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Adult Diseases Begin in Childhood
By Don Bennett, DAS

An important thing to understand about ill-health is that it doesn't develop overnight. In most cases, disease takes years, even decades, to progress to the point where you get symptoms. The diagnosis may seem sudden, but the condition was a long time in the making. Take cancer for example. When my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer, the tumor was as big as my fist. The oncologist said it can take decades for a tumor to grow to be that size. How about diabetes? It is estimated that in another ten years 95% of the U.S. population will have it in some form. Ninety-five percent! Good news for the medical/pharmaceutical industries, bad news for the human race. For sale now are insulin pumps for children, decorated with their favorite T V characters, this in an effort to make diabetes easier to live with, and more acceptable. I prefer focusing on the cause, which is known, it's just not common knowledge. Avoiding degenerative disease is certainly better than having to deal with it.

When I was in my late teens, I experienced "roller-coaster" blood sugar levels. When my blood sugar was high, I couldn't sit still and couldn't concentrate; when it was low, I was without energy, and my thinking was fuzzy at best. When it was in the middle (normal), I felt great, and I loved life! This blood sugar level behavior, if allowed to continue, can lead to diabetes. If I hadn't adjusted my eating habits to halt this daily roller-coaster ride, I'd probably have diabetes today (regardless of genetic predisposition).

When my niece, Tiffany, was nine years old, she experienced abnormally high and low blood sugar levels (hyper- and hypo-glycemia), but more profoundly than I ever did, and at nine years old! When her level was low, you couldn't carry on a conversation with her, she was too out-of-it. And when it was high, well, don't try and take her anywhere in a car. The cause? Her diet. How do I know? When she spent time with me, she got no junk food, and no dairy products, only healthy fare (fruits and veggies), and her blood sugar levels remained in the normal range. When she eats right, she's a delight to be with; creative, articulate, bright, fun, eager to learn, and most notably, well behaved. Diet can have a profound effect on one's health, especially a child's.

Many children have been put on drugs to deal with symptoms that are most likely caused by an unhealthy diet. For most parents, this is due to a lack of knowledge, which is easy to remedy. For some parents however, even though they've been given truthful information, it's just easier to put the child on drugs than to impose, and have to enforce, strict dietary practices (granted, most school lunch programs don't make this any easier). And shame on the pharmaceutical companies that give school districts financial incentives to recommend that students be put on Ritalin or other drugs.

It seems to be the thing now-a-days to see how many acronyms can be created for "emerging" diseases. Is there an evil species on another planet that's pointing an ADHD/SAD/CFS ray, or a diabetes ray, at this planet? Or is it more likely that an unhealthy diet and the lack of attention to the other "Basics of Health" is to blame.
Even if a child's uneven blood sugar level is sociably tolerable, since it can lead to diabetes later on in life, isn't this reason enough to feed the child a healthy diet? Yes, drugs can control behavioral problems, but what if they are behavioral problems caused by an unhealthy diet. The drugs deal only with the behavior; what about the diet's damaging effects on the child's internal organs. The pancreas plays a big role in the management of blood sugar levels; damage the pancreas, say hello to diabetes.

A healthy diet in childhood is an investment in your future health. No one would argue that it is a wise thing to start investing for your financial future early in life, but how many of us actually think about investing for our future health? There are parallels between health and finances; if you wait too long to start investing, it can be a case of too little too late. An example of a good investment, health-wise: Eat pesticide-free, organically grown fruits and veggies, and avoid dairy and grain products.

Where do you go for sound, truthful health information? Well, I know people who were told by their doctor, in no uncertain terms, that they'd have to be on medication for the rest of their life. Yet, with adherence to proper lifestyle practices, they were able to eliminate the meds and the symptoms that warranted their prescription. Now, I'm not suggesting you stop taking medication, just that there's a lot of misinformation out there, and many mainstream (and alternative) healthcare practitioners are simply lacking truthful knowledge, so you can't blame them for relying on drugs when there are better options. The remedy? Educate yourself, keeping in mind that there is nothing more important than your health, or the health of your children. This will help you stay well ahead of the too-little-too-late curve.

Also read:
Obesity and Autism Epidemic in Children Linked to the Power of Cheese

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