Why diseases take place, and how to overcome them!

Hippocrates, the true Father of Western medicine,  stated  2,400 years ago that  “Nature is the physician of man…Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pots if you can cure your patient with food”

The  people of the Hunzakut  longevity  nation, from the Karakorum Mountains in Northern Pakistan, are  recorded to have lived up to 120  years  - although some dispute this. I have studied their diet; what foods they consume and those which are avoided and reports my findings in Chapter 2 of my book The Healthspring Code: What The Longevity Nations Know About Living Disease-Free And We Don’t. Here I also link dietary similarities with another seven nations famed for their longevity.  In summary, these long-living peoples consume mainly  fish, fruit and vegetables; with very little meat, poultry or dairy.

Nearly all fruit and vegetables, whether they are acid or alkaline before entering the body are alkaline-forming – that is they produce an alkaline residue in the body.  This is known as the PRAL (Potential Renal Acid Load) Score which is discussed in Chapter 3.

Meat, dairy, and eggs, conversely although slightly alkaline before entering the body, leave an acid residue. This acidic residue builds up within weak cells and organs and can cause degenerative disease.  When a baby is born, they have the highest alkaline mineral concentration that they will ever have in life, establishing the highest pH.  This is why most degenerative diseases do not occur when in youth; they occur usually after 40  years of age.

So how does it all work?  Human blood has a pH of 7.365. This makes it slightly alkaline, or basic. Like our core temperature, this number must remain constant with a consequence of death should it vary more than approximately 0.5 pH up or down.  The difficulty with our Western diet is that an average of 80% of the food consumed is acidic. The body works very hard to regulate  pH.  The  Lungs, Circulatory System (blood), and Kidneys are all responsible for keeping the score at 7.365 pH.  When an acidic diet and lifestyle  threatens this vital balance, the body cannot assimilate minerals and vitamins effectively.

Minerals and vitamins are the  overlooked heroes  of the human body and when they are in short supply internal havoc breaks loose.   When faced with an increased acid level, the blood begins to pull alkaline minerals out of our tissues to compensate.  This is why we need dietary alkaline minerals such as Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg) to neutralize, or detoxify, strong acids. However, half of all minerals can only be assimilated in an acid environment and this is why we need to include acidic fruits such as lemons and limes; or other sources of acid – such as apple cider vinegar – in our diets to make it temporarily acidic (this is where the alkaline industry gets it wrong).

In the cases of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis Calcium is pulled from the bones, and with those suffering Multiple Sclerosis, the Myelin Sheath is affected. This Sheath, an insulating layer that allows electrical impulses to transmit quickly and efficiently along nerve cells, is mainly composed of alkaline minerals. These minerals are then leached, causing the nerves to cross-chatter.

We know of nutritionists that have removed people  from chemotherapy and cured them  via  an  alkaline diet. As Principal Investigator my own asthma symptoms completely disappeared. Curing disease with diet is not a new hypothesis: the problem is that until now it has not been scientifically proven – and that is why I call on any medical research University worldwide to undertake a long overdue 36 month study with me to show how Osteoporosis, Cystic Fibrosis and Multiple Sclerosis can be cured through diet.

The Nutrition Journal, (Fenton et al. Nutrition Journal 2011, 10-41), published a research paper summarising current research using alkaline methods.  The paper’s heading is “Causal assessment of dietary acid load and bone disease; a systematic review & meta-analysis applying Hill’s epidemiologic criteria for causality”.

I believe the  research  to be  flawed for the following reasons:

• • Half of the dietary minerals need a temporary acid environment for absorption as discussed above.
  • In most of the studies, researchers used synthetic supplements and not natural foods.
    See Chapter 12
  • The studies are conducted over very short periods.  Karl experienced much longer periods of change and indicates that it takes time for the body to absorb the alkaline minerals into the bones, muscles etc
  • Karl’s co-author, Jackie Kilroe, was on a plant-based diet. However when tested using “Text Expert Plus” she was overall acidic. The reason is that she did not have the correct digestive enzymes or correct gut flora (good bacteria) to absorb all the minerals.
    See Chapter 17.
  • Holistically, we need to do a lot of small things that cumulatively reverse disease, as discussed throughout the book. This study will be about doing all items at once. Using a car engine as an example, you need ALL the cylinders to fire. Otherwise, the catalytic converter will stop working and the car comes to a halt.

I offer the following examples as evidence that a Seagan Diet can help reduce/reverse the effects of disease and its symptoms.

Example 1 – The Longevity Nations: The diet of the Hunzakuts (and seven further longevity nations) that cut meat, dairy and eggs out of their diet is discussed in Chapter 2.

Example 2 – The China Study: The Premier in China in the 1970s surveyed 96% of the then population and the outcome was that the cause of cancer was meat, dairy and eggs as stated in Chapter 4. Oxford University and Cornell University took part in this study.

Example 3 – Professor Franco Berrino: formerly of The Fondazione IRCCS – Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (INT) in Milan, Italy, an international referral centre for the treatment and study of cancer, has for many years reversed breast cancer with a Mediterranean Diet.

Example 4 – Professor George Jelinek: School of Population and Global Health, Melbourne, Australia reversed his MS with a Seagan Diet.

Example 5 – Karl de Leeuw (myself): Within 9 months of being on a Longevity Nation Diet: a Seagan-based diet, with some additional items as outlined in my book The Healthspring Code, I completely reversed all symptoms of my asthma.