Don't Medicate; Educate!

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Don't Medicate; Educate!

WHY EDUCATION BEATS MEDICATION

 

An old proverb says, " Give someone a fish to eat today

and you must give him a fish tomorrow. Teach someone

to fish, and he can always have food. "

 

Dare to apply this to health care! Your physician

should teach more than prescribe. For drugs, we will

always be dependent on pharmacies and doctors. For

health, we will ultimately be dependent upon

ourselves. We must learn how to live. Research has

clearly indicated that close to half of all cancer is

caused by bad diet. This is true for heart disease as

well. We need specific, useful and effective

education to save lives now.

 

Dr. Saul's FIVE-MINUTE HEALTH CLASS:

 

* Eat less fat? Certainly. Better still, EAT LESS

MEAT. Even lean meat is 11% saturated fat.

Vegetarians have far less cancer and heart disease.

Dean Ornish, M.D. put patients on a vegetarian diet

and stress-reduction program with exercise. His

patients REVERSED heart disease in one year. There are

over 12 MILLION vegetarians in America. Join up today!

Learn by doing; see how much better you feel.

 

* Homework: Encourage someone you know to stop

smoking. Tobacco kills more Americans in ONE YEAR

than all U.S. soldiers killed in all of World War II.

Nine out of ten smokers say they'd like to quit. Nine

out of ten who HAVE quit simply stopped smoking. No

meetings, no techniques, no products; they just

stopped.

 

* Lose excess weight effortlessly by vegetable juice

fasting. It is easy and it works. Vegetables are low

calorie and very nutritious. If you don't want to

juice them, just eat them as salad. You can't hurt

yourself with produce, and you can't get fat on it,

either. It is simple to learn and to do. You might

want to read my dieting and juicing articles for some

practical tips.

 

* America is constipated, and this is no joke. The

average American gets only about 10 grams of fiber

daily. A vegetarian gets 50 grams or more. Meat has

no fiber whatsoever. More fiber reduces the risk of

bowel cancer, as well as that of colitis,

diverticulitis, spastic colon and hemorrhoids. Give a

diabetic more dietary fiber and s/he will require less

insulin. No need to buy fiber in a jar. Eat a

largely salad diet and the raw vegetables guarantee a

good supply. That's what gorillas do. You will never

meet a constipated gorilla. We need to take our

lessons from nature.

 

* Remember that your librarian is a great health

resource. So are all those books that your taxes put

in the library. Use them to learn much more.

 

* If you don't have the money or the time to go to

medical school, you tend to become way too dependent

on the pronouncements of a doctor. Medical education

is not for the privileged few. Here is how to know

what your doctor knows for less than the cost of a

physical (or for free, if you use the library):

 

1. Obtain a copy of The Merck Manual in the latest

edition. (Merck & Co, Rahway, NJ). This is the " Cliff

Notes " of medical school: nearly everything most

doctors do is in this single volume. It is easy to

look up anything quickly because of the excellent

cross-referenced index and thumb-indexed chapters.

 

2. To assist with any necessary deciphering of

medical terms, I suggest you also have a good medical

dictionary handy. There are several available (such

as Taber's Medical Dictionary or the Encyclopedia and

Dictionary of Medicine and Nursing by Miller and

Keane).

 

These books elevate your health education to a whole

new level of confidence and competency. You don't

have to know everything. If that were possible, there

wouldn't be any medical specialists. You can still go

to the doctor (after all, even doctors go to

doctors); now you can better judge the value of

medical services rendered. Remember that your doctor

works for you and not the other way around. Consider

your doctor to be your sub-contractor, your

consultant. Getting a doctor's opinion does not mean

you have to follow it. It is your body, and how you

want a health concern handled is your decision. You

can only make a good decision if you are fully

informed. Knowledge is power, and health knowledge is

healing power.

 

* For a second opinion, it is wise to read books on

natural healing. Alternative health techniques are

well proven and non-prescription. A health food

store, library or bookstore will have many titles to

help you. You may want to read my Annotated

Bibliographies of favorite health books.

 

* It is remarkable how much we learn in school that

we promptly forget. It is equally amazing how we are

often never taught what we really need to know.

Here's a well-kept secret: the less you spend on food,

the healthier your diet is likely to be. Packaged,

processed and pricey foods are the least nutritious.

Read the label and marvel at the wonderful ways

chemistry is used today. You can avoid those

additives, save money and eat better by avoiding 95%

of what is in a supermarket. Buy rice, beans, yogurt,

fresh produce... and check out.

 

* My family of four spent one-half of what most

families pay to eat. Remember that the protein in

dairy products is just as good as meat protein. Any

grain and any legume (peas, beans and lentils)

together make complete protein that is fully

equivalent to meat. It is difficult to believe that

you can be healthier and save money doing it. (In

Washington, lawmakers seem to find this concept

especially elusive!) An even bigger surprise awaits

you: simple, real-food meals TASTE better as well.

 

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.

From the books QUACK DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC,

available from Dr. Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470.