Antiaging Food Facts
Chronic diseases are increasing at an alarming rate,
with 1:6 adults dying prematurely. By the age of 50,
one in three still living will be officially obese and
one in four, will suffer the last 30 years of our lives
with the pain of arthritis.
Currently chronic disesases such as heart disease,
cancer, strokes and diabetes, as well as many less serious
conditions such as high blood pressure or raised cholesterol,
are treated with drugs.
Drugs are Not the Cure
Drugs are NOT the way to deal with the rise in poor
health. In the UK alone, 10,000 people are killed every
year by adverse drug reactions to prescription drugs
- more than all the people who die from cervical cancer,
taking illegal drugs, mouth cancer and passive smoking
combined. A further 40,000 people each year are made
sick enough by the drugs they are taking to be admitted
to hospital.
A 2005, a UK Parliamentary Health Committee investigation
concluded that the drug industry: ‘buys influence
over doctors, charities, patient groups, journalists
and politicians’. In the UK the pharmaceutical
industry finances around 90% of all clinical drug trials
- hardly independent research. Most drugs do little
to cure chronic disease, they are designed to treat
symptoms.
Side Effects of Drugs
Many widely used drugs have dangerous and debilitating
side effects. The painkiller Vioxx - sold as a ‘super
aspirin’ boosts the risk of blood clots and doubles
the risk of heart attacks. It was withdrawn in 2004.
With an estimated 10,000 court cases outstanding against
Merck, one expert estimates 140,000 Americans were killed
or now suffer from vascular problems as a result of
taking the drug.
Nutritional Supplements
Diet, nutrition and supplements can alleviate both
the symptoms and underlying cause of many, many chronic
conditions such as depression, angina, high cholesterol
or high blood pressure. Unfortunately, most doctors
have little training in non-drug approaches such as
exercise, supplementation and stress reduction. In addition,
drug companies continue to lobby aggressively against
'natural medicines'.
Food and supplements directly affect many of the same
biochemical pathways in the body that drugs target,
but with far fewer side effects – and at far less
cost.
Managing [and preventing] chronic disease with various
non-drug methods makes a lot more sense. In this section
we look at current facts and myths about food. Almost
every day we get bombarded with what is good for us
and what is bad. So often, these 'facts' are speculative
and contradictory to that told only months before.
This A to Z should help to keep things straight.
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