Florence Nightingale came to the horrors of the Crimean War demanding radical things like soap and water and fresh air. The doctors, she said, would burn me like Joan of Arc, if they could.
That response to another paradigm is still pretty much the same today. Some brave doctors talk today about EVIDENCE based medicine. But, the Medical Establishment maintains the right to BAR doctors who dare to disagree with “the correct” practices.
Sigh. Rigidity of thought is compounded when we humans would have to acknowledge that we had unwittingly harmed another. This is part of why the doctors — who never thought of washing their hands when going from dissecting people to delivering babies — turned on Dr. Semmelweis. He pointed out that washing their hands might reduce the number of women dying from childbed fever. He was put in an insane asylum.
This is a fairly typical response. In WW I the officers who came back from the horrors of trench warfare and said it had to stop — were sent to insane asylums. I think now we talk about “tinfoil hat” wearers.
Changing mental maps is difficult at best. New scientific paradigms take time . . . and the dying off of the old defenders. Then, they too will be replaced. THAT is science. Continual questioning and challenging.
CAUSE? One “experiment” in 1949 seemed to show that if rats were given “too much” iodine their thyroid collapsed. This experiment was included in a review in the 1950s by the man who had conducted the experiment.
RESULT: all over the counter products health products containing iodine — of which there were many — were removed from drug stores, etc.
PROBLEM? Iodine is essential for fertility, brain development, intelligence, and proper physical health. And iodine levels in the soil vary considerably from region to region.
FEAR OF VITAMIN D
CAUSE? In the 1950s in England there was a “scare” that too much vitamin D could result in facial abnormalities in infants. The few cases of facial abnormalities found may have been genetic. At that time Vitamin D was being given in massive amounts to treat arthritis — 100,000 units — without any other problems noted.
RESULT: Vitamin D which had been added to foods and milk — stopped being added altogether in Europe. In the US it was still added in the milk.
PROBLEM? Vitamin D is not just a vitamin. It is actually more of a hormone that is essential for over hundreds of reactions within the human body. Currently, 42% of the population is deficient and this is higher in the elderly, and those taking acid reflux medication, etc.
FEAR OF CHOLESTEROL / SATURATED FATS
CAUSE: Cholesterol was found in the blocked arteries of men who died of heart attacks.
RESULT: The conclusion was that the cholesterol had caused the blockage and was dangerous. The word went out that it was to be removed from all diets. Butter was replaced with “healthier” margarine made from polyunsaturated vegetable oils.
PROBLEMS: It seems that cholesterol (and other saturated fats) is one of the primary components of the human brain and nervous system. In addition it works synergistically with Vitamin D to help with multiple reactions throughout the body. The polyunsaturated fats that replaced saturated fats were primarily omega 6’s that were chemically “slower” in reactive times. This was bad for neurological systems but great for food producers as products with slow fats could sit far longer on the shelf without going bad.
FEAR OF SUNLIGHT
CAUSE: A correlation between sun exposure and skin cancers especially melanoma.
RESULT: A widespread belief that sunscreen was essential to put on every time we are outside — and that it was especially important for children.
PROBLEM: Sunscreen does prevent our skin from making vitamin D from the sunlight. Sunlight is a very efficient way for the body to produce vitamin D especially in the young. See problems with insufficient vitamin D. And sunscreen does not protect against melanoma.
PROBLEM: generations of children growing up without even minimal vitamin D — which is essential for hundreds of bodily functions.
FEAR OF SALT
FEAR: Salt causes high blood pressure.
RESULT: Salt content was lowered in baby food, restaurant food, packaged foods.
PROBLEM: Salt in the form of salt from the sea (or old ocean deposits) contains all the minerals that are in our blood stream and in exactly the same proportions. In the 1920s processed salt removed “impurities” and added aluminum to make it pour. That significantly reduced the minerals and trace elements needed by human bodies. Then this fear of salt as a cause of high blood pressure — a factor in maybe 10% of cases —again reduced the mineral content of food.
Food for Thought
In 2001 John le Carré published The Constant Gardener. In it the hero discovers that his wife’s murder was not random. It was part of a conspiracy. And he learns that the roots of the conspiracy stretch further than he could have imagined; to a German pharmawatch NGO, an African aid station, and, most disturbingly to him, corrupt politicians in the British Foreign Office.
In his afterward to his book, he writes that “by comparison with the reality, my story [is] as tame as a holiday postcard”
I have the old fashioned idea that taking care of my health is MY RESPONSIBILITY. Sure, good genes, diet and exercise help. But, I keep on looking around for what I can do to live a healthier life. Earthing or Grounding is what we all used to do — back before shoes. Then when we started wearing shoes with rubber soles instead of leather soles our disconnect from the earth got even worse. Below is the abstract from an article on Earthing and the link to the full article in the journal EXPLORE.
Earthing (also known as grounding) refers to the discovery that bodily contact with the Earth’s natural electric charge stabilizes the physiology at the deepest levels, reduces inflammation, pain, and stress, improves blood flow, energy, and sleep, and generates greater well-being. Such effects are profound, systemic, and foundational, and often develop rapidly. Earthing is as simple as routinely walking barefoot outdoors and/or using inexpensive grounding systems indoors while sleeping or sitting, practices that restore a lost and needed electric connection with the Earth
Once we realize that we are not just a bag of chemicals — once we understand that we are bioelectrical beings — beings designed to be connected to the earth — then earthing starts to make sense.
Florence Nightingale took on the generals and doctors during the Crimean War of 1853-56 and she said: “There is not an official who would not burn me like Joan of Arc if he could.”
This is the response humans in power have when their authority is questioned by new ideas and by “outsiders”. Fortunately for the soldiers and the sick in years to come, Florence had friends in high places. And so sanitation, hygiene, and fresh air prevailed. At least for a time.
New ideas are hard for us. For example, the men running the Boston Marathon refused to use the chip to determine winners.. . for decades! Why? Old men in power! My wonderful husband wrote a well-reasoned letter to explain how runners were being cheated out of age group awards by this failure. He doubted that it helped. But, the younger men could well have used his “evidence” to finally prevail.
It happens in every field. It seems we are not good at building new mental maps. And we are even worse at discarding OLD MENTAL MAPS.
My goal this year will be to explore some of the new mental maps I have been building. Building slowly . . . to be sure. But mental maps affect the way information is sorted, processed and used. Information is virtually useless if it is not housed in a meaningful structure. So! Let us BEGIN!
Iʻm in my Emotional Shallows right now. And it is cold, wet and boggy. But, the amazing thing is that I am aware of where I am. Yesterday I confessed to my oldest daughter that I didn’t have a “nuanced grasp” of my emotions. She asked how I dealt with them and I said “I guess they are either ON or OFF”.
We both burst out laughing . . . that statement we SAD but TRUE. And now I realize WHY it is that we need to give each other the Gift of Time — Time for an Extroverted Intuitive Self (me) to reach out into my Auxiliary Functions — Feeling and Thinking — and gently call them up. Asking them to work together to help me feel and think and gradually understand.
It takes TIME! And when people don’t understand how SLOW I am and keep pushing me to come to a conclusion I get angry. Well, Anger IS the first defensive reaction of the Feeling function. But, anger is only supposed to buy me some Time.
Too often I have refused to go into the boggy shallow of my Feeling Function. So, I can understand WHY “helpful” souls want to push and tug at me to “COME on IN”. But, gosh! Look at all those brambles. I need to go and get my wadding boots on! I need a helper. And the Helper cannot be the one that I feel is pulling and pushing me.
As far as detoxing our bodies go . . . this photo says what NOT TO DO! NO SUGAR!!! And if we are wise no grains and few carbs. Dr. Wahl’s in her book the Wahl’s Protocol goes further with 9 cups of vegetables every day. We are working our way forward, Dr. Wahls.
But detoxing our souls? That prescription for a friend with cancer came from my acupuncturist — a wise and learned man.
He has yet to send me information so I will speak a few words from my own experience. Cleaning up my soul began with forgiving myself. I used Centering Prayer silent retreats. I used my dear Spiritual Director and most of all I used Confession. Confession was hard as folks would argue with me — how could losing my daughter Patty to cancer be MY FAULT? But, I am not talking RATIONAL here. So, when I accused myself — I stopped — I took it seriously — I felt the pain and guilt — and I went to God (In the Jesus mode) and said, “I AM SO SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME.”
And God did.
Actually, after a fair time of working on my failures — omission and commission — forgiving other folks wasn’t all that hard.
There are a few other Actions and Attitudes that help BUT I will talk about them tomorrow.
So, just a week ago I said I was CHEATING on the fiber. I mean I eat a lot of veggies and it still wasn’t enough so had ordered fiber gummy bears.
But, that is SLOW even nowadays. So I went to Costco and picked up these.
One week later I am three pounds lighter. And that was this morning! It is now5:00 p.m. and I haven’t eaten . . . not hungry!
OK! OK! I have known for years that fiber is important. I think our Paleo ancestors ate around 100 grams of fiber a day — compared to our 15 or 20. I understood that our gut micro biome needs fiber for the bacteria to grow on. Kind of like coral reefs for tropical fish.
But, knowing wasn’t helping. Funny how that works.
My oldest daughter and health advisor said that starting iodine supplements a month before prepared the way. No doubt that helped . . . as well as the omega 3 I’ve been on for years.
Simply, by “cheating” and adding 15 to 20 additional grams of fiber to my daily intake I have lost weight and have less belly fat/bloat. It feels GOOD (strange, too) to suck in my belly and have it go in.
So, I thought WHY NOT SHARE THIS INFO? Good luck to us all! (I’ll report in next week.)
Really, I’m embarrassed! But, after years of knowing that I NEED fiber I’m finally going to cheat and add it the easy way. I have been cooking vegetables LOTS of vegetables but that is not enough. So, today I ordered FIBER EASY and will see where I am at the end of the month.
I am a perfect example of the difference between KNOWING and DOING!!!
Here is Kit ready to board the bus to go out 26.2 miles to the start of the Boston Marathon in Hopkinton. Happy . . . smiling and off to a GREAT first half at 2:28.
Then his gas gave out and we (me plus four faithful friends who brought lunch and helped me watch) saw him at mile 21 walking up Heartbreak Hill(s). So BEAT! I made my way through the barricade and gave him a big hug, a bottle of water and got him to chew on a shot block. We waved him on . . .
. . .only to find out when I met him after the race — that maybe a mile or so after we saw him he fell. . . he says a barricade fell as he leaned on it. He was in a medical tent for 15 minutes while they checked his vitals and then when he promised to walk they let him go back on the course. Being Kit all he could tell me was HOW NICE EVERYONE WAS!!!! I asked if he told them he was 81? He had. Because biased as I am I don’t think he LOOKS 81.
So, I did manage to see him a second time JUST before he turned the corner on to Boylston St. and the finish line. It isn’t a good shot because I spent most of my time YELLING KIT KIT KIT. . . and waving my hat! He is FOCUSED. As he told me, “THERE WAS NO WAY I WASN’T GOING TO FINISH! And he did in 6:08.
Subversive Health 