Doctors, the Medical Profession, and Diet

As I mentioned in Biscuits - Cookies for the "No Grains" Diet I spent over 20 years trying to get a diagnosis of my systemic candida condition - originally caused by the administration of antibiotics. 26 years to be precise. In that time I consulted numerous doctors and was put through a heap of tests : a thyroid test (fatigue), barium meal tests, barium enema tests, liver and gallbladder tests, a bilharzia test (yes! - fatigue again).

I had pain in my stomach, so finally I nearly had an endoscopy. That was aborted by the specialist at the last minute, complete with an abusive "dress-down" standing in a hospital corridor, to boot. In effect, the medical profession told me it was all in my head - insult on top of injury.

In all that time, I kept asking the doctors if there were any foods I should avoid, mainly because my own self-experimentation was leading me to believe that some foods affected me worse than others. And in all that time, the standard answer was, "Nah, as long as you are getting an all-round diet, that's fine."

I had pretty much given up on the medical profession, and was researching and experimenting with dietary restrictions forced on me by the realities of my condition - whatever it might be.

Then by chance as Regional Solicitor for the ACC in Hamilton, I conducted a review hearing about a lady denied cover for an illness contracted while picking a bed of asparagus contaminated with an endectocide spray. I was impressed by the knowledge and open-minded approach of the doctor who gave evidence on her behalf.

The result was the candida diagnosis, and the discovery that I was allergic to 35 different foods (about which, more later) - no doubt because my condition had persisted so long. The doctor told me I could be very close to having ME, and gave me some reading materials on that health problem, too.

At least candida is now recognized by the medical profession generally, and in some cases it's being recognized that one of the causes is the use of antibiotics. About time too.

But in all those years of struggle and search, not one doctor had anything to offer on the issue of diet and food, which as I'll explain later, is a crucial plank in getting rid of any candida infection, be it oral, vaginal or systemic.

That to me is a travesty when you remember that the original father of medicine, the Greek physician Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC) said “Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food “.

Wikipedia has this to say about Hippocrates :

Hippocrates is credited with being the first person to believe that diseases were caused naturally and not as a result of superstition, and gods. Hippocrates was credited by the disciples of Pythagoras with allying philosophy and medicine. He separated the discipline of medicine from religion, believing and arguing that disease was not a punishment inflicted by the gods but rather the product of environmental factors, diet, and living habits. [my emphasis]

Well, how far have we come? Western medicine is only one medical discipline that would say it doesn't believe in superstition and 'gods'. But for years now it has been following the equally deadly gods of the pharmaceutical industry.

We're in a Dark Age of science and medicine when more emphasis is placed on administering drugs than on looking to Hippocrates' wisdom.

But this is also the Information Age, when people with internet access can do their own research and make their own informed decisions.  This needs to happen, and the word needs to get out to those who don't have the internet, and probably need it most. 

That to me (and I'm not an American) is why Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" and other health initiatives are so important.

Patricia

Jamie Oliver, Sarah Palin and the First Lady

Back in March, Jamie Oliver took a stance on American food issues - because the Americans asked him to, please note.

Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" initiative against childhood obesity had come under fire from Sarah Palin. While in the USA, Oliver was asked what he thought about Palin's attitude. Well, ask a silly question if you like, but if you are talking to a Brit - please expect to get an honest answer, not a sugar-coated one.

Jamie put Palin in the same bag as "The Fruit Loop" - a US breakfast cereal packed with processed grains and made attractive to children by the addition of sugar, salt, fruit flavors and coloring.

Of course the conservatives got up in arms.

It's another example of American politics getting in the way of common sense. Some stupid statements were made in the Republican attack on the White House's initiative, like "Get away from my French Fries, Mrs Obama!" and "If we are supposed to eat fruits, berries and tree bark, show us how." Typical grandstanding, political garbage.

And here's some more: Sarah Palin claimed the First Lady "is telling us she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families, on what we should eat."

Well, as I've already noted, "My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge". For many years, REAL nutrition has been ignored by the medical profession (thanks to the pharmaceutical companies whose input of $$ into the medical schools has ensured that some important issues are never taught). See my own experience with Doctors, the Medical Profession and Diet.

REAL nutrition has  been ignored by governments, food-producing cartels and chemical companies manufacturing so-called fertilizers and other agricultural chemical products. So we end up with hybridized foods, with food additives, drugs, herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers that make us sick, and we are expected to turn to the pharmaceutical companies for more drugs to make us well?? Come on!!!

No wonder many people cannot make the right decisions about what to feed their children and their families - AND THEY ARE NOT TO BLAME.  There are many folks who would cry, "Why didn't the government ever tell us?"  Well, someone with a bit of profile is telling you now - at last.

We are all confronted by a barrage of marketing and publicity from companies whose only interest in what they sell is to make as much money out of it as possible. White sugar is the number 1 worst "food" on the planet. Food manufacturers throw it into anything and everything to make their product appealing - and extra big gobs into anything designed to appeal to children. And where do we think the epidemic of childhood obesity, ADD, hyperactivity and child and teenage behavior problems is coming from?

Wake up America. Forget your childish political infighting and look at the REAL issues at stake here. Counterfeit foods, fertilizers and health measures are destroying us and costing governments (ie the taxpayer) a mint. And, as for health : what sort of inheritance are the Republicans trying to foist onto their kids?

Kudos to Michelle Obama for taking a stand. The more Americans who follow her lead and learn how to make informed decisions for their family's health, the better.

Patricia