Did my Parents Ruin My Life?

      No, it was absolutely not their fault, and in fact they spent large amounts of money, and eons of time, trying to deal with my many childhood maladies.  Obesity, acne, asthma, and severe eczema to name but a few.  Everything they tried, following a "doctor's" advice, failed utterly.  Lotions, potions, creams, pills, shots, dietary interventions, chiropractic, temporary removal to other locations in the country, and even gruesome "Aveeno" baths, which was merely powdered oatmeal stirred into bath water.  It was supposed to sooth eczema racked skin, and it sort of did, but only while actually sitting in the noxious mixture.  Actually eating said horse fodder entirely obviated any relief that might have occurred.

     I was hyper-sensitive to skin infections, including a particularly nasty one called impetigo, which was a routine occurrence.  As an overweight asthmatic my ability to exercise was very limited.  All in all it was a miserable childhood for me, and a frustrating expensive nightmare for my parents.  I recall one attempt at a dietary intervention in the early 1960s which involved "gluten" bread.  An odd name for bread that was supposed to be devoid of gluten.  It was still bread so the experiment was just another failure.  They tried cutting out several different foods in the quest for my relief, but they never considered limiting starch, sugar, and fruit.  

     It's not that we didn't eat meat.  We ate quite a lot, but it was always accompanied by mounds of  potatoes, rice, bread, and other starchy vegetables.  And there was an endless parade of sugary cereals, sugary soft drinks, candy, cakes, pies, spaghetti, toast, jams, jellies, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, syrup, brownies, fudge, cookies, donuts, fried pies, milk chocolate, ice cream, bananas, watermelon, Jello "salads", fried everything, etc. etc. etc, ad, literally, nauseam.  Oh, and barrels of "vegetable" oils of one kind or another, especially Crisco and Mazola corn oil.  All of which were, essentially, poisonous to me.

     The pathetically clueless doctors in our town, and everywhere else for that matter, told the parental units that I might grow out of all the problems in time.  Some of the problems did ease up after puberty, but many did not, and in fact some got worse.  Any minimal improvement was likely due to eating less carbage as I aged into my late teen years.  Recurring severe asthma attacks were not among the things that got better, and more than one hospitalization was necessary.  Suffice to say that ineffectual and ignorant doctors were not my favorite class of people back then, and they still aren't.

     And now, doctors who are clueless about the healing powers of low-carb eating are even more deserving of my disdain.  They receive little nutrition training, and what there is, is violently wrong-headed.  They relentlessly parrot the phony "food pyramid", sneer at low-carb eating whilst blathering on about high cholesterol, and perpetuate the "balanced diet" scam.  it's all a huge crock of debunked doody, and it was no less so sixty years ago.  It has to be counted a near miracle that I did not end up a diabetic with a missing foot, have a fatal heart attack, a stroke, contract cancer of some kind, or already be in cognitive decline.

     It took me seventy years to finally work my way around to realizing the benefits of ultra low-carb eating, losing a wife to the ravages of sugar and carbs along the way.  Now, well, I'm in my mid-seventies and I am metabolically healthier than I was at forty, admittedly a rather low bar.  I am on no prescription drugs nor or any needed.  I have no signs of anything arthritic, have no mobility problems, no blood pressure issues, heart problems, or debilitating asthma, no cognitive decline, and no digestive issues whatever.  I endured seventy years in distress and difficulty because virtually the entire medical establishment was/is dead set against nutritional sanity.  

     Add to all that, the pro-carb/sugar propaganda that is aided and abetted by a welter of corporate and governmental interests and what you see now is the train wreck of auto-immune disease increasingly rampant in our country.  "Do no harm" my rosy red backside.  If you break an arm, or have another traumatic injury, a doctor is your huckleberry.  If you have an autoimmune condition, they won't help worth a damn, and very likely will make things worse, but not before costing you or your insurance several young fortunes in pharmaceuticals that don't cure anything.

     This disgusting state of affairs is changing, but at a glacial pace.  Unsurprising considering that real change in this arena is battling entrenched social headwinds.  Finally, very time a doc recommends the government food pyramid, or tell you to eat more whole grains, vegetables, and fruit, they are violating their Hippocratic oath.  They don't know they are doing it, but as they say in law, ignorance is no excuse.