Food is an amazing thing. Food can held prevent, treat and even cure many diseases, some of which are among the leading causes of death. In this essay, I will discuss some alternative food treatments' to certain diseases, ranging from hypertension (high blood pressure) to cancer.
I will begin with one of the leading causes of death: heart disease (Black, Hawks & Keene, 2001). You have a one in four chance of dying from heart disease. 1400 people die every day from heart disease in the United States alone (Gottlieb, 2000). But this disease that kills so many can be prevented by some simple changes in diet.
Fish twice a week, or a tablespoon of flaxseed oil a day can help. Both of these contain omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, which can help prevent clots which can lead to myocardial infarction (heart attack) (obstruction of blood flow to the heart, leading to death of the myocardial tissue (Anderson, 1998)) (Gottlieb, 2000). Low levels of high-level lipoproteins can also help reduce risk of heart disease (Black, et. al. 2001).
Next is cancer. Would you believe that you can help prevent cancer by eating a healthier diet? Research has shown that fats, while they do not cause cancer, are cancer promoters. Animals that have been exposed to a carcinogen (cancer causing substances) and eat high fat diets having higher instances of tumours than animals with low fat diets exposed to the same carcinogen (Black, et. al. 2001).
While fat is a cancer promoter, there are also antipromoters. These include vitamin A, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, vitamin B12, iron, zinc, selenium, and antioxidants such as vitamin C and E (Black, et. al. 2001).
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is also one of the leading causes of death, especially in the US. Risk factors for diabetes are a high fat diet and low complex carbohydrate intake. So, by eating a healthy diet, you can dramatically reduce your risk of getting type 2 diabetes (Black, et. al. 2001). If you have diabetes, you should eat a lot of whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. Fatty acids such as omega 3, 6 and 9 can help repair cellular damage caused by high sugar intake (Gottlieb, 2000). Certain herbs can also help, namely bilberry, fenugreek, goat's rue, gymnema (Russell, 2005).
These are just a few examples. There are many other conditions and diseases that can be prevented and treated by simple changes to diet; Alzheimer's, anemia, arthritis, bronchitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, constipation, dandruff, depression, dermatitis, diarrhoea, fibromyalgia, herpes, headaches, hemorrhoids, hepatitis, hypertension, insomnia and many more (Gottlieb, 2000).
Food not only provides the energy to make our bodies work, but can help easily and non-invasively prevent, treat and cure some of the most common and debilitating conditions we know.
References
Anderson, K.N. (ed) 1998. Mosby's Medical, Nursing & Allied Health Dictionary, 5th Ed. Harcourt Health Sciences, St. Louis.
Black, J.M. & Hawks, J.H. & Keene, A.M. 2001. Medical-Surgical Nursing: Clinical Management For Positive Outcomes, 6th Ed. W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia.
Gottlieb, W. 2000. Alternative Cures: The Most Effective Home Remedies To 160 Health Problems. Holtzbrinck Publishers.
Russell, E. 2005. Reader's Digest: Nature's Medicines. Reader's Digest, Ultimo, NSW.