DISEASES OF AFFLUENCE
HERE IN AMERICA, we are affluent, and we die certain deaths because of it.
We eat like feasting kings and queens every day of the week, and it kills
us. You probably know people who suffer from heart disease, cancer,
stroke, Alzheimer's, obesity or diabetes. There's a good chance that you
yourself suffer from one of these problems, or that one of these diseases
runs in your family. As we have seen, these diseases are relatively un-
known in traditional cultures that subsist mostly on whole plant foods,
as in rural China. But these ailments arrive when a traditional culture
starts accumulating wealth and starts eating more and more meat, dairy
and refined plant products (like crackers, cookies and soda).
In public lectures, I start my presentation by telling the audience
my personal story, just as I have done in this book. Invariably, I get a
question at the end of the lecture from someone who wants to know
more about diet and a specific disease of affluence. Chances are that you
yourself also have a question about a specific disease. Chances are, too,
that this specific disease is a disease of affluence, because that's what we
die of here in America.
You might be surprised to know that the disease that interests you
has much in common with other diseases of affluence, especially when
it comes to nutrition. There is no such thing as a special diet for cancer
and a different, equally special diet for heart disease. The evidence now
amassed from researchers around the world shows that the same diet
that is good for the prevention of cancer is also good for the prevention
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