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The Role of Nutrition in the Healing Arts
Published by Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, undated.
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In the past ten years, the thinking members of the healing arts have come to assess disease as a comprehensive process affecting not only the organ involved, but the entire body and mind as well. This has been a long and painfully slow process, but I believe that most of us would agree that it happened and that it has also sifted down into the consciousness of the public mind. If this were not true, we would not have such an abundance of TV shows dealing with health subjects (witness Dr. Casey and Dr. Kildare), and the sophisticated product ads exhorting us to use the unsaturated fats and the poly-unsaturates, not to mention the vitamin C fortified Dristan! The “brains” on Madison Avenue know at all times what the public is ready to hear and absorb, as well they should, since that is their business.
We, in the healing arts, should learn a fast lesson from this trend if we have not already done so. I am sure that the great majority of us has found that year by year our patients question us more probingly and more pointedly. We, in turn, must become and remain better informed than ever before.
First, it is necessary that we become proficient in our profession, which we do in our schools. The proper adjustment is the first necessity, and it is assumed that this will be borne in mind as we proceed to discuss the role of nutrition in our practice. At this point, I would like to interject a thought. We can assume that since a patient has come to us he has confidence in us. However, at times this confidence is but thin veneer, particularly if the patient has been, so to speak, “doctoring around” for a long time without results. Therefore, let us ever be mindful that this possible small confidence can be destroyed or enhanced during the first visit by our bearing, our voice, dress, office atmosphere, or even the office decor.
Second, it is necessary to have a working knowledge of the principles of nutrition so that we can treat the whole patient most effectively. I believe that the basic reason for the necessity of proper dietary support of the chronically ill patient lies in our very concept of health and disease, namely, that a nerve under stress cannot deliver a normal amount of nerve energy. What is stress? Naturally and foremost, it is our concept of nerve interference due to articular subluxation. However, there are secondary forms of stress, most important of which is inadequate nutrition. Let us take nerve tissue as an example. It must have certain food elements with which to grow and function. If they are lacking, the tissue develops abnormally, or it does not develop a normal amount or degree of resistance, or through continued nutritional lack, it loses the resistance it once did have. Yet, the individual with weakened nerve tissue is expected to act normally in our society and withstand the burdens and responsibilities of daily living. His nerve tissue is, therefore, under a stress which the adequately nourished person does not have to endure. Add to that the major stress of spinal subluxations and nerve pressure, and we have an immediate explanation for many of the so-called nervous breakdowns and mental diseases that are becoming more and more prevalent today.
Some time ago, J. Edgar Hoover was quoted as saying that in his opinion much of the juvenile delinquency of today can be traced to inadequate nutrition. Many articles appear in our popular magazines that substantiate his stand. Dr. William Coda Martin of Los Angeles stated in a newspaper article that unless the United States returns to a more natural approach regarding nutrition, we will soon be a nation of semi-invalids. A few months ago, I came across some figures showing that the rate of rejects among draftees in our armed services is climbing alarmingly fast for both mental and physical defects. It gives one pause for concern when our young people, supposedly the cream of our nation, are so unfit. Surveys by competent investigators have shown but little relationship between the various economic and social levels. What, then, is the cause? Since poor nutrition is apparently nationally prevalent in supposedly the richest and best fed nation on earth, we must look for a common denominator, and that denominator for all is food.
Our food processing and shipping is now so standardized that probably more than 90% of what is in a supermarket in Los Angeles is also available in Chicago and New York, and all places in between. We have an abundant variety of food, and well we may ask, why does the majority of our population seem to suffer from an inherent nutritional weakness as is shown by the arthritis, leukemia and heart disease among small children? Why the cardiovascular failures, the coronaries and other disabling, degenerative disease among those who are in the prime of life? I believe the answer is threefold.
First, is the fact that most of our soil is now artificially fertilized. It is true that these fertilizers produce outwardly nice appearing fruits. However, the life-giving substances are lacking in all of this artificiality, in the same manner that artificial sea water will not support marine life. Even though the scientists feel that they have simulated it perfectly, still that life giving something is lacking.
Second, the already inadequate food is processed, refined, preserved and chemically treated, and stored only to lose more of its already meagre store of nutrients. The heavy advertising of today convinces people that such foods are healthful and it is small wonder that the public is at a loss to understand its ills. I have a cartoon showing a mother and child in a supermarket. The child picked up a pretty package and put it in the cart. The mother looked at it and said, “No, not that. It has to be cooked.” Advertising has geared us to want food that is ready to heat and eat, for getting that food that has been heated and heated again is very close to useless from the nutritional standpoint.
Third, the poor choice made of the available foods. We all know how much more quickly most people would take a slice of apple pie rather than a couple of raw apples, or soda pop over fruit juice, or potato chips over a baked potato. It is small wonder that we, who are in practice today, must so often labor long and hard with patients who have diseases that responded readily to the adjustments of our predecessors forty years ago. It is a fact that each generation becomes less resistant, a fact that is noticed by many laymen. It is not unusual for a forty-year-old patient to say that her seventy-five-year-old mother can outwork her easily. They ask, “Why is this?” The answer is that people neglect their spines and grow up on, and try to live on, the refined, processed foods. This is an invitation to ill health, because the poorly nourished body has poor muscle and ligament tone and this allows subluxations and distortions more readily. Then, when we make a correction with the adjustment, the weakened tissues cannot react quickly enough to hold the correction, and we must work with them again and again.
Proper nutritional advice and support is the right hand aid to a good adjustment in the management of the chronically ill. The correct adjustment is first and foremost, but next in importance is nutritional support. Because of the generally poor quality of the easily available and less expensive foods, patients must be given guidance. They must be told to stay away from some things and emphasize others, and they must be told the reasons for these changes or they will not cooperate. It is certainly true that adjustments of the spine will improve the body’s ability to assimilate food more completely and thereby improve health, but we are still faced with the fact that people of their own volition do choose the improper foods all too often, and even the best digestive system cannot make strong tissues out of improper raw material.
Many times, the use of nutritional supplements or food concentrates is indicated. When they are used, we must be certain that they are the whole, natural vitamins and not the synthetic counterparts. Many persons are not aware that the action of natural vitamin is different from the synthetic. Dr. Quigley of Omaha, in his book, The National Malnutrition, says that never, under any conditions should a synthetic vitamin be used as a nutritional aid and that one-tenth the amount of a natural will produce better results than ten times the amount in synthetic form. Dr. Michael G. Wohl, writing in Spectrum states as follows: “Nutritional adequacy is best not taken for granted, no matter how favorable the patient’s circumstances. The role of nutrition in preventing the chronic degenerative diseases is only now becoming evident.” Our profession is so eminently suited to bringing about nutritional correction in patients. They come to us, in so many instances, when all else has failed them. They are ready and willing to accept our concept of health and disease, and if we will explain a few principles to them, adjust them and put them on the proper dietary regime, and when indicated, use the nutritional supplements, we can, in most instances, produce results that are most gratifying to the patient, particularly if they have been in the search for health for years. They will ask questions, and more questions, and we are given the opportunity of explaining the principles of chiropractic and health. Our premise is so simple that it can be readily understood by the average patient, and it is so sound logically that it is accepted by those who choose to be called thinkers. Our predecessors took good food for granted. It was available to all years ago. Now it is not, unless an individual can differentiate the good from the useless foods. Therefore, the nutritional phase of practice is most important.
Unfortunately, the field of nutrition is vast and uncharted. There is much good information and much that is misinformation. For nearly twenty years, this subject has been close to my heart and I have personally come to the conclusion that there are three kinds of nutritionists. The first is the person who has only the scientific approach, cold and accurate, but often impractical. The second is the one who, because of his interest, tries every sort of diet that is printed. The third is the one who studies both of the first two and evolves a workable method that is, shall we say, middle of the road, but still based upon sound facts of physiology. Inasmuch as I am striving to approach nutrition in the light of the third category mentioned, I would like to make the following statements concerning foods to be avoided whenever possible and those that should be stressed.
Whenever possible, use only natural sweets such as unrefined sugar, unheated honey, unsulphured molasses, pure maple sugar, or pure maple syrup. Avoid hydrogenated fats. Use unrefined cooking oils such as safflower seed oil, sunflower seed oil, corn oil or peanut oil. Avoid commercial flours, and try to obtain stone ground flour, which, by the way, must be refrigerated and kept only for short periods.
Artificial sweeteners and artificial salt should be avoided. Use only sea salt, and that in moderation. Use pork sparingly, and avoid all of the processed meats such as minced ham, bologna, wieners and canned spiced meats. Have fresh fruits instead of candies, salted nuts, ice cream, or baked goods for desserts. In the past several years, chicken and the raw vegetables are being processed with an antibiotic that retards spoilage. The only protection that I know of against the ingestion of the chemicals is to buy your chickens from a farmer, and peel the treated vegetables. Certainly, the peeling process produces added loss of vitamins and minerals, but I would personally rather make up the difference by taking a daily supply of natural food supplements than to ingest the chemicals.
The foods we should concentrate on getting are beef, lamb, fish and fowl from the proper sources, organ meats from food animals, raw milk, natural (not processed) cheese, an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, moderate amounts of cooked fruits and vegetables, sweets from natural sources and a daily ration of raw vegetable juice. Again, because of the inadequate state of much of our food supply, we cannot be certain of getting optimal amounts of the minerals and vitamins necessary for abundant health, and, therefore, the use of natural food supplements is to be recommended along with the best possible diet. That is the easy way of being certain we are receiving an ample supply of the necessary food factors. The other way would be to grow one’s own food supply organically, or live on an uninhabited island like a hermit, both of which are highly impractical. Another reason for needing abundant amounts of the essential food factors is to aid, as much as possible, in counteracting the effects of chemical residue left on the fruits and vegetables that are commercially grown, and the chemicals that are used as preservatives for food and in the treatment of water. The subject of chemicals in our diet is a wide one, and it is the opinion of many outstanding nutritionists that an optimal intake of the vitamins and minerals in natural form is about the only practical way to counteract some of the harmful effects of these chemicals. It is hopeless to avoid all chemicalization in our food and water, but by fortifying our bodies properly we can at least avoid some of the penalties of modern civilization.
When using nutritional principles in practice, remember there is no such thing as a single vitamin deficiency or single mineral deficiency. In nature, vitamins and minerals do not occur singly. They occur as groups or complexes, or as groups of complexes. We may say that, for example, in skin diseases, vitamin A is lacking, but giving vitamin A alone will not be as effective as giving all of the vitamins and minerals in normal amounts and then adding a larger amount of vitamin A. The B complex is sometimes called the nerve specific, but all of the other vitamins and minerals must be present for the complete absorption of the B or any other complex. Unless vitamins are absorbed, they cannot help the body. Natural vitamins carry their own synergists, synthetics do not. For example, if a person were given large doses of B1 alone, the urinary output of B2 would be increased. To give one fraction at the expense of the other hardly makes sense when the body needs both, and yet it is common practice to give large doses of B1 among those who give synthetics. When a natural B complex is used, all of the B fractions are present in normal amounts and absorption will be more readily accomplished. Vitamin A oxidizes rather rapidly, but if sufficient E is present in the body, this oxidation is retarded. Vitamins A and C work together to build resistance to infections and in mucous membrane tissue in particular. Vitamins C, D, and A work together for proper cartilage, tooth and bone formation. These examples are given to demonstrate that when designing a nutritional regime for a patient, we must take into consideration the body as a whole the nutrition of the whole body with added emphasis on the areas in the nutritional picture where the lack is outstanding.
Concerning the use of food supplements or any dietary advice, I would like to call an important point to your attention. It concerns the legal aspect. The intent in recommending dietary food products can only be that of supplementing the diet because of a deficiency the doctor has found. They cannot legally be represented as having value, even nutritional value in the treatment of a specific disease or condition. Regardless of their inherent nature and properties, they become drugs in the eyes of the law, “if a dietary article is intended for use in the cure, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease.” So always be sure that you are prescribing a supplement for the correction of a deficiency you have found in the course of your examination of the patient.
Our profession is so ably suited to make the most out of the practical application of nutritional principles, if we will but remember that nutritional adequacy is best not taken for granted. No one can build a good structure out of faulty raw materials, even with the best of engineering. Therefore, the use of sound nutritional principles in practice is so very important.
In the time here allowed, it is not possible to do more than barely touch the most important points to be considered and studied in the area of nutrition as it affects our practice. The statement by Dr. Lindlahr, “You are what you eat,” is so true that I hope that anyone interested in nutrition will never forget it. The body simply cannot make strong tissue from poor raw materials. Another truism is the statement, “A healthy mind in a healthy body.” Through the principle of chiropractic, we produce normal function. By adding correct nutritional principles, the body will build healthy tissue. It follows then, that it is quite difficult to have a sick mind in a well functioning body structure. Therefore, by applying the chiropractic and nutritional principles, we are treating the whole person, body, mind and spirit.
Over the years, I have been asked many times to outline a shortcut to a knowledge of nutritional principles. I used to answer that there was no such thing. However, I have come to learn that if anyone is really interested in improving his knowledge of this subject, it can be done in a few months of concentrated application in spare time, through thoughtful reading of selected books, papers and magazines. First, I would suggest that you review the physiology of at least the digestive tract and its pathology. Also the synthesis of vitamins, the interrelationship of vitamins and minerals, and the process of the digestion and absorption of proteins. All of this information is available from the standard school textbooks on physiology and pathology. I would also suggest reading articles, books and papers by nutritional authorities such as Dr. Norman Jolliffe, Dr. William Coda Martin, the Drs. Shute of Canada, and other known and respected nutritionists. By all means, study the papers of our own Dr. L. M. King. I have several dozen of them, and besides the ones on nutrition, he has many others that are very significant. Two of the [most] helpful dealing with nutrition are “A Plan for Evaluating the Adequacy of Diets,” and “The Nutritional Requirements of the Sick Body.”
Some of the books I have found helpful are Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Weston A. Price, D.D.S., published by the American Academy of Applied Nutrition, Los Angeles, California; Protomorphology, by Royal Lee, Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Hormones and the Aging Process, by Engle and Pincus, Academic Press, Inc., New York City; and The Health Finder, and, The Health Builder, by J. I. Rodale, Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania. These last two are practical, everyday helps, and are excellent for fast answers to a forgotten point.
The third suggestion is to subscribe to Prevention Magazine and to Organic Gardening, both from Rodale Press. Prevention is, of course, written for the layman, which makes all the faster reading for us. The magazine takes the gist of many, many articles by recognized nutritional authorities and puts them into quickly read form. It is factual reporting. It also covers everything from readers’ experiences to recipes. In Organic Gardening, one can read and gradually learn the reasons behind the inferior nutritional quality of many foods. One does not have to be, or plan to be a gardener or farmer in order to gain a vast amount of extremely helpful material. By all means, subscribe to the Health Bulletin, 33 East Minor Street, Emmaus, Pennsylvania. This is a weekly letter similar in size to the Kiplinger Letter, and is to the field of health what Kiplinger is to business. It covers all of the latest news concerning health, from car accidents to pesticides, to the latest utterances of the FDA. It is the best way I know of to keep abreast of the changes as they occur. It can be read in fifteen minutes.
Doctors, it is my sincere hope that the majority of us will include nutrition in the case management of our patients. They are entitled to it. It is our duty to be able to render a complete drugless service to the persons who present themselves to us as patients. Just as important as our duty to our patients is our duty to our profession, and to be knowledgeable in all phases of our work is a part of the driving necessity for the survival of chiropractic.