The fact that 
these go through ordinary cooking without complete destruction seems to sustain the 
idea that they do exist in ordinary diets in sufficient quantities. The chief sources of 
these vitamins are wheat germ (which is discarded in the flour mills), liver, heart, kidney and muscle meats, and yeast. That they are deficient in the ordinary diets is well 
proved by the prevalence of pellagra and pellagra-like symptoms, and the fact that the 
average person will have much better endur ance, appetite, digestion, and freedom from 
aches and pains when sufficient sized doses of these vitamins are taken. Subclinical pellagra exists in the north, while advanced pellagra exists in the south. The advanced pellagra does not escape detection, and so comes under treatment. The 
milder subclinical pellagra presents a varyi ng complexity of symptoms; is the subject of 
many professional errors, and seldom recei ves the right vitamins and minerals in 
sufficiently large doses to be completely cured. As pellagra is a disease which strikes at the skin, the lining of the digestive tract, and 
the brain, the symptoms of the subclinical varieties may predominate in any individual case. Clinical tests on the nutrition of persons suffering neuroses, irritability and other 
forms of nerve and mental disease show that a great number of them may be improved 
by taking nicotinic acid, which is considered the specific treatment for pellagra. This indicates that many cases of insanity are on a deficiency basis, and that the persons who 
are insane from pellagra are not the only group suffering insanity because of inadequate diet. The effects of vitamins are not as specific as might be concluded from what has been 
said so far. The effects of all vitamins ove rlap and interlace to such a degree that no 
disease can be cured by administering one vitamin, and no disease is caused by any 
single vitamin deficiency. The single cause and the single cure exist only in 
experimental animals in the laboratory. The complexities of civilized life make it impossible that the conditions surrounding 
the laboratory animal could ever be duplicated in human existence. It is apparent that 
the pellagra cases which show insanity as the outstanding symptom are not suffering 
from just a lack of nicotinic acid, or a lack of even all the vitamin B group; but are suffering from a lack of all vitamins, the most extreme deficiency being in the B
2 
complex, with emphasis on that part of it which we call niacin-amide. Such a patient undoubtedly also suffers from mineral deficiencies. The concentration of minerals and vitamins in the diets of animals that eat both 
vegetable and animal foods (meat, vegetables, fruits, and milk products) is undoubtedly 
sufficient to meet the daily needs without setting up much surplus. The vitamins and 
minerals supplied to the body is very much like the coal supplied to the furnace. A continuous stream must be kept going in order that the mechanism may function at its 
best. Some reserves of vitamin A are to be f ound in the retina and the liver. Some reserves 
of vitamin C may be found in the adrenal glands. Some reserves of vitamin D exist in 
fats, but these reserves are exhausted in a fe w days or weeks if a constant supply is not 
provided. In order to provide an optimum supply, every food taken into the body must 
be a vitamin and mineral containing food. Any part of the food intake which has been deprived of its normal, natural vitamin or mineral content dilutes the good food which is 
taken by the individual and cuts down his ability to resist infection in just the degree that such a deficient intake constitutes a percentage of the whole diet. The studies made by the author of 2,707 cases of patients suffering with tumors, 
cancers, stomach ulcers, colitis, constipation, neuritis, arthritis, heart disease, chronic 
headaches, and high and low blood pressure disclose that fact that this group as a group 
was consuming 55 per cent white flour products (bread, cookies, cake, pastries, pancakes, biscuits, muffins, etc.). The sugar taken by this group represented by candy, 
marmalade, preserves, jellies, jams, and canned goods containing heavy sugar syrups 
added another 20 per cent to the deficient devitaminized, devitalized, demineralized foods. (Report by author to American Rad ium Society, Annual Meeting, Cleveland, 
Ohio, 1934.) The "Food and Drug journal" keeps an accurate record of the export and import of 
food products. According to this journal, devitaminized wheat flour products imported 
into the city of New York constitute around 55 per cent of the whole food intake. The 
consumption of canned goods and sugar brings the percentage down to about the same as the group of 2,700 Midwest persons studied. In other words, the clinical group 
suffering from definite disease was eating from 18 to 25 per cent vitamin and mineral 
containing foods. The imports of food into the City of New York showed that the food intake of the population of that city measured around 25 per cent vitamin and mineral 
containing food, and about 75 per cent dev itaminized, devitalized, demineralized food. The diluting of the acceptable food by foods which had been so changed as to render 
them nearly pure carbohydrate (sugar, white flour, candy, etc.) was the fundamental 
error in both groups. And the group presenting well-developed disease evidently 
represented only a more advanced stage of the same kind of vitamin and mineral 
deficiency, The seven million people represented in the New York group had, in the younger decades, a certain freedom from the diseases mentioned; but they were laying 
the foundation for the same serious diseases, as they were suffering from colds, sinus 
disease, tooth and mouth diseases, chronic tonsillitis, and other things which provide 
foci for the distribution of toxic material into the heart, blood vessels, brain, and 
intestinal lining. More slowly and surely, they were laying the foundation for the diseases of the glands of internal secretion --for a failure of function of the pituitaries, 
pancreas, gonads, liver, thyroids, parathyroids, and adrenals. The age group which we 
examined ranged higher than the group represented by the whole population of New York City. They represented the culmination of years of deficiency, chronic infections, 
repeated colds, of headaches, and disease of the mucous membrane. The best evidence that we are not getting the things in our diet which we should get is 
the fact that persons in every one of these groups will be better physically and mentally 
when put on a high mineral, high vitamin diet, and given large amounts of multiple 
vitamin concentrates and minerals to make up for past deficiencies. CHAPTER V  
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS  
OF OUR DIETARY ERRORS? When a baby is born into the world, it is born into a fight against infection. He is 
exposed to many different kinds of infection from the moment of birth until death. The best proof of the ever-present attacking microorganisms being everywhere in great 
numbers is the rapidity with which a body decays after death. As long as any life is 
present, some kind of a barrier is kept up against infection. The decay that occurs 
immediately after death is simply the result of  the already present b acterial life attacking 
a now defenseless group of cells. The defenses in our body structures are something that 
are tied up with life. Life proceeds normally in the well-nourished cells with no danger 
from invading microorganisms as long as the bodily defenses are kept high. There are varying degrees of life pro cesses. The flame of life may burn high or bum 
low. In the well-nourished body the flame burns at its optimum, and the defense 
mechanisms which have come down to us through thousands of generations function 
well. The mechanisms which protect us against the ever-present and varying kinds of 
infection may be lowered in various ways. The defense mechanism may be lowered by 
long-continued exposure to cold, by fatigue, and by bad diet. In actual experience, the 
one which must interest us most is that which has to do with diet. Since it is quite 
evident that the diets in use in every civilized country today are not the optimum diets, it 
is equally evident that we are all exposed to diseases which result from the barriers 
against infection being lowered. Perhaps the most common infections are those connected with the upper respiratory 
tract--the diseases ordinarily known as colds, grippe, flu, and pneumonia. These 
diseases are largely diseases of the human animal, and undoubtedly affect humans 
because of the difference between human and animal diets. The diseases of the respiratory tract affect the nose with its accessory sinuses, through the bronchial tubes 
and the lungs. The acute stage of the colds passes off in a few days, but after acute colds 
there remains some sub acute or chronic disease of sinuses, tonsils, and bronchial tubes. This may persist for months or years, flaring up with each newly acquired cold and 
settling down to a chronic state between colds. These chronically affected areas become foci of infection for the distribution of disease germs to other parts of the body. Small 
abscesses may exist in the tonsils or between the tonsils and the pillars. Larger 
abscesses may exist in the sinuses, or the symptoms of focal infection may exist without 
abscess formation, simply from the absorption of toxic material from the infected mucous membrane lining the bronchial tubes. In experimental animals, these symptoms and the certainty with which they take hold 
may be influenced by restricting the vitamin and mineral intake of the animal. There is very great similarity between the symptoms produced in the laboratory animal and the 
symptoms as they actually exist in the so-called civilized human existing on a 
deficiency diet. Experimental disease of th e gastro-intestinal tract, stomach ulcer, may 
be produced by feeding the kind of diets ordi narily consumed in the average household. In India, experiments made by McCarrisson a nd other British observers showed that the soldiers living in areas where stomach ulcer was prevalent also developed many cases 
of stomach ulcer. This occurred when the soldiers were kept on a native diet. When put 
on a better diet, the percentage of stomach ulcers was reduced to that in ordinary army life. Experiments on animals, giving them the diets of the people of these ulcer areas, 
produced stomach ulcer in about the same proportion as in humans. The first treatment for stomach ulcer which attained any great attention by the medical 
profession was the so-called Sippy treatment. This treatment consisted in neutralizing 
the highly acid condition of the stomach with chalk and other alkalines, but it also 
included hourly feedings of milk or cream and orange juice. Sippy knew nothing 
whatever of vitamins, and perhaps never thought of such a thing as mineral deficiency in this class of diseases, but through a fortuitous accident his treatment provided the 
patient with calcium and also with the vitamins contained in butter fat, milk, and orange juice. This treatment supplies only a part of the whole deficiency needs of a person with this 
type of disease, but it was so great an improvement over the deficiency diets which produced the disease that many patients were temporarily cured. Sippy and the others of 
his time did not recognize the fact that the patient needed not a temporary treatment, but 
a permanent one. They did not recognize the fact the ulcers were due to dietary deficiencies, and that the patients must be put on a correct diet for the rest of their lives. They assumed that the patient was consuming a normal diet, and that the ulcer was due to some mysterious and unexplainable happening which in some way was connected 
with the production of too much acid in the stomach. We now know that the acid is the 
defense mechanism. It is the only mechanism the stomach has for fighting back against 
irritations from without. The person suffering with this kind of diseases always has 
some degree of scurvy. The scurvy has produced bad teeth and infected gums. The bad teeth and infected gums have caused pus to be swallowed into the stomach sometimes at 
the rate of about a teaspoonful every hour . The swallowing of pus produces local 
irritation. The irritation calls out the increased stomach secretion. Continuation of the 
irritation results in an increase of hydrochloric add, leading eventually to ulceration. These happenings cover a period of years, and by the time the ulcer appears in stomach or duodenum the whole gastrointestinal tract is diseased and along with it the liver bile 
duct and gall bladder. The ulcer is a focal breakdown in a completely diseased gastro-intestinal canal. In connection with colds and other respiratory diseases, there is no doubt about the 
resistance being high in well-nourished pers ons and low in badly nourished persons. In 
connection with gastrointestinal disease of the type described, there is no question but that the evidence is just as well established. The chronic gastritis and hyperacidity and stomach and duodenal ulcers are deficiency dis eases the same as scurvy, beriberi, and 
rickets, and may be cured just as certainly and just as permanently by diet and proper mineral and vitamin intake. The study of what we need and what we get in the way of diet establishes the fact that 
diseases of the respiratory tract and diseas es of the stomach are unnecessary luxuries. We may have them if we wish. We need not have them if we do not wish. Every person who exists on a general dietary deficiency for a period of years, even 
though he may not develop chronic respiratory infections, or actual peptic ulcer, will 
have vague, indefinite stomach distress whic h is called indigestion. He will also have some degree of constipation, and such person will have an abnormal colon. In the past, 
this disease of the colon has been called colitis. The fitness of this name has been 
questioned, as it is hard to establish an actual inflammation present in these cases. However, the mucous membrane of the colon does become diseased. It does fail in its 
function. The walls of the colon become thinne r. In some cases these walls break partly 
through, producing diverticula. A diverticulum is a hernia of the lining of the colon. In 
the person who has such a diseased colon, ulceration occurs in the advanced stages of 
the disease. In some such diseased colons a widely distributed mass of warts grow up, and these warts may become ulcerated or cancerous (papilloma). The x-ray shows in 
advanced stages of colonic disease that the entire colon may be excited to contraction, 
thereby narrowing the whole organ. The contr action may occur only in certain sections 
of the colon; but whether it occurs in the col on as a whole or in sections, the disease is 
referred to as spastic colon. It is simply the old, long-continued chronic disease irritating the organ to the point where it is thrown in to a chronic spasm. The spastic colon, the 
ulcerated colon and the atonic are of course painful. Nervousness has nothing to do with 
producing colitis but the colon disease and the nervousness are both the result of the same diet deficiencies. The same relationshi p exists in connection with overfatness and 
diabetes. They are both caused by the bad diet. One does not cause the other. The many forms of colitis produce a more or less shifting and advancing and receding 
group of pains. These colon pains may appear in any part of the abdomen. Since the 
colon is a large organ, it is doubled upon itself, and sections of it may occupy any 
abdominal position. The pains of colonic disease are often mistaken for inflammation of 
the appendix, ovaries, or gallbladder. Since diet deficiency is almost universal, and different degrees of colitis or colonic disease are also widespread, colonic pains are the 
most common pains in both the male and female abdomen. The colon bacillus is a normal form of germ life within the colon. It exists without 
doing any harm to the mucous membrane. However, in persons who have a lowered 
resistance on account of deficiency disease, or who have an old, chronic, constipation 
which causes stagnation within the colon, these bacilli lose their friendly attitude and 
become disease producers. They not only attack the lining of the colon, but make their way through, especially in the case of females, into the kidneys and bladder, setting up 
colon bacillus pyelitis and cystitis. They may filter through into the parenchyma of the 
kidneys, causing more or less severe nephrit is. This is the commonest cause of bladder 
inflammation in women. While the disease may be temporarily relieved by giving 
urinary antiseptics, there is a tendency for the disease to recur until the colon is brought 
back to better health by vitamins and minerals and a better dietary intake. The dietary deficiencies which promote the invasion of the nasal cavity, throat, and 
lungs by the virus of colds, which subsequen tly leads to establishment of abscesses in 
the sinuses, and which produce a lack of resistance to infections along the 
gastronintestinal tract, also affect resistance against infection in the deeper parts of the 
body. Every living cell in the body has an inherited ability to maintain its health in the 
face of a constant threat by microscopic enemies. These microscopic enemies have a 
very great degree of selectivity. They are the commonly known disease germs and the 
less commonly known disease-producing viruses. Viruses are much smaller than bacilli 
or bacteria or fungi. Viruses are so small that some of them are parasites on these other forms of life. Viruses pass through the finest filters. Bacteria do not. Since both bacteria 
and viruses produce disease, and since they have a very delicate selectivity, it is quite apparent that virus disease as well as bacterial disease is encouraged by food 
deficiencies and discouraged by the sound, healthy cell that is properly nourished. At the present time there are probably many  diseases where the viruses attain entrance 
into the body by way of local damage which has been caused by bacteria. In other cases 
the reverse is true. Smallpox is a virus disease. The damage done admits the common pus-producing germs. The common cold is a virus disease. The virus causes enough 
destruction to admit the pneumococcus, streptococcus, and other forms of bacterial 
disease. Arthritis is undoubtedly due to infection built up on a deficiency basis, and may 
or may not have some connection with virus diseases. One of the common virus 
diseases is poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis). Here a fine degree of selectivity occurs, as the virus only attacks certain nerve cells. These are nerve cells deep in the body. Apparently the deeper parts of the body have a lower resistance in the person who is 
carrying a food deficiency. Disease of the brain is well known to result from food 
deficiencies as in the case of the insanity accompanying pellagra. The insanities 
following attacks of flu, and the insanities which have been known to be cured after the removal of abscessed teeth are low grade brain infections which have been made 
possible by nutritional deficiency. In the case of brain disease, poliomyelitis, and arthritis, we are dealing with internal 
parts of the body far removed from body surfaces. The idea that the battle against infection occurs only in the mouth, nose, stomach, and other parts where infectious material actually comes in contact with body cells is therefore entirely erroneous. The 
point to be made here is that not only the body areas which come in direct contact with 
infection, but every cell in the body, even its most remote parts, is subject to the action 
of invading microorganisms in cases where nutrition is below normal. It is quite 
obvious that skin, eyes, teeth, gums, and tonsils do have a constant contact with infectious material from the outside. When th e cells of these organs lose their fighting 
power by lack of certain vitamins and minerals in the diet, it is easy to see how such 
structures are invaded. The connection between bones and joints, brain and spinal cord, 
blood vessels and heart is not quite so easy to see; but that it does occur is quite evident. After the outer defenses are broken through the poisonous infectious material is carried 
by the blood stream to every inner part of the body. In the mortality records, the disease which leads all others as the cause of death is 
heart disease. As the mortality records cl assify heart disease apart from blood-vessel 
disease, it does not give a true picture. Blood  vessels and heart are all one organ. Brittle 
arterioscelerotic blood vessels are never attach ed to a healthy heart. The same general 
disease that produces heart failure also pr oduces disease of the blood vessels. Mortality 
records should classify together heart disease and apoplexy. When we add together the deaths as given in the records, of apoplexy and heart disease, we find that they are far 
greater in number than any other kind of disease. Even in children rheumatic heart is 
very common, and the rheumatic hearts of children result in the heart deaths of young 
and middle aged adults. It was formerly thought that the blood stream was an absolutely sterile area. Now we 
know that different degrees of blood-stream infection is not at all uncommon. The 
person who has an acute cold has showers of germs invading his blood stream. Typhoid 
germs are found in the blood stream in the first week or ten days in that disease. A 
person with diseased tonsils or gums, abscessed teeth, or other foci of infection in the 
body has occasional showers of microorganisms in the blood which come from these foci. The person who harbors chronic infection in any form has an infected blood stream 
from time to time. The infected blood stream may produce thickening or hardening of 
the valves of the heart. It produces thickening and hardening of arteries. It eventually results in interference with nerve function. Such interference with nerve function may 
produce the diseases of the heart which are known as disturbances of rhythm (fibrillation, etc.). In addition to the slowly poisonous effect  of these showers of microorganisms in the 
blood stream, on blood vessels, heart, nerves, and nerve centers, there is a tendency for 
colonization of the microorganisms themselves in areas of the body that are poorly 
supplied with blood. These relatively bloodless areas are the thick layers of fasciae on each side of the spinal column between the muscle layers, the dense tissue of tendons 
and ligaments around joints, and the heavy, leathery connective tissue around the back of the neck and under the scalp. The blood stream of even a person suffering food deficiency will soon cleanse itself. However, by hiding in the areas poorly supplied with blood, microorganisms may persist, and with each succeeding blood-stream infection they may multiply in number. This mechanism gives rise to the various  manifestations of the disease known as 
arthritis, and when the connective tissue covering of nerves is the place invaded, the disease which occurs is known as neuritis. The disease we describe may select the fasciae of the back. The patient then has spondylitis or lumbago. It may affect the structures in the back of the neck and under the scalp. The resulting disease then is 
headache. It may affect the dense ligaments around the knee and ankle, or the sacroiliac joint or other joint. The disease is then known as arthritis. The point here is that headache, neuritis, arthritis, lumbago, and other such painful 
conditions are not separate entities, but are simply various manifestations of the same 
disease, the disease being the invasion of a part by a lowgrade, old chronic infection, the 
infection being permitted to occur because the person is carrying a foci or abscess somewhere in the body. The foci or abscesses which give rise to these various 
manifestations of disease occur in persons who have been unable to cope with their 
microscopic enemies on account of their resistance being lowered because of inadequate 
intake of vitamins and minerals. The evil effects of vitamin and mineral deficiencies 
here depicted, involving as they do diseases of the digestive organs, lung, heart, brain, 
and blood vessels, present a truly depressing picture. But this is not the whole story. The gla nds of internal secretion which preside over all 
life processes depend for their proper functioning on a continuous supply of good, rich 
blood. The pituitary, which has the seat of honor in this chain, situated at the base of the 
brain, is like the driver of a 20-mule team. It directs the activities of all the other glands. It stimulates or depresses according to the ne eds of the individual. It pours out adrenalin 
from the adrenal glands when the person is about to engage in a physical struggle, and 
pours out insulin from the pancreas when sugars arrive in the stomach which must be 
burned. It controls the moving of calcium and the building of bones through the activities of 
the parathyroid. It controls the functioning of the gonads, the regulatory mechanism of 
menstruation, and protects the fetus until time for delivery. The chain of endocrine glands may also be compared to the keys of an organ. The organist is the pituitary. The 
growth of hair, the health of skin, the secretion of various glands in the body--digestion, assimilation, metabolism--all are under the c ontrol of this endocrine chain. The very 
thoughts that are produced by the brain are also under its control. We may see how the accidental interfe rence with circulation may influence some 
particular gland activity. For instance, the adrenal, which has to do with keeping up the 
normal blood pressure, may have tiny clots devel op in some of its vessels. This may be 
due to scurvy of the vessel wall, or to microorganisms causing disease of the vessel 
wall. This strangles the cells normally fed by such a blood vessel. One such accident may perhaps cause little trouble. However, the tendency is for such 
accidents to recur (spontaneously). The piling up of many such accidents will seriously 
cripple the function of the organ. After much adrenal tissue has been thus destroyed the person now has Addison's disease. The s upply of adrenal secretion continues to 
decrease until death occurs. Due to the specific attraction between certain 
microorganisms and certain organs, colonization of germs from the blood stream may 
occur in any part of the body, and the process may go on even to the formation of small 
abscesses. The effects here described may be mechanical or toxic but are usually a 
combination of the two. These biological reactions may produce alteration in any organ that decreases the 
normal secretion of the organ. The instance  given in the case of the adrenal may be 
duplicated in the thyroid (hypothroidism), pancreas (diabetes), ovary (sterility), etc. In 
most cases we assume that the effect of the strangulation of cells or the atrophy of cells 
has been due to a poisonous, depressing effect on the substance of the gland in question. In some cases, however, the dose of the toxi c substance is smaller or less potent, and 
instead of depressing it may excite the gla nd to increased action instead of having the 
depressing effect. In such cases the physiology of the process is reversed. In the case of 
the thyroid, the patient becomes afflicted with hyperthyroidism. In the case of the 
pancreas, there is an increased secretion and an increased amount of sugar must be 
furnished to counteract the increased amount of insulin produced. In the case of the ovary, continuous bleeding may occur instead of normal menstruation. The ultimate 
effect in the cases which are stimulated rath er than depressed is to wear out the over-
stimulated cells so that eventually the life of the organ is terminated, and a condition of 
atrophy ensues. The diseases of this type which produce the hyper effect on the glands of internal 
secretion are relatively small in number as comp ared with those that have, from the very 
first, a depressing effect. As a rule, the depres sing effect on glands of internal secretion 
from toxic material circulating in the blood is not an effect on one gland alone, but is an 
effect on all the glands, with special emphasis on the one which gives the predominant 
symptoms. For instance, the adrenal may produce outstanding symptoms which calls the attention of the physician to the adrenal, but  all of the other glands are being depressed 
in a similar way, but not in the same degree. The failure of one of the glands of internal secretion means not only the failure of all 
the other glands in a lesser degree, but also means the relative failure of the pituitary. Failure of the glands of internal secretion has been likened to old age. It is an error to 
say that it may be likened to old age. It is old age. This is the mechanism by which old 
age occurs. In a person who has existed for many years on a deficiency diet, the signs of old age may appear at the age of thirty to thirty-five. Women who are poorly nourished 
cease to menstruate at a relatively early ag e. This is not because the ovaries are exhausted, but because the whole endocrine chain is exhausted. There are plenty of ova 
left in the ovaries, but the stimulus from the pituitary necessary to bring the ova into 
activity is lacking. Women who are well nourished continue to menstruate well beyond 
50 years of age. CHAPTER VI  
HOW WIDESPREAD ARE DEFICIENCIES  
   The author has had much experience in examining young men for service in the Army 
and young women for service in the Red Cross. In those exhibiting the symptoms which 
go with dietary deficiency, those who have the peculiar symptoms of scurvy and 
pellagra so commonly seen, the hair turns gray  at a relatively early age; the teeth are 
decayed or lost; the skin becomes wrinkl ed and sallow in appearance; the facial 
expression becomes less animated, and the eyes lose their luster. Along with these we 
find a failure of acuity. The eyes lose th e power of accommodation; the ears are unable 
to distinguish the higher vibrations. The person no longer appreciates the aroma of good 
food, not does he get the full flavor of the taste. Memory fails, and fatigue occurs on 
lesser physical exertion. Of all these signs and symptoms, the most outstanding is the peculiar wrinkling of the 
subepithelial tissue. This shows plainly in the face of the person who has begun to take 
on old age--fine wrinkles around the eyes, nose, and mouth, with the structures 
drooping and the lines sloping downward. This, with the development of the sallow 
color of the skin and the distorted shape of  the lips due to loss of teeth, or the 
replacement of natural teeth with crude effort s of the dentist, presents a typical picture 
of advancing age. These signs are to be seen in the pictures  of many of our most news-worthy men. It is 
not uncommon in newspaper and magazine pictures and in news reels of the moving 
pictures to see men who exhibit these signs, along with tortuous blood vessels in the 
temporal region (arterial sclerosis), and in those who smile, decayed, discolored, 
irregular teeth and swollen, diseased gums. The persons exhibiting these evidence of old 
age are senators, representatives, judges, a nd other persons of importance in the affairs 
of the nation. It is not difficult to explain the bungling and muddling that exists in high 
places in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government. The men 
who are at the head of our affairs are old men, no matter what may be their years. They 
are diseased men, no matter what false set of standards may classify them as normal. A study of the requirements for normal nutrition and a study as to how well the 
average dietary meets these requirements leads to the conclusion that the average diet of 
the average civilized person of the presen t time is a deficient diet. Civilization has 
brought with it factory foods, and factory foods have in no way contributed to health. On the contrary, in every case where factory foods have been adopted, health has been very seriously impaired. The small child who catches cold easily, a nd after repeated colds has diseased tonsils, 
is eventually brought to the operating room for relief. If the child had been properly fed so that catching cold was impossible, or if the colds were less severe, the necessity for removing certain organs from his body because they had become foci of infection would not occur. There is no question but that diseased tonsils do in some cases become 
centers for the distribution of microorganisms through the body by way of the blood 
stream. There is no question but that children in this condition are benefited by the removal of these putrid tonsils. The point of interest is that the well-fed child does not 
acquire the disease. The child on whom the operation has been performed is cured of one of the effects of the disease. He is not cured of the disease itself, or the condition 
which brought it about. The Dionne quintuplets were subjected to a wholesale tonsil removal. The newspapers 
record at times the incident of whole families having tonsils removed on the same day.. Some years ago a certain column of the Journal  of the American Medical Association 
recorded the big-heartedness of the Kiwanis Club of a certain western city, the occasion 
being the invitation for a certain group of families of the town to bring the children into 
the hospital on a certain day and have their tonsils removed at the expense of the Club! The doctors and the laity have been educated to tonsil removal as a proper way to meet 
a certain emergency. Apparently no one ever raised the question as to why these tonsils 
need removal, or what could be done to prevent the tonsils from becoming diseased. In the case of the Dionnes, the situation is more interesting because these famous 
children were supposed to be given every possible attention, and the feeding problem 
was managed by university professors who specialized in the care and feeding of 
children. In spite of the formulae devised and the protective barriers thrown around the little girls, they did catch colds; they did develop chronic disease of the tonsils, and they 
did have to have their tonsils removed. The fundamental principles of good nutrition evidently had not extended as far as Callendar, Ontario. The largest diseased group in school children in the grade schools is that group which 
have severe colds, rheumatic fever, and rheumatic heart disease. In the high school 
group, the greatest disease producer is tuberc ulosis. The heart disease victim is the 
victim of some chronic focal infection. The victim of tuberculosis is also a victim of lowered resistance against disease, due to dietary deficiency. The problem of these 
diseased children is simply a problem of right and proper diet. No further proof need be adduced to prove the correctness of these statements than a 
visit to any school cafeteria. It will be found that candy bars, sweet drinks, pastries, 
cakes and other white flour and sugar products predominate. The teachers and the 
school boards evidently concur in the poisoning of the children by these deficient foods, 
while making an attempt to build some kind of an intelligent mind on these poisoned bodies and brains. The first effort of those in charge of education should be to build 
sound bodies, and since at the present time only one meat during the day can be under 
the control of the school board, that meal should conform in the best possible way to the 
demands for a high vitamin and mineral intake. The school cafeteria reflects a very low 
degree of intelligence in school management. The schools and colleges of the country could very easily become centers for the dissemination of proper information in 
connection with diets. The best possible way to start on such a campaign would be the restriction of foods sold in school cafe terias to natural health-producing foods. In the group of young men who are being inducted into the Army, the examining 
physicians and the induction boards are rejecting around 40 per cent. These rejections are for eye diseases, diseased teeth and gum s, and heart disease. They also include 
rejections for other diseases which are produced by bad diets. It is quite evident that the 
two first-named are deficiency diseases. The young men show a large incidence of 
subclinical scurvy, pellagra, beriberi, and rickets. In no case do we find any of these 
diseases as a clear-cut entity. Those who are rejected show a combination of subclinical 
deficiency diseases, so we may conclude that errors in diet are the main reason for the 40 per cent rejections in this age group. (1941). (In 1942 physical requirements for army 
service have been lowered but rejects are still around 36%.) The group that are accepted for Army service are not by any means physically perfect. Those accepted have many minor degrees of heart disease. Some have a history of 
having had operations for stomach ulcer or a ppendicitis or hemorrhoids. Many have had 
tonsillectomies, and many have varying degrees of rheumatic disease and arthritis. Chronic headaches and anemias are not uncomm on in this group, as are lesser degrees 
of eye disease and defects of hearing. Acceptance into the Army does not mean a 
physically perfect specimen, but one who is in the upper 60 per cent as distinguished from the rejected lower 40 per cent of the diseased group. The selection of men for the Navy is much more exacting. In the New York area, the 
rejections for application for service in th e Navy run as high as 73 percent (1941). The 
requirements in Army and Navy for the relatively higher degree of health than exists 
among the population as a whole focuses general attention on these active members of 
our defense (Army and Navy) group. However, the need for good health among the workers in industrial plants at home is just as important in order that the machines with 
which to wage war may be put in the hands of the soldiers and sailors. The factory must be equipped not only with tools and jigs, but with men who have 
expert hands, good eyes, and competent brains. The health of the army of workers who 
produce the munitions, the instruments of precision on airplanes, the chemists who 
manufacture the explosives, the engineers who work out the dynamics of engines, and 
all the other workers in the industrial army  are the very root and foundation of our 
defense in a fighting world. The necessity for picking an army of men who will be free 
from disease and who have as great endurance as possible under the stress and strain of 
Army campaigns is obvious. All these qualities  should be present in the same degree in 
the home army and in the group of agricultural workers who are producing the food. In our loose thinking regarding war and the preparations for war, we have come to 
believe that the most important munitions  are guns, battleships, bombs, tanks, and 
airplanes. However, there is one of the munitions of war which is of much greater importance than any of these. This one munition which should be put at the head of the 
list is food. Many years ago Napoleon said that an army travels on its belly. This is as 
true today as it was in the time of Napoleon or Caesar. No army travels well and no 
industrial home army performs well unless it is well fed. Attention to the production of 
good food means more in defense and offense th an any other one thing. A well-fed man, 
like a well-fed dog, is aggressive and pugnacious. The poorly fed man or dog is weak 
and cowardly. This principle has been adopted by the ruling power in Europe at the 
present time (1943), since it has been made a crime punishable by death to spread information in regard to nutrition in Norway, Belgium, Holland, and all other conquered 
countries. The victorious Germans do not wish to have the conquered peoples well 
nourished. They wish them broken in body and spirit. They wish to keep them weak and 
cowardly. They wish to keep them in that state of malnutrition which is not too great, but which will make them serve better the purpose of their masters as slaves. CHAPTER VII  
CANCER--ITS TREATM ENT AND PREVENTION  
   The problem of cancer has attracted more and more attention during the last few 
decades since it has been definitely known that this disease is on the increase in every civilized country in the world. There are othe r diseases that have increased. These are 
insanity, heart diseases, diabetes, and the anemias. Cancer has attracted more attention than these other diseases because of the fact the victims of this disease in its advanced 
stage are spectacular in the amount of pain produced by the disease, and the degree to 
which the cancer victims make themselves di sagreeable to those who must live in the 
same house with them, on account of the stinking nature of the disease. This disease was known to the ancients as the "stinking death." The bad odor is 
brought about by the fact that when the cancer attains a certain size, it begins to die. The 
dead part of the cancer is attacked by th e microorganisms which are always present and 
ready to attack any dead flesh. The poison from this rotting material eventually kills the 
person on whom the cancer grows. As cancer is a dynamic growth which is eagerly 
pushing itself forward into the deeper structures in whatever anatomical location it may 
be, it becomes a parasitic invader whose head is burrowing deeper, while its tail is dying 
or dead. All different degrees of life exist between the invading front line of cancer cells and the zone which presents itself as a sloughing, stinking area, and which, being 
invaded by saphrophytes, is a rotten and decaying mass of cells. Cancer, then, is feared to a greater exte nt than any other disease of modern times. Many millions of dollars have been spent on cancer research. The United States government conducts an institution for that purpose. Many fraudulent cures are put forth. Some of these attract a good deal of attention 
before they are finally demonstrated to be frauds. A few years ago a well-known physician on the Pacific Coast convinced a great newspaper publisher that he had a cure 
for cancer. The supposed cure was widely publicized, but created untold misery for the 
victims who flocked to San Francisco from different points, only to be met with 
disappointments. Previous to this, a doctor in Toronto had invented a cancer cure from 
horse serum, and about this time a Detroit physician brought out a cancer care which 
was some kind of an obscure chemical compound. In these two later cases the intent to e xploit cancer patients was quite evident, because 
of the fact in each case the little ampule containing 15 drops of the medicine sold at 
around $300. Even with the mercenary and fraudulent nature of these quack remedies so 
obvious, the hope for some magic cure was so great that not only did the laity respond 
by demanding these medicines but many millions of dollars were sent by physicians for the magic ampules. In any disease such as cancer which is painful and incurable, the desire and prayer of 
the wrong-thinking public have always been for a cure. In many of these diseases a 
more logical desire would be for prevention. Physicians and laymen alike desired a cure 
for malaria and for syphilis, for tuberculosis and for typhoi d fever. In the case of 
syphilis and malaria, specific chemicals have been found that improve the condition of 
the person afflicted with the disease, but perhaps never effect a cure. In both these 
diseases, one can see if an effective met hod of prevention had been worked out, the ultimate result for the race would be much better. Prevention would leave the individual 
and the race entirely free from the disease. Th e imagined care leaves the individual with 
some parts of his body permanently damaged, and he still is a potential disease carrier, with only relative improvement in his condition. The great mass of humanity is still in a 
position where it may still get the disease. In the case of tuberculosis, preventive measures have cut down the incidence of the 
disease. Each year die number of cases of t uberculosis is less. The disease has not been 
completely prevented, because even yet the idea of proper nutrition has not yet 
permeated to the masses. As far as the prevention of tuberculosis is concerned, an 
improvement has taken place. An increase in the amount of the particular food elements which contain vitamins A and D has contributed to this partial prophylaxis. A better 
appreciation of the beneficial effects of sunshine and fresh air has helped to furnish 
more vitamin D to growing children. The improvement in connection with tuberculosis 
has not been in any way related to specific cure. It has been only an improvement in one 
phase of nutrition--a building up of general resistance so that the tubercular bacillus 
does not find such a fertile field in children's lungs and glands as it formerly did. An 
extension of knowledge along this line would result in a complete disappearance of human tuberculosis. Another factor which must be taken into consideration is the exposure of children to 
mass infection. A few years ago there were more tubercular cows, and therefore children consumed more tubercular milk. The improvement in nutrition and the 
lessening of exposure to infectious organisms have both contributed to improvement in the situation. In connection with typhoid fever, another basic principle has brought about the 
disappearance of a very common and often fata l disease. In this case, the disease was 
eliminated by administering a specific vaccine. By injecting the vaccine, a person is 
rendered immune. The immune person will not  contract typhoid fever even though he 
swallows contaminated milk or water which contains great quantities of typhoid germs. The point we wish to emphasize here is that the good results obtained in ridding the 
human race of typhoid fever have been obtained by a method which is infinitely more 
valuable to humanity than would be a specific cure for the established disease. The 
methods used to bring about a reduction in the number of cases of tuberculosis have 
served a much better purpose than could possibly result from the discovery of a specific 
cure. Doctors and laymen formerly wished a nd prayed for a cure for tuberculosis and 
typhoid. The answer has been something better than a cure--prevention. We may say that syphilis and malaria have been brought under control. They have not 
been prevented. The situation in regard to these two diseases is not as satisfactory as 
with tuberculosis and typhoid, where preventive measures have brought about the safety 
of the individual from the danger incurred by even the first stages or the beginnings of the disease. When we correlate these facts with the situation as it exists today in 
connection with cancer, we must conclude that much of the effort in the past has been 
wasted effort. We must conclude that the efforts now being made in research 
institutions, governmental and private, are largely wasted efforts. The millions of 
dollars which are being expended in the chase for some magic shot-in-the-arm cure can 
never, even though successful, result in the optimum situation as regards cancer. The only solution of the cancer problem which will be satisfactory is the working out 
of means and methods of prevention. Discovering the case early and treating it 
successfully do nothing in removing the etiology which brought the cancer into being. The same person is exposed to the same cause again and may grow another cancer. The 
magic-cure solution of the problem would require constant follow-up. The doctor with 
the magic shot-in-the-arm cure must follow the patient and give him the shot whenever 
the same cause which produced the original cancer has caused a new cancer to grow. This kind of a solution of a medical problem is of course ridiculous, and yet this is the 
basis at the present time and in past times for all cancer research. One of the few things we do know at the present time about cancer is that it is a 
disease which follows another disease. It is never primary, but always secondary. It 
never grows on healthy tissues, but always grows on previously diseased tissues. The 
part of a body on which a cancer grows has a special soil on which the invader finds a 
favorable environment. If the soil is not prep ared in advance, the cancer simply can not 
and will not take root and grow. Cancer in this respect may be compared to a rotten log in a shady place where the rottenness and the lack of light conspire to bring forth a 
group of poisonous toadstools. A change in th e soil or exposure to sunlight brings about 
conditions in which the toadstools cease to be produced. A recurrence of the toadstool growth may be prevented by preventing the rottenness in the wood which they found to 
be a suitable environment for their particular growth. Whether the immediate cause of 
cancer may ultimately be found to be a virus, a fungus, a bacillus, or a chemical 
compound makes little difference in the question of prevention, since the clinical facts 
show that previous local disease must exist before a cancer growth may be started. The 
important fact is that the diseased area on wh ich the cancer finds its suitable soil must 
not be allowed to exist. By the prevention of locally diseased areas in the body, we may 
prevent cancer. A study of the anatomical locations in which cancer occurs locally--the lip, eyelids, 
tongue, and other visible parts where the disease may be studied from its very 
beginning--shows that these parts have, before the development of the cancer, been the 
seat of old, chronic, low-grade infections. A clean lip, a healthy eyelid, a mouth free from infection, or clean skin never develops a cancer. Dr. Bloodgood, of Johns 
Hopkins, one of the most notable students of cancer, said that a good-looking woman 
never dies of cancer of the face. The reason for that is that a good-looking woman takes 
pride in her appearance, and any kind of dirt or disease appearing on the face in any 
form is taken care of promptly so that the soil for the development of a disease is not 
permitted to exist. If we were able to inspect our internal parts and took the same pride in their good 
health, we would undoubtedly be able to prevent cancer in any part of the body. The 
vital point in this connection is that locally diseased areas which continue over a long 
period of time may become the seat of cancer growth. Efforts to cut down the incidence 
of cancer will be completely successful if we can eliminate these precancerous areas of 
local disease. When we speak of a local diseased area, we mean but one thing--an area in which the 
disease referred to is a chronic low-grade in fection. The steps in the development of 
cancer are plain. First, injury of a chemical, thermal, or mechanical nature which breaks 
down Nature's protective wall of epithelium  (skin or mucous membrane). Second, a 
repetition of the same insult before the protective walls have a chance to heal. Third, invasion of the injured area by microorganisms which establish themselves and continue 
to grow. Fourth, the continuation of the chemi cal, thermal, or mechanical insults. Fifth, 
the building up of a great wall of cells as a defense measure to shut out the invading 
organisms and the loss of inhibition in this mass of cells which permits them to grow 
indefinitely. This wild, anarchistic cell growth is the disease we call cancer. The only difference between a cancer cell and the cell which is able normally to repair 
injury to tissue is that in the latter the stimulus to growth of new cells disappears when 
the repair is completed. In the case which goes on to development of cancer, the cells 
have been over-stimulated to such a degree that the urge to reproduce and build more 
and more cells is the only function left in the cell. Cancer, then, is an exaggerated healing response, and it is exaggerated because the insult to tissue has been continuous 
and long-drawn-out. The irritant is a living irritant and is therefore, through the process of reproduction, immortal. The factors involved in the picture so far have been only local factors, but that there 
are constitutional factors as well as local factors can not be denied. The constitutional 
factors which have to do with the growth of  cancer are the factors which let down the 
resistance against infection and permit old chronic infections, which in a wellnourished 
person would heal, to drag along for months and years without healing. A high ability to heal would undoubtedly overcome and destroy the infectious microorganisms which 
establish themselves in the precancerous area. The problem of old chronic infection as related to cancer is a problem which involves 
anatomical locations and the normal physiology of these anatomical locations, as well as the other factors mentioned. A pipe may damage the smoker's lower lip. This may 
lead to the development of a chronic ulcer which in turn leads to cancer. Another man 
with the same kind of a pipe but with a higher healing power will have as much 
mechanical damage done to the lip, but healing being better, the lip will not break down and ulcerate, and the soil for cancer growth will not be produced. Cancer of the uterus occurs at a point wh ere the uterus has been torn. In a woman with 
good healing power, a good scar will be produced and healing will be complete. In the undernourished woman, the uterus is less elas tic and the childbirth tear is greater. This 
increases the likelihood of nonhealing in the badly nourished woman, and in her case the soil for the development of cancer is favorable. Cancer of the eyelid usually occurs in a spot where old chronic eczema of the lid has 
existed for years. Eczema is a bastard word used to designate all chronic nonspecific 
skin infections. To say cancer of the eyelid  develops on an eyelid which has had eczema 
means to say the cancer has developed in an  area of the lid which has carried an old, 
chronic, lowgrade infection. The mention of me chanical or chemical insult to tissues as 
having to do with precancer infers these may be  causative factors, but they are causative 
factors only as they destroy natural local de fenses and allow the entrance of infection. The real immediate cause of the cell multip lication which we call cancer is the presence 
of some kind and degree of irritation produced by invading microorganisms. If this were 
not true, we would find that cancer would present itself clinically, springing up from 
clean, sterile locations. Since this never happens, either in man or animal, we must 
conclude that the irritating agent which produces the growth is virus, fungus, bacillus, 
or some other form of microscopic life. If it be a virus, the causative organism could be carried on in each generation of new 
cells, as viruses are very small as compared to cells in virus diseases the viruses exist 
within the cells not between the cells as in most other kinds of infection. It would be easily possible for each of the new proliferating cells to contain new virus, and this 
would serve to irritate the cell in such a wa y as to keep up the crazy growth impulse in 
this crazy mass of cells which we call cancer. If we apply the principles herein set forth to a cancer of the stomach, which is the 
most common form of cancer, we find that the behavior of the disease fits into the 
picture very well. The stomach is subjected to irritation and overstimulation. Ulceration 
takes place, the ulcer is followed by cancer. The invading microorganisms are provided by pus swallowed from the diseased mouth. The diseased mouth has been provided by 
scurvy. The scurvy comes about as results of errors in diet. On the clinical side, many internists and some surgeons have come to consider 
vitamin C as a cure for stomach ulcers. Here they are recognizing a truth, but only a part 
of the whole truth--lack of vitamin C is undoubtedly one of the predominant causes of stomach ulcer (and stomach cancer). A complete treatment would mean a treatment 
with all other vitamins and minerals lacking in the individual's diet, as well as with vitamin C. 
   When we consider cancer of the internal parts of the body which are not exposed to 
external invading agents as are the lip, the mouth, and the stomach, we have further 
confirmation of the deadly effect of localized  infections in producing cancer. In spite of 
the fact that during the last ten years many external cancers have been cared by radium, surgery, and x-ray, and that there is an enor mous increase in the interest of the public in 
this disease, and an increase in willingness  to attack the disease, the gross mortality 
from cancer has increased year by year. We have cured many more cancers each year, 
but the death rate from cancer has gone highe r and higher. The reason for this apparent 
paradox is that while we have brought local external cancer under partial control, internal cancer has increased at a rate which not only offsets the cured cases, but has 
nearly doubled the whole mortality from the disease in the last twenty years. Cancer of the brain, which fifty years ago was a very rare finding at autopsy, is now 
one of the commonest forms of cancer. Some brain surgeons rank it as third in 
anatomical location. Internal forms of cancer, then, must have the soil in which cancer 
may grow. This brings up the results of postmortem examinations and the findings in 
early symptomless cancer. They are always found to be growing in an area which has 
been previously infected. The infections whic h provide the cancer soil in these internal 
parts--kidneys, liver, pancreas, ovaries, br ain, glands, muscles, bones, etc.--must 
necessarily come from the outside through the blood stream. As previously explained, showers of  microorganisms frequently spread through the 
blood stream. This occurs when a person catches cold, and it may occur in intermittent showers or as a continuous st ream in cases where there are abscessed teeth or badly 
diseased mouths, or abscesses such as occur in sinus or tonsil disease. In the cases 
where a small continuous stream of microorganisms flows into the blood stream, the 
bad effects may manifest themselves as rheu matism of joints, or neuritis. Rheumatic 
pain--pain due to colonization of microorganism s in the fasciae--is usually referred to a 
muscular rheumatism. In these cases, the pain is not in the muscle, but in the thick sheaf 
of fascia around the muscle. Muscular movement is painful because the movement disturbs and brings pressure on the infected area. Muscle tissue itself is very poorly 
supplied with sensory nerves. It  is practically insensible to pain. Physicians and laymen 
alike have been prone to give undue importance to the areas in which pain is present. It must be remembered that the same blood stream which deposits microorganisms in the 
structures around joints, thereby producing pain, is at the same time bombarding the 
heart, the blood vessels and the glands of internal secretion with the same chronic, low 
grade, slow, poison. These are each responding in their own peculiar way, not by pain, but by alteration of function. The continuous bombardment of vital centers--brain, joints, heart, and endocrine 
glands--produces a disease which is not just a call for aspirin or codein to numb the nerves crying aloud for relief. It is also lessening the life processes in every vital center 
and every body cell, and the bringing about of premature old age. The fact that cancer 
may develop in one of the areas in which microorganisms have been so deposited from 
the blood stream simply shows that in a completely diseased organism one area has 
been so irritated that a certain group of cells have proliferated as a response to the 
invading infection. We should expect that this chain of circumstances would sometimes produce multiple 
cancers, or that cancers of different type s and kinds may be produced in the same 
individual. The finding of such multiple cancers is becoming more and more common. In one case four different kinds of cancer inside of the skull were found in one individual. (Dr. Sachs, of St. Louis.) It is quite probable that in the past multiple tumors 
and cancers in the same individual were not found with as great a frequency as they now 
are because at post mortem examinations they were not suspected and not looked for. There are many kinds of tumor growths that are not cancerous which undoubtedly 
spring from the same or nearly the same factors as cancer. These benign tumors are much more common than malignant tumors (cancers). In the case of the benign tumor, 
there is in the beginning a distinct urge to grow. This urge to grow is undoubtedly 
brought about by irritation from locally deposited microorganisms. The benign tumor 
reproduces cells of the organ or tissue in wh ich the growth starts. It grows for a time 
and then stops; or it may not have completely stopped, but continues at an exceedingly slow rate of growth. This distinguishes it gr ossly from cancer, as cancer continues to 
grow steadily and with relative rapidity. In benign tumors the cells become mature before dividing. In cancer they divide while they are still baby cells. Since the internal forms of cancer follow exactly the same pattern as the external 
forms, in that they must have a suitable infected soil on which to grow, the disease may be classed as one of the forms in which infection may terminate. The pathologist teaches us that infection may terminate as scar tissue or as calcification. We must add to 
this that infection may terminate as tumor or cancer. CHAPTER VIII  
NUTRITIONAL TREATMENT OF ANEMIA  
   Diseases of the blood which are definitely deficiency diseases are the iron anemias 
and pernicious anemia. Pernicious anemia is due to an unidentified food factor which is 
supplied by eating liver, but which undoubtedly exists also in other foods. A lack of this 
factor interferes with the proper manufacture of  blood. Before the discovery of liver as a 
remedy, these patients ran a typical course which always resulted in death. At the 
present time, the use of liver in the diet  will bring the blood-making organs up to a 
relatively better condition. The patient is never cured, but by the use of liver and liver 
extract he is permitted to continue his life in a rather subnormal way. The person with pernicious anemia gets along on this regime for a few years. The 
liver treatment has had the effect of somewhat extending the life period, but this is the 
best that may be said for it. The sufferer from pernicious anemia is suffering from a lack of more than one food factor. The usual medical treatment followed considers only one 
single deficiency and pays no attention to other subclinical deficiencies which are also 
present but in a lesser degree. In the usua l treatment of this disease one outstanding 
function which has caused the alteration in the blood is treated, the others are neglected, 
and the neglected parts of the problem eventual ly cause death at an earlier time than if 
the whole problem were properly considered. This same principle is true but in a much more obvious way in connection with the 
iron anemias. The person suffering with an iron anemia has the anemia as an 
outstanding symptom of a multiple symptom complex. A lack of iron carrying the 
oxygen in the blood stream has caused symptoms to build up which throws all other 
signs and symptoms into the background. It is really a multiple deficiency but the doctor sees only the need for iron, and gives only iron as a therapeutic measure. The result of this is that many persons go about with partial disease, relying for relief 
only on iron. The only point considered by the average physician is, which kind of iron should be given in this particular case? and which kind of iron is most economical for 
the patient to use? Volumes have been written on the relative merits of different kinds 
of iron in treating the iron anemias; but no at tention whatever is given to the associated 
deficiencies that afflict patients with iron anemias. In some cases physicians have departed in some degree from treading a narrow path in 
these secondary anemias, and discovered that the patient who refuses to get better with 
just iron alone will immediately become much better if vitamin B is added to the iron. The blood picture and the general condition will improve.
The_National_Malnutrition_by_Quigley.txt
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        The fact that 
these go through ordinary cooking without complete destruction seems to sustain the 
idea that they do exist in ordinary diets in sufficient quantities. The chief sources of 
these vitamins are wheat germ (which is discarded in the flour mills), liver, heart, kidney and muscle meats, and yeast. That they are deficient in the ordinary diets is well 
proved by the prevalence of pellagra and pellagra-like symptoms, and the fact that the 
average person will have much better endur ance, appetite, digestion, and freedom from 
aches and pains when sufficient sized doses of these vitamins are taken. Subclinical pellagra exists in the north, while advanced pellagra exists in the south. The advanced pellagra does not escape detection, and so comes under treatment. The 
milder subclinical pellagra presents a varyi ng complexity of symptoms; is the subject of 
many professional errors, and seldom recei ves the right vitamins and minerals in 
sufficiently large doses to be completely cured. As pellagra is a disease which strikes at the skin, the lining of the digestive tract, and 
the brain, the symptoms of the subclinical varieties may predominate in any individual case. Clinical tests on the nutrition of persons suffering neuroses, irritability and other 
forms of nerve and mental disease show that a great number of them may be improved 
by taking nicotinic acid, which is considered the specific treatment for pellagra. This indicates that many cases of insanity are on a deficiency basis, and that the persons who 
are insane from pellagra are not the only group suffering insanity because of inadequate diet. The effects of vitamins are not as specific as might be concluded from what has been 
said so far. The effects of all vitamins ove rlap and interlace to such a degree that no 
disease can be cured by administering one vitamin, and no disease is caused by any 
single vitamin deficiency. The single cause and the single cure exist only in 
experimental animals in the laboratory. The complexities of civilized life make it impossible that the conditions surrounding 
the laboratory animal could ever be duplicated in human existence. It is apparent that 
the pellagra cases which show insanity as the outstanding symptom are not suffering 
from just a lack of nicotinic acid, or a lack of even all the vitamin B group; but are suffering from a lack of all vitamins, the most extreme deficiency being in the B
2 
complex, with emphasis on that part of it which we call niacin-amide. Such a patient undoubtedly also suffers from mineral deficiencies. The concentration of minerals and vitamins in the diets of animals that eat both 
vegetable and animal foods (meat, vegetables, fruits, and milk products) is undoubtedly 
sufficient to meet the daily needs without setting up much surplus. The vitamins and 
minerals supplied to the body is very much like the coal supplied to the furnace. A continuous stream must be kept going in order that the mechanism may function at its 
best. Some reserves of vitamin A are to be f ound in the retina and the liver. Some reserves 
of vitamin C may be found in the adrenal glands. Some reserves of vitamin D exist in 
fats, but these reserves are exhausted in a fe w days or weeks if a constant supply is not 
provided. In order to provide an optimum supply, every food taken into the body must 
be a vitamin and mineral containing food. Any part of the food intake which has been deprived of its normal, natural vitamin or mineral content dilutes the good food which is 
taken by the individual and cuts down his ability to resist infection in just the degree that such a deficient intake constitutes a percentage of the whole diet. The studies made by the author of 2,707 cases of patients suffering with tumors, 
cancers, stomach ulcers, colitis, constipation, neuritis, arthritis, heart disease, chronic 
headaches, and high and low blood pressure disclose that fact that this group as a group 
was consuming 55 per cent white flour products (bread, cookies, cake, pastries, pancakes, biscuits, muffins, etc. ). The sugar taken by this group represented by candy, 
marmalade, preserves, jellies, jams, and canned goods containing heavy sugar syrups 
added another 20 per cent to the deficient devitaminized, devitalized, demineralized foods. (Report by author to American Rad ium Society, Annual Meeting, Cleveland, 
Ohio, 1934. ) The "Food and Drug journal" keeps an accurate record of the export and import of 
food products. According to this journal, devitaminized wheat flour products imported 
into the city of New York constitute around 55 per cent of the whole food intake. The 
consumption of canned goods and sugar brings the percentage down to about the same as the group of 2,700 Midwest persons studied. In other words, the clinical group 
suffering from definite disease was eating from 18 to 25 per cent vitamin and mineral 
containing foods. The imports of food into the City of New York showed that the food intake of the population of that city measured around 25 per cent vitamin and mineral 
containing food, and about 75 per cent dev itaminized, devitalized, demineralized food. The diluting of the acceptable food by foods which had been so changed as to render 
them nearly pure carbohydrate (sugar, white flour, candy, etc. ) was the fundamental 
error in both groups. And the group presenting well-developed disease evidently 
represented only a more advanced stage of the same kind of vitamin and mineral 
deficiency, The seven million people represented in the New York group had, in the younger decades, a certain freedom from the diseases mentioned; but they were laying 
the foundation for the same serious diseases, as they were suffering from colds, sinus 
disease, tooth and mouth diseases, chronic tonsillitis, and other things which provide 
foci for the distribution of toxic material into the heart, blood vessels, brain, and 
intestinal lining. More slowly and surely, they were laying the foundation for the diseases of the glands of internal secretion --for a failure of function of the pituitaries, 
pancreas, gonads, liver, thyroids, parathyroids, and adrenals. The age group which we 
examined ranged higher than the group represented by the whole population of New York City. They represented the culmination of years of deficiency, chronic infections, 
repeated colds, of headaches, and disease of the mucous membrane. The best evidence that we are not getting the things in our diet which we should get is 
the fact that persons in every one of these groups will be better physically and mentally 
when put on a high mineral, high vitamin diet, and given large amounts of multiple 
vitamin concentrates and minerals to make up for past deficiencies. CHAPTER V  
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS  
OF OUR DIETARY ERRORS. When a baby is born into the world, it is born into a fight against infection. He is 
exposed to many different kinds of infection from the moment of birth until death. The best proof of the ever-present attacking microorganisms being everywhere in great 
numbers is the rapidity with which a body decays after death. As long as any life is 
present, some kind of a barrier is kept up against infection. The decay that occurs 
immediately after death is simply the result of  the already present b acterial life attacking 
a now defenseless group of cells. The defenses in our body structures are something that 
are tied up with life. Life proceeds normally in the well-nourished cells with no danger 
from invading microorganisms as long as the bodily defenses are kept high. There are varying degrees of life pro cesses. The flame of life may burn high or bum 
low. In the well-nourished body the flame burns at its optimum, and the defense 
mechanisms which have come down to us through thousands of generations function 
well. The mechanisms which protect us against the ever-present and varying kinds of 
infection may be lowered in various ways. The defense mechanism may be lowered by 
long-continued exposure to cold, by fatigue, and by bad diet. In actual experience, the 
one which must interest us most is that which has to do with diet. Since it is quite 
evident that the diets in use in every civilized country today are not the optimum diets, it 
is equally evident that we are all exposed to diseases which result from the barriers 
against infection being lowered. Perhaps the most common infections are those connected with the upper respiratory 
tract--the diseases ordinarily known as colds, grippe, flu, and pneumonia. These 
diseases are largely diseases of the human animal, and undoubtedly affect humans 
because of the difference between human and animal diets. The diseases of the respiratory tract affect the nose with its accessory sinuses, through the bronchial tubes 
and the lungs. The acute stage of the colds passes off in a few days, but after acute colds 
there remains some sub acute or chronic disease of sinuses, tonsils, and bronchial tubes. This may persist for months or years, flaring up with each newly acquired cold and 
settling down to a chronic state between colds. These chronically affected areas become foci of infection for the distribution of disease germs to other parts of the body. Small 
abscesses may exist in the tonsils or between the tonsils and the pillars. Larger 
abscesses may exist in the sinuses, or the symptoms of focal infection may exist without 
abscess formation, simply from the absorption of toxic material from the infected mucous membrane lining the bronchial tubes. In experimental animals, these symptoms and the certainty with which they take hold 
may be influenced by restricting the vitamin and mineral intake of the animal. There is very great similarity between the symptoms produced in the laboratory animal and the 
symptoms as they actually exist in the so-called civilized human existing on a 
deficiency diet. Experimental disease of th e gastro-intestinal tract, stomach ulcer, may 
be produced by feeding the kind of diets ordi narily consumed in the average household. In India, experiments made by McCarrisson a nd other British observers showed that the soldiers living in areas where stomach ulcer was prevalent also developed many cases 
of stomach ulcer. This occurred when the soldiers were kept on a native diet. When put 
on a better diet, the percentage of stomach ulcers was reduced to that in ordinary army life. Experiments on animals, giving them the diets of the people of these ulcer areas, 
produced stomach ulcer in about the same proportion as in humans. The first treatment for stomach ulcer which attained any great attention by the medical 
profession was the so-called Sippy treatment. This treatment consisted in neutralizing 
the highly acid condition of the stomach with chalk and other alkalines, but it also 
included hourly feedings of milk or cream and orange juice. Sippy knew nothing 
whatever of vitamins, and perhaps never thought of such a thing as mineral deficiency in this class of diseases, but through a fortuitous accident his treatment provided the 
patient with calcium and also with the vitamins contained in butter fat, milk, and orange juice. This treatment supplies only a part of the whole deficiency needs of a person with this 
type of disease, but it was so great an improvement over the deficiency diets which produced the disease that many patients were temporarily cured. Sippy and the others of 
his time did not recognize the fact that the patient needed not a temporary treatment, but 
a permanent one. They did not recognize the fact the ulcers were due to dietary deficiencies, and that the patients must be put on a correct diet for the rest of their lives. They assumed that the patient was consuming a normal diet, and that the ulcer was due to some mysterious and unexplainable happening which in some way was connected 
with the production of too much acid in the stomach. We now know that the acid is the 
defense mechanism. It is the only mechanism the stomach has for fighting back against 
irritations from without. The person suffering with this kind of diseases always has 
some degree of scurvy. The scurvy has produced bad teeth and infected gums. The bad teeth and infected gums have caused pus to be swallowed into the stomach sometimes at 
the rate of about a teaspoonful every hour. The swallowing of pus produces local 
irritation. The irritation calls out the increased stomach secretion. Continuation of the 
irritation results in an increase of hydrochloric add, leading eventually to ulceration. These happenings cover a period of years, and by the time the ulcer appears in stomach or duodenum the whole gastrointestinal tract is diseased and along with it the liver bile 
duct and gall bladder. The ulcer is a focal breakdown in a completely diseased gastro-intestinal canal. In connection with colds and other respiratory diseases, there is no doubt about the 
resistance being high in well-nourished pers ons and low in badly nourished persons. In 
connection with gastrointestinal disease of the type described, there is no question but that the evidence is just as well established. The chronic gastritis and hyperacidity and stomach and duodenal ulcers are deficiency dis eases the same as scurvy, beriberi, and 
rickets, and may be cured just as certainly and just as permanently by diet and proper mineral and vitamin intake. The study of what we need and what we get in the way of diet establishes the fact that 
diseases of the respiratory tract and diseas es of the stomach are unnecessary luxuries. We may have them if we wish. We need not have them if we do not wish. Every person who exists on a general dietary deficiency for a period of years, even 
though he may not develop chronic respiratory infections, or actual peptic ulcer, will 
have vague, indefinite stomach distress whic h is called indigestion. He will also have some degree of constipation, and such person will have an abnormal colon. In the past, 
this disease of the colon has been called colitis. The fitness of this name has been 
questioned, as it is hard to establish an actual inflammation present in these cases. However, the mucous membrane of the colon does become diseased. It does fail in its 
function. The walls of the colon become thinne r. In some cases these walls break partly 
through, producing diverticula. A diverticulum is a hernia of the lining of the colon. In 
the person who has such a diseased colon, ulceration occurs in the advanced stages of 
the disease. In some such diseased colons a widely distributed mass of warts grow up, and these warts may become ulcerated or cancerous (papilloma). The x-ray shows in 
advanced stages of colonic disease that the entire colon may be excited to contraction, 
thereby narrowing the whole organ. The contr action may occur only in certain sections 
of the colon; but whether it occurs in the col on as a whole or in sections, the disease is 
referred to as spastic colon. It is simply the old, long-continued chronic disease irritating the organ to the point where it is thrown in to a chronic spasm. The spastic colon, the 
ulcerated colon and the atonic are of course painful. Nervousness has nothing to do with 
producing colitis but the colon disease and the nervousness are both the result of the same diet deficiencies. The same relationshi p exists in connection with overfatness and 
diabetes. They are both caused by the bad diet. One does not cause the other. The many forms of colitis produce a more or less shifting and advancing and receding 
group of pains. These colon pains may appear in any part of the abdomen. Since the 
colon is a large organ, it is doubled upon itself, and sections of it may occupy any 
abdominal position. The pains of colonic disease are often mistaken for inflammation of 
the appendix, ovaries, or gallbladder. Since diet deficiency is almost universal, and different degrees of colitis or colonic disease are also widespread, colonic pains are the 
most common pains in both the male and female abdomen. The colon bacillus is a normal form of germ life within the colon. It exists without 
doing any harm to the mucous membrane. However, in persons who have a lowered 
resistance on account of deficiency disease, or who have an old, chronic, constipation 
which causes stagnation within the colon, these bacilli lose their friendly attitude and 
become disease producers. They not only attack the lining of the colon, but make their way through, especially in the case of females, into the kidneys and bladder, setting up 
colon bacillus pyelitis and cystitis. They may filter through into the parenchyma of the 
kidneys, causing more or less severe nephrit is. This is the commonest cause of bladder 
inflammation in women. While the disease may be temporarily relieved by giving 
urinary antiseptics, there is a tendency for the disease to recur until the colon is brought 
back to better health by vitamins and minerals and a better dietary intake. The dietary deficiencies which promote the invasion of the nasal cavity, throat, and 
lungs by the virus of colds, which subsequen tly leads to establishment of abscesses in 
the sinuses, and which produce a lack of resistance to infections along the 
gastronintestinal tract, also affect resistance against infection in the deeper parts of the 
body. Every living cell in the body has an inherited ability to maintain its health in the 
face of a constant threat by microscopic enemies. These microscopic enemies have a 
very great degree of selectivity. They are the commonly known disease germs and the 
less commonly known disease-producing viruses. Viruses are much smaller than bacilli 
or bacteria or fungi. Viruses are so small that some of them are parasites on these other forms of life. Viruses pass through the finest filters. Bacteria do not. Since both bacteria 
and viruses produce disease, and since they have a very delicate selectivity, it is quite apparent that virus disease as well as bacterial disease is encouraged by food 
deficiencies and discouraged by the sound, healthy cell that is properly nourished. At the present time there are probably many  diseases where the viruses attain entrance 
into the body by way of local damage which has been caused by bacteria. In other cases 
the reverse is true. Smallpox is a virus disease. The damage done admits the common pus-producing germs. The common cold is a virus disease. The virus causes enough 
destruction to admit the pneumococcus, streptococcus, and other forms of bacterial 
disease. Arthritis is undoubtedly due to infection built up on a deficiency basis, and may 
or may not have some connection with virus diseases. One of the common virus 
diseases is poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis). Here a fine degree of selectivity occurs, as the virus only attacks certain nerve cells. These are nerve cells deep in the body. Apparently the deeper parts of the body have a lower resistance in the person who is 
carrying a food deficiency. Disease of the brain is well known to result from food 
deficiencies as in the case of the insanity accompanying pellagra. The insanities 
following attacks of flu, and the insanities which have been known to be cured after the removal of abscessed teeth are low grade brain infections which have been made 
possible by nutritional deficiency. In the case of brain disease, poliomyelitis, and arthritis, we are dealing with internal 
parts of the body far removed from body surfaces. The idea that the battle against infection occurs only in the mouth, nose, stomach, and other parts where infectious material actually comes in contact with body cells is therefore entirely erroneous. The 
point to be made here is that not only the body areas which come in direct contact with 
infection, but every cell in the body, even its most remote parts, is subject to the action 
of invading microorganisms in cases where nutrition is below normal. It is quite 
obvious that skin, eyes, teeth, gums, and tonsils do have a constant contact with infectious material from the outside. When th e cells of these organs lose their fighting 
power by lack of certain vitamins and minerals in the diet, it is easy to see how such 
structures are invaded. The connection between bones and joints, brain and spinal cord, 
blood vessels and heart is not quite so easy to see; but that it does occur is quite evident. After the outer defenses are broken through the poisonous infectious material is carried 
by the blood stream to every inner part of the body. In the mortality records, the disease which leads all others as the cause of death is 
heart disease. As the mortality records cl assify heart disease apart from blood-vessel 
disease, it does not give a true picture. Blood  vessels and heart are all one organ. Brittle 
arterioscelerotic blood vessels are never attach ed to a healthy heart. The same general 
disease that produces heart failure also pr oduces disease of the blood vessels. Mortality 
records should classify together heart disease and apoplexy. When we add together the deaths as given in the records, of apoplexy and heart disease, we find that they are far 
greater in number than any other kind of disease. Even in children rheumatic heart is 
very common, and the rheumatic hearts of children result in the heart deaths of young 
and middle aged adults. It was formerly thought that the blood stream was an absolutely sterile area. Now we 
know that different degrees of blood-stream infection is not at all uncommon. The 
person who has an acute cold has showers of germs invading his blood stream. Typhoid 
germs are found in the blood stream in the first week or ten days in that disease. A 
person with diseased tonsils or gums, abscessed teeth, or other foci of infection in the 
body has occasional showers of microorganisms in the blood which come from these foci. The person who harbors chronic infection in any form has an infected blood stream 
from time to time. The infected blood stream may produce thickening or hardening of 
the valves of the heart. It produces thickening and hardening of arteries. It eventually results in interference with nerve function. Such interference with nerve function may 
produce the diseases of the heart which are known as disturbances of rhythm (fibrillation, etc.
The main sources of vitamins and minerals are wheat germ, liver, heart, kidney, and muscle meats, yeast, and animal and vegetable foods.
What are the main sources of vitamins and minerals in the diet?
According to the text, heart disease is caused by a deficiency in vitamins and minerals, which leads to a decrease in resistance against infection.
What is the primary cause of heart disease?
The text states that diet deficiencies can lead to a range of diseases, including pellagra, arthritis, and heart disease.
What is the relationship between diet and the development of certain diseases?
According to the text, cancer is caused by the invasion of microorganisms in areas of the body that have been previously infected, which is often caused by a deficiency in vitamins and minerals.
What is the main cause of cancer?
The text emphasizes the importance of proper nutrition and the need to eliminate areas of chronic infection in the body to prevent cancer.
What is the key to preventing cancer?