WEB POSTED 08-14-2001

Is "Digging our graves with our teeth" the same as "Nobody telling me what I can eat"?

I must begin this column by recalling a statement written by The Honorable Elijah Muhammad many years ago, which began, "No meat is good for us....". It was brought to the forefront of my thinking by a reader�s letter in the April, 1999 edition of MOMENT MAGAZINE, a popular Jewish publication. The letter, from a Professor of Mathematics at the College of Staten Island, was entitled, "Why Meat Cannot Be Kosher." He gives three reasons for his conclusions, the first of which is, "(1) While Judaism mandates that people should be careful about preserving their lives, numerous scientific studies have linked animal-based diets to heart disease, stroke, many forms of cancer, and other chronic degenerative diseases."

Shortly after that, the May 24th edition of TIME contained an article concerning the tremendous value of folic acid � including the fact that it can prevent the ever-increasing surge of Alzheimer�s disease. It stated that University of Kentucky epidemiologist David Snowden, after nine years of seemingly fruitless study, had finally identified a possible preventor of Alzheimer�s. It was the B vitamin folate, which is found principally in beans and leafy green vegetables (all of which are contained in our world-famous bean soup). A study revealed that nuns with the highest levels of folate, or folic acid, suffered the lowest levels of cognitive decline.

The "Miracle Of the Loaves," as TIME refers to it, has reportedly worked its preventive skills to prevent heart disease and stroke, cancer and birth defects.

"Evidence," the writer says, "is so strong for the link to the birth defect spina bifida that last year the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) began requiring that many flour, rice, pasta and grain products be fortified with folic acid."

A couple of weeks earlier (May 10), TIME carried an article entitled "Beyond Pasta." The subhead read, "Getting all the right complex carbohydrates? Not if you�re eating refined instead of whole grains."An illustration shows the three key parts to a kernel of grain � the endosperm, the bran and the germ � and describes their contents and compositions. The bran, the outer cover, contains fiber, B vitamins, chromium and other nutritious minerals; the germ, or seed contains B, E and K vitamins, iron and other minerals; the endosperm (the part most often eaten) contains mostly carbohydrates and some protein. "Finely milling the grains," the writer states, "produces a flour that lacks the bran and the germ, leaving only the endosperm behind." The writer points out that another benefit of staying with the whole grains is you are less likely to be bothered with hemorrhoids.

Winding down, the article states that "researchers suspect that it�s the combination of everything �the fiber, the vitamins, the minerals and, no doubt, other as yet undiscovered nutritional ingredients �that makes whole grains healthy."