Diets ? the new miracle cures of the modern age? - Personal Trainer

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Posted on: Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

Categories: Diet

Perceptions and knowledge of health, fitness and medicine have fluctuated over the centuries.? During the medieval era, hemlock (a poisonous plant) was routinely used during surgical procedures as a suitable and ?reliable? anaesthetic, which would undoubtedly send the patient to sleep, but also run the risk of putting them in a sleeping state forever.

In turn, the Tudors would turn to ?wise? women to consult the stars regarding their ailments, while Victorians believed that laudanum (also known as ?tincture of opium?, was a mixture of 90%? alcohol and 10% opium) cured everything from meningitis to depression.

And nor are we free from misconceptions in our own generation.? There is still a prevalent (false) rumour in sub-Saharan Africa that having intercourse with a virgin will cure HIV and AIDS.

There is a recent trend for turning to food as a cure for diseases, and it increasingly seems that diet, and the varieties and quantities of foods consumed are being hailed as the Holy Grail, the long overlooked key to perfect health.? Some people are heralding diets (some, notably the Atkins diet, having previously been strongly criticised by healthcare professionals) as the 21^st century?s unappreciated health saviour, and are advocating diets, such as the Atkins diet, as medicines against diseases such as diabetes.

Comedian Gina Yashere has claimed that she has managed to evade all symptoms of the disease lupus, which has a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from extreme fatigue, joint pain and muscle aches to anaemia, skin rashes, hair loss and organ failure. ??Gina initially controlled her symptoms through steroid injections, but following a relapse in 2005 the drug hydroxychloroquine was added to supplement the steroids.? Although there are benefits to the drugs, with it easing inflammation, there are some severe side effects, such as nausea and extreme fatigue.? Gina also put on weight, and found she sometimes forgot to take the tablets, which led to a fluctuation in the symptoms.? But the weight gain was especially traumatic, as she went from 10st to 15st, seriously impeding her movement.? She went to a clinic in Thailand where she embarked on an extreme regime of fasting and colonics, losing an astounding stone in a week.? Once she returned home she embarked on the strict raw food diet, and due to a lessening in her symptoms, was able to cut back on her medication.? She says,

?Two years ago I stopped taking pills altogether. I am now 9st 7lb and my symptoms have virtually gone.?

However, Professor David Isenberg, director of Rheumatology at University College Hospital, London warns against investing too much faith in testament?s such as Gina?s, saying ?It is possible for patients to go for years without symptoms. Lupus is always active and there is no proof that diet is an effective treatment. What works for one sufferer might not for another. If a patient has found relief, we can only hope it lasts.?

Another individual who claims that their (self ? imposed and regulated, it must be added) diet has staved off ill health, in this case diabetes, is Diane Platt.? She gave an interview with the Daily Mail in August, and told how after she was warned she was in danger of becoming diabetic, she switched to a low-carbohydrate diet.? The Daily Mail promptly gave the article the title ?Could the Atkins diet keep your diabetes at bay?? which highlights the danger of testimonies such as these.? Sensationalised success stories, coupled with celebrities ?swearing by? certain diet fads which are unsubstantiated by science or medicine, could seriously jeopardise health.

Initially, this may not seem either too strange, or too problematic.? After all, recently certain dietary habits have been highlighted in the medical world and the media as having a direct effect on health.? Everybody is aware that monitoring salt levels is important, as too high an intake can contribute to high blood pressure, which in turn can cause heart attacks and strokes, while a deficiency can make the sufferer very ill indeed.

However, the worrying thing about these diets being hailed as ?miracle cures? for an assortment of ailments is that they are often derivatives of celebrity fads, with little scientific research to back them up.? Similarly, although [names] may have noticed that their symptoms disappeared on adapting their diets, this may have been because they were overweight to begin with.? Seeing as they went to an extreme, and didn?t follow the average balanced diet, there is no way of telling whether or not that would have reaped the same results.

In short, there are far too many variables in individual cases like this, to draw any definite conclusion.

Therefore, if you are suffering from an ailment, and believe that a change in diet may have a beneficial effect, please visit your doctor or ask a personal fitness trainer and get certified medical advice.? Don?t go the way of the Tudors, by taking rumour and speculation as the gospel truth.

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