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“I can’t take it back! It was on sale, it’s your size, and besides it’s in style.”

The next day I reached into my closet to find only one ironed shirt.
“Very funny, but I told you, I’m never going to wear a pink shirt. Now where are the rest of my work shirts?”

“They’re in the laundry, besides that will look perfect with that new tie the kids got you for Fathers day.”

When my son jetted around the doorway conveniently sporting a pink polo shirt I knew I had lost this round. It was a conspiracy and I was clearly out numbered.
That day was the first day in my life I wore a pink (albeit light pink) shirt and I vowed it would be the last.

That was before a days worth on compliments began to stream in. First it was my receptionist, but I figured she was in on it. Then a steady stream of people commented. “Oh, that’s a great tie.” “You sure look tan, have you been sailing.” “Looks like you lost some weight.” “That color looks so good on you.” And finally “Have you been working out?”

Vanity is not a problem for me, however that day before lunch I did pop into the men’s room to see what all the commotion was about. Whether this was a carefully orchestrated setup or not is beside the point. The truth is I looked into the mirror and I did look good. Okay, I looked great. At least that’s what my mind saw reflected back.

Within three hours I went from loathing the very idea of ever wearing a pink shirt to agreeing that it did look very good on me.

Here is the amazing thing. The color had nothing to do with it. My perception was influenced by fashion trends, social pressure, flattery and the one-two punch that the shirt did bring out my tan and compliment the tie. That night I gave my wife the green light to add tasteful pink shirts to my wardrobe. She just put on a winning smile, probably gloating, “First Round, Knock Out!”

It is like this with anything in life. Our behavior, our preferences, habits, moods, and our desires, are all surprisingly agreeable to change. In essence, our brain processes and incorporates our environment in the most efficient way possible – in other words, our mind adapts to the language, culture and attitudes that surround us.

Every aspect of the mind, including thoughts, emotions, and intellect, represent characteristics which are determined by our life experiences. Physical, psychological and spiritual environments are continually assessed and integrated within our mind.

Our body and brain never stop adapting to the world around us. Whether we watch TV or read books, we become appropriately tuned for more of the same. The content of the information we take in molds our perspective and forms our beliefs and our beliefs dictate our behavior.

Applying the example of the pink shirt is a great illustration of this process. It was the people in my life and repeated influences which caused me to change my perspective. The belief that it was just wrong for men to wear pink shirts was replaced with new programming that determined that pink was just fine. Because of my new worldview it was only natural that wearing pink shirts would become a new behavior for me.

At first, it might appear that we have no ability to choose freely and that we are simply a product of our circumstance. Far from it! We are endowed with tremendous choice. Where we live, who we marry, the people we interact with, the interests which characterize us, our chosen experiences, how we share, what we learn, what we care about, and how we react to situations and people. We direct much of what happens in our life through the choices we make.

Once we accept that we continuously make the choices that determine our destiny, we can be transformed from victim into victor. It is an awesome responsibility to guide the development of our own worldview and in the most literal sense champion our own future. Would you want it any other way?

This book didn’t make my top ten list easily. In fact every time I went through my faves, I kept discarding it. But no mater how often I scratched the name off my list, or backspaced through it, somehow, I just couldn’t remove it from my mind. So to settle the debate I carefully read Mirage of Heath – Utopias, Progress, and Biological Change, by Rene Dubos, for the third time.

Here is the surprising result of the re-read: while I leaned towards dumping it, once again, somehow I just couldn’t remove the 1959 work from my mind! Realizing that a fourth read would not change anything I decided to place it firmly on my list once and for all. Before you gloss over this review or decide that it must have just squeaked by, I have to confess that it is in my top five.

Read on and you will discover why I rank it so highly and why I vacillated so vehemently concerning its value.

Don’t for a minute think that my decisions regarding inclusion to my list are pell-mell. My criteria are actually quite structured. When choosing my top ten health books, I ask myself questions like… “Does it advance mankind?” “Is the particular author the only one who could pull off writing the book?” “Is the content timeless, or at least of historical importance?” “Does the author promote my worldview?” (Hey, it’s my list!) “Can an interested layperson read it?” and finally, “Do the health and wellness principles discussed in the book actually promote health and wellness?”

Rene Dubos wrote extensively about mankind’s dilemma regarding health issues. He was without question a brilliant medical researcher, a keen observer of cause and effect, and consistently made accurate conclusions. Hindsight continues to validate his work and his contribution to meaningful alterations of our views on health and the environment, are enormous.

So, what’s the problem? Dubos doesn’t promote my worldview. He did when I first read this book in the early 1980’s, but I’ve changed, a lot.

Not to excuse him (or me for that matter), the evidence has been convincing since creation 1, but he did die in 1982 and lived and wrote at a time when science was…young and foolish. Up to that era, all of *us science types operated under a paradigm that was not being questioned by those who mattered and ensured a bias so strong that even quality empirical data which lead to impeccable conclusions still resulted in erroneous assumptios. Dubos’ only academic failing was one that a century of scientist fell for…Darwin’s theory of evolution.

The history is clear on this topic. Nineteenth Century scientists were in such a hurry to operate in a pure scientific vacuum, one devoid of religion, they embraced a theory which was so porous that nonsense quickly filled the vacuum they sought. Continuing the irony, Darwinian Evolution is as much a faith based worldview as any religion!

Interestingly, Dubos speaks to this, in his 1972 work, On Being Human.

Religion and science … constitute deep-rooted and ancient efforts to find richer experience and deeper meaning than are found in the ordinary biological and social satisfactions. As pointed out by Whitehead, religion and science have similar origins and are evolving toward similar goals.

Throughout Mirage of Health, Dubos observes and recounts multiple examples of evolution. At times he seems an apologist, with his numerous citations of evolution, implying Evolution. As with all such apologist, he never goes beyond sighting examples of variation within a particular species. In no way is variation (micro-evolution) controversial, and in no way does it support Darwinian Evolution. Causing one of the “proofs” to become one of it’s many flaws.

With powerful truths like, “The touchstone of a scientific theory is its power to predict natural phenomena…” one has to wonder what doctrine compels him to add, in the same sentience, “…evolutionary theories can rarely be put to this test because most biological processes evolve so slowly.” Perhaps the best answer is found in the Bible, “No one can serve two masters.” 2

Personal philosophy, however, is not enough to discount Dubos. His dispassionate reporting of medical history is astute. Demonstrations of man interacting within his environment are thoughtful and provocative, and it’s easy to see the genesis for his later work in this field. Furthermore, nothing matches his accounts of contributory causation… they are sublime.

This book is a gift for anybody craving a perspective of wellness. It includes; reckoning the past, analyzing the present, and projecting into the future. Dubos speaks of Pasteur who “pointed out…the response of the infected individual [is] determined by his heredity endowment, his state of nutrition, his environment including the climate, and even his mental state.” Yet, he captures in a volume the intricacies behind such a statement. It is these intricacies that are so easily lost to a modern medical marketplace stymied by ignorance and moved by sound bites. Mirage of Heath does not let us forget. That is why I adore this book.

*I’m not suggesting that I was ever in Dubos league. As a science major in college, I wouldn’t have been worthy to sterilize his Petri dishes!

“The average multi-level-salesperson, selling vitamins for a little extra income, knows more about leading-edge-nutrition than the average medical doctor.”

You may find this statement amusing. Perhaps, you say “that couldn’t be true.” Or maybe you’re among the millions that are not surprised by such a bold claim. As for myself, I’m the rebel that said it to a friend years ago. Who was the friend? At the time he was a recent graduate from a leading medical school, now he’s Chief of Pediatrics at a respected university hospital.

“You’re right.” He said. We had been friends since we were in first grade. We’ve discussed sports, girls, school, and current events since we were four feet tall. I always thought I knew how to needle him into a lively debate, so you can imagine my surprise when he agreed with my outlandish statement! Basically, I told him that the average American, with no formal healthcare education, selling multilevel nutritional products knows more about nutrition than he and most of his doctor friends.

When he agreed, it kind of took the wind out of my sails.

Afterwards, it got me thinking. Why was he willing to concede that medical doctors don’t know about modern nutrition?

Looking for the answer, I took another look at the practice of medicine in this country. A number of thoughts came to mind. Some of them probably wrong, some a bit cynical, and at least a few I’m certain to be right on.

• There is little personal gratification for the doctor who expands his/her knowledge in the field of nutrition. Prestige among the doctors colleagues will not be elevated, in fact the opposite, he’s likely to be treated with a skeptical eye.
• Financially, it would be suicide, as there are few people who want to pay the premium fee of a highly educated and skilled MD to provide a similar service they could get for free at the corner health-food store.
• Nutrition doesn’t fit the purpose of medicine. The practice of medicine is often summarized as the treatment of disease and pathologies using surgery and drugs. Optimizing health through nutrition, or providing information to enable the patient to take real control of their personal health is just not found in the standard medical play book.
• Doctors are only human. Consumer Direct Advertisements: Magazines, newspapers and TV encourage readers and viewers to “Ask your doctor about Claritin…” “Ask your doctor about Zoloft.” “Ask your doctor about…” Get use to it. Over 75% of consumers say their MD accommodated their request for a specific drug. Also doctors are having a difficult time keeping abreast of the FDA warnings about possible drug risks as it is.

There are just so many new drugs available…and keeping current with the information that goes with each drug has become almost impossible. (Read Full Article) Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H, Former VA Under Secretary for Health.

• The pharmaceutical industry does everything within their power to keep medical doctors promoting their products for the treatment of sickness. There is no way to compete with this $100+ billion-a-year-industry.

Or is there?

Don’t wait for your medical doctor or illness to convince you to really make a difference in you nutritional health.

Take responsibility for your own healthcare and leave the sickness care to your medical doctor, that’s his/her expertise. Make up your mind to learn more about modern nutrition and never stop learning!

One thing that is clear when it comes to health and nutrition. The closer your diet is to God’s earth the better. In other words, we would all be a great deal healthier if we ate a wide mix of whole foods.

• Fresh fruits, vegetables and a varied grains are best.
• Moderate amounts of wild fish, organic and grass fed meats are important sources of vital nutrients and proteins.
• Animal fats, refined sugars and processed foods should be limited.
• Manufactured fats (trans fatty acids),chemical additives as well as artificial colorings and flavorings should never enter our bodies (they are not “food” at all).
• Vitamins, minerals, and other nutrient supplements will not and should not take the place of a proper diet, but they can and do supply important nutrients that are often missing or scarce in what we eat.

In a perfect world we would follow these simple truths. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world. As a result, our nutrition and eventually our health becomes compromised.

For what ever reason, our medical doctors are not learning how to help us create the ideal diet or find the optimal nutrients, so isn’t it time we help ourselves to the wealth of information available and teach them a thing or two about how to life a full and healthy life.

P.S. No, I’m not entirely thrilled about the newish US dept. of ag. My Pyramid concept, but it is better than anything they’ve come up with before. Click