TheFiberFix:LessonsfromDr.Burkitt

He was a humorous old gent when he came to speak at our lecture.I think he naively believed that the medical establishment would applaud his observations. Gastroenterologists had recommended low roughage diets for diverticulosis the very diet that had caused their disease in the first place.He showed a picture of the gastroenterologist using their electron microscope and he showed a picture of his research tool which was a ruler to measure stool size.He discussed in detail the transit time of food consumption and subsequent elimination in various cultures.He was particularly hilarious in showing pictures of baby laxatives in Italy and Britain.

Constipation,appendicitis,diverticulitis hemorrhoids were almost unheard of in his African population yet these diseases were more common in african americans than caucasians in the US. Hypertension,ischemic heart disease,breast cancer and many other diseases are much more common in the West thus the coined phrase the western diseases.

Burkett was quick to point out that his observations were nothing new.There had been many groups with the same knowledge but he was used his celebrity to try to spread the word on dietary sanity.

In our next segment we will talk about the great Blue zone in Loma Linda CA. and discuss glycemic index