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| BACK TO NATURE FOR A HEALTHIER AND LONGER
LIFE |
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| By Claudio Voarino |
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| CHAPTER 1 |
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| What this book is all about |
| This book is not meant for conservative,
conformist individuals, as it challenges almost everything that
has been said, written, taught, and broadcast on the subjects of
nutrition, health, longevity, as well as degenerative diseases -
their prevention, treatment and cure. It contains vital
information on how to prevent or treat these illnesses by using
natural means. It is neither for those people who accept the
‘three score and ten’ belief; nor for the fatalists who think
good and poor health have everything to do with the ‘luck of the
draw’, ‘genetic inheritance’, and/or ‘Divine Will’. Also, if you
are one of those people who tends to believe what you read in
textbooks, possess the will to believe as opposed to the will to
find out for yourself, this book is not for you! In fact, this
book is a debunker; it exposes well-established nutrition and
health myths, stereotypes, misconceptions, and lies constantly
drummed into us by those individuals, governments,
organizations, big businesses, and multinational corporations
that stand to lose billions of dollars should vital truths and
facts about nutrition and health become public knowledge. I am
perfectly aware this work is most likely to fall on deaf ears;
therefore, I am not writing it to try to convince anybody to
follow any particular diet or lifestyle, as doing so would be a
waste of time. No. My main purpose for writing it is to expose
and debunk some of the major nutrition and health myths,
misconceptions, and lies which have been - and still are now
more than ever - the main reason why degenerative illnesses have
acquired epidemic proportions, especially in Western
industrialised countries. |
| In my opinion, Back To Nature For A
Healthier And Longer Life is important because it is based
on worldwide scientific studies and research conducted by
independent, world-renowned, highly qualified health, nutrition,
and medical scientists, biochemists, biologists,
anthropologists, - each and every one holding MA., Ph.D., D.Sc.,
MD., and/or ND degrees and doctorates. Furthermore, health
scientists such as, for example, Dr Robert D. Willix, Dr Norman
W. Walker, Dr T. Colin Campbell, Dr David Collison, Dean Ornish,
M .D., Dr John McDougall, David Blyweiss, M.D., and Arthur M.
Baker, M.A., B. A., have spent most of their lives researching
degenerative illnesses and the strong links they have with
nutrition and lifestyle. But, most important of all, none of
these illustrious professionals have ever been on the Board of
Directors or payroll of any pharmaceutical drug manufacturer
and/or food industry! |
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Unfortunately, myths, misconceptions and deliberate lies are
found in almost all fields of human endeavour, including
nutrition and health ones. Below is a list of some of these
myths and colossal lies: |
- Only animal
protein can build big strong muscles.
- Humans were
meant to eat meat .
- Amino acids
derived from animal protein are different from amino acids
derived from plant protein.
- Meat is food for the brain.
- We (humans) are omnivores.
- Processed cows’ milk and dairy
products are the best sources of calcium.
- Cow’s milk is a
good substitute for mother’s milk .
- If we don’t drink cows’
milk and eat other dairy products we will contract osteoporosis.
- We were meant to eat cooked foods.
- A raw food diet is an
unhealthy diet.
- We cannot remain healthy and strong on a
vegetarian or vegan diet .
- Degenerative illnesses cannot be
prevented .
- The cause of degenerative diseases is not known.
- We die when our time is up.
- Health and disease are the
result of good or bad luck.
- Human lifespan is three score
and ten.
- Diseases have little or nothing to do with our
daily diet, lifestyle, and other environmental factors.
- Our
genes determine our health status and lifespan.
- Cancer
cannot be prevented.
- Cancer cannot be cured by any kind of
alternative medicine treatment.
- Surgery, chemotherapy, and
the radiation treatment are the best post-surgery therapies
available.
- The cause of cancer is unknown.
- Alzheimer’s
disease is caused by old age.
- All sugars are equally
unhealthy.
- A low carbohydrate diet is very healthy.
- Exposure to the sun causes skin cancer.
- Soft drinks are not
unhealthy.
- Sugar - including fruit sugar and organic raw
honey - are the main cause of diabetes and hypoglycaemia.
- Regular anti-flu injections protect us from influenza.
- Mandatory multiple infant and school vaccinations are a
necessity.
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This nutrition and health list of errors isn’t a complete one by
any means. For example, here is what American fourth grader
students are made to learn about nutrition: |
- MILK GROUP (Build strong bones and teeth.)
- MEAT GROUP (Build strong muscles.)
- VEGETABLE GROUP (Help you see in the dark.)
- FRUIT GROUP (Help heal cuts and bruises.)
- GRAIN GROUP (Give us energy.)
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It is a fact that a high consumption of animal flesh (together
with heavy physical exercise) gives us big muscles. But big
muscles are of no use ‘six feet under’, as a premature death is
often the result of those people who forgot they are neither
carnivores nor omnivores! I have dedicated two full chapters to
this topic, which will also show that big muscles can also be
obtained on a plant-based diet - a diet that doesn’t lead to an
early grave. Regarding the misconception that cow’s milk is
needed for strong bones, recent studies have shown that
Americans in general consume more cow’s milk and its products
per person than most population in the world. So they should
have very strong bones, right? Wrong! In fact American women
aged fifty and older have one of the highest rate of hip
fractures in the world! Likewise, the Eskimos who consume 1000
to 2000 milligrams of calcium daily, have the highest rate of
osteoporosis-related bone fractures in the world! By comparison,
certain African people (the Bantu) who consume less than 300 mg.
per day, have little or no osteoporosis, and the same can be
said about the Japanese and other Asians. Chapter Six of this
book is full of information on this topic. As for the asinine
things taught in American schools about the vegetables, fruit,
and grain groups, I will have much to say in the next chapters. |
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At this point, some readers may wonder just where did I manage
to gather all the information used in this work. Well, one thing
is for sure, I didn’t just wake up one morning and, out of the
blue, feel a strong urge to compile it. No! Back To
Nature For A Healther And Longer Life is the
result of twenty years of research, studies, observation, and
self-experimentation on nutritional and health matters. And from
then to the present day I managed to cure myself of at least
half a dozen of illnesses. In fact, one of them required
surgical treatment - at least, this is what I was told by the
two different doctors - one of them a specialist. Fortunately,
by that time I had acquired quite a good knowledge, not only on
the vital importance of correct nutrition and lifestyle, but of
natural remedies and therapies as well. Therefore, I decided
against surgery. This was a smart move because, as a surgeon
told me a couple of years later ‘that kind of surgery is a messy
one, and you could have ended up impotent’. |
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Now, twenty years later, I have come to fully realize that, in
view of the ill health symptoms I started getting when I was
still gorging myself with meat, eggs, and sugar-ridden foods,
and gulping down processed cows’ milk, by now I could have been
‘pushing up daisies’ for the past decade! Fortunately, I managed
to ‘step out of the box’, so to speak, and take control of my
own health. And I strongly suggest other people do the same;
because, as sure as death, in our plutocratic world, governments
and big businesses certainly aren’t going to do it for us, as
doing so would cut very deeply into their colossal profits! In
other words, people who value their health and wellbeing, should
try their very best to escape the ‘sickness industry’ - if not
for themselves, at least for their children - as failure to do
so, will sooner or later damage their health and shorten their
life-spans. |
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Having said all the above, I certainly don’t wish to minimize
the importance of orthodox medicine. For example, thanks to the
medical advances made in the last 100-odd years, most of the
devastating epidemics of previous centuries, such as cholera,
typhoid, smallpox, and tuberculosis are no longer common these
days. Also, because of organ transplantation and other marvels
of modern surgery, some people have had their lives
substantially extended; not to mention the great multitude of
world-wide victims of accidents who would have died but for the
amazing advances in surgery and a few other fields of orthodox
(allopathic) medicine. |
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Naturally, those who follow Nature’s laws of human nutrition and
health - by primarily eating enough raw fruits, vegetables,
nuts, seeds and sprouted grains and beans - as well as getting
enough sun, clean water, and fresh air - wouldn’t need to
undergo any kind of surgical treatment and/or taking
pharmaceutical drugs. (This barring accidents, of course.)
Having said that, when it comes to diseases of degeneration, I
wouldn’t recommend to anyone see a General Practitioner, unless
he/she also hold a tertiary education in one or more fields of
natural medicine. Unfortunately for our health, you are very
unlikely to find a medical doctor who has that kind of
qualification. |
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People should be aware of the difference between an ‘acute’
disease and a ‘chronic’ one. The former comes on abruptly and
runs a short, severe course, while the latter lasts for a
prolonged time and may come and go. Incidentally, all chronic
illnesses have within themselves the potential of becoming acute
illnesses. An acute illnesses requires immediate medical
attention due to its life threatening possibilities. Some acute
diseases include kidney, liver, and lung failure, myocardial
infarction, and rapid-spreading infections. When this happens,
natural treatment and remedies do not, in general, act fast
enough to save the patient's life. Of course, there are natural,
herbal antibiotics, which can be used to treat a bacterial or
viral infection, but in severe cases, conventional,
doctor-prescribed antibiotics are urgently needed! In other
words, chronic illnesses can be prevented, or treated using a
combination of the right food and medicinal herbs, but acute
illnesses are generally the domain of orthodox medicine. |
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In regards to herbal medicine, when taken in the prescribed
dosage, almost all herbs are quite safe, and don’t have any side
effects. However, in certain cases some herbs are not
recommended, especially to women who are pregnant or nursing -
and young children and the elderly should use low-dose formulas.
Also, if you are on any kinds of medications, I urge you to
consult your doctor before taking any herbal or any other types
of naturopathic remedies. Likewise, if you have been diagnosed
with a cardiovascular disease, in particular, you shouldn’t
start any physical exercise before consulting a medical
practitioner. Finally, relying on orthodox medicine when in fact
you need a natural therapist is certainly not a wise thing to
do. But, opting for any type of natural therapy, when in fact
(especially in the case of an acute disease) you are in urgent
need of a medical doctor, could cost our life! Incidentally,
there are other health problems which require general
practitioners or even medical specialists. In fact, apart from
surgery, there are many other branches of allopathic medicine
which could save our lives. |
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Degenerative Diseases |
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In view of the fact that throughout this book I will often use
the term ‘degenerative diseases’, a terminological clarification
is in order. A degenerative disease is a health condition in
which the function or structure of the affected tissues or
organs will progressively deteriorate. These diseases, which
were never part of Nature’s evolutionary plans, are the result
of many years, or decades of unnatural eating habits and
unhealthy lifestyle. Fortunately, there is hardly a degenerative
illness which cannot be prevented, or if treated on time, even
cured by the combination of natural, healthy foods, medicinal
herbs, clean water, and pure air. Degenerative diseases cannot
be found anywhere in Nature; therefore, it doesn’t take a genius
to realize they are man-made. These diseases are the result of
many years, and even decades, of malnutrition and faulty living;
therefore, they cannot be cured overnight; nevertheless, many of
them can be cured, as long as their caused are permanently
removed. |
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There is little doubt that the greatest disease threat to modern
Man comes from those diseases which can be best described as
‘degenerative’. Although improved hygiene has contributed to the
eradication of many infectious and other diseases, and modern
medicine deals effectively with fractures and accidents, we
don’t really live much longer at all. And even if we do, our
later years are mostly spent in feeble decay. The main reasons
for this are eating an unnatural, unhealthy nutritional diet,
living an unhealthy lifestyle, and environmental pollution. To
be sure, while we have made great advances in some areas, we
have also alarmingly regressed in many others - especially in
the case of nutrition. And this is mainly because of the
worldwide ignorance and apathy of the masses, as well as the
powerful interests which control the ’sickness industry’! |
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These days governments and private companies invest billions of
dollars in medical research, but the more they spend, the poorer
our health becomes! The main reasons for this dire situation are
explained by John Robbins in his book, Reclaiming
Our Health: “The denial of the fact that orthodox
Western Medicine has few answers to cancer keeps a dysfunctional
system in place. It keeps the public marching obediently and
blindly through treatments that often mutilate without providing
benefit. It prevents the public support for alternative
treatment approaches from building to sufficient levels of
intensity to create real change. It keeps public outrage from
demanding that tobacco advertisements be curtailed, carcinogenic
chemicals restricted, and the hazards of radiation made fully
public ... It allows people to merrily munch on their hot dogs
and junk food, naively trusting that when they become ill the
medical technocracy will be there to take care of things. And it
keeps money rolling into the organizations that have already
spent billions of dollars of public funds in pursuit of a
victory that has never really materialized.” Although this
statement refers to cancer in particular, it is also valid for
all other kinds of diseases of degeneration. |
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Degenerative diseases are more diseases of ‘affluence’ than
diseases of ‘poverty’. That is, the former affect primarily the
wealthy and ruling classes of the First World Countries, while
the latter are the scourge of the poor in both the First and
Third World Countries. (Incidentally, the people of these
countries are poor because they have been overexploited for
centuries by the major Western countries.) Affluence comes at a
price - a very high price, which is widespread sickness and
premature death for many millions of people from all walks of
life! Be that as it may, on the whole the people of the
euphemistically called ‘developing’ countries are in many ways
healthier than those who live in the U.S., the U.K., Finland,
Australia, Netherlands, France, Canada, Belgium, Sweden,
Denmark, Austria, Irland, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland. At
least, this is what some health statistics clearly show. (Here
it would be more correct to use the word ‘disease’ instead of
‘health’. |
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Medical science may have eliminated most of the dangers of
bacterial infections but, unfortunately it has done little for
many millions of people - especially in the so-called advanced
nations - who are more than ever afflicted with degenerative
illnesses, most of which are still unknown in the so-called
developing countries. Oddly enough, as far as orthodox medicine
is concerned, degenerative diseases do not exist! This is why
all the medical dictionaries I consulted say nothing or very
little about this important subject. Here, it doesn’t take a
genius to understand that, should the strong link between
degenerative diseases and diet be made known to the public, the
giant pharmaceutical and food industries would stand to lose
billions of dollars! I leave it to the intelligent reader to
work out why. |
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Two Oustanding Physicians of the Distant Past |
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Hippocrates |
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According to most medical dictionaries, Hippocrates, (460 – 377
B.C.) was an ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, and
is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history
of medicine. He was the founder of the Hippocratic School of
Medicine, which greatly influenced medical science until the
18th Century. Hippocrates was a very prominent physician, who
travelled widely in Greece and Asia Minor. In my opinion,
Hippocrates was the most outstanding physician in the history of
‘natural healing’. In old times, the healing profession wasn’t
called ‘medicine’; it was called ‘physics’ (from the Greek word
‘physis’, meaning nature). Physicians were professors of physics
or philosophers of nature. ‘Medicine’, from the Latin word
‘medico’, means the ‘treatment of disease with drugs’, while
true Hippocratic Physicians didn’t care about disease itself,
but about the patient as a whole. In other words, they used the
‘holistic’ method of treating and curing illnesses. As
Australian Clinical Ecologist, Dr David Collison, MB., BS.,
PhD., put it: “Dietetics was the cornerstone of Hippocratic
therapy. The Greek concept of diet included much more than
nutrition. It incorporated a person’s entire mode of living: the
relationship between rest and exercise, sleep and waking, the
choice and quantity of food, cleanliness, and patterns of
excretion. Hippocratic researchers paid exacting attention to
the effect s of innumerable foods, solid and liquid, raw and
cooked, on the human body, in health and disease.” Natural
health care is as old as humankind, as for many centuries humans
have turned to special diets, plants, acupuncture and many other
natural treatments and cures. Unfortunately, for people’s
health, in many countries in general, and in the United States
in particular, natural therapies have been cast aside since the
late 19th century by ‘orthodox’ (‘mainstream’) medicine. |
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The biggest difference between natural and orthodox health care
is that the latter relies heavily on the use of powerful drugs
to directly attack or ‘kill’ diseases, whereas the former uses
various natural methods and therapies in order to strengthen the
body so it can fight the disease itself. In other words, natural
treatments aim at removing the cause/s of disease, whereas
orthodox medicine aims at eliminating or mitigating their worst
effects. Unfortunately for the patients, more often than not,
pharmaceutical drugs are either inefficient or cause more damage
to the human body than the disease itself! |
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Returning to the great Hippocrates, he was a holistic natural
therapist, not a doctor! As such, he had very little in common
with orthodox medical practitioners. Therefore, for this reason
and others, it is wrong to call him the father of ‘medicine’ -
be it Western or Eastern! If Hippocrates lived in our present
time, he would admire the effective way modern medicine deals
with most ‘acute’ illnesses such as heart attacks or
life-threatening bacterial infections; but he certainly would
strongly disagree with the ‘poison, burn, and cut methods’ used
by orthodox/mainstream medicine to treat ‘chronic’ illnesses. |
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The following immortal statements made by Hippocrates about 2400
years ago, which show his understanding of the positive
correlation between vibrant health and optimum nutrition, are
even more relevant today than they were during his life: |
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“A wise man should consider that health is
the greatest of human blessings ...”. |
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“Let food be your medicine, and let your
medicine be your food.” |
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“The gods do not send illness to men. Men
bring it on themselves.” |
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“There are, in effect, two things: to know
and to believe one now. To know is science. To believe one knows
is ignorance.” |
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“He who does not know food, how can he
understand the diseases of Man?” |
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“It seems to me to be necessary for every
physician to be skilled in nature and to strive to know, if he
wants to perform his duties, what man is in relation to the food
and drinks that he consume and to all his other occupations, as
well as their effect on everyone else. Because if he doesn’t
know what effect these things have on a man, he cannot know the
consequences that result from them. If he doesn’t pay attention
to these things, or paying attention doesn’t understand them,
how can he understand the diseases that befall man? For man is
affected by every one of these things and changed by them in
numerous ways. The whole of his life is subjected to them,
whether in health, convalescence or diseases. Nothing else,
therefore, can be more important than to know these things.” |
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But Hippocrates’ genius didn’t end at nutrition and health, as
the following quotation proves: |
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“Man should be fully aware of the fact that it is from the brain
and from the brain only that our feelings of joy, of pleasure,
of laughter arise as well our sorrow, our pain, our grief and
our tears. We are thinking with the brain, and we can see and
hear, and we are able to draw a distinction between ugliness and
beauty, bad and good, and what is pleasant and unpleasant.” |
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The fact that Hippocrates made the above statements at a time
when science and technology were still in their embryonic form,
and he had no computers or any other kind of electrical,
electronic, optical, or mechanical equipment, leaves no doubt
about his superior intelligence, knowledge, power of reason, and
wisdom! |
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Most unfortunately for our health, and that of our loved ones,
Hippocrates’ great wisdom has generally been ignored by orthodox
medicine which, against all evidence, still persists in
disregarding the very strong link between our daily diet and our
health status. Sadly, as long as medicine is run as a
multi-billion dollar business, this deplorable state of affairs
will continue to exist. Because of this, the so-called
Hippocratic Oath taken by all new medical doctors, should be
renamed the ‘hypocritical’ oath. Of course, things were quite
different during Hippocrates’ life, as he lived in some sort of
democracy, not in a plutocracy as we do! |
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Sun Simiao (King of Chinese Medicine) |
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Sun Simiao (581-682 A.D.) was a child prodigy. He had mastered
the Chinese classics by age 20 and then became a well-known
medical practitioner. He developed nutritional medicine. His
biography describes him as an extraordinary talented and clever
man. He is considered by many to be the first to have presented
issues related to the ethics of medical treatment, depicting the
characteristics of a great physician and cautioning physicians
about behaviour that was inappropriate to their profession. He
stressed that patients should be treated equally, regardless of
rank, wealth, age, or beauty. |
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Sun Simiao recorded his experience with herb formulas and his
knowledge of medicine in his famous 30 volume work,
Prescriptions for Emergencies Worth a Thousand Gold (Beiji
Qianjin Yaofang), printed in 652 A.D. His book was
not merely a collection of formulas (of which there were an
astonishing 4,500), but a treatise on medical practice. He was
also a great herbalist. Here are five of Sun Simiao’s advisory
quotations. |
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“Medicine is intention. Those who are proficient at using
intention are good doctors.” |
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“First, modify the patient's diet and lifestyle and only then,
if these do not effect a cure, treat with medicines and
acupuncture.” |
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“Whenever a great physician treats diseases, he has to be
mentally calm and his disposition firm. He should not give way
to wishes and desires, but has to develop first a marked
attitude of compassion. He should commit himself firmly to the
willingness to take the effort to save every living creature.” |
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“Above all, I will keep an open heart. As I move on the right
path I will receive great happiness as a reward without asking
for anything in return.” |
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“Doctors should first understand the cause of disease, then
treat it with diet. Medicine should only be used if diet fails.” |
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No doubt, if Hippocrates and Sun Simiao’s nutritional and
medical advices had been put into practice, millions of lives
would have been saved! Unfortunately orthodox medicine
deliberately ignored these important recommendations, and still
ignores them now! |
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Natural Hygiene |
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‘Hygiene’ is properly defined as that branch of biology which
designates the conditions upon which health depends and the
means by which it may be sustained in all its virtue and purity
while we have it, and the means upon which its restoration rests
when we have lost it, It is the scientific application of the
principles of Nature in the preservation and restoration of
health. ‘Hygienic’ means ‘health preserving’. Unlike all other
health professionals, Natural Hygienic practitioners do not
treat, heal, cure, or give drugs, but teach people how to stay
healthy and how to prevent disease by following Nature’s
nutrition and health laws. In other words, they are hygienic
health care practitioners and educators, who specialise in
preventing diseases, not necessarily curing them. |
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Natural Hygienist Arthur Michael Baker M.A., B.A., NHE is a
natural health educator, publisher, author, producer, and former
Dean at Life Science Institute, Austin, Texas. He enrolled
nearly 1000 students over a two year period into the original
Natural Hygiene correspondence course developed by T.C. Fry.
Arthur is the founder of Self-Health Care System - a natural
health organization. After reading one of his articles and
scholarly written book, Awakening Our Self Healing
Body, I can say that I learned more from his
writings than everything else I read on nutrition and health in
the past twenty years! Here are some of his eye-opening and
highly informative quotations: |
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“Hygienic Self-Health Care has no ‘magic bullets’ to sell. No
wonder drugs, herbs or panaceas that promise to create
well-being. Instead, Hygiene points to our biological adaptation
and the underlying laws of physiology that provide guidance in
attaining and preserving health.” |
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“We should put in our body pure water, fresh air, enough
sunlight, and a diet predominating in fresh, raw fruit, with a
moderate amount of fresh, raw vegetables, nuts, and seeds.” |
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“Determining our natural diet is not a matter of belief - for
its basis lies in scientific fact regarding our biological,
biochemical, anatomical, and physiological features.” |
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“By fully understanding the physiological processes that
accompany food digestion and absorption, proper dietary habits
can be scientifically determined.” |
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“Animals in nature live in accord with their biological heritage
and eat according to their natural diet. They do not develop
chronic diseases - they live out their normal lifespan and die a
relatively peaceful, painless, natural death.” |
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“Our natural diet is primarily based on a study of
comparative anatomy and physiology that sees to establish the
biological class of animals to which humans naturally belong in
order to determine our true dietary character and requirements.” |
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I agree with the above statements which clearly indicate that,
in order to find out whether we humans classify as carnivores,
omnivores, herbivores, or frugivores, we need to see which foods
gorillas, chimpanzees, orang-utans, gibbons, and various monkeys
eat in the wild. The fact that these animals belong to the
Mammal Class and the Primate
Order, as we do, is an indication that they are
anatomically and physiologically very similar to us. Especially
from a physiological point of view, the orang-utan more closely
resemble to us. In fact, our DNA genetic material is over 95%
identical than that of the orang-utan! Much more will be said
about this subject in the next chapters. |
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Against Nature |
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As the title of this section implies, the great majority of
degenerative illnesses and related premature deaths are the
direct cause of people going ‘against Nature’ by braking its
nutrition and health laws on a regular basis. This is the
vitally important truth which, due to ignorance, apathy, and/or
greed, has generally been ignored by the great majority of
people worldwide, with dire consequences for their health and
well-being. Come to think of it, even all man-caused accidents
are the result of going against nature. For example, Nature made
no provision for people to travel in cars, ride on motorbikes,
or fly on airplanes. Therefore, whenever we do so we go against
Nature, thus risking injury and death, as shown by the billions
of accidents which occur worldwide every year. Here, I am not at
all implying we should return to the Stone Age. Although, from a
nutritional point of view, the Stone Age diet was immeasurably
healthier for humans than the modern diet! |
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Speaking metaphorically there exists in this world a little
known book, the writing of which started about 4.5 billion?
years ago - it is the Nutrition and Health Book of Nature. This
is undoubtedly the most important book ever ‘written’, as it
deals with our survival as both individuals and as a race. The
pages of this book are spread everywhere around us, and we can
all read it for free! In it we can find everything we need to
stay in good health (and barring accidents) to die of natural
causes at the end of a long active life. Fortunately for those
who care about their health and longevity, this Nutrition and
Health book of Nature, cannot be banned or destroyed by the
‘sickness industry’, otherwise it would have ceased to exist
many years ago! There is no doubt that if we abided by this
book, we could very well live up to 120-130 years old. |
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One of the greatest displays of natural laws in action can be
seen soon after a heavy rainfall. That is, plants which for
months of ‘getting by’ or just ‘surviving’ being watered with
tap water, become alive after a good rain. Yes, in many cases
vegetables, flowers, and fruit trees, for example, will manage
to survive on chemical-riddled tap water. Likewise, because of
the tremendous power of adaptation of the human body, people
will survive (and a few of them will even reach a very old age)
on unnatural, unhealthy foods and drinks. However, they do so,
not because of their faulty diet, but in spite of it! (Yes, yes,
most of us have heard the story about Joe Smith who managed to
survive up to 100 years of age, in spite of smoking cigarettes
on a regular basis.) But, this book is not about ‘getting by’ or
merely surviving. That is, I didn’t spend many years of research
and experimentation on myself, just to write another mainstream
book about nutrition and health. No. Back To Nature
For A Heathier And Longer Life isn’t just about
‘getting by’, but about staying out of hospital as long as
possible and, hopefully, living a longer and healthier life. |
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It may come as a surprise to some people that every living
creature on Earth - from the 139 micrometers long male parasitic
wasp, to the blue whale, which measures about 130 meters in
length - eat, drink and live in strict accordance with the laws
of Nature. Laws which suit their physiological and anatomical
characteristics. Thus, Carnivores (dogs, cats, lions, tigers,
wolves, etc.) feed on other animals raw flesh; but even they
cannot thrive on an all meat diet. Cattle, rabbits, horses,
sheep, and other Herbivores eat a raw leaf/grass diet.
Frugivores, such as gorillas, monkeys, chimpanzee, and
orangutans thrive mainly on raw fruits, fruit-like vegetables,
roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Omnivores, (rats, pigs, bears,
hogs, etc) eat almost any raw kind of food. Insectivores, such
as ant-eaters, amphibians, and other insects, thrive on raw
insects. Finally, gramnivores - especially birds - feed mostly
on raw grains and various grasses. All these animals have become
biologically adapted to their respective diets and, unlike
humans, eat everything raw. Here, it is significant to note that
Nature made no allowance for any cooked foods. Therefore, eating
this kind of food on a regular basis is unnatural and can lead
to disease and premature ageing. For example, domesticated
animals who are regularly fed canned cooked foods are very
likely to contract one or more of the same degenerative
illnesses which have become so common amongst us. (Incidentally,
if you wish your pets to live a healthier and longer life, I
suggest you feed them enough dried food, and certainly not the
cooked, highly processed, canned type. However, if you do so,
don’t forget to supply your pets with an adequate amount of
fresh water.) |
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In their natural environment, animals don’t die prematurely as
the result of illness. No! Unlike the overwhelming majority of
people, they die naturally of old age. If people were wise and
rational enough to compare their physiological and anatomical
characteristics with those of other members of the Animal
Kingdom, they would find out what they were meant to feed on.
Unfortunately, for their health, people are generally reluctant
to learn from Nature and the other members of the Animal
Kingdom, and keep deluding themselves they are something
special, something outside and above Nature and all the other
living creatures. This is mainly because the human brain, though
responsible for all of humankind’s amazing scientific and
technological advances, has also invented all kinds of
irrational, foolish and dangerous ideas and beliefs. Beliefs
which have led humankind to stray from Nature. Some people may
be highly educated, with all kinds of diplomas and degrees
coming out of their ears, so to speak, but they still have to
learn (and it is very doubtful they will ever do so) the two
most vital truths about their individual life and health, as
well as their survival as a race: |
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- By regularly eating foods Nature never meant for us to
eat and/or by adopting an unnatural lifestyle, sooner or
later we will fall victim to one or more degenerative
diseases and shorten our natural life-spans.
- By continuing to pollute and destroy our ecological
environment, we will eventually jeopardize the existence of
all life on this planet!
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The unpalatable truth is that, unlike every other animal species
in the world, we don’t live in harmony with Nature. In other
words, we don’t really fit in. In fact, we are misfits and an
ecological catastrophe waiting to happen! We don’t eat to live,
like all other species of the Animal Kingdom - but we live to
eat. This is the main reason why we only live an average of
about 70-75 years, instead of 100-130 or more. And we still have
to learn that our lives are strictly governed by the laws of
natural nutrition - if we break them, we will certainly pay the
penalty for doing so. This penalty is widespread sickness and
premature death; for, in the long run, no type or quantity of
pharmaceutical, or so-called natural, remedies will be able to
cure us. As an example (and there are hundreds of them), if we
expose ourselves to carcinogens, we will be likely to contract
cancer. And carcinogen substances are in the food we eat, the
water we drink, the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, the
personal care products we use, most of the medications we take,
and the water we bathe in. In other words, almost everything we
consume, and everything we do - or are exposed to - can cause
cancer or other degenerative illnesses! These days even an
unborn baby, tucked inside his/her mother’s placenta, is not
totally safe from man-made toxins. This is because Nature made
no provision for defence against poisons such as, for example,
dioxin and formaldehyde, but only for natural toxic substances. |
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The often ignored truth is that we cannot keep eating the
unnatural diet of our so-called civilized Western world and
expect to enjoy ongoing health and vitality. In fact, barring
accidental injuries and death, the foods we choose to eat, the
beverages we drink, the substances we absorb through our skin,
the air we breathe, as well as the lifestyle we adopt, will
usually determine the future state of our health and how long we
will live. Here, I would like to clarify what I mean by a
‘natural diet’. As far as nutrition is concerned, the adjective
‘natural’ means ‘beneficial to our health’, not just grown
without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Poisonous plants,
for example, are very much natural, but some of them can make us
very sick or ‘very dead’! On the other hand, an ‘unnatural’
diet, is a diet which Nature never meant for us to eat. |
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Through the evolutionary process, Nature gave our ancestors
everything they needed to stay in good health, and (barring
accidents) to die of natural causes at the end of a long, active
life. Every form of life fits perfectly in Nature’s evolutionary
scheme, except humans. Our physiological and anatomical
characteristics clearly show that we were meant to eat mainly
fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, as well as a moderate amount of
grains; but not animal flesh - let alone cooked animal flesh! In
fact, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that if we were
meant to feed on this kind of diet, Nature would have equipped
us with powerful sharp claws for slashing and holding our prey,
as well as strong jaws, and sharply pointed teeth suitable for
the tearing and cutting of flesh. Nor were we meant to drink any
kind of animal milk after our weaning months. The carbohydrates
we were meant to eat were complex carbohydrates such as
vegetables, beans, brown rice and wholemeal flour - not simple
ones like, for example, white and brown sugar, white flour, and
white rice. Also we were meant to drink fresh, running water,
not alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, and oxygen and
mineral-depleted bottled water, Furthermore, we were meant to go
to bed early in the evening and rise with the sun in the
morning, breathe fresh, unpolluted air, as well as to be
physically active, not to sit in front of the TV and/or computer
screen for hours. Finally, we weren’t meant to treat our
stomachs like mixing bowls by gulping down different foods in
one meal! The truth is that we have broken almost all the laws
in the book of Nature! Of course there are exceptions as, for
example, the Vilcabambans, Hunzas, Peruvians, Georgians, and
other centenarians of the world, whose general good health and
longevity is the result of them following Nature, not going
against it! Here, it is significant to note, that when any of
these people emigrate to Western countries, sooner or later they
will contract the same illnesses which afflict most Westerners. |
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Will people eventually come to their senses and stop ignoring,
and/or interfering with Nature’s nutrition and health laws? And
even more importantly, will the world’s governments put an end
to the criminally insane destruction of the natural environment
before it is too late? After all, if drastic environmental
measures aren’t taken soon, everything else (including our
health) will lose all its importance. Figuratively speaking, it
will be as futile as re-arranging the chairs on the deck of the
sinking Titanic! I, for one, would like to be optimistic but,
all considered, I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel. |
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Early Humans And Their Diets |
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The diet and lifestyle of the cave person or ancient hunter-
gatherer is probably the best example we can use to help us
understand our nutritional requirements as human beings. After
all, there has been little change to our bodies (in a genetic,
physiological and anatomical sense) since that time. Most
unfortunately for our health, the same certainly cannot be said
about our food and environment! In fact, in view of today’s
generally badly polluted water and air, depleted soil,
chemically grown vegetables and fruits, the use of pesticides,
toxic additives, wrong picking time, inadequate storage methods,
and the irradiation process, it is a miracle so many people
managed to survive. (Here, it should be understood that
‘surviving’ or ‘getting by’ isn’t the same thing as living a
healthy and productive life!) |
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Nature takes a great deal of time to make changes. Humans. on
the other hand, can make radical changes in lifestyle, behaviour
and diet, in the space of a generation or two. This is much too
fast to expect our bodies and digestive systems to adjust and
adapt themselves biologically. So, what did hunter-gatherers
eat? Given their primitive environment and conditions, It’s fair
to assume that these people ate a very simple diet of fresh
food, most of which would have been eaten raw on the spot.
Theirs would have been a relatively mono diet. In other words,
when they came to a fruit tree, they probably sat down and ate
only that type of fruit. Also, fruit would have been eaten in
season. (Fresh, unsprayed fruit and vegetables are extremely
rich in vitamins, especially Vitamin C.) |
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No doubt they liked variety, but they would not have had the
opportunity to combine as many foods at one sitting as modern
man does. With a simple selection of enzyme-rich food, their
digestive system would have operated superbly. Whenever
possible, they probably caught reptiles and small game. This
would have been eaten fresh with most of the animal consumed.
Meat was an occasional treat, rather than the bulk of the diet. |
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Of course, this hypothetically idyllic lifestyle was not easy.
Early humans had to contend with starvation, predators and
accidents, which no doubt took a great toll. However, from the
nutritional point of view, their food intake was potentially as
near to perfect as we can get. Other positive factors which
greatly contributed to the cave people’s health were plenty of
exercise and fresh air, and a relatively worry-free life. Let’s
now briefly consider what three experts have to say about
primitive humans and their daily diets: |
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As S. Boyd Eaton, M.D., author of The Paleolithic Prescription,
and adjunct associate professor of anthropology at Emery
University in Atlanta, wrote: “For millions of years our
ancestors evolved on diets of plants and very lean wild game".
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“Our ancestors consumed three or more times the amount of
plant foods we do - about nine daily servings of fruits and
vegetables versus the average American of three or four",
says Susan Krebs-Smith, Ph.D., research nutritionist at the
National Cancer Institute in Bethusda, Maryland. |
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Dennis Burkitt M.D., world renowned researcher on human
nutrition, explains that Western diets have changed more through
the processed food industry over the last few generations, than
through the entire history of mankind. Genetically and
structurally, modern Man's body is the same as early Man, yet
what we eat is radically different. In modern society, suffering
from preventable illness and chronic disease is considered the
'norm'. A constantly increasing number of Westerners die from
totally avoidable heart disease and cancer. Nature never
intended us to process high-protein foods. Anthropological
research shows that our ancestors had at their disposition a
variety of edible plants 80 to 160 times larger than we have
now. No wonder degenerative diseases are crippling or killing
more and more people worldwide! |
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When we examine the cave people’s primitive diet we cannot fail
to realize how much healthier it was than ours! Firstly, their
food was gathered fresh. This meant that it was just at the
right stage for eating. This is a far cry from our early picking
and artificial ripening techniques which mean that nutrients
don’t develop fully. In fact, some nutritionists estimate that a
fresh organically grown tomato provides around 1 gram of Vitamin
C. The fact is that these days we are lucky to get 50mg (1/20th
of a gram) from an artificially ripened and stored tomato! (This
goes to prove that Nutrient Charts are unreliable, as the
figures they show refer to ideally grown, ripened, and stored
products, not to those which we actually end up eating. And this
situation doesn’t apply only to fruit and vegetables, but to
everything else we eat and/or drink.) We can see the dramatic
difference in the nutritional value of this food in accordance
with the growing and harvesting techniques. Fresh food eaten at
the right time is also packed with natural enzymes. Enzymes are
the important catalysts for the digestion and metabolism of our
food. Food without enzymes is devitalised food. Because enzymes,
like many vitamins, are unstable, nearly all are lost in stored
fruits and vegetables. |
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We have already a picture of the vast difference in the quality
of nutrition between early man and our present day, and we have
only just begun. There were no refrigerators in ancient times,
so there was little food storage. Our ancestors had only limited
opportunity to cook their food, much of which was raw and packed
with live enzymes. Cooking destroys these enzymes, most enzymes
are destroyed at about 60° C. - and food without enzymes is dead
food!. Because of that, the cooking stove has very much been a
curse people have inflicted upon themselves. More about this
topic later. |
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With a few exceptions, our pre-historical ancestors ate meals in
an unhurried and relaxed way. After all, they had little else to
do. Food was a major priority in their life and they were going
to enjoy it. In this relaxed state, their cardiovascular system
would direct the blood supply to the abdomen, and their
digestion was near perfect. There is little comparison here with
us today. With the exception of rich, tasty meals, food is truly
low priority stuff. Our taste buds are the only consideration.
The stressed state that most of us operate in means that there
is always some adrenaline ‘pumping’ through the system. And when
this happens, our blood is directed away from the digestive
areas and into the muscles in preparation for all of our little
emergencies. This means poor digestion, indigestion,
fermentation, bloating, flatulence, and eventually illness. The
caveman theory would be wonderful if it could be applied to our
everyday lives. Unfortunately, technology has not permitted this
to happen. Environmental pollution, the convenience of fast
foods, worries, and stress, to name but a few curses of our
modern times, have changed our eating habits for the worse, thus
making us easier targets for all kinds of degenerative
illnesses! |
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Optimum Nutrition |
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There is little doubt that one of the most serious health
problems in the world is malnutrition. When most people hear the
word ‘malnutrition’, they automatically think about
undernourishment and the Third World Countries. But the word
malnutrition literally means ‘bad’ nourishment. The unsung
truth, in fact, is that affluent nations are even more afflicted
with malnutrition than most of the poor ones. Some people in
poor countries get sick and die because don’t have enough to
eat, while in most rich countries, millions of people shorten
their lives because they eat unnatural (and, therefore,
unhealthy) food on a daily basis. In the U.S., for example, a
very large number of people contract all sorts of degenerative
diseases, also referred to as ‘man-made diseases‘ or ‘diseases
of affluence’. Here, it is significant to note that people from
a poor country who emigrate to an affluent one, do so at a great
risk for their own health. The trouble with nutrition in the
so-called advanced countries is that there the great majority of
people feed themselves on the principle of ‘palatability’; that
is, the purpose of their diets is to satisfy their ‘taste buds’,
not to properly nourish them. In other words, ‘they live to
eat’, instead of ‘eating to live’! |
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Having said the above, what is generally meant by the
expressions correct nutrition, good nutrition, natural nutrition
or optimum nutrition? Of course, this question can be answered
in quite a few different ways, depending on a person’s age,
profession, level of physical and mental activity, body
chemistry, geographical position, and environmental factors,
etc. There are quite a few answers to this question, one of
which being: ‘a nutrition which supplies, on a regular basis,
the correct amount of essential fats, amino acids, vitamins,
minerals, carbohydrates, fibre, water, oxygen, and sunlight’.
Unfortunately, the great majority of people, either don’t get
enough of the above nutrients, or they get them from the wrong
types of foods or drinks. Here, I think it is important to
understand that a daily diet cannot rightly be called ‘good’,
‘correct’, ‘optimum’, or ‘natural’, unless it is concordant with
the human physiological, anatomical, and structural bodily
characteristics which the process of evolution has endowed
humankind with! |
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Another thing which is important to know about nutrition is that
it should consist mainly of foods which contain at least 70% of
water (fruit and vegetables), and only about 30% concentrated
foods, such as dried beans, grains, nuts, etc. Even carnivorous
animals know this nutritional fact. This is why they normally
eat only animals that are plant-and fruit-eaters. This is a
topic to which I will return to further on. |
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Many studies and researches conducted in the last 20-30
years have proved, beyond any reasonable doubt, that
degenerative illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular
problems, arthritis, obesity, osteoporosis, etc., are very much
nutrition-related illnesses. Despite all that, the great
majority of people will irrationally cling to their unhealthy,
long-established eating habits and lifestyle even if it kills
them, and often it does! Sure enough, most people are willing to
take pills and other supplements, but will not change their
diets. Of course, the right kind of natural supplementation can
be quite useful, but it isn’t a substitute for a well-balanced
daily diet. That is, the practice of ingesting junk foods and
soft drinks regularly, and then taking vitamins and minerals, is
certainly not going to be conducive to good health and
longevity! |
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Some Widespread Unnatural Practices |
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As we have already seen above, by comparing our anatomical and
physiological characteristics with those of both
carnivores/omnivores and frugivores, we can get a very good idea
of which type of diet we are supposed to be eating. And by doing
so, we will be able to find out the difference/s between those
foods and drinks which are concordant with our physiological
traits rather than those we have ‘acquired a taste for’! For
many reasons, human beings have bowed to their ‘taste buds’ and
started going against Nature, since they developed enough brain
power to do so; but during the past 100 years or so, things on
the nutrition front have generally gone from bad to worse, and
not in the field of nutrition alone! Genetically-modifying
natural products, feeding babies artificial milk, force-growing
and ripening fruits and vegetables artificially, irradiating
foods, using inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, manufacturing
excitotoxins and other artificial additives, food processing, as
well as polluting and systematically destroying the natural
environment, are all examples of modern Man’s anti-Nature
activities! From a nutritional point of view, the unnatural
practice of over-processing most of our food by either heating
it up, irradiating it, and/or loading it with all kinds of
artificial additives, has seriously undermined the nutritional
value of almost all foods and drinks found on the shelves of
supermarkets and other grocery stores. Here, I am not denying
that some processing is necessary for various reasons; but I am
just pointing out the highly negative effect most food
processing has on the food we eat. Let’s take rice, for example.
The white rice we see in Chinese restaurants was once a whole
grain, referred to as brown rice, which contained many vitamins,
and trace minerals, before it was polished off and lost about
75% of these important nutrients. It also lost most of its fibre
content, and many studies have proved that lack of fibre can
lead to constipation, haemorrhoids, diverticulitis, varicose
veins, hiatus hernia, heart disease, and obesity. The high
amount of fibre contained in brown rice and other whole grains
is known to lower the risk of cancer, heart disease,
hypertension, diabetes, as well as many digestive problems.
White rice isn’t a different type of rice, like many people seem
to believe, but wholegrain rice in which the bran and germ have
been removed. White rice is ‘dead’ rice and, unlike brown rice,
it cannot be sprouted. Yet the overwhelming majority of
rice-eaters, worldwide, buy white rice instead of brown. This
must greatly please the rice suppliers who make twice the profit
by selling white and brown rice at a similar price, plus making
more money by separately selling ‘rice bran’ - one of the parts
taken away during the processing. Of course, what applies to
rice applies also to wheat and other types of grains. Once
again, we have another example of how going against Nature is
detrimental to our health. Nature has provided all its creatures
with everything they need to stay healthy, but human beings, in
their “wisdom”, have too often seen fit to pervert Nature’s laws
of nutrition, thus causing themselves many illnesses and
drastically shortening their lifespan! |
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Another worldwide anti-natural practice is milk pasteurization,
which may serve the purpose of destroying harmful
microorganisms, but is likely to change and/or destroy the
molecular structure of certain important nutrients. As it
happens, we were not meant to drink cows’ milk, as it was only
meant for pre-weaned calves. In fact, we are the only members of
the Animal Kingdom who have acquired the habit of drinking the
milk from other species of mammals. Bad as this practice is, it
is not as harmful to our health as drinking processed cows’
milk. For example, pasteurization comprises the heating of raw
milk up to 60 degrees Celsius, and this heat is enough, not only
to destroy enzymes, but to change the status of the minerals
found in milk, from organic to inorganic. Raw milk contains a
high amount of calcium; but only a low amount can be absorbed
from processed milk. Furthermore, as that which can be absorbed
is inorganic, it has a low bio-availability. The many dangers of
consuming processed animal-derived milk and dairy products, on a
regular basis, will be fully shown in a later section of this
book. |
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As already mentioned above, Nature gave our ancestors everything
they needed to stay healthy, and (barring accidents) to die of
natural causes. But, from about 100 years ago to the present
time (2019), humans have alienated themselves from Nature and
its laws, with disastrous consequences for both them and the
natural environment. For example, because our unnatural
agricultural practice, which have depleted our soils of the
vital minerals necessary to the healthy growth of fruits and
vegetables, many chemicals (some of which quite toxic) are added
to them during the growing and processing stages. Furthermore,
fruits and vegetables, are often picked before they are ripe and
have developed their full content of vitamins and minerals.
Storage also reduces their nutritional value, and the long
shipping and storage time between harvest and selling reduces
nutrient content even further. As a result, most fruits and
vegetables sold in commercial establishments today are
nutritionally depleted. This is why these days we need 10
servings of vegetables to obtain the nutritional equivalent of 1
serving from 50 years ago! |
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Bad as the above unnatural (to say the least) practises are,
nothing can compare with the horrors of genetically-modified
organisms (GMOs). This criminally insane practice is
diametrically opposed to everything Nature stands for! And the
only reason multinational companies, and the world’s puppet
governments that support them, are aiming at genetically
modifying almost every edible produce in the world, is their
unending lust for more and more colossal profits! “Disgusting”
is one of the condemnable adjectives that comes to mind whenever
the term GMO is thought, seen and/or heard! The deliberately
ignored truth is that GMOs are harmful for our bodies, the
community, farming, and the natural environment. Briefly put,
these man-made aberrations of Nature have not as yet been proved
to be safe to eat; in countries such as the USA, items that
contain GMOs are unlabeled; once the mutant genes are released,
there is no going back; GMOs are certainly not the answer for
global food security; GMOs require massive amounts of
pesticides, herbicides and fungicides; and finally, biotech
companies have very questionable track records - but then again,
this is what can be expected from organizations that want to
patent the world’s food supply! |
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We have already seen some of the dire consequences of ‘mad cow
disease’, DDT, asbestos, PCBs, nuclear energy, BSE, and
xenoextrogens. Once released, the new organisms made by genetic
engineering can interact with other forms of life, reproduce,
transfer their characteristics, and mutate in response to
environmental influences. After their release, GMOs cannot be
recalled or controlled. The only testing being conducted are by
scientists who are working for the giant Biotech companies that
produce these anti-Nature aberrations, and will benefit
enormously from the acceptance of gene technology. In a truly
civilized world, horrors such as, for example, food irradiation
and genetically modified organisms would not be permitted, nor
would ‘dioxin’ - a terrible poison and known carcinogen, which
affect both the reproductive and immune systems. Dioxin, which
is a by-product of the infamous Agent Orange, is a known
carcinogen that adversely affects both the reproductive and
immune systems. Apparently, this terrible substance is found in
milk which is packaged in chlorine bleached paper cartons. And
three glasses of milk, even from cartons that have been lined
with plastic, contain more dioxin than the recommended
allowance. Dioxin is known to have caused both mutagenic and
carcinogenic changes in animals. (No wonder there are so many
defective births in the world!) |
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The Fountain Of Youth |
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The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly
restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters.
Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world
for thousands of years, and have appeared in many writings from
the time of Herodotus onwards. The term Fountain of Youth has
been (and is) used whenever some alleged rejuvenating foods,
drinks, and/or exercises are mentioned and recommended.
Unfortunately, like so many other myths, the truth about this
fountain is that there has never been such a thing! To put it
another way, we all have to die. But I don’t agree that death is
a part of life, because when death comes, there no longer is any
life - life and death are as mutually exclusive as hot and cold,
light and dark. The bottom line is that, no matter what our
daily diet and lifestyle are, no matter how much physical
exercise we do, no matter in which country we live, or what our
jobs are, we all die one day! However, statistically, inveterate
meat-eaters, processed cows’ milk gulpers, cake-lovers,
soft-drink, alcohol and tobacco addicts, as well as those who
cook all their foods and conduct a sedentary life, have very
little or no chance at all of reaching their 100th birthday.
But, barring accidental deaths, people who eschew all (or even
most) of these unnatural and harmful substances and practices,
can live up to fifty years more than the biblical ‘three score
and ten’ saying. |
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People around the world waste billions of dollars on supposedly
anti-aging diets, face and body creams, pills, tablets, herbs,
plastic surgery, and “miraculous” anti-aging, anti-wrinkle
potions, and rejuvenating concoctions. But the unpalatable truth
is the process of aging, with all its tell-tale signs, cannot be
stopped - but only retarded to various extents and degrees. The
good news, however, is if we abide by Nature’s nutritional laws
we will have a real chance to “die healthy” at a ripe old age.
(For those who have never heard of this seemingly self-
contradictory expression, it refers to people, of great age, who
go to bed without any signs or symptoms of disease, and just die
in their sleep.) To be sure, especially in the leading
industrialized countries, ‘dying healthy’ is a very rare
occurrence indeed, as people die mostly from diseases such as
heart attack, stroke, cancer, liver failure, diabetes, etc. And
they die at a much younger age than they should. Of course, even
in these countries, a small minority of people are
constitutionally stronger and have managed to survive up to
ninety or even one hundred years; but the great majority of them
certainly cannot be called healthy - one has only to visit a
nursing home for the aged in order to realize the full extent of
the damage caused to their general health and appearance, by
estranging themselves from Nature’s health and nutritional laws.
Here what I mean is that it is futile to live up to 110 years or
more, if we are without most of our physical and mental
faculties. |
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Thanks to the medical advances in the treatment of acute
diseases made in the last 100-odd years, most of the devastating
epidemics of previous centuries are no longer a problem.
Furthermore, because of the marvels of modern surgery, some
people have had their life-spans substantially extended. But all
this medical expertise is certainly not an indication that, as a
whole, people are fit and healthy. One has only to consult the
world’s health statistics to realize that the incidence of
degenerative illnesses (as well as congenital ones) is
constantly growing - and people keep dying younger, especially
people of the so-called advanced nations. And the great majority
of those who manage to reach a ripe old age, have lost most of
their mental and physical faculties. In other words, they are a
far cry from the Vilcabambans and other world’s
ultra-centenarians, who still work in their fields, walk for
long distances, are sexually active and mentally sound! As I
have already mentioned above, those few people - especially in
Western countries - who manage to celebrate their 100th
birthday, do so despite their unnatural diets. And it is most
likely that, had they been eating healthy, they would have lived
another ten years or more! For example, the few regular smokers,
who lived 100 years or more, could most probably have lived
another twenty years had they stayed away from tobacco smoking! |
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Growing old is a natural process, which is dreaded by the
overwhelming majority of people worldwide - whether they are
prepared to admit it or not. Sadly, there is no known efficient
remedy of any kind that can stop, let alone turn back, the
clock! The only thing we can do is to try to retard this
process. Unfortunately, in our modern overpopulated and highly
polluted environment, this is easier said than done. Also, what
makes everything worse, is the fact that time - or more
accurately, our ‘perception’ of time - appears to be constantly
speeding up. Be that as it may, in the last decade or so much
research and studies about the link between diet and lifestyle
and their effects on health and longevity have been done. (But,
as I have already said above, this vital link has been totally
ignored by mainstream medicine.) The result of these studies has
generally been that the requirements for optimum health are more
or less the same as those for longevity. And what is needed for
both is a diet which is: |
- About 75% plant-based
- Very low in or free of animal fat
- Very low in or free of dairy products
- Unprocessed and unrefined
- Very low in or free of animal protein
- Very low in or free of refined carbohydrates
- Rich in fresh fruit and vegetables
- Rich in complex carbohydrates
- High in fibre
- Free of table salt, refined sugar, and alcohol
- Very low in caffeine
- Properly balanced in the ratio of acidic to alkaline
- Free of chemicals and pesticides
- Free of additives
- Properly combined
- Consists of at least 50% raw foods
- High in water content
- Low glycemic
- Anti-inflammatory.
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This is more or less the correct diet we are supposed to eat on
a regular basis, or at least as close as possible to it! But,
unfortunately for their health, and the health of their progeny,
the horrendous health statistics coming from most affluent
Western nations, in particular, are unquestionable proof that
the typical nutritional habits of the overwhelming majority of
people are as unnatural as they are unhealthy! This is because
their daily diets are: |
- High in fat and animal protein
- High in refined sugar
- High in processed starches
- High in refined salt
- High in soft drinks
- High in dairy products
- High in refined flour
- High in artificial stimulant
- Very low in fruit and vegetables
- Low in complex carbohydrates
- Low in fibre
- Lacking in pure water and other healthy drinks
- Very low in raw food
- Badly unbalanced in its acid/alkaline ratio
- High in condiments, caffeine, and alcoholic beverages
- Contaminated by food additives and pesticides
- Wrongly combined when it comes to those food
combinations which are compatible with each other.
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Here some people may think that, if the state of general health
in Western countries were as bad as I say, many more people
would be dead by now. I don’t think one has to be a genius to
understand why this didn’t happen. I could write a whole article
on this topic, but, briefly, those people who eat junk food on a
regular basis, and still manage to survive past the Biblical
‘three scores and ten’, manage to do so for two main reasons: a)
Nature has endowed us with a tremendous amount of elasticity,
tolerance, and adaptability; and b) especially because of the
astonishing progress of modern surgery - primarily in organ
transplant - quite a few victims of one or more degenerative
illnesses can be ‘patched-up’ so that they can survive longer.
Here I use the verb ‘to survive’ instead of ‘to live’, because
it is unlikely they can regain their former health.
Incidentally, there are others branches of modern orthodox
medicine which have saved many lives. |
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Be that as it may, even the healthiest diets and
supplementations in the world won’t be completely successful
unless they are complemented by an adequate amount of moderate
physical exercise. Research has shown that a regular exercise
programme helps the body avoid stroke, heart attack, high blood
pressure, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, muscle weakness,
memory loss, depression, stress, anxiety, nervous tension,
immune system problems, prostate problems, sexual problems, high
cholesterol levels, weight gain, and other ailments. Walking,
jogging, dancing, bowling, sparring, playing tennis, football,
and golf, as well as gymnastics, swimming, and weight training,
are all forms of exercise which will complement a healthy diet
and supplementation. Apart from the said physical exercises,
there are the ‘internal exercises’, which are very important
because they protect, heal, and energize the vital internal
organs. A few examples of these exercises are: Reflexology,
Yoga, The Tibetan Rites, and Tai Chi. |
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Having said all the above, I don’t think many people seriously
believe in the Fountain of Youth, as the grim reality is that we
all have to die sooner or later - no matter how healthy is our
daily diet and lifestyle. However, if we follow Nature, and put
into practice the saying ‘we must eat to live, not live to eat’,
we will increase our chances, not only to reach a ripe old age,
but to retain most of our faculties up to the end! American Dr.
N. W. Walker, D. Sc., Ph. D. and prolific writer on nutrition
and health, was a living proof of the great many health benefits
of a raw vegan diet. Thousands upon thousands of people credit
Dr. Walker's live-vegetable-juice therapy for healing them of
"incurable" diseases. This great man died peacefully in his bed
at the age of 109! By comparison, Dr Robert Atkins - U.S.
well-known author of many books on nutrition and diet - was the
exact opposite of Dr Walker. He advocated a diet rich in beef,
pork, chicken, turkey, duck, butter, lard, cheese, cow’s milk,
eggs, and other fat-rich, very unhealthy foods. As it was to be
expected, Dr. Atkins dropped dead of chronic congestive heart
failure at only 72 - and it is a miracle how he managed to reach
even this age! Unfortunately, he took his own advice on
nutrition too seriously, and so did millions of Americans - no
wonder in the U.S. many more people die from cardio-vascular
diseases than in any other country! |
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Do Vegetarians get Cancer and other Diseases? |
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There is no doubt that being a vegetarian can substantially
reduce the risk of developing most kinds of cancers and other
degenerative diseases. But it all depends on what type of
vegetarians we are talking about. For the sake of accuracy,
let’s now briefly consider the various types of modern
‘vegetarians’. Broadly speaking, a vegetarian is a person who,
for ethical or health reasons (or both), excludes all meat,
fish, and poultry from his/her daily diet. Outside that, there
are quite a few variations of vegetarianism. |
The ‘lacto-ovo’ vegetarians exclude all meat, fish and other
sweet and salty water creatures, as well as poultry, and wild
game birds, from their diets; but consume milk, cheese, other
dairy products, as well as eggs. Those who eat eggs, but no
dairy products are referred to as ‘ovo’ vegetarians - and
vegetarians who don’t consume eggs, but drink cows’ or goat’s
milk and eat other dairy foods, are called ‘lacto’ vegetarians.
From an ethical and moral point of view, lacto, ovo and
lacto-ovo vegetarians are to be admired. But, unfortunately for
their health, many of them tend to consume too many eggs, milk
and other dairy products; thus ingesting far too much animal fat
and “bad” cholesterol. Furthermore, many lacto-ovo vegetarians
develop a ‘sweet tooth’ as well. Despite their unhealthy diet,
they keep deluding themselves that, just because they don’t eat
any kind of animal flesh, they will stay healthy. They don’t
seem to realize that as long as they keep drinking cows’ milk
(especially, processed), eating cheese and other dairy products,
sugar and sugar-ridden food and beverages, they are ‘sitting
ducks’. That is, speaking figuratively, any degenerative illness
can take a shot at them! I have personally known lacto-ovo
vegetarians who were comparatively unhealthier than some
moderate meat-eaters. Regarding chicken eggs, they should be
eaten in moderation, and should come only from free-range,
organically fed chickens. Eggs fried in oil are quite unhealthy
for two main reasons: a) even the best oils become rancid,
especially when heated. High heat applied to oil during frying
turns them into hydrocarbons that can cause cancer, as well as
hardening of the arteries; b) when heated up proteins coagulate
and denaturize. In the case of egg white, a gel is formed when
heath is applied. This coagulation of protein can be seen on a
macroscopic level whenever eggs are fried.
The only healthy
way to eat eggs is row. However, soft-boiled or steamed eggs are
all right if eaten in moderation. |
These days a growing number of vegetarians seem to be
embracing a ‘vegan’ diet. True vegans avoid all animal products
in their daily meals. Of course, being their diet much healthier
than all others, they are less likely to contract cancer or most
other degenerative diseases. However, even the strictest vegans
can develop certain cancers and other diseases, if they ingest a
large quantity of cooked grain and other starchy foods, cook
almost all their foods, don’t eat enough raw fruit and
vegetables, don’t drink enough fresh fruit and vegetable juices,
and eat refined sugar and sugar-ridden foods on a daily
basis. Some methods of cooking are unhealthier than other. For
example, boiled, fried, roasted, and barbequed food (not only
will lose many valuable nutrients) but can produce dangerous
carcinogens. Much more will be said on cooked foods in general
in a next chapter of this book. |
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In order to avoid developing cancer and other degenerative
diseases, even strict vegans should know whether their daily
food is acidic, alkaline, or a combination of both. As we will
see in an upcoming chapter, cancer and other diseases thrive in
an acidic and anaerobic (oxygen-lacking) bodily environment, but
they cannot survive in an alkaline and aerobic (oxygen-rich)
conditions. As a rule, animal-based foods are acidic, while
plant-based ones are often alkaline. However, some of the latter
are acidic too. Here I am referring to grains, beer, coffee,
sweetened fruit juices, liquors, black tea, pickled and canned
vegetables, processed sugar, processed honey, peanuts, frozen
vegetables, mushrooms, white bread, white rice, white flour,
white pasta, roasted nuts, etc. Fruit such as strawberries,
pineapples, plums, pomegranates, are also acidic. Incidentally,
although citrus fruits are acidic, they change into alkaline
after they have been digested - so, they are referred to as
alkaline-forming fruits. Here I am not saying we should avoid
all acidic foods, but reduce their daily intake to only about
30% of our daily diet. Incidentally, whenever we cook any kind
of alkaline fruit or vegetable, it will turn acidic. |
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Returning to lacto-ovo vegetarians such as, for example, the
Seventh-Day Adventists, a well-documented U.S. survey has
established that they have a prostate cancer mortality rate 30%
lower than the other American men. This seems to be an
indication that, just by eliminating meat from their daily diet,
many men could avoid contracting prostate cancer. Of course, as
I have already mentioned above, they also would have to
substantially reduce the intake of chicken eggs and stop
drinking cow’s milk and eat any other dairy products. |
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The unpalatable (for some people) truth is that if we want to
achieve the highest possible immunity from cancer and other
man-made illnesses, we need to become ‘raw food vegetarians’.
That is, we should drink plenty of fresh vegetable and fruit
juice, eat as much raw food as we possibly can, eschew meat of
all kinds, stay away from cow’s milk (especially processed cow’s
milk), and other dairy products, as well as refined sugar and
other processed single carbohydrates, soft drinks, highly
processed and junk foods, coffee, and alcohol. In other words,
we should live in complete accordance with Nature’s laws of
optimum nutrition - laws which are as old as the world itself,
and fit our anatomical and physiological characteristics like a
glove! It should be of comfort to us to know that the great
majority of people who have done just that have been rewarded
with a disease-free, productive and very long life! |
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I would like to end this section on vegetarianism by quoting
Doctor of Science, Norman W. Walker (already mentioned earlier
in this chapter), who said: “It is sometimes remarked that
vegetarians are not particularly a good example of health and
vitality. The reason is that these people have merely eliminated
meat, fish, and fowl from their diet, but they consume instead
vast quantities of grain and starchy foods. Often they cook all
or most of their vegetables, and do not drink enough, if any,
fresh vegetable juices, or do they consume enough fruit. On such
a diet it is virtually impossible to have a healthy body
overflowing with energy and vitality.” |
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Genetic Inheritance |
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Disregarding those people who believe in ‘predestination’, the
‘luck of the draw’, ‘ten score and ten’, ‘one’s time being up’,
and other unscientific propositions, I am going to briefly
examine the ‘genetic inheritance’ effect/s on certain persons.
Let’s see what Dr T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. (a veritable giant in
the field of nutrition science!) has to say about this topic:
“Genes do not determine diseases on their own. Genes function
only by being activated, or ‘expressed’, and nutrition plays a
critical role in determining which genes, good and bad, are
expressed”. Put in another way, what Dr Campbell is really
saying is that genetic predisposition exists, in some cases, but
it doesn’t determine disease, unless our “bad” genes have been
activated. And the things that activate these disease promoting
genes are: ‘an unnatural daily diet and lifestyle’, as well as
‘harmful environmental factors’’ such as, dioxins, PCBs,
formaldehyde, pesticides, radiation and industrial waste, just
to mention a few. What most people are probably unaware of, is
that without genes there wouldn’t be any life, as our genes are
the code of everything in our bodies, whether useful or
downright harmful. Unfortunately, medical schools and
universities have been trying hard to integrate every scientific
discipline under the all-embracing umbrella of genetic research.
Much of this emphasis on genes and genetics deliberately misses
the fact that if genes are not biochemically activated, or
expressed, they are harmless; that is, they have absolutely no
effect on our health! At this point, inquisitive readers will
want to know the reason why medical schools have been
attributing almost all diseases to genetics. Well, if you
haven’t as yet found the answer to this question, I am going to
satisfy your curiosity. You see, what makes our modern, highly
mercenary, ‘dog-eat-dog’ world isn’t love, truth, or justice,
but money! Therefore, if medical schools, universities and other
similar institutions were telling the truth to their students;
that is, if they taught that the overwhelming majority of
today’s diseases have dietary and environmental causes, the
giant pharmaceutical and food industries would eventually stand
to lose billions (maybe even trillions) of dollars! |
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Returning to genetics, our good genes can be compared with plant
seeds - and as any good gardener knows, seeds won’t grow into
healthy plants unless they have nutrient-rich soil, water, and
sunshine. In our body, nutrition is the environmental factor
that determines the activity of genes. As Dr Campbell and the
other members of the famous China Study scientific research
found out, the genes that cause cancer are deeply impacted by
the consumption of protein. Also, the research findings showed
that people who have similar genes get different diseases,
depending on their environment. Be that as it may, the unsung
truth about genetics is that, regardless of our genes, we can
all increase our chances of expressing our “good” genes by
giving our bodies the best possible kind of nutrition. |
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Many people blame their poor health on genetic inheritance. But
the truth is that, more often than not, genetic reasons have
little or nothing to do with their good health or lack of it. To
put it another way, that which is generally blamed on genetics
is nothing more than bad eating and drinking habits passed down
from parents to their children. For example, more often than
not, fat children are so because (barring some glandular
dysfunctions), their parents fed them fattening foods. In any
case, the genetic propensity for most hereditary diseases can be
neutralized by adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle. Frankly, I
have always been very sceptical about the alleged importance of
genetic inheritance. In fact, more often than not, the only
genetic inheritance from parents to their progenies are looks,
as well as other physical attributes, and sometimes,
intellectual and moral characteristics as well. I think it is
important to understand that the genes people inherit from their
parents are not at all the most important factors in determining
whether they will manage to avoid any of today’s degenerative
diseases. Therefore, they need not spend sleepless nights
worrying about developing cancer, or any other illness which may
‘run’ in their families. That is, as long as they continue (or
start) following Nature’s laws of optimum nutrition! As a final
word on this topic, we should do our very best to prevent
disease, as prevention is always preferable to cure. In any
case, most causes of diseases cannot be removed, and normally
only their effects can be controlled and mitigated. |
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TO BE CONTINUED... |
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Link to the next chapter
Chapter 2: Did Biological
Evolution Turn Humans Into Omnivores? |
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