238 THE CHINA STUDY
groups of ailments. The editor asked, in effect, "Can you make specific
diet plans for each disease, so that every chapter doesn't have the same
recommendations?" In other words, could I tell people to eat a specific
way for heart disease and a different way for diabetes? The implication,
of course, was that the same eating plan for multiple diseases simply
wasn't catchy enough, wasn't sufficiently "marketable."
Although this might be good marketing, it is not good science. As
I have come to understand more about the biochemical processes of
various diseases, I have also come to see how these diseases have much
in common. Because of these impressive commonalities, it only makes
sense that the same good nutrition will generate health and prevent
diseases across the board. Even if a whole foods, plant-based diet is more
effective at treating heart disease than brain cancer, you can be sure that
this diet will not promote one disease while it stops another. It will nev-
er be "bad" for you. This one good diet can only help across the board.
So I'm afraid I don't have a different, catchy formula for each disease.
I only have one dietary prescription. But rather than be forlorn about its
effect on my book sales, I'd prefer to remain excited about telling you
how simple food and health really is. It is a chance to clear away much
of the incredible public confusion. Quite simply, you can maximize health
for diseases across the board with one simple diet.
PRINCIPLE #8Good nutrition creates health in all areas of our existence.
All parts are interconnected.Much has been made of "holistic" health in recent times. This concept
can mean a variety of things to different people. Many people lump all
of the "alternative" medicines and activities into this concept, so holis-
tic health comes to mean acupressure, acupuncture, herbal medicines,
meditation, vitamin supplements, chiropractic care, yoga, aroma thera-
py, Feng 5hui, massage and even sound therapy.
Conceptually, I believe in holistic health, but not as a catchphrase for
every unconventional and oftentimes unproven medicine around. Food
and nutrition, for example, are of primary importance to our health.
The process of eating is perhaps the most intimate encounter we have
with our world; it is a process in which what we eat becomes part of