There's not much money in preventing disease, but there's a fortune to be made in treating it. Birth defects like these neural tube defects cost just pennies to prevent (folic acid is dirt cheap), but babies that are born with defects create hundred of thousands of dollars in revenues for hospitals, surgeons and pharmaceutical companies. It sounds brash, perhaps, but it's economic reality.
That may be one reason why so little has been done in the United States to try to
prevent disease. Virtually every modern
disease now threatening our population -- cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression and more -- has a nutritional basis... meaning that each is preventable through dietary changes alone.
In reality, the problem isn't that we haven't been putting
folic acid into flour, the problem is that we're stripping out all the folic acid in the first place. In the
United States, people love to buy and eat foods that have been stripped of the majority of their natural
nutrition. The milling process removes virtually everything that's good for you, leaving only empty calories. White flour, sugar, corn syrup... it's all the same disease-promoting stuff after it leaves the mill.
Only
whole grains are healthy grains. Whole
grains contain the bran, the fiber, the oils, the vitamins and the minerals that promote human
health. Instead of debating over what isolated nutrients we should
put back into the foods sold at grocery stores why don't we stop stripping them out in the first place?
You already know the answer, of course: because
healthy food has limited shelf life. And that makes it expensive for consumers and unprofitable for
food producers. Most people won't buy food that's good for them for the simple reason that it costs more than
healthy food.
So they'll save fifty cents right now by buying the cheap, processed food, and they'll spend a hundred thousand dollars on hospital bills ten years later as a result. Of course, few people connect the two events. Most people are short-term thinkers.
In addition, as I'm sure you'll agree, many people just don't know any better. That's why Internet education efforts are so critical to helping people get healthy. Keep reading, keep learning. And spread the word to help others.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a passion for sharing empowering information to help improve personal and planetary health He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams created NaturalNews.TV, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and martial arts training. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Monday, November 03, 2003
Email this article to a friend
Share this article on: 
Now Available from 
