Editor:
I read with great interest Dr.Jeffrey Moss’ paper titled “Hyperinsuiinemia and Insulin Resistance – A missing link in Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease.” I would like to respond to this article with my information titled, “The Glyeopathies – a ‘common denominator’in Health and Disease including, but not limited to Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease.”
Dr. Moss’ reference to the ‘overwhelming consensus of the public,’means nothing and is totally irrelevant as the ‘gullible masses’ only know what the Pharmaceutical – Medical-Junkfood-Sugar Cartels etc. want them to believe. They are ‘educated’through the mass media, particularly the universal ‘brainwashing’ medium known as’ Television. The clinical nutritionists are sadly in a somewhat similar position. Of course the ‘glycopathies’ are ignored by the ‘medical establishment’! They know nothing about health, the restoration of health or for that matter, the cause of ill health. The ‘medical establishment’ is controlled, directed and orchestrated by the incredible greed of the drug pharmaceutical industries. Obviously the most important factor in health and disease is diet. They are only interested in selling their patented pharmaceuticals and have over half a million ‘pushers’ – either MD’s or DO’s – doing just that. It’s very naive to expect anything to change until the pharmaceutical companies have patented ‘neutraceuticals’ which apparently they are desperately working on. Being an ‘eclectic’ physician however, I recognize there are some very valuable and worthwhile pharmaceuticals.
Let’s not forget one point. There is no money to be made for the sickness – disease industries by having a population that is getting healthier. Is it possible that the same men that control the drug industries also have something to do with the junk food industries? In my opinion, if one wants to know the truth about any subject, rule number one is look with great suspicion at what the ‘status quo’ believes. They are bound to be wrong! Even some very well-known ‘Holistic’ MD’s with a high profile nationally, and many other natural healers have bought probably the greatest hoax of this century.
The ‘villain’ meatlfatleggslcholesterol myth with the high complex carbohydrate solution. What a mess! No wonder the North American general population gets ‘sicker and fatter’ each year and the vegetarians ‘thinner and sicker.’ Dr. Moss states, “From both biochemical and historical viewpoints, the high complex carbohydrate, low-fat diet makes so much sense.” I think it makes no sense at all and never did make any sense.
Dr. Robert Atkins cannot be ‘dismissed’ in such a cursory fashion. He has worked with many, many thousands of patients over more than a 25-year span. He has proven the validity of the limited carbohydrate approach without one shadow of doubt. It is impossible and ridiculous to state that Atkins advocates a ‘complete removal of all carbohydrates from the diet.’ Read Dr. Atkins latest book which is Dr Atkins Diet Revelation. His 1988 book, Dr. Atkins Health Revolution is, I believe, the best all- round book ever written for the education of people in ‘complementary medicine’ and ‘holistic health.’ This book is particularly valuable to me as it is available in Spanish and Ichoose to live and practice in the Republic of Mexico. I will attempt to show in this letter that far from being the ‘missing link’ in disease the ‘glycopathies’ are in fact the common denominator in most aspects of health and disease. Listen to what Dr. Atkins says (Health Revolution. Chapter 6 – titled “Diabetes – The Basic Epidemic.”) “It would be hard to scrutinize the weaknesses of orthodox medicine without using as a prime example the major disorders of blood sugar, diabetes and hypoglycemia. These two illnesses are not opposites but rather distinct facets of a single category of illnesses which has no special name other than blood sugar disorders. (The term glycopathy, which applies, certainly is not in widespread use.) More than any other category of illness, the glycopathies are the major illnesses of the 20th century. It is fair to say this, because there is increasing evidence that arteriosclerosis largely overlaps the blood sugar disorders and shares many of the same metabolic disturbances. If that’s the case,then diet becomes, clearly and obviously, both the cause and the cure of this century’s major cause of-death. And none of orthodoxy’s characteristic responses, from aloof disdain based on sheer ignorance, to vindictive persecution based on fear, will succeed in concealing that fact forever.” Ever since Dr.Seale Harris identified hyperinsulinism as a major factor in disease causation in 1924, various forms of low carbohydrate diets have been popularized by various Doctors. Dr.Atkins dedicates his Health Revolution book to his mentor, the late Dr.Carlton Fredericks, PhD. I notice that in Dr.Fredericks 1980 book Eat well, get well, stay well, Chapter 11 is titled “The Low Carbohydrate Diet.”In his 1983 book What the Medical Establishment won’t tell you that could Save Your Life, Michael L. Culbert says, “In ‘How to beat the Killer Diseases,’ Dr. Harper and Imade the case for the fact that Americans are the most overfed, yet undernourished, people on earth, even though the food situation in the United Kingdom is even worse. Dr. Harper’s thesis, now seconded by many metabolic physicians, is that the degenerative diseases are all interlinked, whatever names we give them – arthritis, arteriosclerosis, cancer, heart disease, stroke, schizophrenia, alcoholism, hypertension, diabetes – and that the early warning system in identifying the problem is the body’s inability to metabolize refined carbohydrates, primarily refined sugar. This early-warning stage, glucose metabolism dysfunction (GMD), which is rarely diagnosed, will almost certainly become hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, an ailment which until recently the AMA even denied existed. Hypoglycemia’s links to the degenerative disease states in general is now relatively accepted. That a fourth to a third of cancer patients are also diabetic is accepted, and that both schizophrenia and alcoholism may be controlled by diet is ever more apparent. ” Dr. Abram Hoffer, PhD, MD is considered the ‘father’ of Orthomolecular Psychiatry. As far as I know he is still practicing in Victoria, British Columbia. He is recognized as the foremost authority in the nutritional treatment of Schizophrenia. In his excellent 1978 book Orthomolecular Nutrition – New Lifestyle for Super Good Health which he co-wrote with Dr. Morton Walker, they state, “Excessive consumption of unprocessed foods almost exclusively carbohydrate in content such as rice, wheat and potatoes will cause obesity and cause a metabolic imbalance”.. Processed carbohydrates present an altogether different situation. These include all the food products rich in added sugar or prepared in a way that has dissipated a large proportion of other essential nutrients. Processed carbohydrates consist of such foods as polished rice, white flour and a variety of substances made from them. They can almost be branded as legalized poisons. The best use white flour can be put to is as a paste for hanging wallpaper. Excessive consumption of refined or processed carbohydrates is the major cause of a broad group of neuroses and a great number of’ physical illnesses. ”
Hofferl Walker also point out that “The mass indictment of refined carbohydrates as the cause of many of the ills of western countries today was advanced by Surgeon-Captain T.L. Cleave, MRCP formerly director of medical research of the Institute of Naval Medicine, Great Britain. In 1956, he designated ‘the saccharine disease’ as the master disease, incorporating diabetes, coronary disease, obesity, peptic ulcer, constipation, hemorrhoids, varicose veins; Escherichia coli infections such as appendicitis, cholecystitis, pyelitis, and diverticulitis; renal calculus, many skin conditions and dental caries.”
Dr. Moss says, “Both Wright and Heller find it sadly ironic that the great collection of brilliant minds that populate the research community cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the obvious. Most likely, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are primarily initiated by dietary indiscretions.” I think that’s simple to explain. Most research people are ‘status quo’ types. At least 95% of the population, in my opinion, is addicted to sugar. Just like alcoholism, denial of alcohol or sugar causing a problem is one of the major manifestations of these diseases. Alcoholism and the ‘glycopathies’ are closely related. Back to HofferlW alker: “Refined sugar is particularly insidious as it produces addiction as severe as any drug addiction. The only difference between heroin addiction and sugar addiction is that sugar doesn’t need injection, is readily consumable because of its availability, and isn’t considered a social evil. However, the strength of sugar addiction is just as strong as heroin addiction. ”
There seems to be a great misunderstanding about carbohydrates and their role in hyperinsulinemia. An article in the February 5 Newsweek of this year, is titled “Here’s the Beef.” It’s about the ‘rediscovery’ of eating more protein and cutting the carbs. They mention three new books. Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades’ book called Protein Power, Dr. Richard and Rachel Heller’s book Healthy For Life and The Zone by Barry Sears. Newsweek states, “The new diets all focus on the relationship between carbohydrates and insulin…. When we consume carbohydrates, whether as carrots or candy bars, they enter the bloodstream as glucose. And if a meal generates more glucose than we can use at the moment, our bodies produce insulin to squirrel away the excess. Later, as blood sugar declines, a separate hormone called glucagon shuttles stored energy back into the blood. Everything hums along nicely as long as insulin and glucagon maintain a dynamic balance. But if we continually consume more carbs than we burn, insulin gets the upper hand, sending our weight, blood pressure and cholesterol skyward. To the protein enthusiasts, cutting hack on carbs is an ideal way to rein in the insulin response and ward off everything that follows from it. Yes, although I really question whether there is actually anything ‘new’ about these diets. Dr. Atkins for one, talked about these principles more than 20 years ago and Seale Harris talked about them in 1924. Also in their reference to carrots or candy entering the bloodstream as glucose, a big surprise may be that the carrots could cause a greater increase in blood sugar than the candy bars. Let’s get clear about one point. I advocate as close to zero intake of refined carbohydrates and high glycemic index foods as possible. Nevertheless, as mentioned, the problem seems to be a lack of knowledge about carbohydrates. Most Doctors! Nutritionists still lump carbohydrates into two groups: Simple and Complex. No pun intended but it’s just not that simple! If we are to be concerned with the pancreas overresponding and producing too much insulin, or the cells becoming insulin-resistant, we know that it’s best to eat foods that don’t raise the blood sugar too much. To do this properly we have to take into consideration the ‘Glycemic Index’ of foods. A book containing much interesting information about this subject is The Life Extension Weight Loss Program by Durk Pels.” They also say that “the slower gut absorption that will occur when the foods are part of a meal will reduce the glycemic indexes of most foods.” High fructose corn syrup is a mixture of fructose, glucose, and small amounts of other sugars. Depending on the combinations of different sugars, the
glycemic index can vary considerably. Sucrose has a glycemic index of 59. Fructose 20 and glucose 100. However I think it’s worth noting what Dr. Linus Pauling says in his book How to Live Longer and Feel Better. “The situation with fructose is different from that with glucose. Humans have always ingested some fructose, in the fruits and honey that were part of their diet. Until about 200 years ago the daily average intake of fructose was quite small, only about 8g. Then, as ordinary sugar (sucrose)… began to be generally available, the daily intake of fructose rose tenfold, to about 75g per day. The reason for this great increase in the intake of fructose is that when sucrose is ingested it reacts with water to form equal amounts of glucose and fructose. Each lOOg of sucrose gives 53g of glucose and 53g of fructose; that is why it is referred to as a disaccharide. In the United States we eat about 100 pounds of sugar (sucrose) per year. This is 125g per day, corresponding, when it is digested, to 66g offructose per day. With about 8g from fruits and honey, the average daily intake becomes 74g per day. Our bodies have been accustomed to metabolizing only 8g of fructose per day. It is accordingly not surprising that the nearly tenfold overload causes problems. There is little doubt that this great intake offructose, to which human beings have been subjected only during the last century, is the cause of many of our ills.”
Statistics, I think show that the average intake of sugar per year is now closer to 150 lbs. One thing is for sure. The problem is getting worse, not better. The ‘hypoglycemic epidemic’ of the 70’s and 80’s hasn’t gone away. It’s actually more prevalent than ever! One more thing about glycemic indexes. Pearson and Shaw state that the glycemic index of a fruit could not be estimated on the basis of a sugar’ content analysis. Plums for instance “contain 3.49% glucose, 1.5. 3% fructose , 4.94% sucrose, and 0.15% maltose. The glycemic indexes of these sugars are 100, 20, 59, and 110, respectively. They say, “On this basis we expected plums to have a high glycemic index, but it is only 25.” The fruits with the lower glycemic indexes are apple, cherries, grapefruit, peach, pear, plum, orange and surprisingly, grapes. The reason that I say that hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance (or the glycopathies) are a common denominator in disease and health , rather than a missing link is because the stabilization of blood sugar seems to be the major common factor in the methods used by every doctor who has had a high success rate in ‘curing’ all types of conditions. All the methods and systems that I have studied of various doctors have all eliminated at least all the ‘refined’ carbohydrates and sweet fruits from the diets of their patients. Three such doctors, all now deceased, were Melvin Page, DDS of St. Petersburg. Florida, Arthur L. Kaslow, MD of Santa Barbara, California, and E.E. Rogers, MD of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. All of these doctors treated thousands of patients with a wide variety of conditions with many of the people coming from foreign countries. Firstly, Dr. Page. I am fortunate to have one of Dr. Page’s books, Body Chemistry in Health and Disease , published I think, sometime in the 50s. He has another book called Your Body is your best Doctor, written with H. Leon – Abrams, Jr. published in 1972. While the first book is for clinicians, the second is more for the general public. I also have a copy of The Cook’s Health Guide which was Dr. Page’s recipe book for the ‘Page Nutritional Plan.’ In the introduction he says, “Sugar is habit-forming. The resulting destruction of the body chemistry is devastating. We are all aware of the problems of alcoholism and drug addiction which are prevalent in our society; but most of us are little aware that 99% of the American people have unknowingly become sugar addicts. This is by far the greatest problem facing our country today.” Remember Dr. Page wrote this in the Rogers, MD, to me the most intriguing ’50s. In Your Body is Your best Doctor, Dr. Page says; “In the Page Method of regulating body chemistry the degree of efficiency of body function is expressed by the calcium-phosphorus ratio and the amount of sugar present in the circulating blood. These deter minations are included in the tests made on the blood sample. The ideal to which the method of regulation is directed is to maintain the blood sugar level at 100 milligrams, calcium 10, phosphorus 4 (or 2.5 parts calcium to 1 part of phosphorus) per hundred cubic centimeters of blood. At these levels the body functions most successfully and efficiently in all parts and organs.” Also “In my research with thousands of patients over the past 40 years, my findings prove that certain foods are universally harmful to everyone. These foods ate as follows: Sugar and all foods made with sugar (white, brown, or raw sugar and syrups), white bread and refined grains, coffee, tea, milk (not including cream and butter), fruit and vegetable juices and hydrogenated fats.” As well as the ‘Page Super 7 diet’, Dr. Page developed a sophisticated system of anthropometric measurements to indicate the hereditary glandular condition with which an individual was born. Dr. Page said that all patients improved on the diet alone but after he had taken the measurements and figured out the patient’s hereditary glandular weakness, “the next procedure was to give the patient the minute amount of endocrine supplements needed for his or her individual needs. The results gained from the basic diet, plus endocrine supplements, were remarkable.” They must have been because Dr. Page certainly had no shortage of patients. Dr. Nancy Appleton’s excellent books are based on Dr. Page’s work. She dedicates her Lick the Sugar Habit to Bruce Pacetti, DDS. Having taken his workshop myself I know he is a fine teacher of Dr. Page’s work. I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who knows a source for the ‘Page endocrines.’
Dr. Arthur L. Kaslow, MD wrote a book in 1979 called You can achieve Freedom from Chronic Disease. He too had thousands of patients from allover the world. According to personal communication with one of his sons, Dr. Kaslow ‘specialized’ in crippling arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and surprisingly, deafness. Apparently he worked every day right up to when he was struck down by a virus in 1991 at the age of78. In his very excellent book, he states: “Since the early 1950’s I have been accumulating evidence that nutrition in the central key in the development and perpetuation of chronic illness .. ” Further, “Our clinical experience has shown that almost all seriously chronic dysfunctions of the body can be traced primarily to the activity of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism or some other food rejectivity, that is, the ‘Metabolic Rejectivity Syndrome.’ An important test in the Kaslow program was the ‘fructose’ tolerance test. “Each patient consumed approximately 103 grams of natural carbohydrate consisting of three oranges, six dates and one banana.” Dr. Kaslow said: “We use real foods that contain fructose, the natural fruit sugar, in order to gain a more accurate picture of the individual’s responses to foods as opposed to chemicals.” Another aspect of the Kaslow program was the monitoring of white blood cell reaction to foods. He elaborates further: “However, even more important to our metabolic rejectivity hypothesis is the patient’s Lymphocyte-count response.” He monitored the Lymphocyte count at regular intervals during the ‘fructose’ tolerance test. The body in general has two regulating systems to monitor glucose needed for action energy; the liver for conversion and assignment according to need, and the Pancreaslinsulin response, for metabolism and body tissue utilization. When both of these do not function in a balanced and complementary way, it appears that the body begins to identify glucose as an unwanted substance and calls in the immune system, with its lymphocytic scavengers, to make a final stand. This response can occur with any food that the body considers, in its innate wisdom, as unwanted foods.
Dr. Kaslow put his patients on a 48 hr. distilled water fast. Then he had them eat only one food at a time from the food list and write down their reactions to that particular food. In this way he isolated food intolerances. There is much more to his program than this, including an interesting system of acupuncture, but my point is that the problem with carbohydrate metabolism is once again ‘the common denominator.’ Last but not least, we come to E.E. Rogers, MD, to me the most intriguing. He apparently was outspoken and fought with the establishment all his life. After numerous court battles his license was finally pulled when he was in his seventies. His book, Biological Medicine – living as it was meant to be, is truly fascinating. He wrote this book in 1977 when he was 83. He also treated thousands of patients from both Canada and the U.S, as well as many foreign countries. He pulled no punches. First two paragraphs of the Preface read: “Common sense tells one that there is no possibility that poisonous drugs, deadly radiations, or mutilating surgery, whatever apparent beneficial effects these modalities may have, to those who know no better, could ever be the optimal solution in real and permanent health achievement. Conventional statistics, showing a rocketing increase in the degenerative diseases since about
product is high in carbohydrate, and especially ifit is a refined product such as most of our breakfast cereals, and most of the soft drinks, it does not matter what protein, vitamin C, or other1900, which was about the beginning of these symptom-treating technologies which now dominate medicine, give abundant confirmation to common sense. “Biological medicine, on the other hand, refusing to accept the thesis that this failure is the best that can be done, turns to the omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence ofthe primal creative mind and energy (in religious terms God), represented here on earth by the so-called Natural Laws, in thousands of so-called incurable diseases, over a period of more than 40 years, proved no disease to be incurable, only provided it was managed properly and in time; and proved also that all disease is preventable, and that real and perfect health is easily achievable, again provided one obeys the laws before all has been wasted by time, by disease, and by destructive or useless treatment of the symptoms of disease.” Dr. Rogers said. , “The scientific fact is that if a supposed health aid or necess~ty it contains; it is a disease producer In the human body.” Also, “I knew that the digestive apparatus of the human ~as designed to metabolize low, hut not high percentage carbohydrates. Thus grains, organic or otherwise, though natural.for fowls, were unnatural for us, causing overwork on the part of the liver and pancreas. The same applies to all high percentage carbohydrates; hence diabetes, liver and gallbladder disease, cholesterol problems etc.” Dr. Rogers used low carbohydrate vegetables exclusively for his ‘cleansing’ part of his program, because he said, “The human liver and pancreas were designed to handle low percentage carbohydrates, therefore I stick to that, and this is one reason why my method of nutrition works.” He also says, “Remember that you have been conditioned all your life to be a glutton, consuming far more food than you need; that you have also been conditioned, very early in life, to be addicted to sugar and to starchy foods.”
And work his program certainly did as Dr. Rogers had almost unbelievable success with all kinds of serious and often terminal conditions. Before 1940 he had a whole T.B. sanatorium ‘clean out’ and all the patients come to him, when they heard he had ‘cured’ two former patients who had been sent home to die. Cancer and multiple sclerosis were no problem either. After World War II he had some cases of Amoebic dysentery in former prisoners of Japanese camps, cases he says “after more than a year’s treatment at Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington, were medical failures; amoebas still alive and flourishing. My method of giving amoebas and bacteria of a hostile nature nothing to live on, no garbage, was successful, and every patient lost his amoebas within a couple of months. Likewise allergies, epilepsy and even cystic fibrosis.” In 1949 Dr. Rogers was awarded a gold medal “for distinguished service to optometry in the field of human vision.” Apparently two doctors in Boston had acquired Dr. Rogers’ earlier book The Philosophy and Science of Health. They told him that “the results of their experiments with my methods had been really miraculous. Diseases such as glaucoma and cataract, never curable before, had been completely cured, in those cases where it was applied in time. Cases of eye infection cleared up in a fraction of time as before.” Adult onset diabetes, even with older people was ‘no problem’. Likewise diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, arthritis, heart disease, emphysema. He also had cases of Leprosy and many other Tropical diseases all responding equally well.
Dr. Rogers used a ‘proteinoid’ urine test, the Ellis Mycrodynameter and the Cameron Hearlometer in his diagnosis! body chemistry analysis. Iwould like to know more about these methods and would appreciate hearing from anyone who is familiar with the more technical aspects of Dr. Rogers’ work. I’ll end with another quote from E.E. Rogers, MD, “Medicine assumes, and leads you to assume, that treating disease or syrnptoms is the best and most that can be done about disease; also that by studying disease, we can somehow learn about health. This assumption was doomed from the beginning to fail, because it ignores the laws of polarity, cause and effect, and other laws. One does not achieve success by treating failure, or by lack of vision in believing that success is not possible in the first place. So, medical technologies, though they involve much knowledge, are not based upon truth or wisdom in the producing of health. They are simply knowledge misapplied. The kidney machine, the heart or other organ transplant, and hundreds of other technologies, would never be required, if the laws of health were applied in any reasonable time. This has been proven, scientifically and conclusively, by myself and by others. It is obvious why this scientific evidence has been suppressed.”
Curt Maxwell, DC, ND, FIACA
9051 C Siempre Viva Rd. Suite 40-164
San Diego, California. 92173 USA
114-309621 Fax 114-31949
phone number: 928-257-4873
email address: drcurtmaxwell@yahoo.com
References
1. Atkins, ac, NO, Dr. Atiins’ Health Revolution, Bantam N. Y 1988
2. Fredericka, C. PhD. Eot Wel~ Get Well, Stay Well. Grnddet Dunlap. NY. 1980.
3. Culbert, ML, Save Your Lif~. Donning, Norfolk, VA. 1983.
4. Hoffer. A. MD, PhD” Walker M, DPM, Orthomolecular Nutrition. Keats, New Canaan. CT. 1978.
5. Pearson, D & Shaw, S Tlu Lift Extension Weight Loss Program, Doubleday. NY. 1986.
6. Pauling, L, PhD, How to lio« longer and feel better. Freeman. NY. 1986.
7. Page, ME, DDS~Body Chemistry in Health and Disease Nutritional Development. St. Petersburg. FL. no date.
8. Page, ME & Abrams, HL, Jr. Your body is your best Doctor. Keats. New Canaan, CT. 1972.
9. Appleton, N, PhD Lkk the Sugar Habit. Avery. NY. 1988.
10. Kaslow, AL, MD, Freedom from chronic disease. Tarcher. 1979
11. Rogers, EE, MD, Biological Medicine. Everwood. New Westminster, Be, Canada. 1980.