Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 00:51:31 -0500
Subject: Re: chemo news
From: jab49@bellsouth.net
To: Brian & Barbara Mommsen <Brian@Omega55.com>
Hi Brian,
I'm back from chemo feeling really sick for some reason tonight. I hate taking these drugs they give me. All I do is sleep when I'm on them. Right now I could do with some sleep.
I got some positive feedback on your response to my Chemo news.
Jim
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On Thursday, January 30, 2003, at 11:17 AM, Brian & Barbara Mommsen wrote:
I just got the message from Clark Vegazo commenting on Jim's last 'chemo news' and Clark's general thoughts on health. So I am going to put in my 2-bits worth!
My mother was a nut too (health nut just being one of the stages) - reading everything she could about nutrition,flying saucers, and esoteric religions. We spent several years during my youth going the vegetarian route and I was a popular kid during school lunch as everyone wanted to see what weird stuff I brought to eat! If I got a cut while playing they would look at the strange color of my blood and how the bleeding stopped immediately. But the most important health 'teaching' she passed on to me was the dangers of the 'civilized' diet - refined carbohydrates and sugars, and the lack of enough dietary fiber to massage and cleanse the intestinal system.
As an anthropology major in college I directed my attention to studies about the diet of primitive societies and the impact made to their health when they adapted to the modern diet and life styles. The statistics are there to support the claim that the diseases we call the 'diseases of civilization', ( diabetes, stroke, arteriosclerosis, cancer, etc.), become great health problems for native peoples when they consume what we consider as 'normal levels' of refined carbs & sugar. Out of college and in the field I was able to see all of this happening first hand - Puerto Rico, Central America, Micronesia. But of course everything is much more complex then we ever want to admit, and factors of genetics, mental attitude (be positive!), pollution (natural & man made), and physical fitness can be as important to general health as diet!
As a naturalist and exotic animal collector in Central America ('75-'80) I learned a lot about the health of other species that influenced my personal nutritional behavior. Wild animals in captivity are subject to greater stress levels (suppressing their immune system), and they are in an environment that encourages disease ( the 'pollution' of less then a pristine environment). Besides the obvious task of keeping the animals and cages 'sanitized', and not overcrowding the cages, there was the challenge of boosting their immune system. All this sound familiar? Sounds a lot like our lives in the big city! Anyway - I found that the use of vitamin and mineral supplements made a very big difference in the health of the animals. So I have always studied their use for animals AND humans - trying to wisely use them myself for these many years.
Now we get to the interesting part. Vegetarianism. It is purely a human concept and not a part of the natural world. It involves as many misconceptions as the 'fat-free' diet. I had some pet monkeys down in Honduras and they did a lot of bitting of each other to the point of taking off pieces of tail (ok - no jokes about that!). Of course I had no 'monkey chow' (high protein dried animal food you can buy in the States) to fed them - so they just got fruit, nuts, and vegetables. Then it was pointed out to me that ALL primates eat any insects and any small animals that they can grab! So I started giving them strips of raw meat and they stopped the cannibalism. The reality is that all the herbivores either eat some small creatures, occasional carrion, or at the very least have a very rich diet of insects that they gather in with the grass! So it would be more accurate to call animals like cows herbivores/insectivores.
People's behavior can be cultural driven or self determined - but the fact remains we are evolved primates (with 2+ million years as a distinct species) with only a 10,000 year transition period from hunter/gatherer to farmer. Our genetic makeup is still that of our ancestors who ate a lot of meat and animal fat. That is why the Atkin's diet works and is healthy for humans! We have not developed a dual Bovine stomach - yet!
So I have been fortunate to have good health - an active and long life (so far). At the personal level, what would I credit for that state? Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll! Ha! No - I would say a big part of living long and having quality of life comes down to LUCK! My risky life style has prompted many people to ask me about the most dangerous situation I have faced - and I can honestly say; "Driving on I-95!" There are internal realities (mental/emotional concepts) and external realities (the world) in everyone's life that have to be dealt with - and we all weigh them differently. The trick is to deal with them wisely and hope our luck holds out!
Brian