Fighting Diseases with Nutrition

Red meat has been reported as a risk factor for colon cancer. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that women who eat beef, pork, or lamb every day have two and a half times greater risk of developing colon cancer over a 6-year period compared wioth women who eat red meat less than once a month.

Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in this country according to the American Heart Association. This might not bve true in India, which is largely vegetarian. Ghandi was vegetarian.

Risk factors include smoking, being overweight, being sedentary, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. My recommendation is the vegan diet.

Soybeans are considered helpful, possibly due to the isoflavones in soy products. This is a class of flavonoids.

Harvard Vanguard recommends that you eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetabper day. This provides essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber to protect you from chronic diseases. Build a rainbow on your plate with different colored vegetables. This helps you get the carotenoids and flavonids, which are pigments.

Green vegetables, red peppers, onions, etc. are good.

"Keep it colorful." Harvard Vanguard

Amazingly this same Harvard Vanguard, which is so on-the-ball on heart disease, seems to show no interest in nutrition when it comes to mental health.

Drugs

According to the book "Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine", Dr. John Abramson wrote "how the pharmaceutical companies distort medical knowledge, mislead doctors, and compromise your health". This book was published in 2004.

According to Abramson, there was "misrepresentation of Celebrex and Vioxx". Abramson feels that we can "save $500 billion a year while improving America's health". He wants to heal "our ailing health care system". Abramson says that there is "profit-maximizing science". There is a "myth of excellence".

Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine has been used to treat prostate problems. Saw palmetto and pygeum are two of the herbs used. Pipsissewa and stinging nettle root are also used for nonbacterial prostatitis.

Cleavers is another herb used.

The conventional drug doxazosin is sometimes used to improve urinary flow.

Benign Prostate Hyperplasia

Naturopaths recommend a diet of whole, fresh, unrefined, and unprocessed foods. These include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, etc. Avoid sugar, dairy products, and caffeine. naturopaths also recommend bromelain and vitamin C. Quercetin is considered to have anti-inflammatory properties. For more information on this topic consult the book "1000 Cures for 200 Ailments" published in 2007. The book is edited by Victor Sierpina. It is published by HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY.

The same book also has information on styes.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is very controversial. I have been taking large doses of it for years and I have been able to avoid cardiovascular disease even though my Mother died of it. My diet is much different than her diet was.

Vitamin C is in green vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, citrus fruits, etc. Unfortunately cooking can destroy vitamin C and flavonoids. This happens often with potatoes and tomatoes. It is better to eat a salad which is uncooked.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A aids in resistance to infection. Yellow and orange vegetables often contain beta-carotene, which is the precursor of vitamin A.

Franklin

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Benjamin Franklin

There is much truth to Franklin's observation.

Mental Health

I have discussed mental health issues extensively in previous articles. Some of these are given in the references. I will not repeat it all here. I favor a diet very low in tryptophan. Also polyphenols and flavonoids are helpful.

Conclusions

I have read a large number of books on nutrition including "The Vitamin Strategy" by Dr. Art Ulene and Dr. Val Ulene. It was written in 1994. According to this book, antioxidants fight cardiovascular disease, cancer, cataracts, etc. Vitamin E is thought to fight atherosclerosis.

The book links free radical damage to several diseases including cancer and cataracts.

"Antioxidants appear to play an important role in preventing cataracts."

This has been shown by "many studies" according to Ulene & Ulene. Another theory has antioxidants preventing macular degeneration.

"Years of free radical damage may be partly responsible for this condition, which affects up to 30 percent of the people in the United States ages 65 years and older."

All of this information supports very strongly the theories of the late Linus Pauling and orthomolecular medicine. The information that I am getting is very consistent except on mental health. My view is that if diet can benefit the other chronic diseases, why can't it benefit mental health?

References

1. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1266641/the_various_psychosis.html

2. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1312230/advances_in_clinical_neuroscience.html

3. www.associatedcontent.com/article/1292687/healing_schizophrenia.html