“For the rapid increase in knowledge it becomes more and more apparent that the science of nutrition is the foundation of a more rational medicine. It is to be hoped that on future occasions the work of this section will not be limited to physiological, biochemical, pathological, and medical aspects of the subject, but that it will include those that are veterinary and agricultural.”
Major-General
Sir Robert McCarrison MA, MD, DSc, LLD, FRCP
(Honorary Physician to the King of England)
Letter from Lendon H. Smith, M.D.
I have known Joel Wallach for many years and he never ceases to amaze me. He is busy, bright, and has his finger in more modalities of healing than I ever knew existed. I fist met him about 15 years ago when I was getting started in the nutritional approach to the care and feeding of children. He was an inspiration as I was realizing how much the practice of Veterinary Medicine is like Pediatrics: one really has to use one’s diagnostic acumen to figure out the pathology.
I also became aware, with much help from Joel, that nutrition is the basis of health. He learned that through his Veterinary training, and it was reinforced when he discovered that many of the diseases of animals have their counterparts in humans. He was able to show me that cystic fibrosis was related to the Selenium deficiency of the mother during the pregnancy and that the full-blown disease in a child did not show up unless the deficiency was not corrected in the child early. Of course, the standard orthodox medical though still believes that genetics and genetics alone determines who will get the disease and how seriously.
Joel has tried to get someone to believe his ideas are worth investigating, but once Doctors make up their minds – well, you know how stubborn they can be. I was like that once, but people like Joel have helped me see the light. We (MD’s) do not have all the answers. Knowing that he has been forced to deal with these negative attitudes despite his
Presentation of reproducible facts, you can understand his rather blatant doctor-bashing tirades scattered through the book. Some is fair, some is overdone. Go for it Joel, get it off your chest!
The nice thing about this book is that Joel assumes that the reader is reasonably intelligent. He assumes the reader knows what a rash is, and that if a person has a high fever and a convulsion, the reader would naturally dash off to the emergency room. Most everyone is aware that ice water is best for burns, not lard.
His background in Naturopathic Medicine makes his remedies credible. We need to become more familiar with the natural healing methods; we also need to know when to draw the line between home care and real emergency. I can remember one of our children giving me a fright when she was but a baby. She had a high fever and a convulsion and I was trying to be calm. “Let me see, now, what do I tell people over the phone when they call about this problem – oh, yes, the comfortable hot bath to get the skin capillaries dilated, and then sponging off that red skin with a wash cloth so the water can evaporate.” And it worked. We do need people around with some authority to tell us To do something when we become stoned, mute, and immobile when faced with the awesomeness of a medical, human condition that needs our ministrations.
Joel has put this book together so you can be a better and more efficient, caring, human being, mother, father, grandfather. You should be able to figure out what you can do at home and when you need some help from the doctor whose skills we recognize. We need books like Joel’s to show us that alternative methods of health care are safe, cheap, and sometimes even more effective than drugs.
Thanks Joel, for bringing to our attention that we ourselves may be the best doctor for ourselves. After all, we live inside our own bodies; no-one else.
Lendon H. Smith, M.D.
5th September 1989