Being Prudent

Column #246

I remember a client from 1970 whose inheritance had been placed in a trust. He wanted to convert his inheritance from dollar-denominated assets into pre-1933 gold bullion coins that traded legally for about a 10% premium over the $35 gold price. At that time gold was the same price as it was in 1934 while the purchasing power of the dollar had declined significantly since that year. There were also structural financial pressures (savings and loans had borrowed short and lent long) that contributed to a very bullish environment for gold.

Two years earlier a two-tiered gold market had been established. Central banks traded gold on one tier at a fixed $35 price and on the other tier the gold price fluctuated up and down with supply and demand. In 1970, to prevent the gold price from dropping below $35, the primary central banks that dealt in gold agreed to buy gold on the free market at $35. Thus was born the only investment I’ve ever known that had a guaranteed floor but an unlimited ceiling. Obviously changing times had made gold a very appealing investment in 1970.¹

After some delay the judge decreed that if he let the trust buy gold that would violate the prudent man rule. So he refused to allow the trust to swap fiat dollar-denominated assets for gold. At the time I saw that as a perfect example of prudence over wisdom. Today, the same thing is happening in the medical field regarding chronic diseases where prescriptions for drugs and operations and recommendations to follow the USDA diet guidelines have hardly changed in more than 70 years. On the other hand, biological and nutritional sciences have progressed significantly in knowing how various foods impact body functions. In fact, we now know that most chronic diseases can be turned off and on by food alone!

Change comes slowly in many professions for all the same reasons. Personal egos prevent many “professionals” from admitting that their long-held opinions were wrong. If a doctor tries something that differs from tradition and a patient dies, for certain his peers will say he wasn’t prudent. They’ll say that since he used bad judgement he must be censored. It’s no different today than 220 years ago when the attending physicians during George Washington’s last days bled him until he was demanding that they stop. Then they applied blisters! He died shortly thereafter. They were being prudent.²

The medical community makes a lot of money by following tradition and playing it safe. By not keeping up with the many advancements in nutrition, they continue to dish out bad advice on a daily basis. Recently a heart patient came up to me and bragged that is total cholesterol was down to 70 thanks to the drugs his doctor was prescribing. In another conversation someone said that a heart doctor advised a relative to avoid all red meat and fish in order to protect the heart. Another fellow admitted that he’s diabetic, but since he’s getting along fine with prescription drugs he doesn’t see any reason to change his diet to stop his diabetes.

Those people are believers of myths and so are their doctors. But the times are changing and some people recognize it. Some them are medical professionals who are way ahead of their peers. Let me point out just a few of the many I’ve written about over the years.

Dale E. Bedesmen, MD says he has reversed Alzheimer's Disease, dementia, and improved mental function with diet. His first paper on the subject was published in 2014.³

In 2003 Terry Walls, M.D., was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and soon became dependent upon a tilt-recline wheelchair. She healed herself with food. Now she uses intensive directed nutrition in her primary care and traumatic brain injury clinics.⁴

Dr. Csaba Tóth and Dr. Zsófia Clemens coauthored a 2015 report titled “Successful Treatment of a Patient with Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension with the Paleolithic Ketogenic Diet.”⁵

Dr. Stephen Phinney is a physician-scientist who has spent 40 years studying diet, exercise, fatty acids, and inflammation. He says that a proper diet can quickly address obesity, suppress diabetes, inflammation is lowered, HDL increases, LDL drops, asthma and seizures can stop, and more.⁶

James J DiNicolantonio, PharmD states that “Dietary guidelines should shift focus away from reducing saturated fat and from replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates, specifically when these carbohydrates are refined. To reduce the burden of chronic heart disease, guidelines should focus particularly on reducing intake of concentrated sugars, specifically the fructose-containing sugars like sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup in the form of ultra-processed foods and beverages.” Says flat out that “High cholesterol readings are not a sure sign of heart failure.”⁷

For many years, Boston College Professor Thomas N. Seyfried has focused his research programs on mechanisms by which metabolic therapy manages chronic diseases such as epilepsy, neurodegenerative lipid storage diseases, and cancer. His approach is based on the idea that compensatory metabolic pathways are capable of modifying the pathogenesis of complex diseases. Global shifts in metabolic environment can neutralize molecular pathology. In the case of cancer, his therapies target and kill tumor cells while enhancing the physiological health of normal cells.⁸

Obviously these doctors are quite independent. They are considered quacks by their unenlightened peers. Yet they’re actually solving chronic disease issues without drugs and operations. In fact they are adamantly opposed to drugs and agree with Dr. Dale Bredesen who says, “. . . drugs mostly focus on single pathways, and targeting one pathway can show change, but in human studies, these limited approaches do not work.” On the other hand diet, supplements, sleep, exercise, and meditation are “a metabolical approach that addresses multiple modalities.”^{9 10 11 12 13 14 15}

It will be many years before the mainstream medical community wakes up. In the interim, they will continue to damage the health of their chronic disease patients with their patented drugs and operations. They are just like the judge who decided in 1970 that it was prudent to stick with a fiat currency and pass on the opportunity to swap it for gold. He did that in spite of the historical record showing that never has even one fiat currency retained its value while gold has never failed to maintain relative value over thousands of years.

The nature of prevention requires an understanding of hazards. A prudent action is the wise thing to do under the existing circumstances. That means actions must be based on current and projected conditions because what was once prudent, can become foolish.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

1. Timeline of History, Price, and Economics of U.S. Gold from Tuolumne County Historical Society

2. How Dangerous is Your Doctor? by Ted Slanker

3. Reversing Cognitive Decline by Ted Slanker

4. I Cured Myself of Multiple Sclerosis by Ted Slanker

5. Conquering Diabetes by Ted Slanker

6. Too fat? Eat Fat by Ted Slanker

7. Omega-3, a Prescription? by Ted Slanker

8. Thomas N. Seyfried professor of biology, Boston College by Ted Slanker

9. Dr. Dale Bredesen—Changing the world of Alzheimer’s Disease Research

10. Dr. Terry Walls—Reclaim Your Health By Following A Therapeutic Diet & Lifestyle Protocol

11. Dr. Csaba Tóth—physician and researcher from Hungary with 20 years experience in intensive care medicine, internal medicine and family medicine.