Degeneration – Part 2
![15 out of every 21 deaths (more than two-thirds) in the U.S. involve nutrition.](https://udoerasmus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/shutterstock_125962484.jpg)
The 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health concluded that 15 out of every 21 deaths (more than two-thirds) in the U.S. involve nutrition. Conditions with malnutrition as at least part of their cause (and the percentage of deaths attributable to each) include:
cardiovascular disease – heart disease, stroke and atherosclerosis – (43.8%), cancer (22.4%), and diabetes (1.8%), accidents (4.4%), lung diseases (3.7%), pneumonia and flu (3.2%), suicides (1.4%), and liver diseases (1.1%). All 10 leading causes of death in the U.S. are included in this list. They account for 81.9% of all deaths, which total just over 2 million people each year in the U.S.
Deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in fats are involved in 70% or more of all U.S. deaths. Reliable statistics for degeneration due to internal pollution are not as readily available.
Degeneration Has Not Always Killed So Many
In 1900, only 1 in 7 people died of cardiovascular disease, and only 1 in 30 people died of cancer. Between that time and today, something basic and critical to health has drastically changed. This span of history includes processed foods becoming a mega-industry; the introduction of pesticides; the rising use of pharmaceutical drugs; increased industrial pollution of our soil, water, and air; chlorination of water; car exhaust; tobacco smoke; and indoor pollution through the use of synthetic chemicals for everything – cleaners, paint, carpets, furniture.
All of these factors were rare before 1900. All are factors we introduced into our own biology. All are factors we could remove from our environment and our body. Major changes have also been made in this century in the kinds of fats we eat, the amounts we consume, and how we process them.
Degenerative Conditions are Reversible
Malnutrition can be corrected by improved nutrition, by using nutrient-rich whole foods; fresh vegetable and fruit juices rich in minerals, vitamins, and enzymes; specialty foods super-rich in nutrients; and nutrient supplements.
Internal pollution (poisoning) can be avoided, and much toxicity can be reversed by detoxification. Indoor pollution can be avoided by using natural materials and removed by the use of filters for water and air. Outdoor pollution requires political will, coming less from politicians than from an informed public demanding change.
By correctly addressing malnutrition and pollution, cardiovascular disease, cancer, type II diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, asthma, hypoglycemia, and many other degenerative conditions can often be completely reversed. Changing the kinds and quantities of fats we eat, as well as how we process and use them is part of addressing both malnutrition and internal pollution.
There is a Point of No Return
When vital organs are damaged beyond their ability to function or to recover, reversal of degeneration is no longer possible. No one knows when that point has been reached, therefore no patient should be automatically written off.
Degenerative diseases are a serious matter that we should take very seriously – preferably before they occur – by learning and applying principles of health. The same seriousness of purpose applies to issues involving mental, social, and environmental degeneration.
Limitations of Natural, Nutritional Approaches
Not all health problems and degenerative conditions can be cured by foods and lifestyle changes. Specific genetic conditions, which affect a total of about five per 1000 individuals, may not be curable but can still be helped with improved nutrition and detoxification.
Eventually, the human body naturally wears out. This inevitable fact is one that we must come to terms with. It can help remind us to examine our priorities for living – to make our choices with the inevitable fact of our own end in mind.
Natural nutritional approaches are effective for reversing degenerative diseases that result from eating habits and lifestyles out of line with nature. These degenerative conditions, which affect the majority of affluent people in the world, can be reversed. You can read about how to reverse the effects of degeneration in my book Total Sexy Health.