Somehow a strong desire to learn the workings of horticulture & permaculture have carried over to understanding the workings of my own body through a rudimentary understanding of microbiology. As I changed the way I treated my plants, I almost autonomously changed my diet and how I treat myself. By seeing how my plants reacted when I fed and treated them differently, it influenced me to reflect on the same principles upon my own biochemistry.
I started to change my philosophy on how I would feed my plants by feeding the community of microorganisms within the soil instead of feeding my plants directly with salt based nutrients. This not only improved my yields but it also reduced the amount of plant diseases, nutrient deficiencies, nutrient overdoses, and overall made growing so much easier because by allowing the ecosystem of microbes to thrive simply made growing much more forgiving of the mistakes I was making previously.
While reading 'Teaming up with Microbes' to improve my garden, I somehow kept running into the fact that the human body has a significant population of microbes. Upon further research I found that processed foods reduce the population of beneficial microbes in the body. This lack of microbes can not only make one more predisposed to diseases, but can also be a factor in obesity and diabetes. Going back to my garden, it seemed that many inorganic, salt based nutrients were killing off the beneficial bacteria and fungi in my plants' soil ecosystem. Some foods (particularly processed ones) can have the same effect in one's gut.
By connecting these dots (and realizing my plants were drinking better water than I was), I was able to not only ameliorate the efficiency and effectiveness of my garden, but also my own diet and health. By supporting the ecology of microorganisms in my soil structure with things such as molasses for its complex sugars and supporting my gut's microbiology with fiber from things like the skins of fruits like apples, I have certainly improved both my body and my garden.
Sources:
Teaming Up With Microbes by Wayne Lewis
How Gut Bacteria Makes us Fat and Thin - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/