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rally good health for 20 or so years
before degenerative diseases begin
to catch up with them.
Consider heart disease. A lot has
yet to be learned about the deve1-
opment of this disease. Yet it is
common knowledge that heavy
smoking and drinking, high -fat
diets, obesity, and lack of exercise
play a significan! role in many
cases. Yet these " causes" can be
moderated or actually eliminated
without going the costly drug route
in most cases.
Consider cancer. lt
ernment committee was given evi–
dence
ot
the deteriorating quality of
the average American diet. " Ameri–
cans take better care of their auto–
mobiles than they do of their own
bodies, " remarked a shocked sena–
ter. We are " a nation of nutrit1onal
il literates," he concluded.
More recently, Dr . Theodore
Cooper. the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare's assistant
secretary for health , declared in a
report which was titled
Health.
would be erroneous to
oversimplify the causes
ot
the over one hundred
various torms of this dis–
ease, tor there are many.
Among the newly dis–
covered tactors are he–
redity and emotions
which may predispose
certain individuals to
cancerous (or sorne
other) disease, given a
certain set of bodily
abuses or stresses. Sti ll,
the American Cancer
Society estimates 80%
of cancer cases are
caused, directly or in–
directly, by chemicals or
other agents in our envi–
ronment.
Help
yourself
better health
Take time todo something
about your health. You can
start by reading an impor–
tant free booklet - Prin–
cipies of Healthful Living
-
that could help you avoid a
major health catastrophe.
This booklet explains vital
health factors that most
people have overlooked or
ignored. To request your free
copy, write to The Plain Truth.
(See addresses lnside front
Throug h car eless
habits
ot
smoking, eat–
ing chemica!'l loaded
diets, dri nking too much
alcohol , or careless and
prolonged contact with
known carc inogen ic
agents, many individuals
are greatly increasing
their chances
ot
being the one in
tou r Americans who will eventually
be attlicted by the cancer plague.
Not all sources
ot
chemical pollu–
tion can be avoided in our modern
industrial societ ies, but more care–
ful concern about what we eat,
breathe, or handle adds to our odds
ot
preventing tuture disease and
sickness.
Diets are a major cause of many
health problems - a tact that nutri–
tionists have stressed over and over
for years. A tew years ago, a gov-
The PLAIN TRUTH
January
1977
cover.) But
don't wait.
Do
itnow
-be–
fore it's too
late.
United States, 1975:
" The data
suggest that much improvement in
health status could come trom indi–
vidual action."
In other words, Americans - as
well as many other people through–
out the world - still have not
learned sorne
ot
the seemingly
most obvious health lessons: They
can become healthier simply by a
willingness
to exercise properly, to
quit overeating, to stop drinking so
much, to reduce late hours, to
avoid too much drug consumption ,
to live more temperate lives, and to
control their emotions.
These suggestions pretty well
sum up the rules of good health in a
nutshell.
lt is not the intention
ot
this article
to oversimplity the causes of any
health problem or to detract trom
the knowledge and ski ll
ot
medical
practitioners or options available for
treating existing ailmerits. lndivid–
uals with existing or special health
problems should seek help and ad–
vice trom reputab le
health ofticials betore
they make any radical
changes in their eating
or exercise habits.
Disease Preventlon:
The Best Health Measure
Fortunately, more and
more doctors are facing
up to the greatest short–
coming of our modern
health-care system: lack
ot
emphasis on disease
prevention !
Our body operates by
impressive laws. Life–
style, exercise. and diet–
ary habits are really the
key parameters in the
health equation . And
while it is true that we
certainly don' t live in an
ideal, stress-free, pollu–
tion-free world, the more
we stick with the founda–
tion blocks of good
health, the better off we
willbe.
Lewis Herber, in
Our
Synthetic Environment,
page 202, states the
crux of the matter simply:
"Whether ... [a person] likes it or
not, there are 'rules
ot
the game, ·
which must be obeyed if an envi–
ronmental change is to advance
human vigor, resistance to disease,
and longevity. When these rules,
simple as they may be, are trans–
gressed, nature takes its revenge in
the torm of ill health and disease.
When they are obeyed, man 's lite
can be tull, creative, and remark–
ably free
ot
physical impair–
ment.' '
o
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