Prevention is affordable health care

I once saw a cartoon that showed a fence at the top of a cliff or an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. It seems that cartoon aptly sums up our health-care dilemma.

Millions of Americans are waiting for national health care when doctor visits and prescription drugs become more affordable or free. That would be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. Prevention would be the fence at the top. Most diseases, including cancer, heart, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, etc. can be prevented and in many cases reversed with proper nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle changes.

Our American food/health culture is breeding disease. Fast foods are not the only cause of illness. Do you really think that the human body was designed to survive on the artificial food in grocery stores and on the avalanche of prescription drugs? Our expensive health care is not making us any healthier. Why not? Because we are treating symptoms, not the cause of illness. We demand more advanced treatments and drugs rather than stopping the cause of those problems.

The medical profession has evolved from family practice to specialization. Doctors are trained to diagnose and prescribe. They don't have the training or the time to discuss that "food can be your medicine" as Hippocrates had said 2,000 years ago. Our world is full of plants for food and medicine, but we are putting more faith in chemical technology. There definitely is a need for emergency treatments and drugs, but everyday health can be improved by eating more plant-based foods while limiting animal foods to 10 percent and avoiding processed/packaged foods.

When you eat fresh veggies, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds, and whole grains, you are putting the fence at the top of the cliff. This will allow for quality health and will not drain our economy as a national health-care/drug plan would do. We need to promote prevention as a significant part of our nation's health plan.

Diane Crawford

Arlington Heights