Our modern diet could be our biggest killer!

It took fifty years to convince most people that smoking kills! Will it take fifty years to convince people that most diseases are due to our modern diet?

Fifty years ago who would have believed that the socially pleasurable widespread habit of smoking could kill? Today, who would believe our modern dietary habits could be our biggest killer? Will it take another fifty years before we accept the fact? In the ’50’s and ’60’s there was a powerful lobbying force funded by the tobacco industry that tried desperately to rubbish all the scientific evidence during those decades. Today we see the same efforts being made by the vested interests in the global food industries, the meat industry, the dairy industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the supplement industry, the medical insurance industry and all those professionals who are fearful of such a major shift in healthcare thinking that connects most deaths with our modern diet.

Let’s look at some of the evidence:
Dietary Risks

What are the main foods that contribute to these problems? No single food can be singled out, as it is possible to eat almost anything in moderation and survive to live a long healthy life; the problem arises when moderation is abandoned. Highly processed foods, highly refined foods, heavy meat consumption, heavy dairy produce consumption and very low consumption of fresh vegetables, fruit and other whole plant foods are the main factors.

Why does our diet have such a lethal effect? It is the diet of affluence that is the main culprit; as we become more affluent and industrialised our diets shift from basic vegetable, fruit and starch whole plant foods to a diet of meat, fish, poultry, dairy foods, refined carbohydrates, processed foods and heavily sweetened foods. The effect of this shift has three main effects on our health;

first, our cholesterol intake rises dramatically (there is no significant amount of cholesterol in whole plant foods but around 140 mg for every 500 calories of animal based foods we consume),

the protection of large amounts of anti-oxidants found in a whole plant diet is dramatically reduced, since an animal based diet contributes practically none, yet subjects us to a considerable amount of toxins and free radicals that need anti-oxidants to mop them up and,

thirdly, a plant based diet provides the vital fibre our digestive system requires for normal functioning whereas an animal based diet provides none.

This is only a part of the story though sufficient to give the reader some idea of why the affluent diet kills. A further piece of evidence is that when people move from a society that has a largely plant based diet, low in animal based foods, to an affluent society they start to suffer all the modern killer diseases rarely found in their home country.

To learn more about this shocking health problem of epidemic proportions go to The Food Connection where you will find video lectures by some of the leading doctors giving far more information. Those seriously concerned about this problem who want to discover even more could get to hear Dr. Michael Greger from the USA giving presentations in the UK on “Uprooting the UK’s Leading Causes of Death” from the 28th April 2016. Go to viva.org.drgreger for details.

Alternatively some might follow the route the author took and enrol on the excellent intensive internet training course by Cornell University.

Michael Lingard BSc. DO. BBEC. Cert.PBN