Caring for your body and mind

SELF-CARE IS a conscious act people take to promote their physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. It is vital for building resilience against life’s stressors that we cannot eliminate. When you have taken steps to care for your mind and body, you will be better equipped to live your best life.

Unfortunately, however, many of us view self-care as a luxury rather than a priority. Consequently, we are left feeling overwhelmed, tired, and ill-equipped to handle life’s inevitable challenges. It is important to assess how you are caring for yourself in several different domains so you can ensure you are caring for your mind, body, and spirit.

Life, Health and Foods Wellness Centre and Ministries specialises in teaching you how to care for your body and mind by adhering to the eight laws of health given by God, including nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest and trust in God.

According to Dr Debra Williams, by adhering to these tenets, they will help you to understand all the systems of the body and how they work together for optimum health. Her mission, she said, is ‘Changing Lives, Preserving and Restoring Health.’

“In Exodus 15:26 God speaking said: ‘ If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee,’” Dr Williams said.

“God made a clear revelation to His chosen people, and it’s still applicable to us today, that He is our Healer. Our Creator gave mankind his diet in Genesis 1:29 and expanded the diet in Genesis 3:18. To know the best way to care for the body, we must take that information from the Bible. Guided by biblical principles and the Holy Spirit, we can live happy, healthy and meaningful lives,” she added.

Dr Williams is a full-time medical missionary evangelist, healthy-lifestyle educator and naturopathic physician. She spent 23 years working in the fields of banking, entrepreneurship, finance and youth development, both in the private and public sectors in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

However, since early 2012 she ventured into the field of nutrition and natural health, where she works with persons who are afflicted with lifestyle diseases, and teaches disease prevention through seminars, home visits, healthy cooking and meal preparation workshops, health consultations, and community outreach projects.

“My testimony is proof of God’s healing power, and it encourages others on their own path to recovery from cancer and other diseases. I welcome others to my story of God’s amazing grace and how he healed me from breast cancer. I have followed God’s instructions through the book Ministry of Healing by Ellen G. White and moved to a complete wholefood, plant-based diet, and nine months after, the cancer was in remission,” Dr Williams said.

Dr Williams discovered a 3.5 cm cancer tumour in her left breast. She removed it in May 2012, only to find out from the post-surgery pathology report that the cancer had already spread to lymph nodes under her left arm. She decided to regain her health with lifestyle changes, a healthy and positive spiritual attitude trusting in God, food and nutrition, and a focused detox programme.

“The Lord led me to start workshops and conduct lectures two weeks after surgery in 2012 on healthy living, God’s way. I have met many new friends battling cancer along the way. Some have died in faith, now awaiting the day of resurrection, and many others are alive today to praise God for His grace, mercy and love,” she said.

Since this experience, she has been on a journey to help others to prevent cancer and other lifestyle diseases, and to get to know Jesus Christ as their great physician, Lord and Saviour.

“This journey led to starting Life, Health and Foods Wellness Centre and Ministries in 2012, and in March 2024 I launched the Dr Debs Institute of Health, where I offer online courses on disease prevention and recovery using natural remedies, nutrition counselling, detoxification programmes, and more,” she said.

Dr Williams is a dedicated Christian and a member of the New Kingston Fellowship Seventh-day Adventist Church. She completed her doctorate in naturopathy in 2017 with the International Institute of Original Medicine in Virginia, USA, with a specialisation in nutrition and preventative medicine. She is presently the health director for Life, Health and Foods Wellness Centre; Life, Health and Foods Ministries; and Wellhouse Sanatorium, located in Bog Walk, St Catherine, Jamaica.

She is also author of two books: Healthful Cooking – Recipes for Optimum Health and When Faith in God is Bigger Than The Fear Of Cancer. She uses the experience in the kitchen, gained over the past 10 years, coupled with her studies in nutrition and naturopathy to offer quick and easy guides to health and wellness and healthy, plant-based meals for the entire family.

“If you want to be healthy, change your diet!” Dr Williams said.

Email: admin@mylifehealthfoods.com; website is www.lhfministries.org – Life, Health and Food Ministries; contact numbers: (876)-878-8867 (WhatsApp) or (876)-326-4650, (876)-306-4280

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com

TIPS FOR HEALTHY LIVING:

• Eat as close to nature as possible: Whole fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, roots, grains and seeds.

• Eat less processed foods: That includes veggie chunks, veggie burgers, steaks.

• Drink plenty of water, or at least eight to 10 glasses per day; less if you are already a vegetarian and eating lots of fruits and vegetables which are high in water content.

• Sunlight is essential for human health and well-being. The health benefits of sunlight include generating the production of vitamin D, supporting bone health, lowering blood pressure, preventing disease, and promoting good mental health. Get 20 to 30 minutes of sunlight on your skin each day. The darker your complexion, the more time you will need. Avoid the very hot mid-day sun.

• Get exercise daily: Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, 30 minutes five days per week is great.

• Rest: So often taken for granted, but most important for the regeneration of cells in the body.

• Read about health and wellness: What you focus on directs your actions, and that becomes a lifestyle habit. With information technology so advanced, you can just about teach yourself how to become a health advocate.

• Temperance is key to obtaining and maintaining optimum health: Also known as restraint, the practice of self-control, abstention, discretion, and moderation. Temperance, which may also be translated as sound-mindedness, is to be considered a most important virtue to obtaining optimum health.

• Spend time alone with your Creator God daily: Meet Him first thing in the morning and consecrate your day to Him. Give Him full charge over your plans, your life, your health, your business or job, your education, your assets, your family.

• Do a full body detoxification, and clean the blood, lymph, liver, colon, kidneys and cells.