vessel that I have been given I will treat it with respect. If you say it with intention, then your mind will start to believe it. You will start to do the things that you say and what your mind, what you tell your mind to do. Your body will follow.. Those things need to be in agreement, mind, body, and spirit agreement. So what does it all mean? It means that real healthcare begins with self-care. Real healthcare begins with self-care. It means that food is your medicine. Movement is also medicine. It's your therapy, and faith is your anchor. When we start to live this way intentionally, consciously, prayerfully, we move from surviving that fight or flight to thriving. To thriving and growing. When we live this way, we're planted. We are rooted. Our feet fully on the ground. We move with intention. Thoughtfulness and care and love for God ourself and others, and we start to see real transformation take place. We can reclaim the power that has been outsourced to a broken system and bring it back home where it belongs inside of us. The healthcare system is broken. It can't depend on a broken system. That's like trying to get music, from a broken jukebox. It's broken. There's a sign on it that says Out of order. Thank you for joining me today for this episode. If something you heard spoke to you, please share this episode with someone who needs encouragement. You never know whose life you might change by just sharing a message of healing, and of course, don't forget to pick up your reflection. I provide weekly reflections for certain episodes, some of the more impactful episodes. I wanna make sure you not only get to hear the podcast, but you get kind of a, a workbook. This is an audio workbook. I work with you to help you through the journey. I'm here to help you reach your goal. I wanna see us get better and I want us to get better together. You can find more resources at your health healing and hope.com. Until next time Be well. Be strong, Be you.