Red Meat and Colon Cancer
Does red meat cause colon cancer? Dr. Joel Fuhrman, in his comments about the Weston A. Price Foundation, and Dr. Joe Mercola state that even small amounts of red meat are colon cancer-promoting.
My mother was a strict vegetarian (but not vegan) for ten years. She ate very little processed food (except soy products!) and almost no sugar or refined carbohydrates most of her life. Prior to becoming a complete vegetarian, she ate chicken and fish, but very little red meat, used olive oil instead of saturated fats, and followed much of the popular dietary advice from the 70s and 80s. Although she smoked in the 50s, she had quit for over 20 years, and she exercised regularly. She was trim, looked like she was my sister instead of my mother, and often went out dancing at age 60. At 64 she developed colon cancer and died exactly one year later.
Everyone was shocked. So was I, so I started researching, and one of the most important discoveries I made—one that led me away from vegetarianism—was the fact that T-cells are needed to form antibodies, and T-cells were built from proteins. I knew my mother was eating very little protein. This experience and the subsequent knowledge I gained changed my life and my children’s lives.
I know this is just one person’s experience and hence not totally scientific, but I also know that she is not the only vegetarian cut down quickly by cancer. While being a vegetarian may not have caused her cancer, it certainly did nothing to prevent her from succumbing to it so quickly. It’s amazing to me that these vegetarian fanatics continue to preach their version of “scientific studies” and put such a large part of our population—especially young people—at risk.
Jan Blair
LaCrosse, Wisconsin
Editor’s Response: Not only protein, but vitamin A (from animal fats) is needed for the production of T-cells.
Walking Skeleton
I am a 51-year-old female who grew up in northern California. I lived through and saw the paradigm change in the American diet, as I am sure so many others did. I remember when butter was banished and whole milk was replaced by skim or 2% in my childhood home. Cereal replaced eggs and more and more recipes appeared with oil instead of butter.
In high school I became interested in nutrition and Adelle Davis became my hero. I devoured her books and tried to live the principles. Not long after, however, I was snared by vegetarianism and started avoiding the foods I had previously learned were best for optimum health.
In my early twenties, I married a man from Thailand and had the unique opportunity of living in that country. While there, I saw the benefits of coconut oil, although I did not realize it at the time. My husband’s grandmother had lovely taut skin, without a wrinkle or blemish, and she was in her 70s. She was from the south of Thailand and had lived on seafood and coconut products. The Thai food was wonderful but, sadly, I developed a love for “Vita Milk,” which was soy milk sold in glass bottles. That was when my love affair with soy began.
To make a very long story short, when I walked into the local WAPF chapter meeting in Dubuque approximately two years ago, I was a physical wreck. I looked like a walking skeleton. I had virtually no energy, I had trouble sleeping, I had lost my gall bladder, had trouble with kidney stones, and was scheduled for a parathyroid operation. When I learned about the perils of soy, I stopped cold turkey. What a revelation and life-changing event!
By changing my eating through the principles of the Foundation, I am now healthy. I have energy and vitality; I have gained weight and feel wonderful.
On another note, my grandfather was a dentist, born in 1896. He always told me that one should not keep a dead tooth in one’s mouth. He was vehemently opposed to root canals. When I was 40, I found a wonderful dentist who discovered that I was a victim of mercury poisoning from my many amalgam fillings. Through many immediate extractions, he found that I had necrosis of the jaw from the root canals. Just as attending my first local chapter meeting was a life-changing event, the removal of my root canals provided immediate relief from pain and pressure in my face and head. This further affirms the far-reaching wisdom and insight of Dr. Price.
I would be remiss if I did not share with you the blessing that I do have seven children, all of whom I nursed and who received whole milk as little children. I never forgot Adelle Davis’ pleas to give cod liver oil to children. Mine regularly received it. Those who were more willing and diligent have a much better bone structure and did not require any orthodontics. Those who balked as they got older have narrower faces and jaws. The pictures you show on your posters are indeed worth a thousand words.
Elizabeth Hoff
Dubuque, Iowa
Smart Meals
My 64-year-old gentleman friend of 19 years was a processed food devotee. In his late 50s, he put himself through university for a counseling/teaching degree. On the verge of his new career, he was diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease requiring daily kidney dialysis. He was dumped by well-meaning doctors into the poverty popularly known as Social Security Disability. Doctors informed him that these conditions are incurable. He was depressed.
Then, he received a booklet on how kidneys function (written by Dr. Richard Schultze) and material from the Weston A. Price Foundation, supplied to him by a Foundation member who slyly hinted that his kidneys were exhausted not dead; they needed water and nourishment to bounce back.
Now, my friend eats healthier, exercises, looks better, feels better—and his kidney dialysis records show a phenomenal improvement (perfect scores!) indicating significant kidney activity. His doctors give themselves credit through the wonderful kidney drugs they prescribed. However, my friend admitted to me with a chuckle that he secretly took himself off of every kidney drug months earlier, so his progress is due to smart meals not “smart” drugs.
Candace Reed
Lake Panasoffkee, Florida
Memory Loss
Thank you for a great article on cholesterol on your website. We are currently dealing with memory loss with my mother-in-law, age 70. She has been on lovastatin (mevacor) for several years and her memory has gotten worse and worse. She went for a battery of tests and the doctor said it was not dementia or Alzheimer’s, but couldn’t relate it to anything else.
I suspected statin drugs from different articles I had stumbled upon. Lo and behold we discovered she was indeed taking lovastatin. We took her off for a few weeks and she seemed better, less in a fog.
Then the doctor treating her memory loss told her to go back on the statins. “If your primary doctor prescribed them, you must need them,” he said. We were fit to be tied. If anyone knew about the tie-in to memory loss and these drugs, it should have been him!
After doing a little research on this doctor we discovered that he had recently received a nice big grant from the pharmaceutical industry to do research on using statins to improve memory in Alzheimer’s patients!
When we visited her primary care doctor, we were able to convince her to take my mother-in-law off statins for two months at least. She did acknowledge the possibility of a tie-in to the memory issues. But then she immediately said, “If that is the case, then we will really be stuck for a new med to lower her cholesterol. It is important to do that.”
Well, after reading numerous articles about how damaging statins are and how little they really do, I must ask, isn’t quality of life better than (so-called) quantity of life, assuming the claims of increased lifespan are true? Is it better for my mother-in-law to go around confused and in a fog than to risk the potential heart issues that these drugs are “supposed” to prevent? All the research I see shows no positive proof to back up those claims, yet this drug is the number one selling drug (and quite expensive, too) in this country. Not to mention the dangers of lowering cholesterol levels too low and damaging other key functions and components of our bodies?
How do lowly consumers go about getting their voices heard to help prevent millions more from being damaged by these awful drugs? When did doctors in this country become legal drug pushers, turning healthy adults into pill-popping patients? When a patient identifies a side effect to a drug, why isn’t it reported? I find it hard to believe that all the people who claim memory loss and amnesia, as well as muscle and other problems, with these drugs are just making it up.
Jean Golden
Sacramento, California
Editor’s Note: The best way for consumers to avoid being damaged by statin drugs is to “just say no.” Only when large numbers of patients begin voting with their feet will the power of the pharmaceutical industry start to wane. Our role at the Weston A. Price Foundation is to provide the information patients need to find the courage to refuse statin drugs. For proof that “high cholesterol” is a new and invented disease, read on.
Normal Cholesterol
I have in front of me a copy of my mother’s cholesterol report taken in 1996. The established parameter for normal cholesterol is listed at 150-300. She typically runs around 270 and had experienced a lot of pressure to go on statins; she fortunately has enough confidence to “just say no.”
She had been on a very lowfat diet for years and was never able to lower her cholesterol levels very much. She now suffers from lung problems. Fortunately she has become an avid consumer of raw milk, raw milk kefir, eggs and other nutrient-dense foods. Thank you for your research and all your posts on this subject.
Rhonda Mullis
Deltona, Florida
Two Inches within Weeks
I have written to you before about how your information has saved my family’s health and now I have another story to share.
My friend has a 14-year-old son who was not growing—he had not seen any change in height or weight in three years—and seemed to be plagued with various digestive ills. Understandably, my friend was very concerned. Her son was seeing all sorts of doctors and getting numerous tests, but no one seemed to know what to do.
When my friend shared her concerns with me, I told her about your information. She started going to the farmers’ market and loading up on her supplies. She called me in a panic the first time she made bone broth, certain that nothing that looked that bad—or smelled that bad—could be good for you.
Nonetheless, she persevered and her son, along with her husband and three other children, started inhaling the food she was serving, including meats with the fat, liver, raw milk, cheese, butter and broth. They had the same reaction we did. At first they ate as though they had been starving—they couldn’t eat the good food fast enough.
Well, here’s the good news: within weeks, yes, weeks, her son gained 14 pounds and grew two inches! He continues to gain weight and height with each passing month (both my friend and her husband are quite tall) and all his digestive problems are gone! She is thrilled and asked me to write to you with the good news. Once again, thank you!
Mary Shrader
Austin, Texas
A Grounding Exercise
Making changes in eating habits is difficult. I often tell people that food is a journey where you learn a lot about yourself. Attention to food really grounds you and puts you in your body to learn exactly what is right for your body. Most people are not in their bodies. I have learned that no matter how many suggestions people gave me, no one’s pictures matched mine precisely. I had to find out exactly what worked for me and still must pay attention because my requirements are always changing.
Every time I relied on someone else’s knowledge when they gave it from a place of “this is how you should eat if you are hypoglycemic,” I got burned with my sensitive adrenals. But every time I calmly took something as a suggestion and implemented it slowly, I would benefit and learn.
Finding the right food and preparing carefully has always been the chief activity in traditional societies. It has always been a time-consuming activity. We try to invent technology to side step this fact and wherever there’s technology, disease follows. Food is the definitive way to connect us to the earth and each other.
Karen McCormick
Miami, Florida
Steady Improvement
I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the information that you so openly provide on your website. I suffered needlessly for more than ten years in the care of doctors who have obviously not been exposed to this information. After rounds and rounds of antibiotic and pharmaceutical treatments, and after losing one internal organ on the surgeon’s table, I discovered your foundation and the information on your website.
After months of reading (and re-reading) this dense collection of information, and after employing the use of vitamin A supplementation, I have watched my health steadily improve. My recovery will likely take many more months to fully establish itself, but it seems now assured. What a relief it is to finally be finished with my ten-plus year medical saga.
I am a lawyer by profession, and I cannot even begin to tell you how angered I am at the way the law has been used to control the US medical and agricultural industries in order to virtually ensure illness in most of the world’s population. When I now see and read the continued dissemination of anti-cholesterol and pro-pharmaceutical propaganda, I am even more deeply troubled.
I am passing your information on to everyone I know, and I will continue to look for ways to advance this cause in the most effective ways that I can.
Nicholas Schroeder, Esq.
Greenfield, Indiana
What Is Sustainability?
Most of the letters published in this journal sing the praises of your fine foundation, and of the wonderful articles included in your magazine, and deservedly so. And I appreciate that you also allow room for those who may disagree. I ask your forgiveness in advance for challenging some of the claims made in the recently published “Making the World GM-Free and Sustainable,” by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho.
Ho names some of the dangers of GMOs as well as the many benefits of sustainable farming systems. Her “Dream Farm,” a blueprint for a self-contained food-growing system, should serve as a model for the modern farm. Still, some of the things she says in her article are factually problematic, and even a little dangerous.
Of the list of proximate causes of the wholesale destruction of our environment, GMOs are but one element of a battery of destruction erasing what little remains of our natural world. What all these causes have in common—including habitat destruction, pollution, species loss, and global warming (not “climate change,” let’s call it what it is)—is, well, us.
Seven billion people and counting. It’s cold, I know, to suggest that our sheer numbers could bring such irreparable damage to what was once an idyllic garden of astonishing diversity. And I wish that Dr. Ho’s Dream Farm—or a more efficient light bulb, or newer appliances, or a hydrogen car—could fix it. But it can’t. Not without addressing the underlying problem from which all other social and environmental problems emerge, namely human overpopulation. When Dr. Ho writes that her Dream Farm 2 is “our best way forward to a greener, healthier and more fulfilling life without fossil fuels,” I would respond that, unless we all decide to get honest about what’s killing this planet and soon, the effect of her Dream Farm may prove slightly more humble than she envisions.
Dr. Ho and the GMO conglomerates are ultimately selling the same product, more and more food for a “growing world”—code for our growing population. Both “include growth and development explicitly” in their plans and projections. It goes without saying that Dr. Ho’s motives are more philanthropic than those of the profiteers of big agriculture. And of course, between the two agricultural models, Dr. Ho’s appears far more sustainable, at least in the short term. But if the Dream Farm allows for a plot of land to have “a carrying capacity at least ten times the average of industrial farming,” then unless Dream Farming were coupled with intelligent and immediate population control measures, a world of dream farms would be one in which natural habitat could look forward to being replaced by more housing and development, rather than by another acre of GM corn. Good news for population growth. Not so good news for nature.
If this commentary strikes you as caustic, again, I apologize. Like so many associated with the WAPF, the author is not only an astute thinker with imagination and smarts, but she just so happens to be on the right side. Lord knows, it’s no fun being critical of one of the good guys. But when someone suggests that GM crops “can lead nowhere else but towards global bio-devastation, massive crop failures and global famine,” I’ve got to let that person in on a frightening piece of news: those things are already here. Sure, it’s scary, but our fear can provide us with a little sense of urgency, and with that the courage to address the real issue, face on. Then we can discuss things like agriculture in the proper context of a shared reality.
Luke Shanahan
Lawai, Hawaii
Editor’s Response: Whether the world is over-populated, or even whether our modern lifestyle is causing it to warm up, are premises open to debate. The point is that the kind of farm Dr. Ho recommends can provide the existing population with more nourishing and more abundant food than that which is currently available to us through the industrial system. For an alternate view on population, read on.
Shrinking Population
A recent shortwave broadcast via the Voice of Russia highlighted an alarming and inescapable trend in that country, namely a decline in population whose momentum has defied intervention by government policies that are “family friendly,” such as cash bonuses for second and third children, and up to a year’s paid maternity leave for either parent. Russia’s population, at 146 million today, is projected to fall by a third, to only 100 million by the year 2050. But Russia is by no means alone. This demographic trend is being experienced by the entire developed world, with commensurate increases in fertility problems
My maternal grandparents had 11 children (in Odessa, Ukraine), two of whom died in infancy, yet they brought them forth even through the pogroms, civil war, famine and the 1905 and 1917 revolutions. From their nine remaining children, however, only my mother managed to have a family, of which I was her only child, and the only grandchild born before World War II. My youngest aunt bore my only cousin in the 1960s. The catastrophes of the war years directly destroyed the lives of some 25 million Russians, and changed society in profound ways. The failed and foolish economic and agricultural disasters of the post-war era, with resulting chronic food shortages further wearied the Russian people. The breakup of the Soviet Union with the resulting unrestricted plundering by the oligarchy of the “new Russians” during the Yeltsin era forced many into deepest poverty. Alcoholism is commonplace, and the life expectancy of a baby boy born in Russia today is only 59 years, in spite of gradual improvements in the standard of living during President Putin’s era.
This massive decline in population is, according to United Nations data, occurring worldwide. Regardless of the historic legacy of each nation so affected, the economic and social effects are serious and worrying, especially where the health and fertility of nations are deteriorating across all age groups, and the social fabric has traditionally depended on healthy, younger generations supporting the older generations in their later years. Humanity is at a crisis point since this problem has many tentacles, and urgently addressing the problem, as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has put it, is absolutely essential to saving the people, and saving nations.
Garrick Ginzburg-Voskov
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Editor’s Response: While America has not suffered wars on its own soil, pogroms and widespread poverty as Russia has, other factors have contributed to a decline in fertility, such as widespread exposure to estrogens in our food and environment, and the replacement of animal fats (rich in fertility factors) with vegetable oils. So far, large numbers of immigrants have filled the gap, but economic analysts are beginning to predict labor shortages as the defining economic factor of the 21st century.
Bone Density
Our family has recently received exciting news regarding our son’s bone density. We have been drinking raw milk exclusively for over three years now. The very same month we switched to raw milk (October, 2003), our middle son also received a bone density scan. The test was ordered after he had broken his arm for the third time. He was five at the time, just entering kindergarten. The test results came back normal. All of his bones were within the 50th percentile for his age and gender. We were left to attribute the broken bones to reckless exuberance (not a stretch with this child).Fast forward three years to the fall of 2006 when I learned that our local university was conducting a bone density study and looking for eight-year-old volunteers. Remembering the earlier study, and realizing the chance to re-test our now eight-year-old son, I signed him up. The results came back this week. The weakest of his bones now measure in the 84th percentile, and the strongest measure in the 99th percentile.The two tests were conducted on the same type of machine, from the same manufacturer. In the three years between tests, we did not change the nature of our diet, only the source of our food. In addition to raw milk, we also switched to 100 percent local grass fed meat and eggs. We did not add supplements to our son’s diet, nor did he increase his level of exercise. The doctor reviewing the results called them “remarkable,” asked for more details on raw milk, and said, “Whatever you are doing, keep doing it… I don’t think you need to worry about any more broken bones.”Elizabeth McInerney Rochester, New York Whole Milk in SchoolsI did a presentation to our Nutrition Network for our school district, convinced them to bring back whole milk as a choice into the schools, and make it available for breakfast, midmorning snack and lunch. Four months later the school district was audited by the state and they got poor marks because they had whole milk as one of the choices. The district has stopped offering whole milk. Stephanie Alexandre Disturbing StoryI had my hair cut recently and the woman who cut my hair told me a disturbing story. She has a little boy in kindergarten and when he arrives at school, his lunch box is inspected and they remove foods that contain fat. I called the superintendent of the school’s office this morning and I was referred to a nurse who is the health services coordinator. She said she was not aware of lunch box inspections. We talked about fat and brain development—and I asked her about the milk that is served. She said children have a choice of 1% or 2% milk! She referred me to the Food Services Director and the District Wellness Commission (and mentioned that food services is following USDA guidelines). In a dairy state, these people must be afraid of losing their jobs. Mary Jo Fahey |
Fiber Menace?
Last night, I was enjoying one of Jessica Prentice’s Full Moon Feasts in Berkeley, when the friend sitting next to me said, “I cannot eat this, it has too much fiber,” while looking at a beautifully presented crispy vegetables dish. He had read the very positive review of the book Fiber Menace by Russian author Konstantin Monastyrsky in the 2006 Winter issue, and concluded that from now on he had to avoid high fiber foods. That episode motivated me to write this letter.
Spokesmen for WAPF have noted that we are an inclusive group; we never say you cannot eat this or that. Through the wisdom of traditional cultures and the guidance of science we have discovered the best ways to prepare truly nourishing foods. Dr. Price saw many traditional cultures around the world that based their excellent health and spirits on a wide variety of animal and plant foods. One of the first images that comes to mind is the famous picture of a boy holding a giant round loaf of whole rye bread in an isolated Swiss village. Like that rye bread, many plant foods are high in fiber.
Although we like to put a lot of butter on our plant-based foods, we don’t say to not eat plants. We say, lacto-ferment, soak, and bake or cook, or even eat some raw without washing away any insects that may still be on top, if possible. We absolutely say no to extruded or industrially processed grains.
Of course there are people suffering intestinal damage that have to avoid grains and raw vegetables, but the idea that we have to avoid high fiber foods in general goes against our principles, contradicts the accumulated experience of millions of years of human evolution and does not have any support in current scientific knowledge.
In my view, we are omnivorous creatures with an omnivorous dental structure, and fiber in our diet, coming from properly prepared plant foods, brings numerous well researched health benefits, including the promotion of a healthy intestinal bacterial flora.
Mario Repetto
Sonoma, California
Editor’s Response: Monastyrsky’s book warns against over-eating high-fiber foods, especially when they are raw or improperly prepared. He wrote it to counter the promotion of (improperly prepared) whole grains, fiber supplements and an over-reliance on foods high in fiber. The raw foods we promote tend to be low in fiber. Foods higher in fiber should be cooked or fermented in some way. People with severe intestinal damage may need to completely avoid raw plant foods and all grains, even properly prepared grains, until they have healed.
Raw Milk Restores Hearing
My 4-year-old son Benjamin had been suffering from chronic impaired hearing for the last two years due to persistent congestion and constant colds. His hearing had degraded to the point that he had to be near the TV with it set at one of the loudest settings for him to hear it. We had taken him to the doctor for ear infections and colds on repeated occasions. In addition to the antibiotics that were prescribed, we were also given, at different times, prescriptions for antihistamines, steroids and asthma inhalers. Nothing had worked well enough to justify the possible damage that we were doing to our son by giving him these drugs.
Looking further into health, we came across the benefits of raw milk. After doing some research into dairies, we found that Organic Pastures had all the answers regarding the benefits and safety of raw milk on their website. We got rid of the organic pasteurized milk that we were drinking and purchased some Organic Pastures raw milk the next day.
Within a month, we noticed that we were no longer having to yell for our son to hear us. Then he started complaining that everyday things, like car rides, were too loud. Going forward, he has been far healthier than he has been in his whole life and his hearing has returned to normal. The only thing that has changed in his diet is the replacement of organic pasteurized milk with Organic Pastures raw milk.
Mark Souders
Fresno, California
More than Humus
In his article on the history of organic farming (Winter 2006), Professor Heckman discusses the importance of humus in the soil but says little about the importance of minerals. He fails to mention the landmark research and writings of Dr. William Albrecht, Chairman of the soils department at the University of Missouri, who was a giant in the field equal to Howard, said to be the originator of organic agriculture. Along with Weston Price, Albrecht stressed the need to address soil mineralization over and above simple recycling of locally obtained organic matter. In Chapter 20 of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Price wrote, “The most serious problem confronting the coming generation is this nearly insurmountable handicap of depletion of the quality of the foods because of the depletion of minerals of the soil.” He was not talking about simply returning all manure to the land.
William Albrecht certainly was not ignorant of the role of organic matter in soil conditioning and fertility. In fact, he authored the chapter on organic matter in the 1938 USDA Yearbook of Agriculture. However, the difference in views on the nature of soil fertility between Howard and Albrecht is like night and day. According to Howard, “Fertility is the condition of a soil rich in humus.” Albrecht stated (in Chapter 23 of Nutrition and Physical Degeneration): “What is soil fertility? In the simplest words, it is some dozen chemical elements in mineral and rock combinations in the earth’s crust that are slowly broken out of these and hustled off to the sea.”
We need both limited humus additions as well as supplemental mineralization in most agricultural soils. This is a pivotal consideration in achieving optimal health for everyone and for all time. Dr. Price said so himself.
Gary L. Kline
Olympia, Washington
Reaching Millions
As the new year has arrived, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and commit $25 each month to the Weston A. Price Foundation.
I believe we can reach millions and change lives with WAPF. If every member were to commit a financial donation each month, it would dramatically increase the resources we have to fight the good fight and persevere towards victory.
This is not easy for me because I am in the process of building a practice and my finances are stretched. But I know in my heart I need to make a monthly commitment to WAPF. I invite every member to join me in giving a gift each month to WAPF. No matter how small your donation is, it does make a difference. Just do what you can!
Thank you to all the staff and contributors at WAPF, and to all our farmers, for your courage, persistence and hard work. Many blessings for a great year in 2007!
Dr. Elise Brown
Houston, Texas
Leave a Reply