Health and disease information: Are you getting the whole story?

http://www.examiner.com/x-672-Disease-Prevention-Examiner~y2009m3d31-Health-and-disease-Youre-probably-not-getting-the-whole-story

Recently, I have been intensely frustrated with big business, my health care community, and our government.

Since when is it considered to be wrongful to share the facts about health and disease?

In some settings, my hands are tied when it comes to giving people the whole story about health and disease, and because they do not hear life-saving advice, they continue to live a life that is burdened.

My approach is simple and straight-forward. I encourage people to eat a diet that is based on foods that grow from the ground. I encourage them to exercise regularly. I advise them not to smoke and to use stress management techniques when necessary.

The research is not new. Research that supportsvegan nutrition, regular exercise, abstinence from tobacco, and stress management has existed in the scientific literature for decades.

Judging by the way that individuals and many large institutions react when I give recommendatios based on these findings, you'd think that I was asking them to consider some sort of inhumane, witch-like ritual.

Shouldn't the people who pay for the research -- taxpayers -- be given this potentially life-saving information? After hearing and understanding the facts, they could then digest the information and decide for themselves what recommendations they will and will not adopt.

T. Colin Campbell, in his book The China Study, said it best:

"Consumers have the ultimate choice of whether to integrate our findings [research data and recommendations] into their lifestyles, but we owe it to them to give them the best information possible with which to make that decision and not decide for them. It is they who paid for this research and it is only they who have the right to decide what to do with it."