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Healthy food it is said is the secret key that unlocks the door to a long and healthy life. It keeps us young and vibrant, free of pain and instils happiness and a sense of purpose and well being. It is the life giving source of energy and from times immemorial man has worshipped the forces of nature that help him produce his nourishment. It is not without reason that the ancient man treated food with respect and waste was considered a heinous crime. This thread of beliefs was somehow broken during the turn of the 19^th century with the advent of the industrial revolution which made man more powerful than ever before.

But what constitutes this valuable source of life itself? Food that is generally high in nutritional value is generally considered healthy. In saying so it has to contain within it all the elements that will contribute positively towards the generation of energy in the human body. Usually it is found that the nutritional value of all food varieties is at its best when it is its freshest. Hence, to eat healthy one would try to remain as close to the source as possible, be it in terms of our very own kitchen garden or backyard fruit trees or purchasing supplies from farmers markets. This ensures that the food we consume has not died while it travelled over thousands of kilometres sometimes even halfway across the globe.

While there are many a contenders for the thought that frozen food is the freshest food available unless we grow our own food this is an anomaly.  Although this might be true in the strict sense of the word that the food has been preserved in its original state by freezing, it really can’t be called fresh anymore. If we were to conduct a blindfolded taste test it would be evident that fresh in its truest sense always tastes better. This is because the food in this state is bursting with goodness and actually has the effect of pampering the insides of our body not restricted to the digestive system alone.

Many of us city dwellers might take the pain to procure our produce from the freshest source practically available, but then tend to refrigerate the same for consumption at a later date. This again is a sure fire way to lose the goodness in the food because by the time it reaches your mouth as a cooked meal it is already dead and deteriorating.

Many observations of people living in farms and remote areas as yet unaffected by pollution and the advances of modern day technology and its methods, it has been found that people are indeed happier and contented. They have fewer ailments and they look quite young even in old age. A deeper probing into their lifestyle clearly reveals that in order to achieve this all they had to do was eat healthy.

In the end we realise that nature has already provided us with the tools to stay healthy for longer.