More Physical Problems Caused By Animal-Source Foods

For the past 40 years, I have not consumed anything that came from something that had a face on it – whether it be animal flesh or dairy or eggs, and yet at the age of soon to be 82 I am still in good health, and free of anything resembling arthritis or gout, nor do I have an ache or pain in my body. In this Health Tip, I am going to pick up where we left off in last week’s Health Tip, by continuing to share the horrible potential consequences of consuming animal source foods. This week we are going to look at another physical problem primarily caused by the consuming of animal source foods:

Animal-Source Foods Are The Primary Cause of Arthritis and Gout

The word arthritis means “joint inflammation.” The most common form, osteoarthritis, usually occurs after decades of wear and tear on joints. Rheumatoid arthritis, the second most common form of joint pain and inflammation, is even more debilitating and often leads to joint deformity and even crippling loss of function. Many, many people, especially as they age, experience pain in their joints. Their fingers often become swollen and twisted, and sometimes so painful that even buttoning or unbuttoning a shirt becomes almost an impossible task. By the age of 35, some 35% of Americans have been diagnosed as having arthritis in their knees, and by the age of 70, that number has increased to 85%. Hundreds of thousands are either bedridden or confined to a wheelchair because of this disease. Interestingly, the official position of the Arthritis Foundation is that diet and arthritis are not related. Sadly, very little research has been done to justify this assertion, and (rather than placing their research efforts and money into looking into the possible relationship of diet to arthritis, the primary cause of arthritis) virtually all of their efforts and research monies have gone into the testing of drugs that will hopefully help relieve the symptoms of the disease.

Research Reveals Amazing Results

In his book ‘Diet For A New America,’ John Robbins writes:

“At Wayne State University Medical School, there were a few medical researchers willing to investigate the heresy that diet might have something to do with arthritis. They put six rheumatoid arthritis patients on a fat-free diet. The results were startling. In seven weeks, all of the subjects showed total disappearance of their symptoms. When fats were reintroduced into their diets, it took only three days for symptoms to reappear.” “In 1981, the British Medical Journal reported another instance that suggests the Arthritis Foundation’s conclusions might be premature. It involved a 38-year-old woman, who for 11 years had been suffering from steadily worsening rheumatoid arthritis. Three weeks after doctors removed all dairy products from her diet she showed signs of improvement. In four months, her arthritis symptoms had completely disappeared. She remained free of symptoms until, in the interest of scientific curiosity, she once again ate some cheese and milk. The next day her joints were swollen, stiff and painful. Fortunately, her symptoms again disappeared as she resumed her abstinence from dairy products.”

In his book “Proof Positive”, the author Neil Nedley, M.D. writes:

“Arthritis and other bone and joint disorders are among the leading causes of disabilities in America. Current estimates from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control are that these diseases afflict some 40 million Americans. . . “Scandinavian researchers placed individuals with severe rheumatoid arthritis on a total vegetarian diet for an entire year. After a single month on this dietary program, they analyzed the patients and found a decreased number of tender and swollen joints. Their grip strength was better. Furthermore, their problems with severe joint stiffness in the mornings had improved. . . Perhaps most importantly, the patients on the vegetarian diet felt better — by actual measurement on a health assessment questionnaire. . .”

Gout Can Almost Always Be Prevented and Eliminated

And though the Arthritis Foundation refuses to acknowledge a relationship of diet to osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, they do acknowledge gout (a form of arthritis) as being diet related. In fact, gout is one of the most easily controlled of all diseases when proper dietary guidelines are followed. Gout occurs when uric acid in the body forms needle-like crystals, which become deposited in a joint. When this happens, there is severe pain and swelling in the joint. Avoiding foods high in purines or proteins has been shown to be of enormous benefit to gouty arthritis sufferers. Fish, poultry, beef, and pork are all high in purines, whether grown commercially or organically.

Rhonda's Debilitating Arthritis Disappears

When Rhonda (before we were married) attended one of my earliest “How to Eliminate Sickness” seminars back in 1991, she was so stove up with arthritis she was almost crippled. Couldn’t turn her head half an inch in either direction, couldn’t walk a block without extreme pain, had to soak in hot water each morning just to obtain enough loosening of her joints to partially function. And she sometimes took as many as 4-6 Ibuprofens an hour in an effort to try and keep the arthritic pain at a tolerable level. Prior to attending that seminar, Rhonda had consumed large amounts of both animal flesh and dairy products, including cheese, so when she heard me state in that seminar that animal source foods were the primary cause of arthritis, she immediately became interested in my theory, but remained a skeptic. Desperate for relief from the pain and debilitation associated with her arthritis, Rhonda says she made the diet change just to prove me wrong, while quietly hoping that what I was teaching could help her. The very next day, Rhonda adopted the Hallelujah Diet 100%, totally eliminating all animal and dairy source foods, and adopted an 85/15 percent raw/cooked vegan diet (i.e. the Hallelujah Diet). Within one year of making that diet change, all her arthritic symptoms had totally disappeared; she was daily walking 4 miles in less than an hour, pain-free; she had lost 85 pounds in weight; and was no longer a skeptic, but a devoted believer and follower of the Hallelujah Diet and she hasn’t had need of a single ibuprofen in 23 years. Rhonda and I were married on April 11, 1992, and together, for the past 23 years, we have been telling anyone who will listen that: “You don't have to be sick,” if you will simply stop consuming animal source foods, along with refined sugar and refined grains, refined table salt and caffeine, the causes of most physical problems, and start consuming a primarily raw, plant-sourced diet.

Let's Talk About Arthritis

Today, we find that there are many kinds of arthritis: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout arthritis, lupus, erythematous and ankylosing spondylitis. The connection between diet and arthritis is crystal clear, and show that diets very low in saturated fats, low in protein, high in fiber, and without cholesterol are best for the prevention of arthritis, while being of extreme importance in the elimination of the disease. One of the primary purposes of pain in the body is to alert that person experiencing the pain to the fact that there is a crisis within. And the body’s expectation is that the person will come to its aid, by helping the body restore itself to normalcy. The killing of that pain (warning signal) with a drug, only leads to disaster, because drugs do not eliminate the condition, but rather only covers up the symptom (pain). If that person continues to consume the animal source foods that originally caused the problem, the condition will continue to deteriorate. The problem, in the case arthritis, is not caused by a lack of or deficiency in a drug. Putting foods into our beautiful God-made bodies that God never intended to enter it, as well as a failure to properly exercise the body, is the cause of most physical problems, including arthritis, and the pain associated with it. Arthritic pain is simply a warning signal coming from within the body, warning us of an internal problem. When we try to eliminate that arthritic pain through the use of drugs, rather than trying to determine and eliminate the cause of the pain, it almost always leads to a worsening of the problem. How so? When a person fails to eliminate the cause of the pain, and continues to consume the very foods that cause the pain, the condition continues to deteriorate. When that happens, no matter how many pain-killing drugs the doctor prescribes, the condition continues, and often results in debilitation and sometimes even confinement to a wheelchair. Arthritis and gout are a matter of choice! By your food choices, you can choose to eat in a way that will prevent arthritis and gout, or in a way that will potentially cause arthritis and gout. And if a person already is experiencing arthritis or gout, that person can choose to eat foods that will in most cases not only improve, but usually eliminate the problem, or continue to eat in a way that will exacerbate the problem.

The Choice Is Yours!

Yes, friends, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by our Creator God — a God Who did not design us to be sick, nor to ever have to experience arthritis. But this same God who designed us also told us that:

“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” ~ Galatians 6:7

Arthritis, as well as most other physical problems being experienced today, are the result of choice and not chance! Here at Hallelujah Acres, we have found that arthritis and gout are almost always a matter of cause and effect — a matter of choice, if you will! Thus, for those of you who suffer with these diseases, won’t you please choose to at least try the Hallelujah Diet? This diet and lifestyle has already made it possible for hundreds of others suffering with arthritis and gout to live a pain-free life. In Deuteronomy 30:19, God tells us: “I have set before you life and death,blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live.” A Bible verse found in Hosea 4:5 would also fit nicely here: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

The Human Body Is Programmed For Survival

The innate wisdom God programmed into our bodies is always working toward survival. Our body is constantly trying to keep us alive despite our foolish choices to place harmful substances into it. Our body is always trying to correct any imbalances it finds within and sends us warning signals when it can’t fix the problem without our help. In the case of arthritis, the body cannot fix the problem as long as that person continues to consume foods high in animal fat and protein, thus it signals the problem with pain. Pain is a warning signal being sent by our body to inform us of an internal problem within our joints. Sadly, we have a medical community that doesn’t deal with physical problems by trying to determine their cause. Rather, our country's medical system tries to cover up the symptom with a drug. The drug does nothing to eliminate the cause, but rather only deals with the symptom. Thus, the problem never goes away, and in the case of arthritis and gout, that person will have to suffer with that debilitating problem and be on drugs for the rest of their life, while their quality of life continues to deteriorate. Once again we see the cause and effect – health is a matter of choice! Here at Hallelujah Acres, we have observed that when a person adopts the Hallelujah Diet, they usually not only see their arthritic and gout problem simply and quite quickly disappear, but at the same time see most of the other physical problems they were experiencing disappear as well – and they don’t get sick anymore. HALLELUJAH! Next week, the good Lord willing and if the creeks don’t rise too high we will return with another exciting issue of the Hallelujah Health Tip. Trust you will join us and that you will share these Health Tips with friends and loved ones.