First Nations Health

by

J Davis

I remember watching a TV programme about a year ago. It concerned the problems of a small town in Northern Canada where there were high suicide rates and health problems due to drug addiction. The programme painted a picture of despair. Addiction to a particular drug was causing major social and economic problems in this isolated community. I was concerned and saddened about this. This is not to say that this is unusual in the modern world, it is sadly an all too often picture in some of the isolated communities as well as some areas in the more densely populated areas of the world.

If we look at the health statistics for Canada in the more populous temperate zones we observe high rates of diabetes. Around 3 million cases in Canada which is approx. the same no. of cases as in the UK. However the population of Canada is smaller than the UK\’s so this works out as nearly 1 in 10 compared with nearly 1 in 20 (in the UK). Other illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have similar rates to those of other \”developed nations\”.It appears when looking at the statistics for more Northerly regions where the First Nations people live, it appears worse and more dramatic. \”Age standardised rates of T2D show 17.2% prevalence for Type 2 Diabetes among First Nations individuals living on reserves, compared to 5.0% in the non-Aboriginal population\” (Population Health Agency Canada PHAC (2011), diabetes in Canada:Facts and Figures from a public health perspective.) \”…statistics indicating Type 2 Diabetes prevalence rates in First nations being 3-5 times higher than the general population in Canada.\” (Population Health Agency Canada PHAC (2011) Diabetes in Canada: Facts and Figures from a public health perspective.)

I would like to suggest some help and possible solutions to these problems. As someone who started off experimenting with diets in order to solve my own health problems, I have come to realise how good quality nutrition can bring about significant benefits in our health to help us avoid many of the modern illnesses. I am now a Macrobiotic consultant and through writing and talks I am trying to promote awareness of the degenerative problems in the modern diet. The use of whole grains, beans and some fish with vegetables and sea vegetables (as well as other foods), at the same time as eliminating sugar, drugs, refined processed foods, insecticides, chemicals and radiation in food is helping to change the health of myself and others around the world. In the 1920s and 1930s a Dr Weston Price travelled the world and observed many traditional peoples totally independent from the industrialised cities living healthily and happily with few if any problems. Then over the years returning to the same communities he discovered an appalling change occurring, as more and more of these peoples started to have access to modern refined foods. He noticed diseases that had never been seen in these communities occurring, and an increase of weakness and deficiencies that he put down to the invasion of modern degenerative foods. His book \”Nutrition and Physical Degeneration\” has much relevance to today as it did then, for everyone. Dr Denis Burkitt, a British doctor, also observed siimilar differences with some of the traditional peoples in East Africa in the 1940s- he noticed how the traditional diets kept them healthier than those in the UK, France and the USA. In the 20th century both George Ohsawa (1893-1966) and Michio Kushi studied, wrote and gave talks about this problem culminating in the proposal of the macrobiotic diet and remedies. There were traditions in all cultures which helped people to survive which have been lost particularly during the 20th century. The adoption of yin and yang (traditional oriental understanding) of the energies of food and cooking by modern macrobiotics says to me that the First Nations people and others in more extreme Northerly conditions are going to be suffering even more from the problems of simple sugars and refined prcessing of foods -it will not and cannot prepare them for the cold and the extreme conditons their ancestors survived in for so long. Also the importation of tropical fruits and vegetables into these communities will do nothing to strengthen immunity, in fact the reverse may well be true. As for drugs, these are so extreme for temperate conditions anyway, that bringing them into an Arctic climate is going to be devastating. The Eskimos and Inuit studied by Dr Weston Price all survived extremely well until the invasions of modern industrialised food and agriculture reached them.

The statistics for the whole world are not good -diabetes (virtually unknown 100 years ago) is now a worldwide epidemic (220 million).For the First Nations people and others near the Arctic circle it is potentially catastrophic.It is so sad to see communities of people such as the native Indians in Canada whose way of life and spiritual wisdom was highly regarded by people all over the world, being destroyed by addiction to sugar, drugs, and foods which have no place in their climatic area.

I would not be writing this if I did not believe it were possible to do something about this. I believe it can be turned round to achieve positive health (including removing people off drugs).

Thank you for reading this -let\’s hope we can avoid the potential \”armageddon of illness\” which is threatening to destroy many cultures.

For information on a natural diet and remedies to help prevent illness

betterhealth.uk.com

and betterhealthbristol@gmail.com

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com