Understanding Disease
by Raymond Francis
The next major advance in health will be determined by what
people are willing to do for themselves. However, willingness is only part of
the equation—the other is knowing what to do. In my book Never Be Sick Again,
I outlined a new model of health based on the revolutionary concept of one
disease. As varied and complex as "diseases" appear to be, all
disease is the result of malfunctioning cells. Cellular malfunction is then the
one disease. Modern medicine believes there are thousands of diseases, but
viewing all diseases as one presents a profound opportunity—the opportunity to
take the mystery out of disease and to gain power over it.
The enormous pandemic of chronic and degenerative disease
sweeping the world today is characterized by complex
neuro-immuno-hormonal-gastrointestinal dysfunction. Complexity aside, all disease occurs at the
molecular and cellular level, and we now know that virtually all disease has
common causes and common solutions.
There is only one disease and there are only two causes of
disease: deficiency and toxicity. Cells lacking what they need or exposed
to something harmful will malfunction. Unless cells malfunction, there can be
no disease. The thousands of different diseases we experience are merely the
effects of thousands of combinations of deficiencies and toxicities acting
through a combination of inherited genes, the environment, and our beliefs,
thoughts, and emotions. Preventing or reversing disease is about preventing
and reversing cellular malfunction.
The amount of disease in America
today is astonishing. More than three out of four Americans have a diagnosable
chronic disease. This is happening because almost all Americans are in toxic
overload and are chronically deficient in one or more nutrients. Our
unprecedented exposure to toxic chemicals is impairing cellular machinery,
causing cellular malfunction and disease. Chronic deficiency of even one
nutrient will decrease the efficiency of all the others, causing cellular
malfunction and disease.
As the amount of deficiency and toxicity in our society continues
to increase, illnesses that used to affect only the elderly are now epidemic in
younger people. Children are born with defective brains and immune systems.
Historically, cancer affected only 0.1 percent of the population. A century ago
it was 3 percent. Today, half our population will get cancer in their lifetime.
Unless we get this chronic disease epidemic under control, the economic and
social effects on our nation will be catastrophic.
Fortunately, we have the knowledge to end this epidemic. By
addressing how to prevent and reverse the two causes of cellular malfunction,
we can prevent and reverse almost all disease. But first we must
educate—prevention being our most important tool. Let us examine some of the
cellular malfunctions that are common denominators of disease and explore how
we can prevent and reverse them. First, let's examine the sodium/potassium
ratio in the cell.
Sodium and potassium are minerals critical to cell function, but they must be
in balance. Modern dietary practices create serious imbalances. Our ancestors
consumed low sodium, high-potassium diets. Their sodium/potassium ratio was a
healthy 1:4, the result of eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Our
current ratio is reversed to an unhealthy 4:1, the result of too much salt
(especially in processed foods) and too few fresh fruits and vegetables. Cells
function as little batteries. They have an electrical charge created by the
difference in the amount of potassium inside the cell and the amount of sodium
outside. By changing the sodium/potassium ratio in our diet, and consequently
inside each cell, we damage the "battery of life" and interfere
seriously with the body's self-regulation and repair functions. For example,
increasing the dietary sodium of laboratory animals will accelerate cancer
metastasis. Preventing and reversing this common cause of disease is simple:
eat less salt and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. That's how easy it
is to achieve power over disease!
Another common denominator of disease is abnormal cellular pH. Normal cellular
pH is 7.4; maintaining it is critical. If your cells become too acidic or too
alkaline, certain functions are inhibited and others enhanced. This causes
cellular malfunction and disease—cancer is commonly a disease of too much
acidity. Where is this acidity coming from? It's coming from a diet rich in
acid-forming foods such as sugar, white flour, milk products, and cola drinks.
Colas combine sugar with phosphoric acid producing a powerful acidic effect. Cutting
acid-forming foods from your diet, while eating a diet rich in alkaline foods
such as fresh fruits and vegetables, and supplementing with minerals will work
to balance pH and to prevent and reverse disease. It's that easy!
Improperly constructed cell membranes are another common cause of disease. Each
cell has a wall called the cell membrane. Everything that goes in or out of the
cell has to pass through the membrane, a "gatekeeper" making sure
only the right things go in and out. Improperly constructed cell membranes
cause cellular malfunction and disease. To prevent and reverse disease, the
billions of new cells we create every day must be constructed with the proper
building materials. The vegetable and hydrogenated oils common to our diet are
the wrong building materials. Historically the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 oils
in our diet was a healthy 1:1. Today it is an unhealthy 20:1. Fish and flaxseed
oils are the preferred building materials. Cut out all processed oils and
supplement with healthy oils. How easy it is!
Common to almost all disease is a process called inflammation. Inflammation
generates free radicals, which damage cell membranes, DNA,
and cellular machinery. The result is aging and disease. To prevent or reverse
aging and disease, it is necessary to prevent or reverse inflammation.
Inflammation is caused primarily by eating the standard American diet. Sugar,
white flour, milk products, farmed fish and meat, and processed oils are all
pro-inflammatory. By consuming a diet high in pro-inflammatory chemicals and
low in anti-inflammatory chemicals, most of our population is now suffering
from chronic inflammation and disease. Making matters worse, the American diet
makes people fat. Two out of three Americans are overweight, and fat cells
produce a constant flood of inflammatory chemicals. To prevent and reverse
inflammation, avoid inflammatory foods and eat a diet rich in fresh vegetables,
fruits, and antioxidant supplements. It's that easy!
Tragically, children today do not have to wait to get sick. They are born sick.
The deficiencies and toxicities of the parents affect the health of the fetus,
thereby affecting that child's health for a lifetime and the health of
grandchildren yet to come. In the early 20th century, Francis Pottenger, M.D.
proved that eating processed foods affected the health of the children and
grandchildren of parents eating such a diet. Today processed foods are the
staple of our diet. That's why most of our children are born with abnormal
brains and bodies, even if it's not immediately apparent. For example,
throughout human evolution, our brains grew larger. Now the process has
reversed. The brains of our children are getting smaller, and reduction in brain
size has been accompanied by an epidemic of behavioral disorders, violence,
suicides, and poor academic performance.
To maximize lifelong health, a growing fetus must be supplied
with all the raw materials it needs, and it must be protected from toxins that
could disrupt its delicate construction process. Unfortunately, this rarely
happens in America today. Instead, fetuses are commonly deficient in essential
raw materials and are exposed to numerous toxins. Poor nutrition in utero and
during infancy programs genes for the early on-set of major chronic diseases.
Good nutrition is also required for detoxification. Without nutrients to
support detoxification pathways, toxins persist and do more damage.
Among the many toxins passed from mother to child causing disease
in the unborn is mercury. Mercury, from dental fillings, vaccinations, and
fish, interferes with enzymes that control how
the fetal brain is structured. Even minor changes in brain structure will
affect behavior, learning, higher-level thinking, and other brain functions,
including control of the immune, hormonal, and digestive systems. Fluoride is
another problem. Fluoridated water, toothpaste, and fluoride-contaminated foods
pose an enormous health risk to the unborn, lowering their IQs and dumbing down
our population. Aspartame, another common hazard, is an artificial sweetener
found in diet drinks and foods. It breaks down into a number of highly toxic
chemicals that can damage fetal DNA, alter
brain function, and contribute to cancer. To ensure the health of the
unborn, we must supply a fetus with everything it needs and protect it from
harm.
No discussion of disease would be complete without addressing how
modern medicine contributes to deficiency, toxicity, and disease. Medical
intervention is one of our leading causes of disease, and arguably our leading
cause of death. Medicine's archaic and unscientific approach to health and
disease has led to a series of epic blunders: x-rays, vaccinations, unnecessary
surgery, and prescription drugs. Each of these cause cellular malfunction and
have devastating effects on health.
X-rays, which are mostly unnecessary, damage DNA
and cellular machinery and have been cited as essential cofactors in 60 percent
of cancers and 70 percent of heart disease. Vaccinations have been cited as
"a medical assault on the immune system." Perhaps the greatest
blunder of all has been antibiotics. Antibiotics fundamentally alter body
chemistry, causing disease of every description.
Antibiotics alter the microbial balance in the gastrointestinal
tract, leading to a cascade of events with devastating effects. The
gastrointestinal tract functions both as a brain and as a master endocrine
gland that controls the immune system. Changing the balance of microorganisms
in the gut alters its chemistry, affecting both the nervous and the immune
systems. The resulting malfunctions are largely responsible for our epidemic of
neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer's, ALS,
Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, etc.) and immune disease (allergies, asthma,
arthritis, lupus, AIDS, etc.). Abnormal gut flora contributes to cellular
deficiency by inhibiting digestion and the production of critical nutrients,
and by causing malabsorption. It contributes to toxicity through the production
of abnormal bacterial and fungal endotoxins. These toxins interfere with
protein synthesis and the production of energy, causing fatigue and ultimately
increasing cell death. Since antibiotics are almost completely unnecessary,
there being safer and better alternatives, it makes sense to avoid them.
How easy it is!
Knowing that disease is the result of malfunctioning cells and
understanding what makes them malfunction gives us the power to prevent and
reverse disease. By paying attention to providing our cells with what they
need, avoiding toxins, and living a good lifestyle, we can put an end to our
epidemic of chronic disease. Begin today to make these changes, and you will go
beyond health as you know it.
Raymond Francis is
an M.I.T.-trained scientist, a registered nutrition consultant, author of Never
Be Sick Again and Never Be Fat Again, host of the Beyond
Health Show, Chairman of the The Project to End
Disease and an internationally recognized leader in the field of optimal health
maintenance.
Reprinted with permission from:
Beyond Health® News
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Copyright 2005, Beyond Health
