Crackpot books
Okay, so I own a couple books by Gary Null, nutrition guru and health expert. There's a good piece on Quackwatch about him:
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/null.html
Somewhere between standard medical practice and the sensational magic elixir salesmen there may be some ideas worth thinking about. I don't know if anyone else watches the Health page of the Times but, considering my interest in food, I've been known to look for new study results and the latest in applicable nutrition science. Having also read books like "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma," I have come to cast a very critical eye on much of the research being done on the relationship between diet and major disease processes, especially as I get to an age where circulatory malfunctions take hold and the possibility of later-life diabetes increases.
I have allergies. I take three kinds of meds daily to combat them. Thankfully, one is now over-the-counter and another has just gone to generic so that only one of my pills is a name brand. My regimen keeps me uncongested and breathing well; I can eat virtually all foods and drink week-old wine with no ill effects. Gary Null's allergy book starts by listing "Common Misdiagnosed Allergy-related Maladies:" fatigue, obesity, headaches, brain fog, poor digestion and many skin conditions. You're fat because you're allergic? That I don't believe - it has much more to do with high-fructose corn syrup, I think - but I will give a certain credence to the digestion and fatigue being a result of allergy. I will listen when I have actually experienced the phenomenon.
Here's an idea:
Disease begins not necessarily because a new pathogen (virus or bacteria) has invaded but that because your immune system has weakened to the point where the illness can manifest. Thus the focus on treating the symptoms, as practiced by typical medical means, won't bring back good health because it doesn't clear up the underlying problem. You need to do more than just treat the symptoms. I was reading someplace about cancer as a disease that is 'managed' rather than as a condition that is 'cured.' I was appalled by this - you don't want to take medicine for the rest of your life - you want the cancer removed, destroyed, done with!
Null goes on to explain 'Environmental Illness' and I don't buy his argument for awhile: electromagnetic fields harm us? What do you think the sun puts out? Vaccinations cause allergy problems later? Um, beats hell out of getting polio, tetanus or whooping cough, thank-you.
But then there's a good idea: the list of essential minerals includes several that we need in extremely small amounts. We don't get these from our food much any more because so much of our farm output comes from chemically-fertilized heavily-used fields. The trace minerals are long gone. Another idea that I can wrap myself around is that we, as a people, eat way too much sugar. I am willing to believe that obesity isn't due to fat in the diet but to overconsumption of simple carbohydrates and the subsequent insulin problems that wreck havoc with one's metabolism.
Oh well. I'm sure lots of people flock to see Mr. Null when he comes to someplace like Natur-Tyme.
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/null.html
Somewhere between standard medical practice and the sensational magic elixir salesmen there may be some ideas worth thinking about. I don't know if anyone else watches the Health page of the Times but, considering my interest in food, I've been known to look for new study results and the latest in applicable nutrition science. Having also read books like "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and "The Omnivore's Dilemma," I have come to cast a very critical eye on much of the research being done on the relationship between diet and major disease processes, especially as I get to an age where circulatory malfunctions take hold and the possibility of later-life diabetes increases.
I have allergies. I take three kinds of meds daily to combat them. Thankfully, one is now over-the-counter and another has just gone to generic so that only one of my pills is a name brand. My regimen keeps me uncongested and breathing well; I can eat virtually all foods and drink week-old wine with no ill effects. Gary Null's allergy book starts by listing "Common Misdiagnosed Allergy-related Maladies:" fatigue, obesity, headaches, brain fog, poor digestion and many skin conditions. You're fat because you're allergic? That I don't believe - it has much more to do with high-fructose corn syrup, I think - but I will give a certain credence to the digestion and fatigue being a result of allergy. I will listen when I have actually experienced the phenomenon.
Here's an idea:
Disease begins not necessarily because a new pathogen (virus or bacteria) has invaded but that because your immune system has weakened to the point where the illness can manifest. Thus the focus on treating the symptoms, as practiced by typical medical means, won't bring back good health because it doesn't clear up the underlying problem. You need to do more than just treat the symptoms. I was reading someplace about cancer as a disease that is 'managed' rather than as a condition that is 'cured.' I was appalled by this - you don't want to take medicine for the rest of your life - you want the cancer removed, destroyed, done with!
Null goes on to explain 'Environmental Illness' and I don't buy his argument for awhile: electromagnetic fields harm us? What do you think the sun puts out? Vaccinations cause allergy problems later? Um, beats hell out of getting polio, tetanus or whooping cough, thank-you.
But then there's a good idea: the list of essential minerals includes several that we need in extremely small amounts. We don't get these from our food much any more because so much of our farm output comes from chemically-fertilized heavily-used fields. The trace minerals are long gone. Another idea that I can wrap myself around is that we, as a people, eat way too much sugar. I am willing to believe that obesity isn't due to fat in the diet but to overconsumption of simple carbohydrates and the subsequent insulin problems that wreck havoc with one's metabolism.
Oh well. I'm sure lots of people flock to see Mr. Null when he comes to someplace like Natur-Tyme.