Oh, where to start... This book is such a wealth of information, it's going to be hard to sum it up in any small format.
The subject of epigenetics has interested me for some time. I read the book Pottenger's Prophecy and Deep Nutrition back in 2014, and just renewed them again to refresh my memory. When I was ordering them from the library, I decided to order any other books they had as well, and this one happened to be one of them. The genetic transmission theory has had me puzzled for several years. The situation that made me think about it, is the fact that all 4 of my grandparents had dentures at a young age. My parents both have all their own teeth, but have had many cavities and other issues in their younger years, with stability in their older years. Of us 4 children, we have had excellent teeth. Maybe 4-5 cavities between all of us put together, in our whole life. So, the thought that "bad teeth" or "good teeth" are genetic goes totally against this notion. There has to be more variables that we're not addressing, right? And since I'm one of those people who has to know the "why" behind everything, I had to delve into the subject further. Some of my kids have excellent teeth, and some have been ridden with cavities. Genetics? I think not! Nutrition? Possibly. Absorption of nutrients? More likely. Brushing habits? They all eat the same, brush pretty much the same, using the same products. My health during their pregnancy? Quite likely!
The first half of this book is the history of medicine itself. All the normal, all the weird, all the wacky ways people have tried to heal themselves through the ages. Then there's a section on the author's professional history; ranging from all his veterinary jobs- curing zoo animals from epidemics, finding out what nutrients were lacking in their diets, how to succeed in making them breed in captivity, eliminating animal birth defects, as well as missions to Africa working with white rhinos, raising monkeys for NASA's space program and more. Through those years, he performed 17,500 autopsies on over 454 species of animals, plus 3,000 human beings for comparison. He then was fired for suggesting that cystic fibrosis was a nutritional deficiency , and this led him to going back to school to become a Naturopathic Dr. with our local Dr. Briggs who we see. He then had a private Naturopathic practice for many years before going on the road promoting nutrition worldwide.(source)
What I loved about the book was that he was saying exactly what I've been thinking all these years. Our genetics don't own us! Through proper nutrition, we can alter our genes so they don't cause us disease and early death. He makes the bold claim that all early death is nutritional deficiencies (other than accidents). Wow! The allopathic medical system would have us believe that we need them for longevity and a full life. We "need" big Pharma and all their drugs to "cure" us and all the surgeons to do their wonders for what the drugs won't do. Dr. Wallach tells it different. He says we can all heal from whatever is ailing us, by giving our bodies the nutrients it needs.
So, how can he make such a claim? Where did he come up with the audacity to say such things? He has looked into why our soils are so depleted and our health has gotten so poor, and here's a couple reasons. 1) hydroelectric dams have stopped the water from flowing downwards, thus all the minerals are now sitting at the bottom of the reservoirs, and not flowing into the fields where we grow our crops. This also means that the oceans are getting depleted of minerals too and the animals and plants are dying. Flooding is a natural way for minerals to be added back to the soil (along with hurricanes and volcanoes), so we've eliminated a natural source of supplementing our soils. When was the last time your soils were enriched with a flood, hurricane or volcano?! (Those of us near Mt. St. Helens are indeed fortunate!) Although dams have given us electricity, it has come at a cost on our health. Another aspect is that without wood heat, people are not putting ashes back on their gardens, a vital part of mineral recirculation. Trees have lots of minerals because their roots run so deep, so when we burn wood and spread the ashes on our gardens, then we can glean those rich minerals for our health. Farmers have long ago learned that without supplementing their livestock with minerals, they'd go out of business. Animals become infertile, ridden with disease and malnourished. Aren't we humans following those same patterns of ill health?
Which brings us to 2) health insurance. The downfall of our nation. When health insurance came in, it divided the lines between veterinarians and doctors. Veterinarians were supposed to prevent disease so the animals didn't get sick, and doctors became the managers of disease because all the selected treatments were paid by insurance and the insurance companies had to stay in business, so had to keep people sick or they'd go out of business. If health insurance companies offered full nutrition and solved people's problems, then we wouldn't need them any more, would we? Instead, we've been told that all our diseases are genetic, and there's nothing to do to cure them, just manage them for the rest of our life (they have guaranteed customers, and many look at it that if they pay their premiums, they'd better get some care in return for all those dollars spent). Dr. Wallach's research tells us different. We can cure our diseases and live a full life. We are not destined to line our doctor's wallets for the rest of our short lives. If animals diseases can be cured (even "genetic" ones), then why can't ours? Dr. Wallach has a book written on the oldest cultures on earth (Rare Earth: Forbidden Cures), and none of them have doctors, health insurance nor any diagnostic testing. They don't need it. They have good nutrition, with all the vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and amino acids they need. Another book he wrote was called Dead Doctors Don't Lie, which delves into what many doctors themselves die from. When our own doctors die young, doesn't that say something about the treatments they are promoting? One story was of a cardiologist who dropped dead in the hallway of her cardiac ward, at age 47. Can you imagine what her patients were thinking? "And this woman knows about heart health?!" (YouTube link of audio version of Dead Doctors Don't Lie")
Dr. Wallach also says that our soils are so depleted that we don't get near the nutrition we should be getting out of our food, even if we eat super healthy. I was recently given numbers that most Americans only get about 25% nutrition from the food they eat today. Back in 1980, it was around 50%, in the 1950s it was 60%, and 100 years ago it was at 80%. Dr. Wallach says that if we do not want to be burying our own children from disease, we have to be supplementing their diets with extra vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and amino acids. We just can't get ample nutrition from food alone for a healthy body anymore (despite what our medical doctors would often tell us "you can get all the nutrients you need from your food"). Our children are suffering far more than previous generations. The highest rate of Down Syndrome babies used to be mothers over 35 who had had a large family (nutritionally depleted). Now the highest rates are teen mothers, because their own nutritional status is so low, and they rarely eat well or supplement their diets. And even more sad, is that most are aborted. He explains in the book which nutrients are missing for each vitamin or mineral. The list seems endless!
"What I do differently from other doctors is I treat people like dogs, but they get better because with dogs we’ve learned how to eliminate 900 different diseases in dogs that still plague people. We’ve learned how to triple the lifespan of dogs. We didn’t do that with organ transplants and stem cells and genetically engineered proteins and wonder drugs. We did it simply by putting vitamins and minerals in their canned dog food or bags of dried dog food. And then we eliminated every birth defect you can name and 10 times that many you can’t name. We eliminated all those birth defects just by putting vitamins and minerals in their food. There’s not a single birth defect you can name that’s genetically transmitted, although doctors would tell you they are, but there’s not a single genetically transmitted birth defect. They’re all nutritional deficiencies in the embryo."
(source)
Of great fascination to me was his studies on the Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites. We grew up near many Hutterites, and all of them wore glasses. Even the little kids. We were always told it was because of the increased intermarrying. Dr. Wallach says that these cultures are riddled with "genetic" problems, and are told they are all genetic. He discovered otherwise. Their soils are depleted, and they don't believe in supplementing because "we get all we need from our food". Unfortunately, most of their diseases are from mineral deficiencies like selenium (cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, cardio myopathy, etc.). They freely use Roundup and anhydrous ammonia fertilizers (even on their gardens), but they don't enhance their soils with minerals (although they know to feed them to their animals, or they'd have huge vet bills from disease). (source) Another reason these cultures have so many birth defects is that high percentages of them have gluten intolerance (which equals poor mineral absorption). They eat high amounts of gluten containing grains (along with Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons who also eat a lot of grains), and thus have developed gluten intolerance. Many of the reasons the babies are born with defects is that almost every mother had gluten intolerance, and thus couldn't absorb the nutrients she was eating. Gluten intolerance can be healed with enough essential fatty acids and improving gut health, but you have to know you have it to be treating it! He says that almost every baby he tested with cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy had gluten intolerance, increasing their need for nutritional supplementation.
The first half of this book is the history of medicine itself. All the normal, all the weird, all the wacky ways people have tried to heal themselves through the ages. Then there's a section on the author's professional history; ranging from all his veterinary jobs- curing zoo animals from epidemics, finding out what nutrients were lacking in their diets, how to succeed in making them breed in captivity, eliminating animal birth defects, as well as missions to Africa working with white rhinos, raising monkeys for NASA's space program and more. Through those years, he performed 17,500 autopsies on over 454 species of animals, plus 3,000 human beings for comparison. He then was fired for suggesting that cystic fibrosis was a nutritional deficiency , and this led him to going back to school to become a Naturopathic Dr. with our local Dr. Briggs who we see. He then had a private Naturopathic practice for many years before going on the road promoting nutrition worldwide.(source)
What I loved about the book was that he was saying exactly what I've been thinking all these years. Our genetics don't own us! Through proper nutrition, we can alter our genes so they don't cause us disease and early death. He makes the bold claim that all early death is nutritional deficiencies (other than accidents). Wow! The allopathic medical system would have us believe that we need them for longevity and a full life. We "need" big Pharma and all their drugs to "cure" us and all the surgeons to do their wonders for what the drugs won't do. Dr. Wallach tells it different. He says we can all heal from whatever is ailing us, by giving our bodies the nutrients it needs.
So, how can he make such a claim? Where did he come up with the audacity to say such things? He has looked into why our soils are so depleted and our health has gotten so poor, and here's a couple reasons. 1) hydroelectric dams have stopped the water from flowing downwards, thus all the minerals are now sitting at the bottom of the reservoirs, and not flowing into the fields where we grow our crops. This also means that the oceans are getting depleted of minerals too and the animals and plants are dying. Flooding is a natural way for minerals to be added back to the soil (along with hurricanes and volcanoes), so we've eliminated a natural source of supplementing our soils. When was the last time your soils were enriched with a flood, hurricane or volcano?! (Those of us near Mt. St. Helens are indeed fortunate!) Although dams have given us electricity, it has come at a cost on our health. Another aspect is that without wood heat, people are not putting ashes back on their gardens, a vital part of mineral recirculation. Trees have lots of minerals because their roots run so deep, so when we burn wood and spread the ashes on our gardens, then we can glean those rich minerals for our health. Farmers have long ago learned that without supplementing their livestock with minerals, they'd go out of business. Animals become infertile, ridden with disease and malnourished. Aren't we humans following those same patterns of ill health?
Which brings us to 2) health insurance. The downfall of our nation. When health insurance came in, it divided the lines between veterinarians and doctors. Veterinarians were supposed to prevent disease so the animals didn't get sick, and doctors became the managers of disease because all the selected treatments were paid by insurance and the insurance companies had to stay in business, so had to keep people sick or they'd go out of business. If health insurance companies offered full nutrition and solved people's problems, then we wouldn't need them any more, would we? Instead, we've been told that all our diseases are genetic, and there's nothing to do to cure them, just manage them for the rest of our life (they have guaranteed customers, and many look at it that if they pay their premiums, they'd better get some care in return for all those dollars spent). Dr. Wallach's research tells us different. We can cure our diseases and live a full life. We are not destined to line our doctor's wallets for the rest of our short lives. If animals diseases can be cured (even "genetic" ones), then why can't ours? Dr. Wallach has a book written on the oldest cultures on earth (Rare Earth: Forbidden Cures), and none of them have doctors, health insurance nor any diagnostic testing. They don't need it. They have good nutrition, with all the vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and amino acids they need. Another book he wrote was called Dead Doctors Don't Lie, which delves into what many doctors themselves die from. When our own doctors die young, doesn't that say something about the treatments they are promoting? One story was of a cardiologist who dropped dead in the hallway of her cardiac ward, at age 47. Can you imagine what her patients were thinking? "And this woman knows about heart health?!" (YouTube link of audio version of Dead Doctors Don't Lie")
Dr. Wallach also says that our soils are so depleted that we don't get near the nutrition we should be getting out of our food, even if we eat super healthy. I was recently given numbers that most Americans only get about 25% nutrition from the food they eat today. Back in 1980, it was around 50%, in the 1950s it was 60%, and 100 years ago it was at 80%. Dr. Wallach says that if we do not want to be burying our own children from disease, we have to be supplementing their diets with extra vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and amino acids. We just can't get ample nutrition from food alone for a healthy body anymore (despite what our medical doctors would often tell us "you can get all the nutrients you need from your food"). Our children are suffering far more than previous generations. The highest rate of Down Syndrome babies used to be mothers over 35 who had had a large family (nutritionally depleted). Now the highest rates are teen mothers, because their own nutritional status is so low, and they rarely eat well or supplement their diets. And even more sad, is that most are aborted. He explains in the book which nutrients are missing for each vitamin or mineral. The list seems endless!
"What I do differently from other doctors is I treat people like dogs, but they get better because with dogs we’ve learned how to eliminate 900 different diseases in dogs that still plague people. We’ve learned how to triple the lifespan of dogs. We didn’t do that with organ transplants and stem cells and genetically engineered proteins and wonder drugs. We did it simply by putting vitamins and minerals in their canned dog food or bags of dried dog food. And then we eliminated every birth defect you can name and 10 times that many you can’t name. We eliminated all those birth defects just by putting vitamins and minerals in their food. There’s not a single birth defect you can name that’s genetically transmitted, although doctors would tell you they are, but there’s not a single genetically transmitted birth defect. They’re all nutritional deficiencies in the embryo."
(source)
Of great fascination to me was his studies on the Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites. We grew up near many Hutterites, and all of them wore glasses. Even the little kids. We were always told it was because of the increased intermarrying. Dr. Wallach says that these cultures are riddled with "genetic" problems, and are told they are all genetic. He discovered otherwise. Their soils are depleted, and they don't believe in supplementing because "we get all we need from our food". Unfortunately, most of their diseases are from mineral deficiencies like selenium (cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, cardio myopathy, etc.). They freely use Roundup and anhydrous ammonia fertilizers (even on their gardens), but they don't enhance their soils with minerals (although they know to feed them to their animals, or they'd have huge vet bills from disease). (source) Another reason these cultures have so many birth defects is that high percentages of them have gluten intolerance (which equals poor mineral absorption). They eat high amounts of gluten containing grains (along with Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons who also eat a lot of grains), and thus have developed gluten intolerance. Many of the reasons the babies are born with defects is that almost every mother had gluten intolerance, and thus couldn't absorb the nutrients she was eating. Gluten intolerance can be healed with enough essential fatty acids and improving gut health, but you have to know you have it to be treating it! He says that almost every baby he tested with cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy had gluten intolerance, increasing their need for nutritional supplementation.
"We talk about DNA as if it’s a template, like a mold for a car part in a factory. In the factory, molten metal or plastic gets poured into the mold thousands of times, and, unless something goes wrong in the process, out pop thousands of identical car parts.
"But DNA isn’t really like that. It’s more like a script. Think of Romeo and Juliet, for example. In 1936 George Cukor directed Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer in a film version. Sixty years later Baz Luhrmann directed Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in another movie version of this play. Both productions used Shakespeare’s script, yet the two movies are entirely different. Identical starting points, different outcomes.
"That’s what happens when cells read the genetic code that’s in DNA. The same script can result in different productions. The implications of this for human health are very wide-ranging, as we will see from the case studies we are going to look at in a moment. In all these case studies it’s really important to remember that nothing happened to the DNA blueprint of the people in these case studies. Their DNA didn’t change (mutate), and yet their life histories altered irrevocably in response to their environments." ~Nessa Carey (source)
He goes deep in depth for the rest of the book as to what all the vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids (good fats) and amino acids are and do. He talks in each section of which diseases will occur if those nutrients aren't present in our diet. For example, low fatty acids results in strokes, thrombosis (blood clots), skin diseases (eczema, rosacea, psoriasis, etc.), respiratory disease (asthma, chronic bronchitis, unremitting cough, etc.) and depression.
Disclaimer: He sells his own brand of supplements, and I have not tried, and have no plans to do so. He is also an evolutionist, so the book is written from this perspective. When we know God as our Creator, this changes many aspects of our life and well-being. It's not all about nutrition. It's also a spiritual and emotional journey. We can get healing through Jesus alone. We may not though too. I do believe we need to be careful not to elevate our doctors on a big pedestal for saving our lives. "My doctor said this..." "I trust my doctor's advice" "The doctor says I should do this..." You are an advocate for your own health. Do your own research. Find your own answers. Take accountability for your own health, and don't leave it up other people, no matter who they are!
Epigenetics: The Death of the Genetic Theory of Disease Transmission
Dirty Genes by Dr. Ben Lynch
Wellness Mama podcast: Methylation Problems and Gene Mutations
Pottenger’s Prophecy: How Food Resets Genes for Wellness or Illness
Deep Nutrition-Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food
The Wallach Log (Vimeo videos on various health issues)
He also has oodles of videos on YouTube too
Deep Nutrition-Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food
The Wallach Log (Vimeo videos on various health issues)
He also has oodles of videos on YouTube too
