failures are not counted and not reported. Perhaps we’ d do well to keep in mind Ohsawa’ s maxim:“ All diseases can be cured, but not all people.” From what I’ ve been able to discern, some diseases of accumulation, such as arthritis, cardiovascular problems, and early cancers, can and do respond well to changes in diet. The no-nightshades diet( see this page), regardless of the disdain of official medicine, seems to be extremely effective for arthritic conditions, joint pains, and bursitis. The no-salt, no-fat approach is widely successful in treating accumulations in the blood vessels. Metabolic healing systems and macrobiotics point to a significant number of cancer cures, collectively as high as, if not higher than, those claimed by standard medicine. a Unfortunately, I have not heard of any sustained success with dietary management for the disorders of neurological degeneration such as Parkinson’ s, MS, Alzheimer’ s, or Gehrig’ s disease( amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). After all the research I have done on dietary systems, I’ ve come to the conclusion that improper food is probably not the direct cause of these problems. They seem to arise, rather, after frequent suppression by chemical means of the minor imbalances and discharges caused by improper diet; among the most common of these is that of indigestion relieved by commercial antacids. I know of at least three cases, two of ALS and one of Alzheimer’ s, in which the patient consumed an over-the-counter antacid preparation daily for ten to twenty years. A possible culprit is aluminum, a heavy metal present in many of those medications; 21 this substance has apparently been detected, upon autopsy, in the brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer’ s disease.( Other common sources of aluminum include commercial salt if it includes sodium silico aluminate, baking powder and therefore all baked goods that contain it, antiperspirants, and aluminum cookware.) It is my belief that the widespread use of antibiotics and vaccinations is probably among the main causes of immune system disorders. 22
As the defender and guardian of our body integrity, the immune system has as its main job to distinguish between self and nonself; it will therefore attack, destroy, and expel foreign bodies such as bacteria, viruses, grafts, and transplants( unless it is suppressed). In cases of disorder( allergies, asthma, lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, AIDS, and many others), the immune system actually makes a mistake and attacks the body’ s own tissues. When we add them all up, autoimmune disorders are probably the epidemic of our times, as a large proportion of the population suffers from at least one of these problems chronically. As a majority of the population of the Western world is also routinely immunized and frequently treated with antibiotics, both medical interventions that meddle with the immune system, I see a definite connection. b Several cases appear to support this connection. All the people I’ ve seen with AIDS also had an extensive history of antibiotic use. One of my students was diagnosed as suffering from lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disorder; we traced the timing of her attacks and found that each and every one of them came right after a cold that had been treated with antibiotics. Another woman with melanoma and a brain tumor had had throughout her life a fair number of smallpox and other vaccinations due to her frequent travels abroad. A beautiful young girl developed MS a few months after a series of smallpox vaccinations that were given to try to“ boost” her immune system; she tried every dietary and herbal cure on earth to stem the inexorable disease; but none worked. My heart ached as I saw her come to my classes each time weaker and weaker, and finally in a wheelchair, unable to focus her eyes or to write. I think it’ s not unreasonable to suspect that all the tampering and the“ boosting” and the chemical intervention in the immune system can cause that damage. When the damage is minor, a healing diet can allow self-healing to proceed. Unfortunately, when the immune system is seriously damaged by medication, it is often extremely difficult— though not impossible— to repair body function with food, for the efficacy of food as a medicine hinges solely on its ability to support and stimulate the immune system. It never hurts, of course, to clean up the diet even if it seems unlikely that such a change will cure a major illness. If you’ ve been eating much meat, sugar, fats, dairy, commercially prepared and salted foods, with few fresh vegetables or whole grains, a switch to a nondairy vegetarian, macrobiotic, or whole-grain regime will certainly help the organism clean itself up as much as possible. At least you will be assured that you’ re not continuing to make things worse. You may experience some surprising remissions or disappearances of longstanding small annoyances, such as dandruff or insomnia or hives. Pain, of any kind, will most often be alleviated. Even when the outlook is grim, miracles are possible. All cures or long-lasting remissions of severe lifethreatening illnesses as an apparent result of diet that have come to my attention include a profound change on the emotional-spiritual level, and a subsequent total change in the individual’ s attitude toward life. In cases of serious illness, the best diet in the world is only minimally effective without that inner change. IN CONCLUSION