AFRICAN DIET, Combined Use of Acupuncture, Shiatsu Benefits Heart Patients

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AFRICAN DIET, Combined Use of Acupuncture, Shiatsu Benefits Heart

Patients

 

ACNE

 

• High-Fiber Diet Benefits Acne - A doctor reported that patients

who took one ounce of high-fiber breakfast cereal every day showed

rapid clearing up of acne. He speculated that " a diet low in fat,

salt, and refined carbohydrates and high in vegetable fibre " could

be of value in the management of acne by reducing constipation which

has been associated with this skin affliction.

Source: W. F. Kaufman, " The Diet and Acne, " [Letter], Archives of

Dermatology 119:276, 1983

 

ACUPRESSURE

Acupressure, or shiatsu massage, is a traditional Far Eastern

therapy based on applying gentle pressure with the fingers, hands,

or feet at specific points on the meridians, or channels of

electromagnetic energy flow, in the body. From the macrobiotic and

holistic community, acupressure is moving into mainstream society.

Its benefits, as part of a balanced lifestyle, are increasingly

recognized, especially as a substitute for drugs and potentially

harmful medications.

 

• Acupressure Beneficial to Pulmonary Patients - In a case-control

study of 31 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,

medical researchers in Taiwan reported that acupressure was useful

in reducing dyspnea as part of a pulmonary rehabilitation program.

Source: S. H. Maa et al., " Acupressure as an Adjunct to a Pulmonary

Rehabilitation Program, " Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation 17

(4):268-76, 1997.

 

• Acupressure Reduces Post-Operative Pain - In a study of the

analgesic effect of acupressure on postoperative pain, Swedish

scientists reported that stimulating 15 classical acupoints in one

half of a group of 40 patients undergoing knee surgery resulted in a

decrease in pain. The control group received stimulated in 15 points

in the same area as the acupoints.

Source: D. Felhendler and B. Lisander, " Pressure on Acupoints

Decreases Postoperative Pain, " Clinical Journal of Pain 12(4):326-

29, 1996.

 

• Shiatsu Benefits Heart Patients - Sixty-nine patients in Denmark

with severe angina pectoris were treated with acupuncture, shiatsu,

and lifestyle adjustments and followed for two years. Forty-nine of

the patients were candidates for bypass surgery.

 

In comparison with a large prospective trial of cardiovascular

patients, those receiving the alternative treatment had a rate of

death and heart attack of 7 percent compared to 15 percent for

patients undergoing angioplasty and 21 percent for those undergoing

bypass surgery.

 

Further, invasive treatment was postponed in 61 percent of the

alternative patients due to clinical improvement, the number of net

in-hospital days per year was reduced by 90 percent, and each

patient saved on average $12,000.

Source: S. Ballegaard et al., " Cost-Benefits of Combined Use of

Acupuncture, Shiatsu, and Lifestyle Adjustment for Treatment of

Patients with Severe Angina Pectoris, " Acupunture Electrotherapy

Research 21(3-4):187-97, 1996.

 

AFRICAN DIET

Traditional staples in Africa consisted of whole grain millet, rice,

sorghum, teff, and other grains, as well as tubers, roots, seeds,

nuts, and fresh fruits and vegetables, and small, modest amount of

animal food.

 

The value of traditional African foods and the harmful effects of

modern foods are coming under increased review. See AIDS,

Genetically Engineered Food, Infectious Diseases, Schweitzer,

Seaweed, Seeds, Sugar, Whole Grains.

 

• Traditional Legumes High in Protein Digestibility - In a study of

the protein quality of traditional diets, scientists at the

University of Nigeria reported that the protein in African yambeans

and pigeon peas was nutritious and highly digestible. " The need for

its [yambean] reintroduction into the fare of the populace through

increased production and appropriate processing technology is

stressed, " the researchers concluded. " The results of this study can

form a base for the standardization of Nigerian diets based on these

legumes. "

Source: H. N. Ene-Obong and I. C. Obizoba, " Protein Quality of Some

Nigerian Traditional Diets Based on the African Yambeann and Pigeon

Pea, " Plant Foods and Human Nutrition 48(4):297-309, 1995.

 

• Dietary Status of Lese Women Healthy - People living in the Ituri

Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo eat primarily manioc,

groundnuts, rice, and other traditional foods. Carbohydrates make up

64 percent of their daily diet, protein 14 percent, and fat 22

percent. In a study of the relationship of diet to energetic status

and ovarian function, British scientists reported that in a study of

64 Lese women of reproductive age, the low-fat, high-fiber diet was

essentially healthy despite seasonal deficiencies.

Source: G. R. Bentley et al., " Dietary Composition and Ovarian

Function Among Lese Horticulturist Women of the Ituri Forest,

Democratic Republic of Congo, " European Journal of Clinical

Nutrition 52(4):261-70, 1998.

 

• Traditional Remedy - Medical researchers in Senegal produced a

cough syrup from gueira, a native plant that is as effective as

codeine-based medicines imported from Europe. They also made a

laxative from the lam plant. At the World Health Organization's

Collaborating Center of Traditional Medicine at the University of

Illinois, these and other medicinal plants from Africa and around

the world are available in a computer database.

Source: Thomas Land, " Folk Cures Gain Respect and Save Money, "

Toward Freedom, April/May, 1991, pp. 17-18.

 

• Modern Diet and Spread of HIV - One of the most intriguing

observations in Africa is the significant correlation between AIDS

and upper-class status. This strongly suggests a possible

association with environmental factors. Urban centers throughout

Africa have been increasingly influenced by Western technology,

including the typical American diet of refined sugars and flours,

meats, eggs, dairy products, food additives, and other foods. In the

highly Westernized city of Kinshasa, capital of the Republic of the

Congo, this dietary pattern is far more typical of urban people in

the upper income bracket.

" It seems plausible that the rapid modernization of Africa's urban

population, particularly for the upper class, may have set the stage

for compromised immunity and thereby predisposed them to the

pathogenic effects of the AIDS virus, " concluded Martha Cottrell,

M.D. who gave seminars on diet and AIDS in West Africa.

The typical upper-class diet, based on the haute-cuisine of French

and Belgian, includes imported red meats, eggs, white sugar, baked

white-flour products, dairy, hydrogenated oils, and imported fruits

and vegetables. " Heavy reliance on imported products has introduced

high levels of artificial preservatives and agricultural chemicals

to the urban elite's food supply. Clearly this is not the kind of

diet one would expect to support resistance to infectious diseases. "

By contrast, the native lower class diet includes locally grown

fruit, cassava meal (a starchy root vegetable), avocados, red

onions, and small amounts of fish, game, and insects. " In sum, the

typical diet of low-income Kinshasans is basically low in protein,

low in fat, and high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. By

nutritional standards, this type of dietary pattern would clearly

favor strong immunity. "

Source: Michio Kushi and Martha Cottrell, M.D., with Mark Mead,

AIDS, Macrobiotics, and Natural Immunity (Tokyo & New York: Japan

Publications, 1990), pp. 216-17.

 

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture, the art of cultivating the land, developed about 8000

to 10,000 years ago following the retreat of glacial ice and the

warming of the globe. Following the agrarian revolution that began

in England in the 16th century, modern agriculture developed, based

on livestock breeding, artificial soil supplements, monocropping,

hybrid seeds, and other practices resulting in higher yields. See

Organic Farming, Seeds, Whole Grains.

 

• Amazon Farming Methods Protected Ecosystem - New discoveries in

the Amazon show that the traditional people in the rain forests

utilized a sophisticated blend of agriculture and forestry to yield

rich harvests and at the same time preserve the delicate ecosystem.

The Kayapo of Brazil cultivated circular fields by felling several

large trees so that their crowns fell on the periphery of the circle

and by planting crops in between. Later the dead trees were burned,

the rains washed the ash into the soil, and crops, including corn

and rice, were planted in concentric circles.

Source: William K. Stevens, " Research in 'Virgin' Amazon Uncovers

Complex Farming, " New York Times, April 3, 1990.

 

• Andes Farming Methods Superior to Modern Practices - Traditional

farming methods used in the Andes are more efficient and

environmentally safe than modern methods. The native method,

utilizing raised beds separated from one another by deep, water-

filled channels, preserved vital nutrients, maintained soil

fertility, and reduced pollution of downstream waters better than

modern farming practices. The researchers recommended that farmers

today return to native tilling methods.

Source: " Ancient Farming Methods in Andes Deemed Superior, " Boston

Globe, July 8, 1993.

 

AIDS

The AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980s and moved from gay men in

the U.S. and Caribbean to both sexes and is now a worldwide

epidemic. The relation between diet and acquired immune deficiency

was largely ignored in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. In

recent years, researchers have begun to focus on this connection,

and, as in the case of heart disease and cancer, modern medicine is

discovering that diet and nutrition are underlying factors in the

spread of HIV and in the treatment of symptoms.

By 1999, an estimated 33 million people around the world were

infected. The disease is spreading at the rate of 16,000 new

infections per day. An estimated 27 million carriers are unaware of

having the virus, UNAIDS, the United Nations agency in charge of

controlling the disease reported. In 1997, 2.3 million people died

of AIDS, nearly half of whom were women, and 460,000 cases involve

children. More than 90 percent of the infections are in developing

country.

In parts of Africa, one in four adults is infected with HIV and AIDS

now rivals the world's greatest epidemics, according to the United

Nations. Twenty-one million carriers are infected in Africa. In 13

sub-Saharan countries, HIV has infected 10 percent of adults and 25

percent or more in Botswana and Zimbabwe. In comparison, the Black

Death of the Middle Ages killed an estimated 20 million people,

about one-quarter of Europe's population, in four years. The

influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed 20 million. In some African

cities, the infection rate is one-third and in some prenatal clinics

up to 70 percent of women tested carry HIV. Infection rates have

been cut in some countries, such as Uganda, where the rate fell from

13 percent in 1994 to 9.5 percent in 1997. Thailand cut its rate

from 2.7 percent to 2.3 percent in the same time. India with 4

million cases has the most number of infections in the world. In

1993, AIDS became the leading cause of death of Americans from 25 to

44.

 

• Macrobiotic Approach - In a study of diet and immune-deficiency

disorders, including AIDS, two macrobiotic educators look at the

emergence of HIV and other new viruses as a result of modern

agricultural practices and patterns of food consumption that have

disrupted traditional societies and ecosystems that have existed in

harmony for thousands of years. HIV is believed to have acquired its

virulence and elusiveness as a result of modern environmental and

medical interventions, including monocropping, pesticide and

chemical fertilizer use, and abuse of antibiotics and other drugs.

As it made its way through depleted soil, a chemically weakened food

chain, and immuno-suppressed blood systems, HIV gradually evolved

into a stronger, more lethal virus.

Michio Kushi and Alex Jack also explore the possibility that some

cases of AIDS are internally generated from the degeneration of

cells into viruses as a result of dietary imbalance, especially high

intake of sugar, sweets, fatty foods, oily and greasy foods, fruits,

alcohol, and drugs and medications.

Source: Michio Kushi and Alex Jack, Humanity at the Crossroads,

(Becket, MA: One Peaceful World Press, 1997).

 

• Controlling AIDS with Macrobiotics - In 1983 a group of men in New

York City with AIDS began macrobiotics under the inspiration of

Michio Kushi and Lawrence H. Kushi, D.Sc. They hoped to change their

blood quality, recover their natural immunity, and survive this

otherwise always fatal illness. In May, 1984, a research team led by

Elinor N. Levy, Ph.D. and John C. Beldekas, Ph.D. of the Department

of Immunology and Microbiology at Boston University's School of

Medicine and Martha C. Cottrell, M.D., Director of Student Health at

the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, began to monitor

the blood samples and immune functions of ten men with Kaposi's

sarcoma (a usual symptom of AIDS). Preliminary results indicated

that most of the men were stabilizing on the diet. " Survival in

these men who have received little or no medical treatment appears

to compare very favorably with that of KS patients in general. We

suggest that physicians and scientists can feel comfortable in

allowing patients, particularly those with minimal disease, to go

untreated as part of a larger [dietary] study or because non-

treatment is the patient's choice. "

Source: " Patients with Kaposi Sarcoma Who Opt for No Treatment "

[Letter], Lancet, July 1985.

 

• Strengthening Natural Immunity with Macrobiotics At the

International AIDS Conference in Paris in June, 1986, Elinor Levy

and associates presented further findings concerning the men with

Kaposi's sarcoma who had been practicing macrobiotics. he

researchers concluded:

1. Lymphocyte number increases over the first two years from

diagnosis with Kaposi's sarcoma in men who are following a

macrobiotic diet. A linear regression analysis model predicts that

lymphocyte number becomes normal within this two-year period.

2. During this time period the percentage of T4 cells does not

change. The percentage of T8 cells possibly decreases.

3. These results compare favorably with those from any of the

medical treatments reported.

4. There are several possible explanations for these positive

findings including: a) the macrobiotic diet and/or lifestyle is of

benefit to men with Kaposi's sarcoma. b) The decision to become and

remain macrobiotic selects for men with a better prognosis.

Source: Elinor Levy, J. C. Beldekas, P. H. Black, and L. H.

Kushi, " Patients with Kaposi's Sarcoma Who Opt for Alternative

Therapy, " International AIDS Conference, Paris, France, 1986.

 

• Decreasing AIDS Symptoms with Macrobiotics - In a further report

on the men in the macrobiotic AIDS study, Dr. Levy reported in

1988: " The large majority of subjects reported a decrease in AIDS-

related symptoms, particularly fatigue (23/29) and diarrhea (17/19).

The lymphocyte number in the subgroup of 19 subjects with Kaposi's

sarcoma alone tended to increase with time after diagnosis. Only two

of this group of 19 lost more than 10 percent of their body weight

during their participation in the study which ranged from several

months to more than three years. Nine of the nineteen with KS have

died, seven are alive more than three years after diagnosis with

KS. "

Source: Elinor M. Levy, Letter to the American Cancer Society,

March 3, 1988.

 

• Improving T-Cell Ratios for AIDS with Macrobiotics - After initial

observations, the macrobiotic AIDS test group was expanded to twenty

men. " As a group, the men have had significant improvement in their

total T-cell numbers, notably in T4 counts, although T4/T8 ratios

have not changed significantly, " Martha Cottrell reported. " Those

with Kaposi's sarcoma have shown the best survival rates, three

going five years or longer. The approach has demonstrated effective

in managing their condition while minimizing opportunistic

infections and use of toxic drugs. They are all working full time

and enjoying a quality of life atypical of most AIDS patients. Most

of all, they are relatively free of the sense of hopelessness,

helplessness, and victimization which tends to take hold of other

AIDS patients. Thus the physical benefits— prolonging life and

improving the immunocompetence—seems complemented by a range of

psychological benefits. "

Source: Martha Cottrell, Letter to the American Cancer Society,

March 14, 1988. See also Tom Monte, The Way of Hope (New York:

Warner Books, 1990).

 

• A Multifactoral Approach - Challenging the conventional view that

AIDS is caused by a virus, Robert Root-Bernstein, a professor of

physiology at Michigan State University, contends that the disease

is the result of numerous synergistic insults to the immune system,

including illicit and prescription drug use and improper diet. " HIV

infection may be an epiphenomenon of immune suppression rather than

a necessary cause, " he explains in his book Rethinking AIDS. " Immune

suppression may predispose people to HIV infection (just as it

predisposes them to other opportunistic infections) rather than

resulting from such an infection. "

Reviewing medical history, he shows that probably cases of of AIDS

long predate the current epidemic and there are a number of cases

without HIV infection. Reviewing current medical research, he argues

that it is very difficult for a healthy person to get AIDS, even

following sexual contact with someone who tests positive for the

virus. " Alternative hypotheses to AIDS provide alternative

frameworks for interpreting as valid some otherwise unexplainable

treatments or `cures.' For example, a holistic approach to AIDS

focusing on nutrition and behavior modification and emphasizing a

positive mental image may bolster the immune system and

simultaneously curtain exposure to drugs and infections, leading to

improved health. This is a reasonable prediction of the cofactor and

multifactorial theories of AIDS that differentiate them clearly from

the HIV-only theory. "

Source: Robert Root-Bernstein, Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of

Premature Consensus (New York: Free Press, 1993).

 

• Lifestyle Factors - In a review of AIDS research between 1981 and

1990, a senior medical researcher speculated that AIDS may not be

caused primarily by a virus but may be the result of

immunosuppressive behavior and lifestyle, especially the abuse of

drugs and medications and improper diet. Dr. Peter H. Duesberg,

professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of

California, Berkeley and a pioneer in retrovirus research, concludes

that AIDS is not a single infectious disease or syndrome but a set

of separate conditions with different risk factors.

He cites the use of nitrite inhalants or " poppers " and other

aphrodisiac drugs as well as prior use of alcohol, heroin, cocaine,

marijuana, valium, and amphetamines as chief causes of loss of

natural immunity in the gay community. In Africa, where AIDS is

commonly known as " Slim Disease, " he noted that it does not appear

to be contagious but rather fits the profile of malnutrition,

apparently caused in part by modern foods.

The use of AZT, an anti-HIV drug, should be discontinued, he

concludes, because it only weakens the immune system. " Doctors

should treat each condition separately, and should seek to determine

the underlying causes in each individual's case; patients should

insist on this approach from their doctors. But perhaps the most

useful action for any such patient to take would be the ending of

any risk behavior. Unfortunately, no studies have been done, but

anecdotal case descriptions exist of AIDS patients who recover after

ending drug use, sexual promiscuity, and prophylactic antibiotic

use, and who improve their nutritional status. " Among the cases

cited are thirteen AIDS survivors, including some who practiced

macrobiotics, who have lived more than five years since their

diagnosis.

Source: Peter H. Duesberg and Bryan J. Ellison, Policy Review,

Summer, 1990, pp. 40-51 and Peter H. Duesberg, Inventing the AIDS

Virus (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 1996).

 

• Nutritional Research - In the first epidemiological study to

assess dietary intake in homosexual men testing positive for AIDS,

researchers in California found that the consumption of foods or

supplements high in iron, vitamin E, and riboflavin significantly

delayed the onset of symptoms. Vitamin C, thiamine, and niacin

intake also approached levels of offering protection. " Additional

studies are needed to determine whether dietary intake modifies the

rate of developing AIDS in those who are HIV seropositive, "

researchers concluded.

Source: B. Abrams et al., " A Prospective Study of Dietary Intake and

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in HIV-Seropositive Homosexual

Men, " Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 6:949-58, 1993.

 

• AIDS and Maternal Nutrition - In the first study to show that

maternal nutrition can affect the transmission of AIDS, researchers

in Africa reported that a deficiency in vitamin A (found in dark

green leafy vegetables, carrots, and tropical fruits, as well as

some animal products) can increase transmission of HIV, the virus

associated with AIDS. In a study of 567 pregnant women in Mawali

infected with HIV, women with the most severe deficiency in vitamin

A had a 32 percent chance of transmitting HIV to their babies, as

compared to 7 percent with healthy amounts of vitamin A. The

researchers further found that 93 percent of babies born to mothers

with the most severe deficiencies died in the first year, compared

with 14 percent of those born to mothers with healthy levels of

vitamin A. Dr. Richard D. Semba of Johns Hopkins Hospital, leader of

the research team, said that nutritional deficiency could explain

why the AIDS epidemic has spread so much more extensively in Africa

than in the U.S. or Europe.

Source: Richard D. Semba, " " Maternal Nutrition and Vitamin A

Deficiency and Child Growth Failure during Human Immuno-Deficiency

Virus Infection, " Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Human Retrovirology 14(3): 219-22, 1997.

 

• Breast-milk Inhibits HIV - Breastmilk contains a substance that

prevents HIV infection, according to researchers at Harvard Medical

School and the Shriver Center for Mental Retardation. In laboratory

tests, the mother's milk component dramatically inhibited the

ability of an HIV protein to adhere to white blood cells, a binding

mechanism that leads to infection. Even though breast-feeding can

transmit HIV in some cases, the researchers concluded, that it was

warranted in developing countries by women carrying the virus. The

World Health Organization sanctions breastfeeding by HIV-positive

mothers, but recommends that each case be determined individually.

Source: Richard Saltus, " Breast Milk Component May Cub HIV Spread,

Scientists Say, " Boston Globe, March 7, 1995.

 

• AIDS and Vitamin B-12 - Vitamin B-12 deficiency is associated with

AIDS, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. In a

study of 310 men with HIV, scientists found that those with normal

levels of the vitamin remained free of the disease for about 8 years

compared with four years for those low in this nutrient. B-12 plays

a role in protein and DNA synthesis and strengthens cognitive and

immune functions.

Source: E. Smith et al., " Dietary Intake of Community-Based HIV-1

Seropositive and Seronegative Injecting Drug Users, " Journal of

Nutrition 12(7-8): 496-501, 1996.

 

• Was HIV Genetically Engineered? Investigating the possibility that

AIDS, Ebola, and other new diseases are the result of biological

weapons experiments, Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz, a dentist and medical

re-searcher who has served on the faculties of Harvard and Tufts

universities, researched the U.S. biological warfare program at Fort

Detrick, Maryland, which received a $10 million authorization in the

early 1970s to develop a genetically-altered retrovirus that would

destroy the human-immune system as part of the " Special Virus Cancer

Program. "

He quotes Dr. MacArthur, deputy director of the U.S. Department of

Defense, who stated in classified Congressional testimony in

1970: " Within the next 5 to 10 years, it would probably be possible

to make a new infective microorganism which could differ in certain

important aspects from any known disease-causing organisms. Most

important of these is that it might be refractory to the

immunological and therapeutic processes upon which we depend to

maintain our relative freedom from infectious disease. "

The secret biological warfare program was overseen by Dr. Henry

Kissinger, National Security Adviser and later Secretary of State in

the Nixon and Ford administrations; carried out by the National

Cancer Institute, Merck, Sharp, and Dohme, the world's largest

pharmaceutical company, and Litton Bionetics, the nation's largest

bioweapons contractor; and involved Dr. Robert Gallo, the cancer

virus researcher who went on to become the co-discoverer of HIV over

a decade later.

Clandestine research, Horowitz theorizes, date back even further. In

1967, a lethal virus broke out in Germany and Yugoslavia among

vaccine researchers. The epidemic, known as Marburg disease, was

attributed to infected monkeys that had been brought to Europe from

Africa. Horowitz traces the monkeys to a Litton medical research

laboratory in Africa. The facility was located in an area of

southeast Zaire that was secretly leased until the year 2000 to

OTRAG, a German corporation with ties to NATO, the CIA, and Litton.

The official purpose of OTRAG's contract was to launch private

communication satellites, but biowar experiments and other covert

military activities may also have been conducted in this remote area

(which is twice the size of England). In 1976, Ebola—the extremely

contagious, highly lethal viral disease that is genetically

identical to Marburg—broke out in Central Africa. It is in

this " thinly populated " region—inhabited by 760,000 Africans—over

which OT-RAG was granted " complete sovereignty and control " that

AIDS also may have first emerged.

Horowitz speculates that fear of communism, black nationalism, and

overpopulation (especially in neighboring Angola, which bordered

Zaire and was a center of revolutionary political movements) fueled

these medical experiments. (Ebola also broke out in South Africa

whose apartheid-era government was committed to overthrowing

Angola.) Through the late 1970s, USAID vaccination teams immunized

more than 20 million people in Central Africa. In 1978-79, several

years before AIDS appeared in America, Horowitz claims that the New

York City Blood Center introduced an experimental hepatitis B

vaccine in the gay male community which may have contained HIV or a

monkey virus that mutated into HIV.

Dr. W. John Martin, director of the Center for Complex Infectious

Diseases in Rosemead, Calif., and former director of the Viral

Oncology Branch of the FDA's Bureau of Biologics, the government's

principal agency in charge of vaccines, also suspects a contaminated

vaccine of human origin gave rise to AIDS. " The mixing of vaccine

viruses with others found in the cells and tissues used to develop

the vaccine can potentially lead to the development of new

recombinant mutants that are more adaptive and have wider host range

than either of the original viruses, " he explains.

While Martin calls for analysis of the genetic components of

vaccines used in early field trials in Africa containing monkey

components, Dr. Robert Strecker, another AIDS researcher, contends

that genetically HIV resembles bovine lymphotrophic virus (BLV)

cultured in cows. He theorizes " the virus either mutated in cattle

and sheep and then was artificially adapted to humans by growing in

human tissue cultures . . . or the virus was actually constructed in

a laboratory by gene manipulation. "

Source: Leonard G. Horowitz, Emerging Viruses AIDS & Ebola: Nature,

Accident or Intentional? (Rockport, MA: Tetrahedron, 1997).

 

• AIDS Spread in Africa Vastly Overestimated - A growing number of

African public health officials and researchers have expressed

concern that World Health Organization estimates of AIDS in Africa

are vastly overestimated because of an alarmingly high rates of

false positive HIV results in populations tested. Moreover, the

symptoms of AIDS, including weight loss, chronic diarrhea, high

fever, and persistent coughing, are common to dysentery,

tuberculosis, cholera, and other infectious diseases.

Some African scientists who question these results are worried that

the claims of a continental AIDS pandemic in Africa will be used to

justify massive, unregulated vaccine and drug testing programs using

Africans as guinea pigs. Rather than behavior modification schemes,

they suggest that governments and international agencies focus on

structural poverty and unhealthy living conditions, including better

nutrition and preventive health care.

Source: Richard Horton, " Truth and Heresy about AIDS, " New York

Review of Books, May 23, 1996.

 

ALCOHOL

About two thirds of American men and one half of women drink alcohol

occasionally. In moderation, alcohol has been part of a traditional

diet. In populations eating substantial amounts of animal food, it

can protect against some forms of heart disease (though it can

contribute to others as well as breast cancer, colon cancer, and

other malignancies). However, the abuse of alcohol is a major

problem in modern society and associated with a wide range of

personal, family, and social disorders and dependencies. About 3 to

5 percent of men and 1 percent of women are alcoholic. See American

Cancer Society, Kuzu, Natto, Pancreatic Cancer, Soy Foods, Violence,

Wine.

 

• Alcohol Acts as Both a Depressant and a Stimulant - " It produces

effects that mimic those of many other drugs, such as opium,

cocaine, Valium, and ether, " writes health researcher Stephen Braun.

Because all blood from the digestive organs is shunted to the liver,

it particularly affects that organ. Other effects include depressing

brain function by interfering with a type of ion channel critical

for the firing of neurons; impairing the brain's ability to store

new memories; and reducing reaction times and impairing

coordination, thereby increasing the risk of accidents, especially

while driving. Because it passes through the placenta barrier,

alcohol can affect the embryo and lead to fetal alcohol syndrome. It

also has an adverse effect on male sperm.

On the plus side, alcohol increases the receptivity of GABA

receptors, reducing anxiety; boosts dopamine levels, producing a

brief period of heady stimulation; releases endorphins, the body's

painkillers that give a " natural high " ; and boosts levels of

serotonin, a neurotransmitter, also associated with increasing self-

confidence and motivation.

Source: Stephen Braun, Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and

Caffeine (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).

 

• Animal Food Creates Cravings for Alcohol - In traditional Far

Eastern medicine, alcohol is classified as extremely yin, and its

abuse results from an overly yang condition, usually the result of a

diet high in meat, poultry, eggs, and other animal foods, as well as

too much salt and excessive baked foods. Change to a diet centered

on grains and vegetables reduces cravings for alcohol.

Source: Michio and Aveline Kushi, Macrobiotic Diet, (Tokyo and New

York: Japan Publications, 1993).

 

• s Control Alcohol - Traditional Chinese medicines

used to treat arthritis, diabetes, and stomach disorders route

alcohol away from the bloodstream, according to Japanese

pharmacists. In animal studies, the bark and root cortex of the

angelica tree, the plant ovary of the soapberry, the seeds of the

camellia and horse chestnut, and the roots of the seneca snakeroot

appeared to trap alcohol and transport it to the large intestine

without absorption into the bloodstream, the scientists told the

annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.

" No matter how much you drink, you would not get drunk, " Masayuki

Yoshikawa of Khyoto Pharmaceutical University said. " If you consume

this before you have alcohol . . . the blood alcohol will not

increase, in fact, it will decrease. "

Source: " Ancient Remedies Found to Detour Alcohol from Blood, "

undated article circa 1995.

 

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Following Congressional hearings, the U.S. Congress mandated the

National Institutes of Health (NIH) to open the Office of

Alternative Medicine (OAT) in 1993 and begin funding the most

promising therapies, including macrobiotics, Native American

medicine, homeopathy, music therapy, acupuncture, and other

modalities. In 1998, the office was renamed the National Center for

Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and Congress increased the

annual budget from $20 million to $50 million.

Several medical schools, colleges, and universities have opened

alternative medical centers. By 1998, 62 percent of medical schools

in the U.S.—nearly two in every three—offered courses in alternative

and complementary medicine.

The first public natural health clinic opened in Seattle in 1996.

The clinic offers low cost natural therapies, including acupuncture,

nutritional counseling, biofeedback, Chinese herbal medicine, and

other alternative treatments to the public, especially low-income

patients. The estimated cost of the pilot program, funded by the

government, is $3 million.

Meanwhile, insurance companies are beginning to reimburse and

encourage alternative medical practices. Oxford Health Plans became

the first large medical insurer to offer alternative medicine

coverage in 1997. No physician referral is required. The company

cited a survey of its 1.5 million members showing that 33 percent

had used some form of alternative medicine in the last five years.

On the West Coast, Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest HMO,

offers reimbursement for acupuncture and other alternative medical

services in California. Blue Cross/Blue Shield are experimenting

with similar coverage in the Pacific Northwest.

In a widely publicized survey, the New England Journal of Medicine

reported in 1993 that one in every three Americans used alternative

medicine.

By 1998, the figure had risen to 42 percent, and the number of

visits to alternative practitioners exceeded those to primary care

physicians. See Acupressure, Asthma, Fibroymyalgia, Five

Transformations, Multiple Sclerosis, Native American Diet,

Pregnancy, Skin Problems, Yin and Yang.

Sources: D. M. Eisenberg et al., " Unconventional Medicine in the

United States, " New England Journal of Medicine 328:246-52, 1997; M.

S. Wetzel et al., " Courses Involving Complementary and Alternative

Medicine at U.S. Medical Schools, " Journal of the American Medical

Association 280:784-87, 1999; David M. Eisenberg et al, " Trends in

Alternative Medicine Use in the U.S., 1990-1997, " Journal of the

American Medical Association 280:1569-1575, 1998.

 

• Clinical Guidelines in Complementary and Alternative Medicine

(CAM) - In 1995, the Office of Alternative Medicine convened an

expert panel to propose guidelines for clinical practice. Noting

that estimated office visits to CAM providers (425 million a year)

exceeded the number of visits to primary care physicians (388

million) and that Americans spent $10 billion annually on

alternative therapies, the panel stated that it was important that

the public be informed about the advantages and disadvantages of CAM.

While professional standards and practices need to be standardized,

the panel questioned the assumption that recommendations for CAM

must await clinical trial evidence. " Some would argue that the need

for CAM to collect evidence in a format acceptable to conventional

Western medicine (e.g., randomized trials) is itself a false

premise. Reliance on empirical data from controlled experiments to

infer effectiveness is a reductionist Western epistemology that is

not shared by many of the cultures from which some CAM practices

originate. " The report mentioned, for example, that acupuncture has

been practiced for more than 3000 years, outspanning " the entire

life of newtonian science by several millennia. " Organ-specific

results are commonly less important than overall patient well-being,

respecting the pa-tient's personal experience, and dynamic

relational issues. Conventional diagnostic models have little

relevance, the panel noted, to traditional models of disease origin

and development, especially those involving energy balance.

Like psychiatric and mental health therapies, CAM approaches are

often not reproducible, because they are highly individualized or

recognize an association between the dynamics of the clinician-

patient relationship.

" In the long-term, a worthwhile goal is to develop holistic, cross-

cutting practice guidelines that specify, for a patient with a given

health problem (e.g., cancer), the full range of treatment options

available in all areas of conventional medicine and CAM, the

benefits and harms that can be expected from each choice, and the

nature of the supporting evidence, " the panel concluded.

Source: " Clinical Practice Guidelines in Complementary and

Alternative Medicine: An Analysis of Opportunities and Obstacles, "

Archives of Family Medicine 6:149-54, 1997.

 

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects affects about 5 percent of elderly

people in modern society, including many of those in nursing homes.

It is also increasingly found in people under 65.

Memory loss and senility, its principal features, are associated in

Far Eastern medicine with more expansive, dispersing foods,

especially sugar, sweets, alcohol, and drugs.

Physiologically, Alzheimer's bears similarity to the human variant

of mad cow disease (but is not contagious), so that animal food

consumption, especially low quality beef or chicken (grown with

antibiotics and other chemicals) may also be a factor in its spread.

Medical studies have recently reported that nutrients found in whole

grains and vegetables may help control the symptoms of this

degenerative neurological disorder. See Fluoridation, Soy Foods,

Water, Women's Health.

 

• Folic Acid May Prevent Alzheimer's - Folic acid, found in many

green vegetables, may protect millions of people from Alzheimer's

disease. Helga Refsum, a researcher at Norway's Bergen University,

said, " The idea of reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease by diet

is a promising hypothesis. " A study of 76 Alzheimer's patients in

the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Aging (OPTIMA) at

Oxford University found elevated high levels of homocysteine, an

amino acid associated with higher risk of heart disease and stroke,

and lower levels of folic acid and vitamin B-12 compared to a

control group of 108 people the same age who did not have

Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is the fourth leading cause of death in the

Western world.

Source: " Scientists Probe Link Between Diet and Alzheimer's, "

Reuters News Service, April 26, 1998.

 

• Fat Linked to Alzheimer's - In a review of Alzheimer prevalence in

11 countries, a researcher reported that incidence of this form of

dementia was associated with consumption of foods high in fat

(including meat, eggs, poultry, etc.) and in total caloric intake.

Fish consumption, on the other hand reduced the risk of developing

AD. The researcher found that the diet just prior to the

development of the disease is the most critical in determining the

risk for developing AD. " Diets high in total calories including

acidic drinks, alcohol, fat, salt and sugars promote trace mineral

imbalances and elevated free radical production in the body. Several

dietary components and supplements have been found effective in

delaying the onset of AD, including antioxidants, estrogen (for post-

menopausal women), fish or fish oil, and anti-inflammatory

substances, " the researcher concluded.

Source: Willaim B. Grant, Ph.D., " Dietary Links to Alzheimer's

Disease, " Alzheimer's Disease Review 2:42-55, 1997.

 

AMASAKE

Amasake, a sweet, creamy beverage made from fermented sweet rice and

popular in Far Eastern and natural foods cooking, makes a refreshing

beverage or natural sweetener for puddings, pies, and other dishes.

It can be made at home or bought freshly made, in plain, almond,

apricot, and other flavors, from natural foods stores. Traditionally

it has been used to strengthen the mother's breast milk or stimulate

energy and vitality. See Astronaut Diet.

 

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

Eating red meat could contribute to cancer, the American Cancer

Society warned. Issuing stronger dietary recommendations than ever

before in 1996, the ACS recommended curtailing all red meat, not

just high-fat meat, as the Government recommends. It linked red meat

with increased risk of colon and prostate cancer, as well as rectal

and endometrial cancer.

The ACS also took aim at high-calorie, fat-free processed foods that

contribute to overweight, noting that obesity is associated with

colon, rectal, prostate, endometrial, and kidney cancers and breast

cancer in post-menopausal women. As an alternative to meat, the

society recommended beans, seafood, and poultry.

In another departure from current government policy, the society

said that alcohol consumption increases, even a few drinks, can

increase the risk of breast cancer and therefore it could not go

along with federal guidelines that allow one or two drinks daily.

The society's four main guidelines were: 1) eat a diet high in whole

grains, vegetables, and fruits; 2) eat a diet low in high-fat foods,

particularly from animal sources; 3) maintain a healthy weight and

perform moderate physical activity for 30 minutes or more on most

days, and 4) limit or avoid alcohol. See Macrobiotics.

Source: Marian Burros, " Tough New Warning on Diet Is Issued by

Cancer Society, " New York Times, September 17, 1996.

 

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

Since the 1960s, the American Heart Association has cited faulty

diet as the main cause of cardiovascular disease and continually

revised its dietary guidelines in the direction of more whole,

unprocessed foods.

The list of recommended daily foods includes a wide range of

vegetables and fruits, including broccoli, cabbage, mustard greens,

kale, collards, carrots, pumpkins, and winter squash; breads,

cereals, pasta, and starchy vegetables including whole-grain bread

and brown rice; low-fat meat and poultry, fish and seafood, nuts,

dried beans, peas, and other meatless main entries including tofu;

and vegetable-quality fats and oils.

The list of foods to avoid included whole milk, most cheeses, ice

cream, and other high-fat dairy products; eggs (maximum 2 per week)

and foods prepared with eggs; red-meat (except for lean cuts), cured

meat, and organ meats; butter and other animal-quality fats and

hydrogenated fats and oils; sugary desserts, store-bought desserts

and mixes, and highly processed snacks.

Source: The American Heart Association Heartbook (New York: Dutton,

1980), pp. 65-66 and " The American Heart Association Diet " (Dallas:

American Heart Association, 1985).

 

ANIMAL WASTE

Animal manure poses a national environmental risk. Amounting to 1.3

billion tons a year in the U.S., it exceeds the amount of human

waste by 130 times, and there are no national standards for treating

it. See Water.

 

• Animal Waste Major Water Polluter - According to a report by the

U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee, animal waste is the major water

polluter in the U.S. For example, a single 50,000-acre hog farm in

Utah creates more waste than the city of Los Angeles and has no

sewage plant to treat it. Premium Standard Farms, the nation's

second largest hog producer, produces five times more waste than the

city of St. Louis. The study found that 60 percent of the nation's

rivers and streams were " impaired " by agricultural runoff. In 1996,

for example, 40 animal waste spills killed 670,000 fish in Iowa,

Minnesota, and Missouri, double the number of spills four years

previously. Excess nutrients form agricultural runoff have flowed

down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico where they have

created a dead zone, in which no living organisms can survive, the

size of New Jersey.

Source: " Large Amounts of Animal Manure Pose Environmental Risks, "

Associated Press, December 28, 1997; Stan Grossfeld, " Animal Waste

Emerging as U.S. Problem, " Boston Globe, September 21, 1998.

 

• Animal Waste and Pollution of Chesapeake Bay - The outbreak of

pfisteria piscida, a microorganism that has decimated fish

populations in Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest and richest

coastal estuary, has been linked with animal wastes along Maryland's

rural Eastern Shore, site of one of the country's largest

concentration of poultry farms. Physicians further confirmed that

people who eat contaminated fish were at risk of coming down with a

mysterious illness first observed by local fisherman that is

characterized by chronic difficulties with learning and memory, as

well as skin rashes and respiratory problems. Even young, vigorous

men were unable to remember simple, basic things.

Excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous from the poultry

farms have polluted rivers in the region and are believed to have

turned the organisms, first identified in 1992, from a benign spore

lying on the bottom of streambeds, into a powerful toxin. The

Eastern Shore, encompassing part of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia,

has 625 million chickens, and the poultry industry is growing at a

rate of 20 percent yearly. " When you've got such a huge

concentration [of animals] with literally millions of tons of waste,

the land is not going to be able to absorb it, " Chad Smith a local

environmentalist noted.

Source: David Lauter, " Livestock Wastes Pose Health Threat, " Los

Angeles Times, September 21, 1997.

 

ANTIBIOTICS

Initially, penicillin and other antibiotics proved to be extremely

effective, saving the lives of millions of people who otherwise

would have died. However, the euphoria surrounding these " miracle

drugs " quickly began to fade. Streptomycin almost completely lost

its effectiveness after two months of use, especially on pulmonary

tuberculosis. It also left many patients deaf or permanently dizzy.

However, because the life-saving benefits still clearly outweighed

the drawbacks, postwar physicians continued to prescribe strong

drugs like these, and they became the treatment of choice for most

acute conditions.

Within several decades, they began to be used prophylactically to

prevent future infection, as well as remedially to treat existing

disease, and antibiotics were routinely added to livestock feed,

over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and other non-

prescription products.

In the United States, 240 million doses of antibiotics are

prescribed every year, almost one per person. One of every three

hospital patients receives an antibiotic, and physicians routinely

administer antibiotics for everything from the common cold to

pneumonia.

Altogether, medical use accounts for 60 percent of antibiotic use.

The other 40 percent is used in livestock feed to promote rapid

growth. By 1980, 75 percent of all cattle in the United States

received antibiotics, 90 percent of swine and veal calves, 50

percent of sheep, and nearly 100 percent of chickens and poultry.

The drugs not only were used to prevent infection but to fatten up

the animals and ensure maximum growth—and thus profits.

In recent years, research has shown that antibiotics can interfere

with the production of red blood cells, the metabolism of vitamin B-

12, and kill benign or beneficial bacteria in the intestines that

synthesize Vitamin K, biotin, riboflavin, panthothenate, and

pyridoxine. These nutrients are all associated with proper immune

function and protection against disease. Side-effects associated

with antibiotic use and misuse include diarrhea, rashes, fever,

allergic reactions, hemolytic anemia, bleeding, bone marrow

toxicity, and disorders of the kidneys, liver, and central nervous

system. The rapid spread of candida albicans and other acute

infections has been associated with chronic antibiotic use that has

disrupted the normal homeostasis in the digestive system and enabled

the selection of pathogenic strains of yeast, fungi, bacilli, and

other microorganisms. See Drug-Resis-tance, Infectious Diseases.

 

• End of the Antibiotic Era? In a review of the history and

therapeutic use of antibiotics, two medical researchers in Texas

document how the modern science was lulled into complacency. " The

scientific community grossly underestimated the remarkable genetic

plasticity of these organisms and their ability, through mutations

and genetic transfer, to develop resistance to antibiotics, " they

explain. " Antibiotic resistance has made potential killers out of

bacteria that previously posed little threat to mankind. The

indiscriminate and reckless use of antibiotics has led to a fast ap-

proaching crisis in which human dominance of the planet is

threatened by single, elementary cells of the microbal world. "

Source: J. W. Harrison and T. A. Svec, " The Beginning of the End of

the Antibiotic Era?, " Parts I and II, Quintessence International 29

(3):151-62, 1998 and 29(4):223-29, 1998.

 

• Overprescription of Antibiotics - Abuse of antibiotics is

contributing to disease, according to researchers at the University

of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Every year doctors write 12

million antibiotic prescriptions—one in every five—for colds,

bronchitis and other viral infections for which antibiotics are

useless. " Every time we use an antibiotic, we run the risk of

promoting antibiotic resistance, or drug resistance, by bacteria, "

said lead scientist Ralph Gonzales.

In the last 10 years, an epidemic of Streptococcus pneumoniae that

is resistant to penicillin drugs has developed and is a leading

cause of ear and sinus infections, meningitis, and other common

illnesses.

Source: R. Gonzales et al., " Antibiotic Prescribing for Adults with

Colds, Upper Respiratory Tract Infections, and Bronchitis by

Ambulatory Care Physicians, " Journal of the American Medical

Association 278(11) " 901-4, 1997.

 

• Dangers of Antibiotics - In a critique of modern medicine and

agriculture, a noted public health official presents evidence that

the overuse of pharmaceuticals is creating an epidemic of new drug-

resistant diseases.

" The sheer magnitude of this assault [the creation of new diseases

by antibiotic-resistant microbes] is staggering. For four decades

now, we have thrown hundreds of tons of antibiotics against our

Hollywood imagination of microscopic enemies. In the process we have

sown seeds for a whole new array of actual germs and diseases. . . .

We favor simple technological fixes for complex disease entities,

while our medical complex fosters a near-sighted one-germ, one-

chemical mentality. Together, these positions contribute to a world

view that encourages the proliferation of new chemotherapeutic

agents, and in turn, the proliferation of new disease

entitles. . . . The answer clearly does not consist of throwing more

troops into a losing battle. "

Source: Marc Lappé, When Antibiotics Fail: Restoring the Ecology of

the Body, (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1986).

 

• European Meat Tests Positive for Drug-Resistant Bacteria - In

samples from a European Union-licensed meat-processing plant, German

researchers found that 8 percent of minced beef and pork samples

tested positive for vancomycin-resistant enteroccoi (VRE),

antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria associated with human

infections.

Source: G. Klein et al., " Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of

Enterocci and Occurrences of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Raw

Minced Beef and Pork in Germany, " Appl Environ Microbiol 64(5):1825-

30, 1998.

 

• WHO Calls for End to Antibiotics in Livestock Feed - The World

Health Organization has recommended phasing out the use of

antibiotics to promote livestock growth. " Farms are factories of

drug resistance, " stated Dr. Stuart Levy, director of the Center for

Adaptation, Genetics, and Drug Resistance at the Tufts University

School of Medicine. " The non-therapeutic misusage is just causing

more multi-drug resistance in human therapy. They can transfer

resistance, whether it's something we eat or touch or waste that's

tilled into another source. "

Source: Stan Grossfeld, " Animal Waste Emerging as U.S. Problem, "

Boston Globe, September 21, 1998.

 

ANTIOXIDANTS

Antioxidants are natural substances in plant-quality foods that

possess health-giving benefits. Whole grains, vegetables, and fruits

contain a variety of active phytochemicals known as antioxidants

that help control the oxidation of free radicals, normal but highly

reactive substances which in excess can injure cell membranes.

Natural antioxidants include phenolic compounds, terpenoids,

pigments, and some forms of vitamins A, carotenoids, vitamin C,

vitamin E, and selenium. Foods with the highest antioxidant activity

include soybeans, cabbage, ginger, garlic, licorice, umbelliferous

vegetables, and citrus fruits. Antioxidants reduce the risk of

cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and several forms of

cancer. See Carotenoids, Lignans, Selenium, Smoking, Vegetables,

Vitamins A, C, E.

 

APPENDICITIS

Appendicitis, the acute inflammation of the appendix, tends to

strike younger people, aged 10 to 30. It commonly occurs on holidays

or special occasions following a large meal. It is the most common

cause of abdominal surgery in the U.S. A ruptured appendix is

potentially life-threatening.

 

• Operations Higher Among Meat Eaters - In a study comparing the

rates of appendectomies among 11,000 vegetarians and nonvegetarians,

British researchers reported that the percentage who had this

procedure was higher among lifelong meat eaters (10.7 percent). In

contrast, lifelong vegetarians had a 7.8 percent appendectomy rate,

while those who had stopped eating meat had 8 percent. " The results

suggest that people who do not eat meat have a 50 percent lower risk

of requiring an emergency appendectomy than those who do, " the

scientists concluded.

Source: P. Appleby et al., " Emergency Appendectomy and Meat

Consumption in the U.K., " Journal of Epidemiology and Community

Health 49(6):594-606, 1995.

 

APPLE

As part of a balanced diet, apples can help keep away serious

illness. High in flavonoids, pectins, and other phytochemicals,

apples can help protect against cardiovascular disease and certain

cancers, especially lung and colon.

 

• Apples Protect Against Lung Cancer - In a study of flavonoid

intake and risk of lung cancer in Finland, scientists reported that

of all major dietary flavonoid sources, the consumption of apples

protected men and women better than other fruits and vegetables.

Those who ate the highest amount of apples had 58 percent lower lung

cancer than those who ate the lowest.

Source: P. Knekt et al., " Dietary Flavonoids and the Risk of Lung

Cancer and Other Malignant Neoplasms, " American Journal of

Epidemiology 146(3):223-30, 1997.

 

ARTHRITIS

Arthritis, a painful bone and joint disease, affects millions of

people. Major forms include osteoarthritis, the painful hardening of

bones and joints in the hands or spine, which affects primarily

older people, especially men. Rheumatoid arthritis, involving the

inflammation and swelling of the joints, especially in the hands and

feet, appears primarily in women aged 25 to 50. A balanced diet has

benefited some people with arthritis. Excessive animal food and salt

appear to be connected with osteoarthritis, while potatoes,

tomatoes, and other nightshade plants have been associated with

rheumatoid arthritis. See Fibromyalgia, Fish, Lupus, Nightshades,

Sesame, Vegetarian Diet.

 

• Macrobiotic Approach - The macrobiotic approach to arthritis,

including a classification of the different types of arthritis,

dietary guidelines, home cares, and case histories, is included in

several books devoted to this subject. Some arthritis is believed to

be caused by strong animal food intake, especially chicken and eggs,

while another type is associated with tropical fruits and

vegetables, especially nightshades.

Source: Michio Kushi with Charles Millman, A Natural Approach to

Arthritis (Tokyo and New York: Japan Publications, 1988) and Aveline

Kushi, Cooking for Health—Arthritis (Japan Publications, 1988).

 

• Low-Fat Diet Relieves Rheumatoid Arthritis - Fat-free diets have

produced complete remissions in six patients with rheumatoid

arthritis. Doc- tors at Wayne State University in Detroit reported

that when a low-calorie, low-fat diet in which chicken, cheese,

safflower oil, beef, and coconut oil were eliminated, stiffness and

swelling of joints disappeared within days. Patients remained

symptom free for up to fourteen months, only to experience short-

term recurrences within usually 24 to 48 hours of eating foods which

were high in fat. " We conclude that dietary fats in amounts normally

eaten in the American diet cause the inflammatory joint changes seen

in rheumatoid arthritis. "

Source: Charles P. Lucas and Lawrence Power, " Dietary Fat Aggravates

Active Rheumatoid Arthritis, " Department of Medicine, Wayne State

University, Detroit, Michigan, 1989.

 

• High-Fat, High- Sucrose Diet Contributes to Arthritis - In

laboratory experiments, rats fed a diet high in fat and sucrose

developed abnormal stiffness, reduced energy, and other adverse

morphological and structural changes.

Source: R. F. Zernicke, " Long-Term, High-Fat-Sucrose Diet Alters Rat

Femoral Neck and Vertebral Morphoolgy, Bone Mineral Content, and

Mechanical Properties, " Bone 16(1)25-31, 1995.

 

• Vegan Diet Helps Arthritis Patients - In a study of 43 patients

with rheumatoid arthritis, researchers reported that those assigned

to a vegan diet rich in lactobacilli had changes in fecal microbial

flora associated with improvement in rheumatoid arthritis activity.

Source: R. Peltonen et al., " Faecal Microbial Flora and Disease

Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis During a Vegan Diet, " British

Journal of Rheumatology 36(1):64-68, 1997.

 

• Arthritic Patients Improve on a Vegetarian Diet - In a case

control study, rheumatoid arthritis patients assigned to a

vegetarian diet had a significant decrease in platelet count,

leukocyte count, calprotectin, total IgG, IgM rheumatoid factor, and

other biochemical and immunological variables compared to those

assigned to an omnivore diet. The researchers concluded

that " dietary treatment can reduce the disease activity in some

patients with rheumatoid arthritis. "

Source: J. Kjeldsen-Kragh, et al., " Changes in Laboratory Variables

in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients During a Trial of Fasting and One-

Year Vegetarian Diet, " Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology 24(2):85-

93, 1995.

 

ASIAN DIET PYRAMID

The Traditional Healthy Asian Diet Pyramid reflects Eastern dietary

traditions historically associated with good health and was

developed in 1995 through a series of conferences organized by

nutritionists and epidemiologists at Cornell University, Harvard

School of Public Health, and the Oldways Preservation & Exchange

Trust.

" The nutrient composition of the traditional rural Asian diet is

very similar to the Mediterranean diet in that both are largely

plant-based and both pyramids recommend that meat be consumed no

more than once a more or more often in very small amounts, "

explained T. Colin Campbell, Cornell professor of nutritional

biochemistry and a developer of the Asian Diet Pyramid. In a press

conference introducing the new model, Campbell noted that dairy

products are largely absent in Asian diets and are associated with

lower rates of osteoporosis than in the West.

Source: 1995 International Conference on the Diets of Asia, Oldways

Preservation & Exchange Trust, 1995.

 

ASTHMA

Asthma, a chronic narrowing of the airways to the lungs, affects

about 15 million Americans. Between 1980 and 1993, the incidence of

this disease increased by 66 percent and deaths went up118 percent.

Asthma appears to be caused primarily by excessive dairy food and

fat consumption. See Dairy, Vegetarian Diet.

 

• Asthma and High-Fat Diet - In a Swedish study of 478 men born in

1914, researchers reported that asthma was not related to smoking

history but more common in men with a high fat intake. Intake of

carbohydrates, vitamin C, and iron was also lower. " Men with asthma

have a significantly higher intake of fat than men without asthma, "

researchers concluded.

Source: K. Strom et al., " Asthma But not Smoking-Related Airflow

Limitation Is Associated with a High Fat Diet in Men, " Monaldi

Archives of Chest Diseases 51(1)16-21, 1996.

 

• Whole Grains, Vegetables, and Other Foods High in Vitamin E

Protect Against Asthma - A diet high in foods containing vitamin E

may protect adults from asthma, the American Lung Association

reported. In a study of 77,866 women, Harvard researchers found that

eating foods high in this nutrient such as whole grains and

vegetables reduced the risk of asthma.

Source: R. J. Troisi et al., " A Prospective Study of Diet and Adult-

Onset Asthma, " American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care

Medicine 151(5):1401-08, 1995.

 

• Use of Alternative Medicine for Asthma Increases - In a survey of

564 physicians and medical professionals using alternative medicine

for asthma, researchers at the University of California at Davis

reported that dietary and nutritional approaches were the most

prevalent and useful treatment option.

Source: P. A. Davis et al., " The Use of Complementary/Alternative

Medicine for the Treatment of Asthma in the United States, " Journal

of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology 8(2):73077,

1998.

 

ASTRONAUT DIET

Astronauts on the Moon, Mars, and Jupiter are slated to eat brown

rice, lentils, seitan, whole wheat tortillas with tofu sour cream,

kale, broccoli, garden peas, watercress, and desserts sweetened with

amasake. In 1998 researchers at Cornell University announced that

they have developed 50 basic dishes featuring all-plant quality

foods that can be grown hydroponically in mineral-rich water in

space.

Most of the proposed dishes passed a U.S. Army taste test, with a

broccoli and mushroom dish scoring the highest. The research was

sponsored with a half-million-dollar grant from NASA, the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Source: Jane E. Brody, " What to Serve for Dinner, When Dinner Is on

Mars: Menu Is Vegetarian Only—If You Can Get a Table, " New York

Times, May 19, 1998.

 

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

Hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder (ADD), and attention

deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affect an estimated 10 to 15

percent of young males (and a lesser number of females) in the U.S.

and are characterized by restlessness, mood swings, inability to

focus, and trouble relating to peers. Ritalin, the principal drug

prescribed for ADD, can cause negative side effects including

nausea, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, irregular

heartbeat, liver damage, and anorexia.

High energy foods, including meat, eggs, poultry, sugar, chocolate,

soft drinks, french fries, and chips and other salty snacks, appear

to be a factor in the development of ADD. However, medical studies

have found diet and behavior a complex subject, with sensitivity and

reaction to foods highly individualized.

Food additives (including artificial colors and flavors),

salicylates, and sugar are also suspected of causing abnormal

behavior in some youngsters.

See Breast-feeding, Children's Health, Crime and Diet, Hypoglycemia,

Mental Illness, Sugar.

 

• Parents Attribute ADHD to Sugar - In a study on awareness of ADHD,

African-American parents of children at high risk for this disorder

were more likely to attribute their child's symptoms to excessive

sugar than whites (59 percent compared to 30 percent).

Source: R. Bussing et al., " Knowledge and Information about ADHD, "

Social Science and Medicine 46(7):919-28, 1998.

 

• ADHD Linked to Low Fatty Acids - In a case-control study on

altered fatty acid metabolism, nutritionists at Purdue University

reported that 53 children with ADHD had lower concentrations of key

fatty acids in their blood and plasma than 43 control subjects. Many

of these children exhibited symptoms of essential fatty acid

deficiency. The precise reason for the lower fatty acid

concentrations was not clear.

Source: L. J. Stevens, " Essential Fatty Acid Metabolism in Boys with

ADHD, " American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 62(4):761-68, 1995.

• Nutritional Therapy for ADHD - In a study of the effect of

nutritional therapy on ADHD, Texas researchers reported that a

polysaccharide (complex carbohydrate) supplement and a

phytonutritional product containing flash-dried vegetables and

fruits decreased the severity of ADHD and associated symptoms of

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD) in all

17 children after 2 weeks. The scientists concluded that symptoms of

ADHD may be reduced by the addition of plant-based substances to the

diet.

Source: K. D. Dykman and R. A. Dykman, " Effect of Nutritional

Supplements on ADHD, " Integr Physio Behav Sci 33(1):49-60, 1998.

 

• Food Colors - Hyperactivity, learning disabilities, and allergic

reactions are epidemic in modern schools and have been associated

with chemicals, artificial food colors and flavorings, and highly

processed foods. In the U.S., estimates of hyperactivity in

schoolchildren range from one in three to one in 20, while in

England and other countries where food colors are regulated, only

one in 2000 is reported hyperactive.

Source: D. Divoky, " Toward a Nation of Sedated Children, " Learning,

March 1973, pp. 6-13.

 

AUTISM

Autism, in which the child does not develop close personal

relationships and lives in a world of his or her own, usually

appears between one and three, and symptoms persist throughout life.

Medically, autism is considered irreversible.

 

• Sonic Rebirth - Simulating the sound of the mother's voice in

utero, Alfred Tomatis, M.D., the French expert in the effects of

sound and music on human development, has helped relieve hundreds of

cases of autism by recreating the sound of the mother's voice in

embryo and playing it back to the autistic child to reestablish the

sonic contact that was disrupted in the womb. " The vocal nourishment

that the mother provides is just as important as her milk, " he

explains. For adopted children or children whose mother is dead or

incapacitated, he uses the filtered music of Mozart, which has a

similar effect. Dr. Tomatis recommends a natural diet high in whole

grains, fresh vegetables, and less dairy food, especially yogurt,

for optimal hearing and development.

Source: Don Campbell, The Mozart Effect (New York: Avon Books, 1997).

 

• Recovery from Autism with Macrobiotics and Music - In 1973, Judy

and Dick Harvey adopted James, an orphan from Vietnam who was later

diagnosed as autistic. The boy loved to eat french fries, cheese,

candy, and salty foods, but discontinued these, along with dairy,

red meat, eggs, poultry, and refined sugar following a consultation

with educator Michio Kushi. Through macrobiotics and participation

in classical music, he overcame his disabilities, went on to study

at the University of Nebraska where he majored in math and physics,

and is now living a normal life.

Source: Judy Harvey, " Overcoming Autism with Diet, " One Peaceful

World Journal 29:1, Winter 1997.

 

AYERVEDIC MEDICINE

The Upanishads, or early Forest Teachings in India, extol food as

the essence of physical, mental, and spiritual development. The

Taittiriya Upa-nishad, for example, states: " From food are born all

creatures; they live upon food, they are dissolved in food. Food is

the chief of all things, the universal medicine. "

The Caraka Samhita, the principal text of Ayurveda, the traditional

medicine of India, dates to the 1st or 2nd century A.D. It also

emphasizes the central importance of diet in personal health and

development of humanity.

" The use of beneficial food is the only cause of growth of a person,

while the use of food that is injurious is the cause of disease. "

" It is in consequence of this deterioration [in diet] that there

took place a corresponding deterioration in the sap, purity, taste,

potency, post-digestive effect and quality of herbs. In this manner,

righteousness dwindles in each succeeding age by one quarter and the

proto-elements too suffer deterioration, till eventually the world

comes to dissolution. "

Sources: Shree Purohit Swami and W. B. Yeats, translators, The

Upanishads (London: Faber and Faber, 1937) and Ram K. Sharma and

V.B. Dash, translators, Caraka Samhita (New York: Auromere, 1983).

 

AZUKI BEANS

Azuki beans (also spelled aduki) are small, oval-shaped red or brown

beans traditionally eaten in the Far East and now cultivated in the

U.S., South America, and elsewhere. Azuki beans contain less fat and

oil than other beans and like other beans help reduce cholesterol,

regulate blood pressure, and inhibit protease and other substances

associated with tumor development. See Beans.

 

• Traditional Use - In his book on home remedies, educator Michio

Kushi explains that azuki beans are beneficial to the kidney,

bladder, and reproductive functions. They are used in medicinal

dishes and drinks such as Azuki Bean Tea to help regulate kidney

function, dissolve kidney stones, counter heavy animal food intake,

and smooth bowel movement.

 

Source: Michio Kushi, Basic Home Remedies (Becket, MA: One Peaceful

World Press, 1994).

 

 

 

The Kushi Institute of Europe

Weteringschans 65 · 1017RX · Amsterdam, NL

T. +31 20 625 7513 · F. +31 20 622 7320 ·

 

 

 

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iet

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JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets