Never Be Sick Again (42 page)

My discoveries about health and disease saved my life and changed my life—forever.

I learned to recognize which foods harmed my health. I learned to listen to my body's own warning signs. I learned how to avoid getting sick and how to accelerate recovery. I learned how to get well and stay well.

Since my recovery in 1987, I have rarely been sick. At age sixty-five, I have more energy, vitality and health than I did twenty years ago. I have taken no medications—neither a prescription drug nor an over-the-counter product—in the past seventeen years. Neither have I required the services of a physician in that time. I am no longer debilitated by my allergies. If I do get sick, I know what I can do to improve my situation. On the rare occasion that I do come down with a cold, I take plenty of high-quality vitamin C, and the cold vanishes in a matter of
hours
rather than after days or weeks of misery.

The lightning bolt that sparked these massive changes in my life and which guides my life today was a radical change in my perspective. I now see health as a choice, entirely within my control. I optimize my choices along all six pathways and I avoid disease. I shun “modern medicine,” prescription drugs and other traditional treatments because I recognize that they treat the symptoms and not the causes of disease. Further -more, modern medical treatments do harm.

Because I am able to keep my health in balance, I do not need drugs, medical treatments or doctors. I eat a wide variety of fresh organic foods, either from farmers' markets or health food stores. My favorites include apples, raw nuts and fresh vegetables used to make salads. I eat animal protein a few times per week, usually deep-water ocean fish (not farmed), organically produced poultry (without antibiotics and hormones) and organic eggs. I drink bottled water delivered in glass bottles. I supplement my diet with essential fatty acids and I avoid hydrogenated oils. On rare occasions I do have desserts, but even then I avoid common allergens like dairy. I definitely do not succumb to the daily after-dinner “sweet tooth.” Refined sugar has been almost completely cut out of my life because it is so very dangerous. I avoid all corn and corn products because corn is now genetically contaminated as well as often being moldy. I minimize white potatoes and have completely eliminated french fries because they are one of the most toxic foods we eat. I take a variety of high-quality supplements, including amino acids (prior to meals), multivitamins, extra calcium/magnesium, vitamin E, quercitin and coenzyme Q10. I also take digestive enzymes with my meals.

In my home I have natural-fiber carpets, I have a filter on my shower to remove the chlorine, and I replaced my gas-fired water heater with an electric unit. On my body I use only toothpaste, shampoo and soap that do not have synthetic foaming agents, stabilizers, preservatives, colors or fragrances. For exercise I do daily rebounding, walking or hiking. During weekly visits to the gym, I do gentle weightlifting, treadmill, bicycling, and absolutely a sauna afterward to detoxify. I keep my spirits up by having purpose in my life, being excited about what I am doing and having people in my life that I care about. I teach as many as I can how to be healthy. All of the factors bring a sense of purpose and encouragement. I live in the present and in the future, and I do not dwell on the past. If I had only one day left to live, I would want to be excited about living that day.

Getting Sick Is Harder Than Staying Well

You may wonder if you have the ability, the energy and the resolve to make these kinds of life changes yourself. You do. But change is difficult, especially in the beginning. As I was reforming my life, I had to make a lot of adjustments. What I know for certain is that health problems are much harder to live with than these solutions. When I recognize that something I eat, something I do or something I expose myself to will make me sick, I simply do not want it anymore. It truly becomes that easy. You need to become a leader, however, as those around you may add pressure or distraction. If the people you live with or work with are eating unhealthful diets, you must be the one to set a different example.

People often ask me if I miss some of the “bad” things. No, I don't. Tastes change. New tastes can be acquired in a few weeks, and old ones can be lost. I used to love filet mignon, but after not eating it for ten years, I lost my taste for it. I had a fantastic filet mignon a couple of years ago, and I didn't like it.

People also often ask me whether this healthy lifestyle costs more than some may be able to afford. I have found, actually, that eating a healthy diet costs less than eating a poor diet. It costs a lot more to make yourself sick. People regularly tell me that they cut their food budgets in half by improving their diets. Organic fruits, vegetables, beans, grains and unprocessed oils may be more expensive than their nonorganic counterparts, but in the end a diet made up of healthful foods is cheaper. Consider what you pay for organic whole grains per pound versus what you pay for packaged breakfast cereal per pound, and you will realize quickly that unhealthful processed foods are much more expensive. Deadly, make-believe foods like ice cream, cola drinks and potato chips are expensive, provide little nutrition and damage your cells. Not purchasing them saves your money and your health. Even when a healthful choice does cost more, the purchase is well worth the investment because being sick is
very
expensive. The same holds true for supplements. The most expensive supplement of all is one that doesn't work, no matter how little you pay for it. High-quality supplements cost more, but they deliver the most nutrients to your cells. Most cheap vitamins do nothing, or almost nothing, and many contain toxins; many vitamin products cause both deficiency and toxicity.

Another important investment in health is to spend a little more on personal care and home-care products that do not harm your body. In making selections of toothpaste, shampoo, deodorants, skin creams and cosmetics, the most important criterion is that your body not be harmed. Selecting organic foods is not good enough; you must also select safe products.

If a product cannot be ingested without poisoning you, then it
is not safe enough to put on your skin or your hair or your
teeth.
Look at the swallowing warnings on a typical tube of toothpaste. (Consult appendix C for safe brands of toothpaste and other products.) The sad truth is that most personal-care products are toxic; those toxins bioaccumulate in your body and cause disease.

Look at Your Health in a New Way

The perspective we have to change is the way we look at and evaluate our own health. If you are going to solve your own health problems, you must first acknowledge they exist. We all grow up thinking that health is a given, until we “get sick.”

Rather than being static, however, health is a sliding scale, and our position and direction on that scale can change on a daily basis. This is why we need to learn how to evaluate our own health, in a meaningful and ongoing way, so as to avoid letting ourselves deteriorate to the point where we become sick.

As I was gradually losing my health, no one told me I was sick. In fact, I was told the opposite. At my periodic physical exams my physicians pronounced me in perfect health, even though I had required many fillings in my teeth and I suffered from a serious immune deficiency disease, namely from a seasonal allergy called “hay fever.” Each year I suffered from one or more colds and every several years from a bout of flu. I was led to believe, however, that tooth decay, colds, flu and allergies are all normal and that I was healthy.

The fact is no one should have tooth decay, colds, flu, allergies or any other disease. If you do have any of these problems, you are experiencing substantial amounts of cellular malfunction and you are sick. Living with even that amount of cellular malfunction shortens your life and makes you susceptible to a host of other disease problems. Unless you do something different, your health will only get worse with time, not better.
Health cannot be improved by continuing to do the
same things that made you sick.
Now is the time to make health your responsibility.

How to Read the Warning Signs

We all need to learn how to read the body's signals so that we can evaluate our own health and health decline.
Our body
tells us when it is having trouble; our problem is that we don't
listen.
Subtle signals are ignored until the problem becomes serious enough to demand attention.

How healthy are you? Often the warning signs are evident in your appearance; simply put, you don't look well. In addition, you should ask yourself whether you are experiencing

• Fatigue

• Aches and pains

• Skin problems

• Allergies

• Digestion troubles

• Sleep difficulties

• Susceptibility to infections

• Weight issues

• Mood, thought or behavior problems

These warning signs appear in ways that are usually easily recognized. Consider individually the signs listed.

Appearance

The body gives off visual signals, and we can learn to recognize them. I remember once seeing a friend and thinking,
He doesn't look well.
Not long thereafter, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. How many times have we looked at others and realized that they didn't look well? Before I took sick, my family thought I looked pale. Are you pale? Are there dark circles under your eyes? Are there wrinkles on your face? Is your hair graying? How well do you move? Are you well-coordinated? Are your eyes dull? Appearance matters, it is easy to check, and it should be checked on a regular basis.

Energy Level

Fatigue is probably the most common complaint made to doctors in our society because energy production at the cellular level is one of the first things affected as our cells malfunction and become diseased. If you do not have the energy you used to have, aging is not the problem. You are getting sicker.

Remember the boundless energy that healthy people like the Hunzas had? They performed physical feats such as traveling sixty miles in one day on foot, in mountainous terrain, and returning looking as though they had gone for a casual walk. Contrast this to the fatigue so many of us feel during the day, perhaps needing several cups of coffee just to keep going. Even many of our teenagers struggle with fatigue.

Skin Problems

Our skin is a barometer of overall health, but we are taught to think of a skin problem as just that, a skin problem. This is outmoded. Like any disease, skin problems are the result of systemic cellular malfunction. We may notice it in the skin, but the problem is likely affecting every cell in the body. The proper solution is not to use products like a cortisone ointment, but to restore the cells to good health. If your skin is dry, flaky, irritated, itchy, thin, has lost its elasticity, or if you develop skin lesions of any kind, you are not healthy.

Allergies

Allergies are not normal, and they do long-lasting damage to the body. Enhancing the health of your cells can eliminate allergies. Millions of Americans suffer from runny noses, sneezing, itching of the eyes, sinus problems, headaches, abdominal pain, diarrhea, skin rashes and numerous other problems as a result of allergies and sensitivities to foods, pollens, chemicals and other substances in our environment. We tend to look upon these reactions as “benign” inconveniences rather than the symptoms of a body out of balance. Allergies should be looked upon as a serious acquired immune dysfunction syndrome and treated by improving cellular health and strengthening the immune system.

Do you sneeze, develop a runny nose or have itchy eyes after eating a meal? Are your fingers sometimes swollen so that it is difficult to take off or put on a ring? Do you get loose stools after eating certain foods? All of these and more can be symptoms of allergic reactions. A body with allergies is not crying out for over-the-counter or prescription antihistamines, but for solving the problems of cellular malfunction. Like any other “disease,” allergies can be both prevented and reversed by restoring normal function to the cells in your immune system. By working to minimize the deficiency and toxicity of my cells, I went from being allergic to virtually everything— called a “universal reactor”—to living a normal life.

Digestion Troubles

Do you have problems such as indigestion, inability to eat a wide variety of foods, intestinal cramps, abdominal bloating, excess gas, diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux, low energy, slow wound healing, or difficulty concentrating and thinking quickly and clearly? Good digestion is a foundation for achieving peak performance and optimal health. Yet digestive problems are epidemic in our society and they prevent millions of people from living the healthy, productive lives they would like. Most of our digestive problems are the direct result of poor diets, toxic exposure, lack of exercise, unresolved stress, and over-the-counter and prescription drugs. Digestive problems are more serious than people imagine, for
if you are not properly digesting your food and assimilating its
nutrients, you will get sick, guaranteed.
Poor digestion is a perfect prescription for deficiency and toxicity, the two causes of disease.

Heartburn, bloating, gas and other digestive problems should not just be treated by antacids and other medications, and then forgotten. These problems are a wake-up call that one of our major body systems is not working right. A better solution is to chew your food well, do proper food combining, stay away from foods you are allergic to, take probiotics and digestive enzymes, and exercise regularly. Antibiotics may be the leading cause of digestive problems, and these dangerous drugs should be avoided for that reason alone.