The Word of Wisdom has often seemed to me to be cryptic in its directions; I always hoped to avoid questions about the eating of much meat, for instance. Dr. Allsen’s presentation throws back curtains and inspires greater effort in maintaining the body.
Starting with the question about meat, I learned from the lecture that there are many reasons vegetarians live an average of several years longer than carnivores. The meat can cause acidosis, which leeches calcium from the bones. Further, diets high in sodium (most deli meats contain obscene amounts of salt, as do parts of most fast-food meals) increase urinary calcium loss – with these factors capable if increasing the amount of calcium needed by an adult in one day by as much as five times.
The test Dr. Allsen gave one of the married students could profitably be taken by each of us. He asked, “What is your wife’s sitting respiratory rate? What is her cholesterol level? What is her BMI?” When the student could answer none of these questions Dr. Allsen asked, “Do you have a car? What weight of gas do you use? What oil do you use? What is your usual tire pressure?” Though lives are on the line, what is it we take better care of?
Even going to doctors is dangerous. Death due to medical care is the third leading cause of death in our nation, killing over 225,000 per year. Although doctors save countless lives each year, better still would be to avoid needing medical care as much as possible. With proper diet and exercise we can reduce the illnesses and threats that send us into the hospital.
A little knowledge, gained and applied, can save us years of our lives. For this reason Dr. Allsen said of one widow, “her husband chose to die.” The human organism is capable of replicating itself for 160 years; nonetheless the average life span is 80 years for women and 74 for men. In medical history, no person has ever died of old age. Will we choose to live?