In no period of our history as a nation have Americans been so concerned about the subject of diet and nutrition. Yet if we accept the premise that what we eat determines our health, then we must add the observation that in no peroid of our history as a nation have Americans eaten so poorly, a statement that the most cursory survey of current statistics can prove.
Although heart disease and cancer were rare at the turn of the century, today these two diseases strike with increasing frequency, in spite of billions of dollars in reseach to combat them, and in spite of tremendous advances in diagnostic and surgical techniques. In America, one person in three dies of cancer, one in three suffer from allergies, one in ten will have ulcers and one in five will is mentally ill. Continuing this grim litany, one out of five pregnancies ends in miscarriages and one quarter of a million infants are born with a defect each year. Other degenerative diseases-arthritis, multiple sclerosis, digestive disorders, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, epilepsy and chronic fatigue- afflict a significant majority of our citizens, sapping the energy and the very life blood of our nation. Learning disabilities such as dyslexia and hyperactivity afflict seven million young people. THESE DISEASES WERE ALSO EXTREMELY RARE ONLY A GENERATION OR TWO AGO.
...MOST tragically, these diseases, formely the purview of the very old, now strike our children and those prime in life.
Americans spend one dollar out of every fourteen for medical services, or over $800 billion yearly - more then than the national deficit, the food bill and the profits of all US corporations combined-yet we have little to show for this tremendous drain on our rescources.
...Chemical sensitivities and problems with the immune system abound. We have almost forgotten that our natural state is ONE OF BALANCE, WHOLENESS AND VITALITY.
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