AT BATTLE CREEK SEVEN DAY ADVENTIST SANATORIUM (BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR), IN MICHIGAN, SUN AND PHOTO THERAPY WAS PRACTICED.
THE SEVEN DAY APPROACH TO HEALTH
Many academic studies on the members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church have found that Seventh Day Adventists have more than 50% less chance of getting cancer and most other chronic diseases. They also live 12 years longer than the average modern American today. (See below) Yet, SDA's have the same sex, age, socio-economic, educational, occupational, ethnic and cultural profile as the rest of American Society's inhabitants. Simple conclusion: the Bible Health Principles on a vegetarian diet and living a happy wholesome & spiritual lifestyle may be a key health factor.
THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM LOMA PUBLIC HEALTH SCHOOL AND OTHER SOURCES
The first major study of Adventists, begun in 1958,".. has become known as the Adventist Mortality Study, a cohort or prospective study of 22,940 California Adventists. Organized at Loma Linda University, it entailed an intensive 5-year follow-up and a more informal 25-year follow-up. During the first period, a similar study was being conducted by the American Cancer Society. Both studies enrolled volunteer subjects who were relatively well-educated. (...) Overall cancer mortality, comparing Adventists to their American Cancer Society counterparts, was 60 percent for Adventist men and 76 percent for Adventist women.(...) Death from coronary heart disease among Adventist men was 66 percent; for Adventist women, it was 98 percent. Stroke death rates for Adventist men were 72 percent, compared to their non-Adventist counterparts. For Adventist women, death from stroke was 82 percent. Comparing all causes of death among the two populations, Adventist men had a death rate of 66 percent and Adventist women had a rate of 88 percent (...) Specifically for ischemic heart disease, the rate was 43 percent; for stroke, the rate was 54 percent. Although it has not yet been mentioned, most of these results are statistically significant, making it unlikely that the differences observed were due to random factors or mere chance. Thus, according to these studies, it is quite evident that the Adventist lifestyle does provide some protection from cancer and other fatal diseases."
In a British study from 1876 to 1988, the findings are as follows:
"This is the only major ongoing study on the general health and mortality of vegetarians in the U.S. Data was collected from 1976-1988. Of the 34,192 participants, all members of the Seventh-day Adventist church: 29 percent were vegetarian, while 7-10 percent of the vegetarians were vegan. Compared to non-vegetarians the above vegetarians had about: 1/2 the high blood pressure and diabetes
- 1/2 the colon cancer
- 2/3 the rheumatoid arthritis and prostate cancer
- Breast, lung, & uterine cancers tended to be lower in vegetarians but could have been due to random chance.
For vegan, the micro results are event better. However, for massive results, we need to wait for the Vegan health Study to wind up.
ON THE SEVEN DAY ADVENTIST'S SANATARIUM IN BATTLE CREEK
In the 1860's the Seven Day Adventists built a huge Sanitorium, which was at one point directed by the famous Dr. Kellogg who made the no less famous Kellogg fiber-rich cereal in order to help Americans' to be less constipated. The Sanitarium also used anemas for a good through cleanse. Among other techniques, like hydrotherapy, breathing, fresh air, exercise, sunshine and the importance of a low protein plant based diet. More than one hundred years latter, we are making some progress. 3 percent of the food market being organic.
A frequent lecturer at the “Old San” was Sojourner Truth, shown in this portrait with President Abraham Lincoln.
Battle Creek Sanitarium -1878 (“Old Main”)
Accommodated more than 1,250 patients with a staff of 1,800 at any one time in both buildings, this Sanitarium (and not Sanitorium) welcomed more than 400,000 guests from all parts of the world. Many guests were famous. President Lincoln's wife, President William Howard Taft was the 100,000 guest to be registered. Although he had visited the San many times before, Henry Ford was the first guest to be registered in the Towers building. Other guests included Eleanor Roosevelt, J.C. Penney, S.S. Kresge and Amelia Earhart. The San was prosperous when the building program was completed, but economic and social changes were on America’s horizon and the Big Wall St Crash of 1933 undermined it. In 1974, the Seven Day Adventist restored it. In 1993, the City of Battle Creek is using it for its health-care system.
Battle Creek Sanitarium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle Creek Sanitarium | |
|---|---|
 Turn-of-the-century breathing exercises
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| Location: | |
| Built/Founded: | 1903 |
| Architect: | Frank M. Andrews |
| Architectural style(s): | Renaissance, Other |
| Governing body: | |
| Added to NRHP: | |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74000980
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The Battle Creek Sanitarium, in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States, first opened on September 5, 1866 as the Western Health Reform Institute, based on the health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1876, John Harvey Kellogg became the superintendent, and his brother, W. K. Kellogg, worked as the book keeper. In 1878, a new structure was built on the site, but it burned down in 1902. The following year, it was rebuilt and enlarged.
In 1942, the United States Army bought the complex and converted the buildings into the Percy Jones Army Hospital for treating soldiers wounded in World War II. The building was renamed the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in honor of three former and current U.S. Senators treated at the hospital: Philip Hart, Bob Dole, and Daniel Inouye. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[2]
With over 400,000 guests, including 1800 staff members,[citation needed] the Sanitarium became a destination for both prominent and middle-class American citizens. Celebrated American figures who visited the sanitarium (including Mary Todd Lincoln and Sojourner Truth) would influence and encourage enthusiasm for health and wellness among the general population. It was nicknamed "The San" by its clients and was a popular place for the rich to go for a health retreat and dieting.[3]
At the sanitarium, Kellogg explored various treatments for his patients, including diet reform and frequent enemas. He encouraged a low-fat, low-protein diet with an emphasis on whole grains, fiber-rich foods, and most importantly, nuts. Kellogg also recommended a daily intake of fresh air, exercise, and the importance of hygiene. Many of the theories of John Harvey Kellogg were later published in his book The Road to Wellness.
"The San" and Kellogg were lampooned in T. Coraghessan Boyle's 1993 novel The Road to Wellville and the 1994 film adaptation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Creek_Sanitarium
TENTATIVE CONCLUSION
Today, the organic food share of the market is 3 percent. In January 2008, Boston.com writes:
"The organic community has suffered, and enjoyed, a wonderful explosion in demand of 20 percent per year for basic raw materials, but when you look at supply in the U.S., we're lucky if it's growing at 1 percent per year," said Lynn Clarkson, president of Clarkson Grain Co., a grain-handling business based in Cerro Gordo, Ill.
The organic market makes up nearly 3 percent of the overall food market, a share that has increased every year for the past decade. It's a small but fast-growing segment of an otherwise sluggish food industry.
But while the farmland dedicated to organic crops has expanded, it still makes up just a sliver of the nation's total: a half percent each of all cropland and pastureland in 2005, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture".
In 2006, there were 3 percent of the population who were vegetarian women, 2 percent male and 1.4 vegan (both gender). See also this reference. Yet, by googling cohort & meta studies in longevity, health and vegetarians, we find conclusive evidence of the beneficial effects of a plant base diet.
There is therefore lots of work to improve American public health, lifestyle and supply. And it starts by creating as many holistic health retreats, sustainable villages, clinics and organic food structures as possible.