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Paavo O. Airola, N.D.:
Nutrition Wisdom
( all quotations from Are You Confused?)
Are You Confused? (1971), a 224-page book
said to have over 700,000 copies in print, covers his basic philosophy with each of his
health "secrets" described at length. To help readers decide what information is
"absolutely reliable, objective and scientifically correct," he suggests that
"laboratory research and animal tests are only of limited value as compared to the
thousands of years of actual human experience with nutrition capable of producing superior
health."
Chemicals in Our Food
"The Sword of Damocles--the environment-caused
diseases of civilization--is hanging over us and is threatening our very existence. Man
has become his own worst enemy. He has poisoned his planet, air, water, and soil. He has
devitalized, denatured and poisoned his own food supply. Our civilization can
appropriately be called the age of chemical orgy. By the indiscriminate use of chemicals
in his total environment, man has brought upon himself a host of environment-induced
diseases, rightly called the diseases of civilization. Cancer, heart disease, arthritis,
diabetes, arteriosclerosis, emphysema, high blood pressure--these are typical examples of
man's self-induced ills . . ." (p. 39)
"Most people...still live under the delusion that the great progress of
technological, chemical, medical and pharmacological science is improving the quality of
life, extending the life expectancy, eliminating diseases, and bringing them nothing but
an easier and happier life." (p. 40)
Natural Foods Are Best
"What are natural foods? Foods grown on fertile soil
under natural conditions, and consumed in their natural state are natural foods. Foods
grown in depleted soils with the help of chemicals and processed by heat, irradiation or
chemical treatment, are not natural foods.
"Here are some examples:
"Eggs laid by hens running outdoors in sunlight and eating grass, seeds, insects
and worms--and in the company of roosters!--are natural, fertile eggs, with dark yolks and
full, nutritional value. But eggs produced by "cooped-up" chickens in an
"egg factory," by hens who never see daylight or rooster and are fed only
synthetic medicated mash, are not natural eggs. Such eggs are infertile, they will not
produce chickens, their yolks are pale, their chemical composition is altered, their
vitamin content is lower and their total nutritional value is way below that of a natural
egg. Among other things, eggs produced by cooped-up chickens contain twice as much
saturated fats as the natural eggs do.
"Natural, raw, unpasteurized milk has more vitamins and enzymes; the proteins and
minerals of such milk are easily digested and assimilated by the body. Pasteurization
reduces the vitamin and enzyme content and makes minerals, fatty acids and proteins less
assimilable and digestible.
"Natural fruits, vegetables and grains should grow in healthy, humus-rich soils,
without chemical fertilizers or toxic sprays. Natural foods contain more protein, more
vitamins, more minerals and other nutrients, particularly the vital enzymes, than the
canned or packaged, unnatural or processed foods bought at your supermarket." (p. 42)
"Scientists who tried to feed test animals a synthetic diet composed of all the
nutritive substances known to science, have found that animals could live in seemingly
good health, and even have reproductive capacity. However, from the second and third
generation, animals lost their power to reproduce and the whole strain gradually died.
Also, their health condition and the growth rate were adversely affected by the synthetic
diet. These experiments prove that natural foods contain more than just all the known or
discovered nutrients." (p. 43)
"Dr. Weston A. Price, Vilhjalmur Steffansson, Dr. McCarrison, Arnold DeVries, and
many others, who made extensive travels and studies of diet habits and their relation to
health and longevity of practically every "primitive" people in the world, have
found that when the diet was made of natural, fresh, unprocessed foods, grown in their own
environment, the people had no disease or tooth decay. . . . Moreover, regardless of the
composition of the diet--whether it was exclusively vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian,
predominantly meat or largely dairy-product diet--as long as the foods were natural,
unprocessed, and largely eaten raw, the people maintained vibrant health, lived long, and
enjoyed youthful vitality." (p. 43)
Disease and Pain in Childbirth
Unknown
Among "Primitive"
Peoples
"Arnold DeVries has studied the historical records of
the North and South American Indians, Eskimos, Asians, Africans, Australian aborigines,
New Zealand Maories, and people living on Pacific and Atlantic islands, and found that all
of them enjoyed glowing health, great fertility and almost incredible endurance. Diseases
were almost unknown. Woman had fast and painless childbirths, and were usually back to
their work in the fields an hour later. Men could run all day without fatigue. There was
no tooth decay, or loss of sight or hearing, or gray hair. Although statistical life
expectancy was low because of the poor sanitation, most of those who survived lived to be
100 years or over. DeVries also found that as soon as "civilized" foods were
introduced to these people, their health began to decline. Childbirth became painful and
prolonged; tooth decay made its impact; vitality and endurance abated; and they gradually
became subject to all the diseases of "civilized" people." (p. 43)
Whole Foods Vs. Fragmented
Foods
"Whole foods are simply foods which still contain all
the nutrients nature has put into them--not less and not more!--complete, unfragmented,
unrefined, neither fortified nor enriched. Whole wheat bread, potatoes in jackets, brown
rice, sugar cane, oranges--are whole foods. White bread, instant potatoes, polished rice,
white sugar and orange juice--are not whole foods. They are fragmented, concentrated or
refined foods from which important nutrient factors have been processed out, destroyed, or
removed." (p. 44)
"The two worst examples of fragmented foods are white sugar and white flour--these
two nutritionless monstrosities, disguised under the name of food, are responsible more
than anything else for the deterioration of health in civilized countries. During World
War II, in European countries, the consumption of white flour and white sugar was sharply
reduced due to rationing. The statistics also showed a sharp reduction in the incidence of
many degenerative diseases during these years, notably a sharp decrease in diabetes. Note
that although the use of refined carbohydrates decreased, the consumption of whole,
natural carbohydrates, such as whole grains, actually increased during the war. . . .
"Whole wheat, for example, is a good source of vitamin E. But it would take more
than 200 slices of white bread to secure a proper daily requirement of this vital vitamin,
because most of it has been removed with the wheat germ in processing. The same goes with
the B-vitamins, minerals, best proteins and the natural oils of the wheat. If you eat
enriched bread, do not think you get these nutrients anyway since they allegedly have been
added to the bread. None of the vitamin E, oils, minerals, or proteins have been added;
and from more than 15 vitamins of the B-complex that have been removed in processing, only
3 have been returned in insignificant amounts. If this is enrichment, I'd like to know
what is impoverishment!" (p. 45)
"Whole foods are an absolute must for optimum health. Whole foods contain not only
complete nutrition, but also all the enzymes and other factors necessary for the proper,
effective digestion and good assimilation of each particular food." (p. 47)
Whole Foods Save Denmark
"The value of whole, unrefined foods was dramatically
demonstrated on a grand scale during the First World War. Denmark was plagued by a serious
food shortage. The government assigned Dr. M. Hindhede, the director of the Danish
Institute of Nutrition Research, to design a program for protecting the nation from the
hunger threat. The first action of Hindhede was to increase whole-grain production by
limiting livestock production and curtailing the sale of meat, thus saving grain for human
consumption. Production of alcoholic beverages was banned for the same reason. Also, grain
processing was stopped and only whole-grain bread and cereals were allowed to be sold.
Farmers were directed and encouraged to produce more grain, green vegetables, fruits, milk
and butter, instead of meat.
"These simple, but from a nutritional standpoint revolutionary, changes in eating
habits resulted in spectacular and rapid changes in the health condition of the whole
nation. The death rate dropped over 40% in one year. Diseases that affected other European
countries, including the dreaded influenza epidemic, bypassed Denmark. In only a few
years, Denmark became the healthiest nation in all of Europe!" (p. 46)
Sugar Cane Vs. White Sugar
"In Africa, where natives eat large quantities of
sugar cane, there is virtually no diabetes or dental caries. When these natives, however,
move to the cities and begin to eat white sugar, they rapidly develop caries, diabetes,
ulcers and other diseases of civilization. Dr. John Yudkin, of London University, has
conclusively demonstrated that white sugar and white four products are the major cause of
heart disease." (p. 46)
Cooking Destroys All Enzymes
"Cooking destroys enzymes 100%. Enzymes are vital
catalysts, absolutely essential for the proper digestion and assimilation of the food, as
well as for all other functions in your body. Nobel Prize Winner, Professor Virtanen, from
Finland, has demonstrated that in the process of chewing raw foods, new active substances
are formed in the mouth with the help of enzymes. It is estimated that about 600 various
enzymes are essential for human health, but all enzymes in foods are destroyed in cooking.
In addition, cooking destroys many of the vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins B and C are
particularly vulnerable to the effect of heat and cooking. Minerals also are depleted by
cooking and are usually thrown away with the cooking water.
"Even moderate heating destroys the nutritional value of foods. Pasteurization of
milk destroys some of the vitamins and all of the enzymes. Lewis J. Silvers, M.D., says
that at least three factors in mild are destroyed by the process of pasteurization: an
anemia-prevention factor, an ulcer-prevention factor, and an arthritis-prevention
factor." (p. 48)
Raw Foods Are Therapeutic
"The therapeutic value of raw foods is well known. In
most European biological clinics raw foods are used in the healing of many common
diseases, such as cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, etc. The famous Gerson cure for
cancer is based primarily on raw foods and raw juices. In animal tests, arthritis was
experimentally caused by feeding animals cooked foods exclusively.
"Raw, living foods contain all the nutritive elements in the right proportion and
balance. Contrary to popular notion, most foods in their raw state are easier to digest
than the same foods in their cooked state. This is true of all fruits and most vegetables
and grains.
"Raw, living foods are equally known for their prophylactic (or
disease-preventive) value. Furthermore, raw foods act as a cleansing agent on the
digestive and eliminative systems and are the best preventive measure against
constipation." (p. 48)
"The aging-preventive and rejuvenative property of raw foods was scientifically
demonstrated and explained in European and Japanese research. Raw plant foods increase the
micro-electric tension in cell tissue, as was discovered by the Viennese scientists
investigating cell permeability. Increased micro-electric tension in the cell tissue
improves cell oxygenation, stimulates cell metabolism, increases the cell's resistance to
aging, speeds the process of cell renewal--in short, improves the cell's metabolism and
prevents biochemical suffocation. Japanese researchers at the University of Kyushu have
shown that raw plant foods contain substances that help the body in its fight against
disease-producing agents." (p. 49)
Food Industries Sponsor
"Scientific" Research
"There is virtually no independent nutrition research
in the United States. Almost all research is done and/or sponsored by the commercial food
industries involved. The giant, multi-billion dollar food processing, chemical and drug
industries finance most of nutrition research in the United States, both in private
research centers and in the form of grants to the various universities. For example, the
Nutrition Department of one of our leading universities, Harvard, is lavishly financed by
America's largest food processors and chemical and drug companies. (p. 22)
"There are huge economic interests --the multibillion dollar livestock, dairy and
meat-packing industry--involved in promoting the high-protein diet. These industries
sponsor most of the protein research." (p. 29)
The Protein Myth
"You have been told that "you need lots of
protein each day." This is a typical example of half-truth. It is true that your body
needs proteins each day for its vital functions and new-building of cells. But you don't
have to eat proteins each day. Your body can exist without any food, and consequently
without any proteins, for weeks and months, as evidenced by prolonged therapeutic fasting.
It is a general observation that the protein level of the blood (serum albumin reading) of
fasting patients remains constant and normal during the whole fasting period, in spite of
the fact that no protein is consumed. The reason for this is that the proteins in your
body are in the so-called dynamic state: they are constantly changed from one form to
another, being decomposed and resynthesized from blood plasma amino acids. Amino acids
from the old and broken-down cells are not wasted, but are re-used for the building of new
cells. Thus the body is using and re-using the same proteins again and again where they
are needed." (p. 34)
"The actual daily need for protein in human nutrition is far below that which has
long been considered necessary.
"World-famous Swedish nutritionist, Dr. Ragnar Berg, whose works on nutrition are
used as text books in many medical schools, made an extensive research on protein and
concluded that 30 grams of protein in the daily diet is a generous allowance. Finnish
scientist, Dr. V.O. Siven, arrived at the exact same amount--30 grams. American scientist,
Dr. R. Chittenden, found, in his extensive experiments with athletes and soldiers, that 30
to 50 grams of protein a day is sufficient for maximum physical performance. . . .
"Dr. D. M. Hegsted, of Harvard University, found that 27 grams a day is the
average person's daily need for protein. And research made by Dr. William C. rose has
shown that only 20 grams a day of mixed proteins (of which only about 2/3 are so-called
complete) is sufficient for our needs. The recent studies by German Professor, Dr. K.
Eimer, showed that athletes' performance improved after they switched from a 100
gram-a-day animal protein diet to a 50 gram-a-day vegetable protein diet. And, finally,
recently a Japanese researcher, Dr. Kuratsune, showed that 25-30 grams of protein a day is
sufficient to sustain good health." (p. 30)
"Here is a partial list of what too much protein in your diet can cause:
1) Toxic residues in the tissues.
2) Biochemical imbalance in tissues and resultant over-acidity.
3) Accumulation of uric acid, urea and toxic purines in the tissues.
4) Diminished strength and endurance. Drs. Chittenden and Fisher conclude that uric
acid, urea, and purines of meat poison and interfere with muscle and nerve function.
5) Intestinal putrefaction and resultant constipation and auto-toxemia.
6) Vitamin B6 deficiency.
7) Arteriosclerosis, heart disease and kidney damage.
8) Arthritis." (p. 31)
Are Meat Eaters Healthier
Than Vegetarians?
"A recent study conducted by several medical doctors
shows that Seventh-Day Adventists, who do not eat meat for religious reasons, have:
40% less coronary disease
400% less death rate from respiratory diseases
100% lower mortality rate from all causes
1000% lower death rate from lung cancer...
50% less dental caries among their children
[study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association]" (p.
35)
"Vegetable proteins are higher in biological value than animal proteins. For
example, proteins in potatoes are biologically superior to proteins in meat, eggs or milk.
Raw proteins have higher biological value than cooked proteins. You need only one-half the
amount of proteins if you eat raw vegetable proteins instead of cooked animal
proteins." (p. 32) Quackwatch
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