Even a goat wouldn't eat what you eat. It is said that goats will eat anything. At various times their owners have reported that the animals had consumed such things as items of laundry from the clothesline, old shoes, paper (including banknotes), and in one case a horse's tail. With an appetite like that, you would think that Billy or Nanny would gladly accept an invitation to have dinner with us. But such, apparently, is not the case. Not long ago, partly as a joke and partly out of curiosity, a man I know offered the same food that had been prepared for his dinner to a neighbor's goat. He reported that the animal turned aside in disgust from the dishes offered it. Of course, man's dietary requirements differ somewhat from those of a goat. But in meeting those requirements, we have not shown any better sense in choosing our food. You are overfed but undernourished. Health authorities, nutritional experts, and practicing physicians are agreed that although Americans can afford to buy more and better food than any other peoples in the world, their diet is sadly deficient in certain important nutritional elements. We are a nation that is overfed but undernourished. The reason for this is that very often nutritional deficiency can and does occur without any outstanding clinical signs. Also, upper income groups are no more immune than those of a lower economic level. Dr. Norman Jolliffe, Director of the Bureau of Nutrition, New York City Health Department, and one of the country's outstanding authorities on nutrition, recently warned:
It is well established that deficiency disease, even without obvious clinical signs, may impair growth, mental development, resistance to many infections, ability to attain the maximum rate of wound healing, and decrease working ability.
In fact, inadequate nutrition, and incorrect nutrition, comprise a "hidden disease" in the United States - a disease costly in terms both of dollars and lives.
What is wrong with our diet and our eating habits? Many things are wrong with our diet and eating habits. Nowhere in the world is food treated so badly before it is eaten as in the United States. Here it is raised by the use of artificial chemicals. In an all-out effort aimed at quantity, rather than quality, we do everything humanly possible to destroy the original character that the Creator provided and intended for the yield of the earth. Moreover, by the time most of our food reaches the consumer, it is too highly processed, refined, and improperly preserved. To add to this inadequacy, we destroy what nutrient value remains by flame, fire, by watering it down with tap water, and by overloading it with salt, sugar, or seasoning. Then we sit down during hurried and harried business hours and bolt it down. And the result? Some 50 million or more Americans, adults and children, suffer from constipation, bad teeth, skin troubles, digestive disorders, fatigue, nervousness, and a multitude of other complaints. Most of them are caused directly by poor nutrition and sub-clinical vitamin deficiencies. To add to these digestive troubles, modern man has cut his oxygen intake by living indoors, often in artificially heated cells or rooms, and has lost contact with both sunshine and fresh air. This unnatural way of life is undoubtedly responsible for important metabolic changes that have occurred in civilized man. He has brought certain evils upon himself by losing those "catalysts" or "stokers of the body furnace." As a crowning insult to nature, we frequently sit scrunched in a chair most of our days, living in a constant state of tension and apprehension at our work. Man was originally very energetic, physically active and almost constantly engaged in some exercise or other. Today, thanks to our mechanical genius, we tend to depend upon a push-button instead of a muscle. All these factors make it necessary for us to seek "outside help" to make up for our nutritional and hygienic shortcomings.
How to supplement your diet with essential nutrients. One way science has found of helping us accomplish this is to supplement our diet with vitamins and other essential nutrients. Dr. Jolliffe, noted nutritionist whom we quoted earlier in this chapter, not long ago pointed out that the improved nutritional status of our population since 1940 is, in fact, largely due to enrichment of foods and vitamin supplements. States Dr. Jolliffe:
The agricultural scientist and the scientific farmer alike, know that it is not practical nor economic to raise hogs or chickens from purely agricultural products alone. They supplement the diet of their animals with a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other nutritionals. Although man does not like to think of himself as governed by similar nutritional rules as farm animals, we could learn and profit much by following what the scientific farmer practices.
For a number of years, the author has studied the effects of the following food and nutritional supplement programs, recommended to a large number of patients. They produced a striking and gratifying improvement in health levels and well-being. Also of greatest importance was the fact that they were found to be instrumental in lowering the cholesterol content of the blood and in reducing the amount of harmful blood fats. There was a corresponding decrease in the number of colds and infections that patients usually had. They also reported less constipation, nervousness, fatigue, and the like.
The five-step program. Here are the five steps that patients were asked to follow:
- Include daily as a food supplement at breakfast two to four tablespoonfuls of Lecithin extracted from soya beans.
- Add to your diet each day B Complex vitamins in the most potent form. Avoid the cheaper preparations which provide only small and ineffectual quantities of the vitamins, and have little or no effect on the body. Your doctor or druggist can advise you which brands provide potent quantities of the vitamins.
- Also add to your daily diet at least 25,000 units of Vitamin A, and 150 mg. of vitamin C.
- Take two tablespoonfuls of soya bean oil, corn oil orsafflower oil daily to provide the essential fatty acids necessary to proper nutrition. The oil may be used as a salad dressing, taken with tomato or fruit juice, or in any way you prefer.
- Include in your diet two to four tablespoonfuls of whole wheat germ each day. This may be eaten as a breakfast cereal with fruit, or sprinkled in your salad.
Now a word about the nature of these health-giving nutrients, and the reason for their use.
How to use Lecithin.
Now I'm going to tell you about one of the most important nutritional supplements developed in the last 50 years. Make a careful note of it and of how it is to be used, as described in these pages. The least it can do for you is to improve your health and give you added vitality. And it may even help save your life. The substance is Lecithin - a bland, water-soluble, granular powder made from de-fatted soya beans. Soya beans have been an important staple in the diets of people in China and the Far East for centuries. But it was only recently that the health-giving properties of one of the beans' constituents - Lecithin - have been studied. Lecithin is what biochemists call a phosphatide. That means it is an essential constituent of all living cells, both animal and vegetable. As such, it plays a vital role in various phases of body chemistry and function. After more than 10 years of intense experimentation, not only with Lecithin, but with a large number of other cholesterol-reducing preparations used in the treatment of heart disease, atherosclerosis, and allied conditions, we found Lecithin to give the most rewarding result. It was, in fact, not only useful in treatment of heart and blood vessel disease, but also in their prevention.
Lecithin has very recently been shown to have the power of removing atherosclerosis from the arteries of experimental animals. Dr. Meyer Friedman, Dr. Sanford Byers, Dr. Ray Rosenman and their research associates in San Francisco have demonstrated in a most convincing and dramatic manner how injections of Lecithin remove the cholesterol plaques that were deposited in arteries. These fatty plaques were produced in the arteries by feeding large amounts of cholesterol and fats to the animals. They were characteristic of the atherosclerosis found in humans. Dr. Friedman and his co-workers believe that in atherosclerosis, as the fats and cholesterol are removed from the artery walls and flood the bloodstream, the atherosclerotic plaques are dissolved and removed by the Lecithin. The excess cholesterol and fats are thought to be converted by the liver into the bile and then excreted from the body. Although there is no known method of using Lecithin by injection in humans, the very high concentrations in the blood of Lecithin that are desirable for treatment can be achieved by feeding Lecithin and incorporating it into the daily diet.
Lecithin has very recently been shown to have the power of removing atherosclerosis from the arteries of experimental animals. Dr. Meyer Friedman, Dr. Sanford Byers, Dr. Ray Rosenman and their research associates in San Francisco have demonstrated in a most convincing and dramatic manner how injections of Lecithin remove the cholesterol plaques that were deposited in arteries. These fatty plaques were produced in the arteries by feeding large amounts of cholesterol and fats to the animals. They were characteristic of the atherosclerosis found in humans. Dr. Friedman and his co-workers believe that in atherosclerosis, as the fats and cholesterol are removed from the artery walls and flood the bloodstream, the atherosclerotic plaques are dissolved and removed by the Lecithin. The excess cholesterol and fats are thought to be converted by the liver into the bile and then excreted from the body. Although there is no known method of using Lecithin by injection in humans, the very high concentrations in the blood of Lecithin that are desirable for treatment can be achieved by feeding Lecithin and incorporating it into the daily diet.
