Medical Tests... Are You Overdiagnosed?
Published: (January, 2014)
Medical Tests... Are You Overdiagnosed?
Recently I came across an article on the Internet that contained this letter from a health-conscious woman:
Imagine my shock at my last physical, when my doctor told me I had hypothyroidism, common in women over 40. When I got home I looked [it up] on the Internet and found a list of foods to avoid. Kale, which I juiced every morning, tops the list, followed by broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and collard greens-the cruciferous vegetables I consumed in large quantities because they are thought to prevent cancer...
There are experts who say raw cruciferous vegetables can lead to health problems for some people. If you're one of them, do take precautions. For the rest of us, a good rule to abide by is: don't eat anything in "large quantities." But today, my issue is not with cruciferous vegetables. I suggest we look at this matter from an entirely different angle.
Let's consider this line from the letter: Imagine my shock at my last physical, when my doctor told me I had hypothyroidism, common in women over 40.
Along with the medical doctors who authored the book Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health, I invite you to pursue the answer to the following question: Is there an epidemic of diseases or an epidemic of overdiagnoses? It's crucial we are aware of the flip side of a diagnosis. Continue reading: Medical Tests... Are You Overdiagnosed?
So what do you think? Things are definitely not always the way they look.
Let me add this: If you are eating a lot of raw whole plant foods, you are an entirely different specimen. There's hardly been any research on people who are following a high raw, or mostly raw lifestyle. (Why? Because we're still relatively rare. It would be hard to get together a stadium full - gosh, even a big room full - of us to do double-blind tests.) Doctors have no tests to fall back on in determining what's "normal" for a raw foodist. To learn what a challenge we present to the medical community, read my book, Quantum Eating.
I'm not a doctor. And my knowledge of hypothyroidism is limited. From what I've learned, it's a serious condition with nasty symptoms. But from our friend's letter, we read she was "shocked," meaning she had no symptoms, and she was diagnosed with what is "common" for women over 40. In light of what we know about overdiagnosis (from the article above), and in light of the fact-and it is a fact-that we raw food people aren't "normal," statistically, I offer one possible consolation to our friend: You, too, might just not be normal.
NEW Body Brush is Here!
It's February - summer's so far away! But it is time you started taking good care of your skin to be ready for sleeveless dresses and swimsuits.
New, expensive skin rejuvenation methods and tools appear every day: microdermabrasion, carbon-dioxide laser resurfacing, the diamond microdermabrasion machine and so on. They all have this in common: They strip your skin's outer layer and induce your body's repair response. It's just like when you get a small cut-your body produces everything needed to heal your skin. By gently stripping off the outer layer, you get that same rejuvenation mechanism going.
So do you need a fancy diamond abrasive to do this? The fact is, you can do it with a simple brush and get even better results. No expense. No appointment. No inconvenience. A simple, at-home, do-it-yourself procedure you can perform every day whenever you want.
Is there a catch? Sure. Every day - that's the thing. Daily dry-brushing is gentler than any salon procedure, but done daily, the result is cumulative. You're in control. Scars, pigmentations, stretch marks, general roughness and looseness of skin - dry brushing can help it all.
I've been advocating dry brushing and offering a Facial Brush for years. Now we have come out with a Body Brush. The bristles are made in Tampico, Mexico from the stalk of the Agave plant.
Whether for your face or for your body, nothing beats the simplicity and comfort of a brush you use yourself. Daily brushing invigorates, exfoliates, stimulates. It will make your skin smoother, clearer, younger within 30 days. And when spring rolls in, you'll have glowing skin.