Welcome statement


Parting Words from Moristotle (07/31/2023)
tells how to access our archives
of art, poems, stories, serials, travelogues,
essays, reviews, interviews, correspondence….

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Thor's Day: Do you have blind faith in Him?

By Jim Rix

I had thought of doing a sequel to my article “What is the Cause of Heart Disease?” changing “Heart Disease” to “Diabetes.” It would be easy to present real evidence that supports the fact that Diabetes, like Heart Disease, is a consequence of diet. But, in my efforts over the years to promote the health benefits of a plant-based diet, I have observed that most people would rather be put in solitary confinement with an insurance salesman than hear about food’s relation to health.
    There are many reasons for this lack of interest in the subject. However, from what I’ve observed, the most significant reason people find it difficult to consider whether a plant-based diet is healthier than eating animal products is that He is silent on the issue. For example, if you come to Him with a chronic disease, He will not tell you that your diet is the cause; rather, He will lead you to believe that your “heredity” is.

    I find it difficult to accept “The Heredity Hypothesis” for several reasons, three of which are:
  1. When my dad was my age he’d been dead of heart disease for 20 years. If “The Heredity Hypothesis” were true, shouldn’t I or at least one of my brothers now be dead of heart disease? Well we’re not.
  2. Ten years ago my older brother was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Seeing him in tears from the pain of diabetic neuropathy was the final impetus for me to go to a plant-based diet. I harped on him relentlessly to do the same. I gave up when he looked me in the eye and said “I can’t stop eating meat!” Instead my brother opted for His advice and continued to suffer while I with the same heredity went to a plant based diet and did not. Then 7 years later my brother abruptly went on a plant-based diet. If I inherited good heredity from our mom who lived into her 90s and my brother inherited bad heredity from our dad, my brother’s change in diet would have had no effect, right? But in two weeks, eating only plant foods, he cured himself of diabetes! (If I may digress—my brother’s revelation coincided with the publication of my book on another subject. I’ve often wondered whether, after reading it, my brother may have thought to himself, Hey, my younger brother may not be so dumb after all, and decided to give my long-standing recommendation a try?)
  3. I know a guy, a down-to-earth (lowercase) doctor, a board-certified internist, who cures diabetes virtually every time. When patients enter his live-in clinic, he immediately takes away their insulin and diabetic medications. How can he do this? Because he controls their diet. For the next 10 days he feeds them a high-starch plant-based diet. When they leave they are ALL cured and remain so as long as they do not revert to their old eating habits.
So much for “The Heredity Hypothesis.”
    Of course, I’ve been talking about “Biological Heredity.” Maybe He’s talking about “Social Heredity” whereby chronic illnesses are the result of inheriting bad eating habits from our parents and/or from our pill-popping, high-fat, fast-food society, pushed upon us by high-powered advertising. If so, why doesn’t He speak out?
    He, of course, is the Godlike Medical Doctor. Why does He tell us that biological heredity is the cause of chronic diseases rather than tell us that the consumption of animal products is the cause? The answer is very simply because it’s not profitable. As comedian Bill Maher quipped, “There’s no money in healthy people and there’s no money in dead people. The money is in the middle, people who are alive—sort of—but with one or more chronic conditions. Someone has to stand up and say, “The answer isn’t another pill. The answer is spinach.’” (Well, really the answer is “starch,” Bill, but you’re close enough.)
    And, as Bill alludes, He reports to a Higher Power. “There’s something higher than Him?” I hear you ask. Yes, the reality is that the Pharmaceutical Industry runs the Medical Profession, but that’s a whole other article.
    So there you have it. The time to put your faith in Him is when you have an acute illness like an infection or a broken bone—you will get the best care possible. But, to put blind faith in Him when you have a chronic illness will most likely subject you to endless treatment, which will keep you alive—sort of—for the rest of your life.
_______________
Copyright © 2013 by Jim Rix

Please comment

15 comments:

  1. Jim, Paul Clark (motomynd) asked me to post the following comment for him. (For some reason unknown yet, he is not able to post comments.)

    Jim, excellent summation of the reality of several situations! Yes, diet makes THE difference in most cases, and yes, most people don't want to discuss or even think about that fact because following a healthy diet takes effort. And it forces people to take responsibility for their lives instead of putting blind faith in the "Godlike Medical Doctor" you so aptly describe. Just as developing a thought-out personally based moral code to live by takes more effort than putting blind faith in "god" and "the church."
        I was raised on the typical East Coast "eggs, meat and wheat" diet and battled debilitating allergies and other ailments the first half of my life. It was only when I gave up eggs, meat and wheat that I became healthy. The quick-fix medical "miracle cures" I counted on for years almost killed me when I had an allergic reaction to an allergy medication. Thanks to a healthy and highly non-traditional diet, I have not been to an allergist or doctor in 20 years.
        For people who say a healthy diet is too expensive and too much trouble, I say that having your heart go flat-line and having your life and career turned upside down is a LOT more expensive and problematic. Unfortunately, most people won't believe that until it happens. And sadly, like so many people who won't give up smoking even after they have a bout of cancer or a heart attack, some people won't believe their diet is killing them even after it almost kills them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The difference between lung cancer and heart disease is that no one disputes that cigarettes cause lung cancer. But when you are told by Him (your doctor) that "heredity" not food is the cause of your heart disease why change what you eat?

      Delete
  2. Very thought provoking piece Jim. I was told that I'm border line Type II Diabetes, 7 tears ago. I have a three month test done and my sugar is about the same each time. Although it is well below the 126, which is the marker for Diabetes, it is still in the high 80 to 90. Living in Costa Rica, we eat less red meat, what we do eat a lot of is chicken, with beans and rice. I'm at 170 pounds, down from 190. But my test come back the same. Enjoyed the read, it has got me thinking.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Type II Diabetes is closely associated with obesity. It used to be called “Adult Onset Diabetes” but now more and more affects fat teenagers too. Keeping weight down and moderate exercises wards off diabetes regardless of diet. A plant based diet simply makes it easier. I suspect you eat “lots of chicken” to get your protein. While protein is necessary in one’s diet only a small amount is required. We humans can be healthy with as little as 5% of our calories from protein. The World Health Organization sets 15% as the optimal level. There is sufficient protein in all plant foods. There has to be because cows eat nothing but plant foods and get enough protein to build those nice juicy steaks don’t they? There is as much cholesterol in chicken and fish as there is in beef. A muscle is a muscle whether it comes from a cow, chicken or fish. Keep up the rice and beans – it’s all you need.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Steve
      I too hope you live a long life.
      I understand that you live in Germany. I'm curious, Do German Doctors also promote "The Heredity Hypothesis"?

      Delete
  4. Ok, I do occasionally sucum to Cracker Barrel, BUT, ten years agony my document diagnosed Type II and I was on the verge of a coma. Luckly I did not go into a coma but doc wanted to start me on meds, insulin. Protesting I would change habits and lose weight, I dropped 75 pounds, never touched a syringe. Yes, green veggies and walking. Vegetarian lifestyle is the way to go. Also no flour or sugar products helps, but I slip every three or four months for Cracker Barrel. Just a little.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cracker Barrel...cheese? Or the restaurant chain?
          Thanks for your testimonial!

      Delete
    2. Sharon, congratulations on saving yourself from diabetes and from the modern medical system. I quit animal products for moral as well as health reasons, but I quit wheat strictly for the health advantages of not having it in my system.

      Delete
    3. Sharon replied by email:

      Restaurant chain. Actually I do more shopping than eating. Granddaughter loves their dresses.
          Go in for lunch, come out with a $150.00 tab.

      Delete
    4. Sharon, so Cracker Barrel makes their money selling clothes? Thank goodness! I was dragged into one for a meal about 15 years ago and feared they had actually survived all the years since by convincing people to enjoy their alleged cuisine.

      Delete
  5. Morris, thank you for removing the posts by Anonymous. Some of them are far more clever than anything I can come up with and I am almost intimidated by that level of competition.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To readers who, unlike Paul (motomynd), do not receive an email notification of every comment—whether legitimate or trapped automatically as suspected spam—he is referring to some of the latter. For example:

      Gоld with rhinestones аnԁ glitteгy silver spotlight the vibrant colors that are with thіs seаson. It coulԁ produce a good lеvel of dіffeгenсе after you begin taking сare of youг skin. A ρerfеct pair foг thе single shoulder coсktail dгess ωоuld bе made by miх anԁ match. Therе аrе numегous styles you may deсide on such аs A-lіne, ball dreѕs, cocκtail, empiгe wаist, fit аnd flare, halter, hi-low, mermаid, minі, οne ѕhoulder, bustieг аnԁ much more. Nаvigate the ωeb pagеѕ and follоw prompts to clicκ fοr details and clоѕeг viеwѕ of phоtos. Yоu, yοur mοm, ог a tаilor may be able to alter the dress to bеttеr ѕuit yοu, οr to раtсh uр a littlе bit оf defеct. Нeгe is my website ... prom dresses

      Indeed, Paul even on one of his many better days probably can't rise to that level of tawdriness....

      Delete