Health – This Green World

The film health analogy

November 2, 2015 Doug Pope

Crew at work on the film Shanghai Calling.

Here’s a thought experiment: could we compare the way we look after our health with the way that films are made? A film-making team has to be decisive, yet flexible. There is usually a strong core leader who co-ordinates the talents of more specialized technicians. These talents include writers, actors, set designers, sound recordists, musicians and, of course, camera operators.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s consider the camera department. There’s a DOP, the director of photography, who co-ordinates three divisions: 1) camera operators and assistants, who are responsible for the care and preparation of the camera and lenses, as well as the logging of any footage that is recorded; 2) gaffers and electricians, who are responsible for lighting any given scene and providing electricity for those lights; 3) grip team, who are responsible for mounting the camera on dollies and other devices, when a moving shot is required. The DOP works with the director to achieve a desired look for the film. The film needs to be stylish, but also shot in an efficient and timely manner. Artistic and practical concerns need to be balanced. It is essential that there be a managing intelligence that co-ordinates related tasks.

Are there similar divisions to health? For the sake of argument, here’s my list: 1) exercise; 2) diet; 3) check-up, testing and body repair. Other areas that might also be mentioned include having a positive attitude, cultivating good relationships with other people, and living in a clean and safe environment. To keep it simple, I’ll focus on the first three: diet, exercise and body repair. Are there knowledgable guides who can assist us in each of these areas? Yes, there are. For exercise, we might employ an fitness coach, a yoga instructor, or take classes at a gym. Or we might join with friends to form hockey leagues, bike clubs, and engage in swimming sessions of our own. Friends and specialists help motivate us and raise our level of activity and fitness. For diet, we might go a naturopath, or take cooking classes, or exchange information on healthy food with gardening friends or with venders at a market. For body-repair, we see a doctor or go to a clinic for tests and x-rays.

The question that follows, using my film analogy, is: who is the DOP of our health? Who is the guiding intelligence co-ordinating and directing the related needs of exercise, diet and body repair? The answer is ourselves. We are responsible for our own health and the health of our children. When I say this, I believe we still need coaches, we still need friends and motivators. We need to seek advice and educate ourselves with the best information available.

We tend to think of health, if we think of it at all, as having to do with doctors and hospitals. But these hardly cover the full spectrum of health. The spectrum they cover has to do with breakdown, an area none of us want. What we really want and need is optimal health and for this, we have to look for counsel and support outside of the medical field.

In conclusion: think of health as a film project and assemble a team to help you cover all the angles. What results is a film worth watching, a body that thrives on its own well being.

Health

Wellness Wall

April 17, 2015 Doug Pope

Artist Miro Davis at the opening of her “Wellness Wall” in the Dixon Building of the QE II Health Science Centre in Halifax

Imagine a volcanic landscape of giant barnacles bursting through the drab surface of a hospital wall. Imagine these barnacles fired inside by a magic blue light. Such is the vision of Halifax-based multi-media artist Miro Davis. Last night her glowing art installation, “Barnacle Tides Wellness Wall,” was unveiled for the public. The artist, originally from Vancouver, came to Halifax in 1995 to study at NSCAD. She’s been here ever since, serving as artist-in-residence at the Dalhousie Medical School in 2012. Davis is inspired by motifs from nature and works with a variety of materials to transform public spaces, often involving people who are connected with the space in the creation of the artwork. In the present case, Davis worked with cancer patients and their families to create designs that were transferred to coloured glass, before being embedded in a fantastically contoured wall, shaped from clay. The glass and clay installation is lit from behind with a brilliant blue light to create a stunning effect, turning a small hospital waiting area into a expansive space with a sense of openness and possibilty. The project was funded jointly by the Robert Pope Foundation and the QE II Foundation.

At the opening, patients involved in the project spoke about how much the experience of working with Davis meant to them. Some of the patients involved have since died and their relatives described the wall as a lasting legacy. Folk singer Lenny Gallant composed a song for the occasion called “If these walls could talk.” This one surely can.

Thích Nhất Hạnh: Diet & Social Transformation

April 15, 2015 Joanne Light

The power of two: Thich Nhat Hanh meets Oprah

Vietnamese peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh took religion out of the monastery and onto the street with his notion of “engaged Buddhism.” His insight into the way that individuals participate in social change was formulated during the Vietnam War and endorsed by Dr. Martin Luther King, who nominated Thích Nhất Hạnh for a Noble Prize in 1967. The Buddhist teacher has influenced celebrities, lay people and clerics from different faiths. It is inspiring to hear Thích Nhất Hạnh’s views on diet, protecting oneself from harmful influences.

Mindful Consuming
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I vow to cultivate good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking and consuming. I vow to ingest only items that preserve peace, well-being, and joy in the body, in my consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family and society. I am determined not to use alcohol or any other intoxicant or to ingest foods or other items that contain toxins, such as certain TV programs, magazines, books, films, and conversations. I am aware that to damage my body or my consciousness with these poisons is to betray my ancestors, my parents, my society, and future generations. I will work to transform violence, fear, anger, and confusion in myself and in society by practicing a diet for myself and for society. I understand that a proper diet is crucial for self transformation and for the transformation of society.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Thierry Vrain: Food Science Whistle-blower

April 15, 2015 Doug Pope

It’s funny how ideas spread. Ideas can be suppressed for a time, distorted and disputed, but some ideas have such resilience and vitality that they do not go away. They simmer under the surface of popular culture and mainstream media, then suddenly explode onto public consciousness.

Such an idea is that of Thierry Vrain’s lecture on Food, Ecology and Health. Vrain is a retired Canadian government food scientist, (formerly Head of Biotechnology at Agriculture Canada’s Summerland Research Station), currently a whistle-blower and organic gardener living on Vancouver Island. In a lecture from November, 2013, he recalls how, in the course of his research, he came across a document arguing that synthetic fertilizers are damaging the soil, damaging the life of the soil. His first reaction was: “I didn’t know that. I didn’t learn that in graduate school.” He intensified his research. “Because if you tell me that organic is better for you, or organic is more nutritious, I say, show me the data.”

What he found was the data was convincing and impossible to ignore. “That’s when I converted. And I think it’s because I became organic that I was prepared to read more widely. Over the last 5 to 7 years I’ve read a lot of studies, published scientific studies, that cite serious problems with this technology. When I was in the field, the paradigm was this is great technology, we are god, we can do wonderful things, we are going to do absolutely beautiful wonderful things for agriculture. I was told this was a green technology and I did not argue or question that like a lot of my colleagues. It was understood that this was the paradigm of the time, the dogma. Now I have basically changed my position. Tonight what I’m going to present to you is disturbing. Some of you may know of it already, some of you may be surprised, some of you may be shocked and some of you will be angry.” Vrain’s full lecture outlines the history of the GMO revolution, starting in 1996, and its disastrous effects on the environment and human health.

Thierry Vrain’s talk is important on many levels. He raises issues about food safety, agricultural practice, and the corruption of science by corporations. Most importantly, his talk promotes an enlarged understanding of health based on the view of the human body as an ecosystem regulated by micro-organisms and our symbiotic relationship to them.

Thanks to Nigel Thornley for introducing us to the ideas and efforts of Thierry Vrain.

Food Rules

February 27, 2015 Doug Pope

Our world must be truly mad that we need a book like this, and yet we do. Though I just stumbled across it the other day, Food Rules by Michael Pollan, illustrated by Maira Kalman, is four years old, published in 2011. It’s lost none of its bite or relevancy. Pollan is the journalist author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, a pioneering look at what we eat and where it comes from, and Maira Kalman is a New Yorker illustrator who has invented her own humorous style of thinking out loud with pictures. Together they bring warmth and humanity back to the food table with a handful of simple rules.

The book asks how food ever got so complicated, so misleading, so contentious? It finds common ground not in pseudo-scientific jargon but in family wisdom and challenging quips. Here are a few samples: Rule 6: “Avoid food products with more than five ingredients.” Rule 13: “Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.” Rule 16: “Go food shopping every week.” Rule 22: “It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.” Rule 25: “Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.” Rule 28: “Eat your colours.” Rule 45: “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.” Rule 53: “Pay more, eat less.” Rule 65: “Give some thought to where food comes from.” Rule 75: “No labels on the table.”

While I’m reading this delightful little book, my wife returns home from a “Food Nutrition Education Party,” organized by a friend of a friend. It used to be tupperware parties, than stretch-wear parties, now it’s food education parties. Those attending the event were grappling with feeding their families in the midst of launching careers, tight budgets, busy schedules, and baffling conflicts of information.

I’m reminded of how I come home from meetings at the Ecology Action Centre, frustrated that no one in the room can agree on anything to do with food. Kathleen answers: you know about the latest theories of change, don’t you? You’ve heard of chaos theory? Two people adjust their diets and this has an unexpected effect somewhere else–an organic farmer is able to expand his business, say. A hundred thousand small changes each trigger further changes. None of this can be plotted or predicted. But the cumulative effect is powerful and creates a entirely new way of thinking and doing things.

Pollan and Kalman are among the friendly but chaotic non-plotting agents of change. I sense something changing the minute Pollan asks: “What is going on deep inside the soul of a carrot that makes it so good for us?” Or again when he notes how “seventeen thousand new products show up in the supermarket each year, all vying for your food dollar. But most of these items don’t deserve to be called food–I prefer to call them edible foodlike substances. They’re highly processed concoctions designed by food scientists, consisting mostly of ingredients derived from corn and soy that no normal person keeps in the pantry, and they contain chemical additives with which the human body has not been long acquainted. Today much of the challenge of eating well comes down to choosing real food and avoiding these industrial novelties.” The book advises the reader to avoid traps set by clever marketers and to rely on simple undisguised whole foods. More than this, to follow a sensible and disciplined approach toward food to enhance quality of life through better health. In the process, a new invigorated food culture emerges.

Maira Kalman’s illustrations are worth noting. Colourful, painterly, charming, full of wit and attention to detail by an artist who is curious about other people. I especially like the picture of the Eat More Grocery Store with isles labled “despair,” “anxiety,” “sadness” and “anger.” If you like this artist, you might enjoy the personal and idiosyncratic flow of Kalman’s TED talk.

Will This Doctor Change Diets & Reform Medicine?

January 27, 2015 Doug Pope

Dr. Davis signs books at his recent talk in Halifax

Dr. William Davis signs his book during his recent talk in Halifax. Photo by Kathleen Rosborough

His plan is ambitious and controversial. Dr. William Davis, American cardiologist and author of Wheat Belly, is touring Canada and the United States, urging people to rethink the way they eat and safeguard their health. Last night he spoke in Halifax from Spatz Auditorium in Citadel High School to a receptive audience of 200 people, most of them thin and well-informed on food matters. Dr. Davis’s lecture summarized key ideas from his best selling book Wheat Belly, starting with the notion of self-empowerment–looking after yourself through good nutrition and sensible food habits instead of relying on drugs and medical interventions. The lecture argues that the consumption of wheat and related wheat products has led to a national health crisis and distorted our outlook on medicine. Dr. Davis also spoke of his health institute and latest collaborations with young filmmakers.

For me, the most interesting part of the evening was the question and answer session, moderated by Nancy Reagan. Responding to a variety of questions, Dr. Davis displayed quickness of mind, as well as a kind, patient manner and deep concern for others.

“No one would be in this room right now,” Dr. Davis stressed, “if all you wanted was better health. Everyone here wants ideal health. You all want to feel the best that you can possibly feel.”

Dr. Davis makes a distinction between two kinds of medicine, the traditional medicine that treats infections and broken bones, and modern medicine which treats chronic diseases brought about by poor nutrition and environmental factors. Dr. Davis believes that treatments for chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease should start with nutrition and not with drugs and medical interventions. The health system needs to be reformed, along with a substantial effort to re-educate the general public.

Dr. Davis was asked about sugar. Isn’t it as bad or worse than wheat in its effect on people’s health? Dr. Davis’s answer surprised many in the audience. “The gliadin in wheat,” he said, “is a powerful addictive substance. Gliadin induces cravings for sweet, makes us feel always hungry, dulls our taste senses and brings on brain fog and depression. Cut out the gliadin and you will no longer crave sweet. You will no longer feel like you need to eat a Snicker’s bar, and if you do eat a Snicker’s bar, you’ll find it tastes too sweet, sickeningly sweet, because your taste buds will no longer be impaired.”

“The other thing about sugar, if you eat candy or jelly beans, no one pretends that it’s good for you. But with wheat, it’s the base of the food pyramid. Food Canada, the FDA, and the Diabetes Association promote wheat as something that’s healthy and beneficial.” Dr. Davis suggested a simple test anyone can try at home using a blood testing kit sold at any drugstore. “For this test, take a blood sugar reading two hours before you eat. Most people will get a reading of around 5. Then eat two sluices of bread, wait an hour, and take another reading. For most people, their blood sugar will spike up to 9 or 10. This is a dangerous diabetic level! Yet the Diabetes Association endorses bread as a healthy form of nutrition. It’s not. So to answer your question: cut out wheat and your sugar problem will disappear.”

Dr. Davis was flooded with questions along these lines: “Sure, I can cut out bread, but what about oats, what about quinoa, what about rice, what about beer?” It seems, there’s always one food item that’s hardest to let go of. Dr. Davis’s answer never wavers: “Rice isn’t as bad as wheat, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy. All ‘seeds of grasses’ are genetically similar; all share dangerous elements that over time will impair your health and lead to chronic disease.”

Dr. Davis was asked, “If people around the world all removed grain and rice products from their diets, then wouldn’t people starve? What are the implications for combating the world’s most pressing hunger issues?” Dr. Davis acknowledged that this is indeed a difficult question. “If your view is too short-term, then the question cannot be properly answered. You have to appreciate the magnitude of the problem. The introduction of grains into the human diet (over the last 10,000 years) was a terrible mistake. The mistake has escalated in the last 50 years with the development of mutated grains. A mistake like this is not solved by Tuesday, it’s not corrected in a week or a year’s time. It may well take 100 to 200 years to fix this problem.”

As background for this blog, I read many reviews and Internet articles on Dr. Davis and was amazed at the invective and defensive arguments advanced by those who feel threatened by his message. My own view is this: if you’re healthy and happy, you may not need to change your diet, but if you’re not as healthy as you’d like to be, or if you suffer from a chronic condition that the medical community are unable to cure, then what have you got to lose? My wife and I have given up bread for three months now and the health benefits have been substantial, well worth our effort to make the change. To get a sense of Dr. Davis’s message, I recommend the following videos. In the first 10 minute clip, Dr. Davis speaks with Julie Daniluk about his own personal journey to health, problems and misconceptions he had to overcome, and the lessons he’s learned from treating patients in his own practice. In the second 60 minute clip, Dr. Davis delivers his full lecture on the dangers of wheat in people’s diets.

The Great Milk Debate Part 2

January 25, 2015 Nigel Thornley

I have just read Julia K’s post regarding the safety of cow’s milk as food for humans and would like to make a few comments. Julia is absolutely right in her assessment of milk and osteoporosis. I discovered the same thing 30 or 40 years ago, and drank milk substitute for many years (mostly rice milk). However this objection doesn’t condemn all dairy products. She is certainly right, that we don’t need to eat dairy for the calcium. If we are Vitamin D and K2 sufficient, with supporting co- nutrients, then almost any diet will have enough calcium for our needs, as we really only need 200 to 300 mg a day at minimum. We also need to eat an approximately balanced ratio with potassium and phosphorous, and they are harder to get.

She is also right to flag problems with growth hormones. Fortunately, we don’t allow growth hormones in dairy cattle in Canada. Just don’t consume US dairy and you will dodge that.

Julia mentions the damaging nature of pasteurization. When we talk about grocery store milk, we aren’t really evaluating the original product, i.e. raw milk, which has many positive aspects. For those interested in more info, I recommend Dr. Kate Shanahan’s book, Deep Nutrition, which contains much useful info on milk and pasteurization.

Julia refers to the relationship between high protein content and metabolic disturbances. Milk is relatively high in protein. The metabolic products of protein are acidifying. Too much acid creates problems with PH levels in the body. Another concern is that proteins can convert to glucose in your body, raising problems associated with high blood sugar levels. This problem is accentuated when consuming 1 and 2 % milk. But, if you are eating cream, yogurt and cheeses that are full fat, then the protein level in them is low and the story is different. Especially if it is a fermented product, where the bacteria have transformed it into something more suitable for us to digest. Fortunately I happen to like old cheese, and the older the better. I say fortunately, because a significant quantity of my daily fats come from dairy. But I don’t drink whole milk itself, for the many of the reasons Julia cites.

Another worrying side of milk, is what food the cow eats. These days, dairy cows are fed primarily grains and corn. The corn is almost certainly GMO, and both of them would have been sprayed with and contain residual levels of Roundup. The grains will change the omega 3 / omega 6 ratio of the fats to the unfavourable one, high in omega 6’s. I would love to find cheese etc. made from grass fed cows milk, but don’t know anywhere I can get it. The inflammation I am struggling to suppress now may be in part due to this bad ratio, since omega 6’s are inflammatory.

Is Cow’s Milk Healthy for People?

January 20, 2015 Julia K - R.H.N.

The famous question ” Is cow’s milk the best option for optimal health” was brought to me by Oxford Chiropractic, and here was one of my answers.

This topic is a BIG one and sometimes can be a bit controversial. With more and more studies being done on how milk is being produced and what it actually does to our bodies, we are starting to see that cows milk is not a healthy option for us humans.

There are many different routes I could take to answer this question with the ever-growing lists of reasons why, including; the pasteurization process; growth hormones and antibiotics which are given to cows to help produce the milk; the fact that cow’s milk is custom-designed for calves and contains 3 times more protein than human milk, which creates metabolic disturbances in humans; humans over the age of 4 do not produce the proper enzymes to breakdown lactose: and the list goes on and on!! But today I want to focus on how drinking cows milk can actually be harmful to our bone health!

The milk myth… ” Cow’s milk is a protein and calcium-rich drink that is essential to support good overall bone health at any age”…is widely used and often referred to when thinking about overall health. It is easy to understand the confusion about milk’s benefits because it does contain calcium – around 300 mg per cup.
However, not only do we barely absorb the calcium in cow’s milk (especially if pasteurized), but to make matters worse, it actually increases calcium loss from the bones! Like all animal protein, milk acidifies the body pH which in turn triggers a biological correction. Calcium is an excellent acid neutralizer and the biggest storage of calcium in the body is in the bones. So, the very same calcium that our bones need to stay strong is utilized to neutralize the acidifying effect of milk. Once calcium is pulled out of the bones, it leaves the body via the urine. So the surprising net result after drinking milk, is an actual calcium deficit!

* Statistics show that countries with the lowest consumption of dairy products also have the lowest fracture incidence in their population!

Show of Hands on Fish Farming

January 9, 2015 Doug Pope

Cooke Aquaculture’s salmon farm off Meteghan, Nova Scotia. (Photo by Adrien Veczan)

Yesterday’s press conference held at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax was greeted by a room jam-packed with 400 concerned citizens. The purpose of the meeting was to send a loud and clear message to the McNeil government to put order into the chaotic affairs of fish-farming in Nova Scotia. Those who were there witnessed an impressive show of leadership and collaboration by a wide coalition of community, environmental and commercial groups (in all 33 different organizations). Many of these groups had started in total opposition to unregulated open net fish pens in shallow waters but today rally together to support a comprehensive solution. The meeting contained an underlying warning that the recently issued Doelle-Lahey report must be adopted in full to be accepted by a disgruntled public and by a growing number of alarmed fishermen. Half measures won’t do.

Stewart Lamont, of Tangier Lobster stated: “The status quo is a wild west show in Nova Scotia in terms of what can be done in open net pen farms.”

Raymond Plourde, from the Ecology Action Centre, was asked by a reporter why his group’s endorsement of the report was so guarded. Plourde replied that if he had his way open net fish pens in shallow waters would be banned entirely. He went on to give his reasons: too many fish are jammed together (in one case over 2 million fish contained in one netted pen in a cove near Lunenburg) resulting in diseases and parasites that migrate from the farmed fish to wild fish, endangering the total fish populations. As well, the waste products and pesticides used on the fish destroy sea beds in local harbours. Plourde explained that lobsters from Nova Scotia fetch top prices around the world (and support a billion dollar local industry). The reason for this great success is the belief that these lobsters come from pristine waters. This is true, but may not be for long if fish farms continue their unregulated and unsafe practices.

Vitamin D: Changing Attitudes to Medicine

January 3, 2015 Nigel Thornley

Nutrition is often treated as an after-thought by the public, by the media and by researchers who see medicine as a brave new world of wonder drugs, zappings, and other space-age procedures, played out in an arena of high technology. But this attitude may be changing. In his 2010 talk, Vitamin D: Role in Preventing Cancer, presented by the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, Dr. Cedric Garland makes a strong case for using Vitamin D as a primary means of cancer prevention. He starts his lecture by showing a map of the United States, colour-coded red to indicate the regions where breast cancer cases most commonly occur. He asks why cancer is more common in the northern latitudes of the industrial coal-burning Northeast and less common in the sunnier latitudes and less industrial regions of the country?

This map helped researchers correlate breast cancer rates and the degree of sunlight with its strong natural vitamin D component.

This map correlates breast cancer rates and the degree of sunlight with its strong natural vitamin D component.

Critics pooh pooh such stuff because it is epidemiological evidence, collected by analyzing associations between disease incidence and diet, environment, etc. This is only association, they say, it doesn’t prove causation. And they are right. The only absolutely rigorous proof is a double-blind placebo controlled study conducted with large numbers of people over a considerable period of time. Unfortunately, it is unlikely this is ever going to happen, because there’s no profit in it for the corporate interests. This kind of reasoning that rejects reasonable and helpful data because it is not definitive gives medical researchers (and the pharmaceutical body) a good excuse not to take any action in the direction of nutrition and environment. We don’t challenge the “experts” on this, bowing to their superior “knowledge and wisdom.” As a result, we find ourselves locked in a limbo state, where we generously fund “cancer research” to find the magical pharmaceutical silver bullet. The conveniently concealed knowledge is there is no such thing. The answer will never be found this way and thus there is a wonderful, endless source of funds and profit-taking from high priced drugs, which pretend to offer solutions, but don’t really.

The experts should be challenged. Although absolute causation cannot be proven, the circumstantial evidence is strong. So-called “primitive people,” living in places with lots of sun, and contemporary beach-patrolling lifeguards who have similar exposure to naturally-generated Vitamin D, have levels that fall between 50 and 80 nanograms per milliliter. In contrast, modern people who shun the sun, based on misguided fears of skin cancer, have levels drastically lower than that. Indoor lifestyles add to the problem, especially for those living in higher northern latitudes. The flu season clearly follows the winter low-sun time. In the southern hemisphere, the flu season is six months out of synchronism with the northern hemisphere, which is perfectly consistent with the “theory” that Vitamin D deficiency has an effect on immune systems.

Modern chronic diseases, rare in our hunter-gatherer ancestors, are now rampant in current populations. These chronic diseases consistently appear alongside lowering levels of Vitamin D in our blood, including a lower chance of cancer survival if diagnosed in the winter, rather than in the summer.

Popular fears that “high” Vitamin D3 use (above 2,000 IUs per day) is “dangerous” is a bunch of caplooey. This misrepresentation of D3 was caused by earlier use of Vitamin D2, which does have safety limits. D3 is altogether more effective than D2 and much safer. One of the surprises of Dr. Garland’s research was the discovery that the intake of D3 can be very safely taken up to levels of 10,000 per day, especially with the added precaution of taking K2 at the same time. The fact that I am vertical right now, and not dead, speaks volumes to that, on a personal note.

So, given there is a high likelihood that there is significant positive benefit to be had, implementation is cheap (pennies per day), and there are no negative side effects, then the position of the medical establishment, not to support and indeed encourage optimal Vitamin D levels in the general population, but especially as the first order of business when processing and treating a patient is untenable, and indeed negligent.

If I appear to criticize the medical establishment, it should be noted that many doctors are also speaking out and creating a lively debate on these matters. American author and educator Sayer Ji has created a forum for many of these voices. This forum may in time become a movement. Ji calls it “green medicine.” My blog today was inspired by new info posted by Sayer Ji about a late 2014 study that confirms a causal relationship between Vitamin D and positive treatments for breast cancer. The authors of this study state (a bit evasively and not clearly enough for my liking, but perhaps due to legal advice) that the present treatment protocol for breast cancer in many cases either makes the situation worse or actually precipitates the dreaded metastasis, totally against the medical precept of “do no harm.” Many breast “cancers” are groups of somewhat abnormal cells, but among these are cancer stem cells, which are resistant to radiation and/or chemo treatments. By employing such invasive therapies, the majority of the mild mass of the tumour is destroyed, but leaves the stem cells untouched. After treatments, these resistant stem cells congeal in much greater proportion and spread rapidly. The tumour becomes highly malignant, leading to the death of the patient in short order. Whereas, if it had been left undisturbed, the condition may not have developed or would have done so much more slowly. The authors argue that getting sufficient Vitamin D to the patient may enable the body to clear the problem altogether.

Indeed, by encouraging the general population to take regular meaningful intake of nutrients such as Vitamin D3 as a matter of course, patients may be capable of dealing with errant cells at the first sign of cells going off track, and thus preventing any incident whatsoever. Indeed the almost total absence of all cancers in “primitive” or traditional peoples proves that optimally nourished humans are fully capable of dealing with wayward cells as they occur. I think this preventive nutrition-oriented approach is really the best scenario, and the one that I would favour promoting in our public health strategy.

Let’s try a test

When I use the term optimally nourished, I hesitate to restrict this just to the use of Vitamin D. Vitamin D works best as a co-factor with other nutrients such as magnesium, Vitamin K2 and Vitamin A. I would like to see a representative slice of the general population treated with optimal nourishment. What if half a dozen doctors, across the province, offered to supply patients with Vitamin D, etc. and then regularly measured their nutrient levels, with steps taken to “optimize” levels, as needed? These nutrition-supported patients would be monitored for how many and what kind of medical events they have for at least a couple of years, but ideally for many years. They could then be compared, on an ongoing basis, to the rest of the provincial population, and a reckoning of the cost savings (I am pretty confident there would be savings) produced from time to time, to prove the financial advantage, without even having to deal with the less clearly defined “quality of life” advantage. I think a study of this kind could be fairly low cost, and worth while. So, without dealing with the thorny issue of proving absolute causation, proving financial advantage is all it would take to make a very compelling case.