Who is going to lead it and what happens to our “system” in the process?
We all know that our “system” of health-care is primarily “managing” a host of diseases that need never occur in the first place. Diseases like obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, osteoporosis, and yes — even cancer and Alzheimer’s. We’re spending some $2 trillion out of our total health care bill of $2.7 trillion unnecessarily. How so?
Medical doctors will always be needed for acute care but not so much for chronic diseases -- once we all learn how to eat the right food.
We now know from a combination of numerous scientific and clinical studies that a simple diet of whole, plant-based foods can make us “heart-attack proof” and can quickly reverse many diseases that we already have. Yet our “system” of medicine, big pharma, the USDA, the FDA, academia and food industry just keeps plodding along telling us the same harmful information and making the same products that cause most of our problems in the first place. So, how is it going to change itself from disease-care to health-care? A note from a reader in Texas (Robert B.) prompted me to address that question:
I have always been a big fan of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, and now there is someone who is promoting his principles of sound whole plant nutrition and prosperous living. We need to get the word out to all of the healthcare professionals who will listen and apply this data into their practice and in the lives of their patients. This will be true healthcare reform. Robert in San Antonio
Dear Robert, I appreciate your comment about Dr. Campbell and the era of “true health-care reform.” Like you say, wouldn’t it be great if today’s disease care professionals started “applying this new data” in their practices. But the sad part of it is that they wouldn’t be able to earn a living if they did. If 80 percent of our cost of health care were to gradually disappear, so would millions of today’s jobs.
An honorable profession, how many nurses do you need to take care of healthy people?
That’s because they’re really in the disease care business and therefore, only make money if we’re sick. They’ve all been trained to manage disease; how can we now expect them to suddenly start promoting health with dietary advice, in which they have had zero training. All of the medical doctors in our book learned about promoting health on their own — the same way you and I are doing.
And once the health-promoting diet becomes a part of our culture, we won’t need very many people telling us what we should be eating — or fixing the problems that are driven by eating the wrong food. In my opinion, true health-care reform will be driven by individual citizens like us — deciding to take charge of their own health. As that process gathers momentum, the “system” will gradually change. And that’s what we want; overnight change would be an economic disaster.
Savage Hall, home of the Department of Nutritional Science at Cornell University where Dr. Campbell earned his PhD. and taught for many years
But, with gradual change, the schools of medicine and schools of nutrition will re-vamp their teachings, current doctors and nurses will re-invent themselves as wellness coaches, and the food companies will simply deliver what the market wants — more and more delicious and nutritious, health-promoting, whole, plant-based foods.
What about the millions of people in the big pharmaceutical companies who are making drugs for the diseases that will soon be going away? They might want to think about a career change into a growing industry — something like “green energy.”
Drug companies; spending billions "searching for the cure" when it's been right under our noses all along -- it's what we put in our mouths. May I suggest a future career in "green energy?"
The exciting thing about what history will record as “the great food revolution of the twenty-first century” is that we are leading it. With the help of great scientific and clinical information from the likes of Esselstyn, Campbell and Ornish — along with the incredible power of the internet to circulate information, our grassroots revolution will gradually drive the inevitable change that will lead to true health-care reform.
Want to do your part? Please use the SHARE button below to spread the good news to those who are ready to hear the message — to those who are ready to take charge of their own health, thereby joining the grassroots revolution to change the world.
Thanks again for your comment, Robert. If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.
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—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com
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J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy. 
This is a difficult direction to move. But there will be movement whether by choice or not. As the world runs out of oil the cost will go up. As the cost of petroleum based products goes up so does the cost of fertilizer and gas. The governments will also continue to be under pressure due to economics. They will look to cut costs. The corn farmer will see his costs increase and the support of government decrease. The result will be an increasing cost of meat. As meat continues to increase vegetables will look better. What is the cost of a 25# bag of beans? In addition I think there is so much more publicity about the obesity issue. Costs of health care in the 1960 era were 4% of GNP. It is now 17% of GNP. The escalating cost of health care will drive people to seek better solutions. We are in the perfect storm and it is a storm. People will change or die. I am optimistic that things will get better. It will be in the next 50 years and hopefully sooner. There will come a time when we look back on this period as the black plague of health. We will wonder what we were doing. Go eat some broccoli.
Craig
Jim Morris Hicks,
I see you as the Messiah with a message but the path of influence is a difficult one. The change will not come in my lifetime (10-15 years) nor in yours.
I use my family as an example: 31 members. Number reading the Hick’s blogs…one (me). They are aware because I emailed all members to at least read them…score, 30 members, my influence-0, Zero, Nada! My family is the typical New York City second and third generation of Italians where olive oil is a way of life.
I have been preaching the plant food mantra for over 30 years. I have watched them as they developed their American diseases, especially obesity, diabetes, heart. Does my message resonate with them, no they are much to concerned about where would they get their protein and calcium from. My response, “the same place that cows get theirs.” They look at me as if I was part of a lunatic fringe group trying to subvert their “wonderful” American lifestyle of disease and death.
No, Jim, I don’t see change on a massive scale ever happening. It would be gradual, one person at a time, that would take forever, maybe never.
Sal Liggieri
P.S. Myself, my wife, her sister, brother-in-law are attending the McDougall ten day program, September 30-October 9. The sister and brother-in-law are both obese and sickly. Even with this effort, will they change, I don’t think so. Especially, the brother-in law, he has already had a quadruple bypass. He brags of the fact that he has never eaten a vegetable. How pathetic is that.
Jim
As the truth is being told daily by your blogs one of the things that crossed my mind was that in my own field of endeavor as a full time real estate professional with over 23 years of experience i have realized that the industry is changing and it does not take a brain surgeon to figure out that most of us will need to reinvent ourselves in our industry to stay alive and make a living. If i did what i did 23 years ago i would be out of business very soon. A good example of change is a great Wellness Chiropractic Doctor i met in NY (who is moving to RI) who has taken the approach of finding the cause and not treating the symptom and he has created an awesome business out of educating his patients to be well. Keep up the great messages to those who are open to change and allow the few that do to start a movement of millions.
From the Westerly Sea Side
Your friend Dan Liese
eXp Realty LLC 401-742-3216 dan.liese@exprealty.com