26. I Heal My Own Body ： Yangsheng in Food: The McGovern Report

In 1977, the United States invested a huge amount of resources to establish the “Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs,” which conducted a two-year investigation and released what became known as the famous McGovern Report. Its preface starts with, “Humanity will perish if it does not change its current dietary culture.” The report recommended replacing white flour with whole wheat and white rice with brown rice. It particularly warned humanity to avoid white sugar, white salt, white chemical seasonings, white flour, and white rice.

Phosphoric acid in cola binds with calcium phosphate in the body and promotes its excretion, meaning that drinking cola causes calcium loss. The report also warned against instant foods and fast foods, including the following points:

• Most domestic violence cases stem from poor diet.

• Harmful effects of food additives begin from childhood.

• Lifestyle diseases cannot be completely cured by medicine or surgery.

• 90% of cancers are caused by dietary compounds.

• The higher the ratio of animal fats, the greater the risk of heart disease.

• We have entered an era where diabetes and hypertension are treated through diet.

• Obesity makes one prone to disease and shortens lifespan.

• Diseases can be healed through food.

The previously mentioned lifestyle diseases—cancer, diabetes, hypertension, hypotension, hyperlipidemia, arteriosclerosis, angina, myocardial infarction, stroke, shoulder stiffness, back pain, menstrual pain, irregular menstruation—are all primarily caused by poor diet and are called “food origin diseases” (食原病). The importance of a brown rice vegetarian diet cannot be overstated.

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Dr. Jin-man Kim, director of Peace Oriental Clinic