Wisdom from Ancient TImes
Hippocrates wrote the following over 2000 years ago:
I know too that the body is affected differently by bread according to the manner in which it is prepared. It differs according as it is made from pure flour or meal with bran, whether is is mixed with much water or little, whether well mixed or poorly mixed, overbaked or underbaked, and countless points beside. The same is true of the preparation of barley meal. The influence of each process is considerable and each has a totally different effect from another. How can anyone who has not considered such matters and come to understand them, possibly know anything of the diseases that afflict mankind? Each one of the substances of a man's diet acts upon his body and changes it in some wany and upon these changes his whole life depends.
Daily Recipe
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My 1994 Campaing Platform
I ran for U.S. Congress in 1994. The following is from my position paper on Health Care in that campaign:
Americans spend about 14% (roughly double that of most other western countries) of the Gross National Product on health care and have access to the most technologically advanced medicine in the world. Yet our health is not better, in fact is is worse than many industrialized nations who spend much less when comparing rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and drug addiction. If nothing is done, the percentage of GNP for health care is still expected to grow to 20% in ten years, resulting in more Americans with no access to health care. This is a tremendous drain on the economy which will only be intensified if the cost is merely shifted to government, which must pay for it either by increasing the deficit (borrowing money), or by increasing taxes. Either way, the result is more strain on the economy. However, the real problem is not a health care crisis, but simply a health crisis. Since 1900, the rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc have risen dramatically. At the same time, our diets and life-styles have also changed, with more consumption of fat, sugar, and chemicals while becoming less active physically. Many alternative approaches have proven effective, economical, and with less side effects than conventional medicine. For example, the use of a vegetarian diet to reverse heart disease recently received a boost when a major insurance company agreed to reimburse clients who chose this treatment over by-pass surgery. The cost of this method is about ,000 as opposed to 0,000 or more for surgery. Moreover, it is more likely to prevent a recurrence, and prevention is the most economical of all health care approaches. Many other alternative methods exist and work well, such as acupuncture for drug addiction (including nicotine). Government can take a leadership role in providing education to millions of people on how to take control of their own health with real prevention and cost effective solutions, and by providing a free, competitive market place where all Americans have access to the the health care of their choice, whether it be conventional or alternative. Without strong steps toware real choice and prevention, health care costs could eventually trigger an economic disaster.
On Gun Control
Gandhi and the Dali Lama on guns.