MAINTAINING OUR TEMPLE //
MONDAY // JULY 30, 2007
Universal Health Insurance and Health Care:
Another Point of View
by Sistah Qaraandin
Lately we have been hearing statistics about the millions of Black folk living in the US who do not have any health insurance. These numbers are usually recited just before we are told why having universal health insurance will – or will not – solve all of our health care problems.
We are treated to glowing examples – or horror stories, depending on how we choose to interpret them --of how folk who live in other countries get along with the health care programs that are available to them. It is as if we are certain that the government is responsible for deciding what kind of health care we are to receive. Having given the government that responsibility, the only thing left to do is make sure the government gives us the health care that best serves the majority of the population.
But suppose we are being misled. Suppose it is not the government's job to make sure that our health is taken care of. Suppose the government has no business deciding what kind of care we will get, how much will be spent on it, when we can have it, or any of the other details that we have been programmed to expect the government to handle.
We seem to have forgotten who we are. Recent programming has us believing that “all people are the same under the skin.” It should be obvious to us that the differences we see on the surface serve to give us a hint that there are differences beneath the surface.
Since we no longer see and value our uniqueness, it is no wonder that we expect a government put in place by folk who are different from us to provide health care that will be good for us.
In his book, African Holistic Health, Dr. Llaila O. Afrika spends several pages listing physical and psychological differences between Black folk and white folk. He also gives insight into the difference between African and European science. When we honor our differences, it becomes crystal clear that we cannot expect a health care system created by white folk to benefit us.
White scientists admit that Black folk have been on the planet for millions of years while white folk have been here a little about 50,000 years. During the time that Black folk spent on the planet alone, we learned how to maintain health in a holistic way. We learned how to use natural substances and elements to heal ourselves. We did not use machines for healing. Not because we could not build machines. We didn't use machines because we knew that was not natural. It was not in keeping with our holistic way of doing and being.
The current allopathic health care system in the US is built on the foundation of cut, burn and/or drug. It deals with covering up dis-ease symptoms instead of finding and removing the cause of the symptoms. The very word “allopathy” is defined as “that system of medical practice which combats disease by the use of remedies producing effects different from those produced by the disease treated.”
When we understand how allopathic medicine works it becomes clear why no dis-ease condition is ever cured. All that is offered is “treatment” and “management.” It also becomes clear that what are called “side effects” of the treatments offered are actually expected outcomes.
We have been programmed to expect our bodies to fall apart. Health insurance is promoted as a means of paying for the “inevitable” care we will need later on. But suppose we figured out how to keep our bodies healthy into old age. Suppose we were able to live our entire lives without having to rely on a health care system that could only offer us ways to create new symptoms to take our minds off of old ones.
Europeans have long recognized that they need to find a safe medical system. Because of arrogance and racism, however, they have not been able to recognize what they are looking for when they see it. From African Holistic Health we learn:
Europeans were trying to arrive at a system or substance that would give health. Health and the saving of their race from any dis-eases was an overwhelming problem. In that respect, the invasion of Africa for lifesaving herbs caused an oversight of the reality that health is based solely upon the diet as medicine. Herbals and drugs were a short-term medical device used to adjust the fluctuating health states of the Africans. Food was the main medicine in African's health not herbs. Other cultures verify that it was not medicine but rather a combination of diet and health knowledge that sustain Africans.
In The ReBirth of Gods Dr. Paul Goss reminds us of the proper diet for Black folk:
Man's diet is mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. It nourishes and revitalizes the whole body. You are not eating your food anymore. When you followed your original diet you had no health problems. You have accepted and adopted a diet that was forced on you. You accepted the diet although you did not have to and your body has not been right since. Anyone who can dictate to you what you can eat has a lot of power over you.
Your original diet did not contain any meat or dairy products. They are synthetic foods which have no nutritional value in your human body. There was no sugar in your original diet. Sugar is the worst drug on the market. It destroys your brain and turns you into a zombie. There was no table salt in your original diet. Table salt causes the blood pressure to get out of control. There was no coffee in your original diet. No alcohol.
Your original diet consisted of fruits, nuts, grains, vegetables, seeds, and pure natural water. It provides your body with the enzymes it needs to sustain life.
It seems that until very recently in our-story we had no need for health insurance because our diet gave us health assurance.
In The Save Your Life Diet David Reuben M.D. wrote:
Consider a medical Garden of Eden. Imagine a society where heart attacks don't exist, where the two major forms of death-dealing cancer are virtually unknown, where phlebitis and the resulting blood clots in the lungs are almost unheard of. Think of a world where many of the petty ailments of modern society have been virtually eliminated appendicitis, hemorrhoids, obesity, diverticulosis of the colon, and varicose veins. Is this the United States?
No. It's rural Africa in the year 1975. It's a society and a way of life that has almost completely avoided the major scourges of the modern world.
Most important of all, buried in the tribal life of these Africans is a secret that can make a better life for nearly every man and woman in America.
We have been led to engage in controlled and limited debate that does not allow us to get to the core of the issue. We have been addressing the pros and cons of government-provided insurance as opposed to private insurance; “free market” health care as opposed to “socialized” health care; health insurance that is totally paid for by the employee as opposed to health insurance that is paid for in whole or in part by the employee; health insurance policies instead of or along with individual health savings accounts; and the list goes on and on.
No one mentions that eating nutritional food instead of the junk that now is passed off as food would drive the insurance industry and the health care industry out of business. No one mentions it because there is a lot of money to be made from our dis-ease state. In addition, anyone who knows you have a dis-ease can use that dis-ease to control your mind.
By now it is pretty well known that the same folk control the food industry, the insurance industry, and the health care industry. They stand to get your money “from the cradle to the grave.” Their profits would be cut drastically if we ate foods that actually do what food is supposed to do:
renew the body's cells supply the body with energy regulate the body processes.....
We like to act like we think that “our government” has our concern at heart and is looking out for our best interest. We pretend that we believe that organizations like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Medical Association (AMA) are there for our protection. We know that nothing could be further from the truth.
The government – at every level – is heavily invested in the companies that manufacture the “stuff” that passes as food, the insurance companies and the drug companies. The bigger the profits those industries rake in, the more money the government makes. The government profits big time off of our pain and suffering.
The FDA, CDC, AMA and other organizations have the task of keeping us confused and in ignorance. Their loyalty is to the food, insurance and drug industries. Their energies go toward making sure that none of those industries lose a penny in profits. They are always on the look out for any means that can help us retain or regain our health...so they can destroy them. Remember: A patient cured is a customer lost.
Those of us who are without health insurance may find that in the long run we are the lucky ones. No one in the “health care industry” wants to be bothered with us. That gives us a chance to create our healing, to cure ourselves of our dis-ease.
As I wrote in Maintaining Our Temples:
There are sistahs and brothahs all over the world who have cured themselves of cancer, high blood pressure, heart dis-ease, diabetes, and other dis-eases we are told cannot be cured. They were able to cure themselves by getting rid of the habits that cause dis-ease. They were able to cure themselves because they understand that they did not develop high blood pressure because they did not have enough high blood pressure medicine in their bodies. They understand that cancer is not caused by a lack of chemotherapy.
They learned that to maintain their temples they must keep the colon, the bloodstream, and the lymphatic system clean.
What are some of the things they did to cure themselves?
Took responsibility for their health
Removed meat and other animal products from the diet
Ate fresh, raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and seeds
Avoided refined and processed foods
Drank plenty of spring water
Worked the body
Bathed in the sun's healing rays
Avoided cooking with microwave ovens
Got enough rest
Learned to recognize the body's signals
History shows that food and medicine have been used as weapons against us. The current artificial universal health insurance/health care debate is a tactic that is being used to keep us from realizing that we can make other choices. Someone, somewhere knows that when we make the choice that is best for us, their game comes to an end.
It seems that Black folk in the U.S. are paying for the few economic gains we have made withour spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health.
Low income, married Black women who are over 40 and overweight account for most newlydiagnosed cases of diabetes mellitus.
It is not true that once you have been diagnosed as having diabetes you must have it for therest of your life. The things we do to maintain our temples will reverse the condition......
Keep the colon clean. A clean colon is vital if you want to enjoy good health.
Drink plenty of spring water. Drinking distilled water leeches out the body's own mineral reserves, can make diabetes worse and can lead to other dis-eases as well.
Eat plenty of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. The body needs organic sulphur to help thepancreas make insulin. Some fruits and vegetables that are rich in sulphur are: cauliflower,cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, collard greens, onions, leeks, horseradish, chives,garlic, watercress, currants, apples, raspberries, and pineapples. When you must cook yourvegetables, lightly steam them.
Some of the other foods that have been helpful to people with diabetes are: brown rice, oats,corn, tofu and other soy products, yams, carrots, string beans, avocado, and prickly pear –tunas and nopales.
People who get enough vitamin C in their diets do not develop diabetes. Some foods that arerich in vitamin C are: collard greens, onions, turnip greens, kale, broccoli, mustard greens,sweet peppers, parsley, green peas, papaya, mangoes, swiss chard, beet greens, pineapples,oranges, lemons, and cantaloupes.
It is thought that diabetics do not get enough zinc in their diets. Some foods that are rich inzinc are: whole grains, brewer's yeast, mushrooms, wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, soybeans and soy products, and legumes.
Lemon juice, unsweetened and diluted, burns up excess blood sugar. Grapefruit and limejuice can also be used.
Avoid fried foods, meat, dairy products, foods high in fats, and refined carbohydratesincluding white rice, white flour products, and processed sugar – including corn syrup orsweetener, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, lactose, fructose, and levelose. They overwork and weaken the pancreas.
The foods our ancestors ate were rich in the nutrients that prevent and relieve diabetes. It isno wonder that diabetes is a new dis-ease within our community.
Avoid alcohol and smoking. Both have negative effects on blood circulation and alcoholcauses inflammation of the pancreas. Avoid inhaling other people's smoke.
Get regular daily exercise and regular nightly sleep. The exercise will help you control yourweight and relieve stress. Stress stimulates adrenal activity which increases blood sugar levels.
Do not overeat. Diabetes is caused by overeating – not only sugar but too much food ingeneral. In countries where people do not overeat, diabetes does not exist. That is one of thereasons diabetes is known as the “prosperity dis-ease.”
Even though diabetes is a new dis-ease within our community, we are told that it is hereditary.What we have inherited – and are passing on to our children – is a diet that is high in fats,sugar, meat and dairy products and low in fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and seeds.Such a diet leads to a dis-eased pancreas.
Diabetes is not a natural part of the “aging process.” We do not have to suffer from it. We do not have to live with its complications. We do not have to die from it.
Our ancestors did not do all the things they did because they were poor and ignorant. Theydid many of them because they knew how to maintain balance between their spirits, minds,emotions, and bodies and because they knew how to avoid dis-ease.
Until we remember how to live as our ancestors did, diabetes – and every other dis-ease weare now facing in our community – will remain a problem. The choice is ours. When wedecide to take responsibility for our diets and behavior diabetes will disappear.
Or, we can continue to trust our bodies to a medical system that will cure our diabetes by killing uswith a stroke or heart attack.
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