"In no period of our history as a nation have Americans been so concerned about the subject of diet and nutrition. Yet if we accept the premise that what we eat determines our health, then we must add the observation that in no period of our history as a nation have Americans eaten so poorly, a statement that the most cursory survey of current statistics can prove.
Although heart disease and cancer were rare at the turn of the century, today these two diseases strike with increasing frequency, in spite of billions of dollars in research to combat them, and in spite of tremendous advances in diagnostic and surgical techniques. In America, one person in three dies of cancer, one in three suffers from allergies, one in ten will have ulcers and one in five is mentally ill. Continuing this grim litany, one out of five pregnancies ends in miscarriage and one quarter of a million infants are born with a birth defect each year. Other degenerative diseases – arthritis, multiple sclerosis, digestive disorders, diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and chronic fatigue – afflict a significant majority of our citizens, sapping the energy and the very life blood of our nation. Learning disabilities such as dyslexia and hyperactivity afflict seven million young people. These diseases were also extremely rare only a generation or two ago. Today, chronic illness afflicts nearly half of all Americans and causes three out of four deaths in the United States. Most tragically, these diseases, formerly the purview of the very old, now strike our children and those in the prime of life. American spend one dollar out of every fourteen for medical services, or over $800 billion yearly – more than the national deficit, the food bill and the profits of all US corporations combined – yet we have little to show for this tremendous drain on our resources. Medial science has not even been able to lengthen our life span. Fewer persons alive at 70-today survive until 90 than forty years ago. And those who do survive past 70 are often a helpless burden to their families rather than useful members of society. Credit for today’s relatively long life span belongs to improved sanitation and the reduction of infant mortality.
New killer viruses now command newspaper headlines and even infections diseases such as tuberculosis are making a comeback, this time in forms resistant to allopathic drugs. Chemical sensitive and problems with the immune system abound. We have almost forgotten that our natural state is one of balance, wholeness and vitality". -Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions
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