346 THE CHINA STUDYpillage of the whole earth and sea. What! Has Nature indeed given
us so insatiable a stomach, while she has given us so insignificant
bodies? ... The slaves of the belly (as says Sallust) are to be count-
ed in the number of the lower animals, not of men. Nay, not of
them, but rather of the dead .... You might inscribe on their doors,
"These have anticipated death."
How did George Macilwain predict the future when he said that the
local theory of disease would not lead to health? Even today, we don't
have any pills or procedures that effectively prevent, eliminate or even
treat the causes of any chronic diseases. The most promising preven-
tions and treatments have now been shown to be diet and lifestyle
changes, a constitutional approach to health.
How did we forget these lessons from the past? How did we go from
knowing that the best athletes in the ancient Greek OlympicS must
consume a plant-based diet to fearing that vegetarians don't get enough
protein? How did we get to a place where the healers of our society, our
doctors, know little, if anything, about nutrition; where our medical
institutions denigrate the subject; where using prescription drugs and
going to hospitals is the third leading cause of death? How did we get
to a place where advocating a plant-based diet can jeopardize a profes-
sional career, where scientists spend more time mastering nature than
respecting it? How did we get to a place where the companies that profit
from our sickness are the ones telling us how to be healthy; where the
companies that profit from our food choices are the ones telling us
what to eat; where the public's hard-earned money is being spent by
the government to boost the drug industry'S profits; and where there is
more distrust than trust of our government's policies on foods, drugs
and health? How did we get to a place where Americans are so confused
about what is healthy that they no longer care?
Our country's population, which numbers almost 300 million peo-
ple,3 is sick.
- 82% of American adults have at least one risk factor for heart dis-
ease^4 - 81% of Americans take at least one medication during any given
week^5 - 50% of Americans take at least one prescription drug during any
given week^5 - 65% of American adults are overweight^6