Which Industry cares most about your Health?
The Medical-Pharmaceutical Industry prefers to call itself the “Health Care Industry”, no doubt because that term sounds considerably more caring. Of course, they make their billions not on your health, but rather, on your sicknesses. There is an industry, however, that very obviously does care about your health. The companies that work in that industry truly do want you to live long, and very healthy lives. I am referring here to the Insurance Industry.
Think about it: What could be better for a health insurance company than to have thousands of healthy customers, people who, month by month, pay their expensive insurance premiums, and yet who never have to go to doctors, have operations, take exorbitantly-priced medications, accept invasive “therapies” such as chemo or radiation therapy, and the like? Such a company would be making pure profit, and would practically never have to pay for anything!
Therefore, why don’t we have a look at what a well-known insurance company recommends as far as staying healthy is concerned?
A few weeks ago I found a PDF booklet made by Kaiser Permanente, an “integrated managed care consortium”. To quote from Wikipedia:
“As of October 2017, Kaiser Permanente had 11.7 million health plan members, 208,975 employees, 21,275 physicians, 54,072 nurses, 39 medical centers, and 720 medical facilities.[2]As of December 31, 2017, the non-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals entities reported a combined $3.8 billion in net income on $72.7 billion in operating revenues.[1] Each Permanente Medical Group operates as a separate for-profit partnership or professional corporation in its individual territory, and while none publicly reports its financial results, each is primarily funded by reimbursements from its respective regional Kaiser Foundation Health Plan entity. KFHP is one of the largest not-for-profit organizations in the United States.”
Kaiser Permanente is a sort of insurance company: you pay your premiums, and if you then need medical assistance, you go to one of the medical facilities that is part of that system. Like any insurance company, Kaiser Permanente wants its premiumpaying members to stay healthy. That’s why they published “The Plant-based Diet Booklet”. (Click on title to download.)
On page two of that booklet, we see a quote by Carmelo Mejia, MD:
“As I see skyrocketing incidences of conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, I am profoundly aware that there is so much potential for preventing or even reversing most of these problems through very inexpensive lifestyle changes based on proper nutrition.”
On page seven, we read of the benefits of a plant-based diet: “Lower risk of developing cancer and diabetes” and “May slow the progression of certain types of cancer”. (All highlights are my own.)
By contrast, cancer.org, the official site of the American Cancer Society, that has close ties to the Pharmaceutical Industry, while mentioning the importance of diet, gives a slant on the issue that is subtly − though essentially − quite different. There, we find the statement:
“Nutrition is an important part of cancer treatment. Eating the right kinds of foods during and after treatment can help you feel better and stay stronger. Learn more about the importance of good nutrition during and after cancer treatment here.”
Did you notice the difference? The Insurance Company recommends the plantbased diet as part of a treatment for cancer “”May slow the progression of certain types of cancer”. (One might speculate that their cautious wording is probably due to their desire to avoid lawsuits slapped on them by the Pharmaceutical Industry). Cancer.org, on the other hand, says no such thing. They make it a point to mention that good nutrition is important “during and after cancer treatment” (i.e. chemo, radiation therapy, and the like.); indeed, they use that phrase twice in only two sentences, no doubt just to make sure you get their message: “You need our treatment!”
In this book, I have emphasized the fact that cancer is a condition that develops in large part due to life-style; poor diet is one of the factors that contributes to its development. What could be more logical, then, than to improve one’s diet, not only as a means of preventing cancer, but also, as a strategy for defeating it? Yet Cancer.org, desirous of having you choose to resort to an extremely expensive therapy, would have you believe that a good diet is important “during and after treatment”, but they do not even suggest that such a dietary change may be a treatment in itself, and perhaps the only one you will need.
Now: I am not saying that the specific dietary recommendations given in the Kaiser Permanente booklet are precisely the ones that you as a cancer patient should follow: only a physician well-trained in nutrition and its importance in fighting cancer (i.e., an alternative physician) will be able to tell you precisely what sort of diet will most increase your odds of complete recovery. Nonetheless, the Kaiser Permanente booklet is an excellent start – and as I mentioned at the beginning of this section: it is written not by people who make insane profits on your illness, but rather, by an organization that really does want you to stay healthy, as does any health insurance company!