Highwood Highlights No. 26. May 2009
The dangers and deleterious influence of health fanaticism are great. As one writer, far more eminent than I, has so well stated: "When those who advocate hygienic reform go to extremes, it is no wonder that many who regard these persons as representing health principles reject the reform altogether. These extremes frequently do more harm in a short time than could be undone by a lifetime of consistent living" E. G. White, Ministry of Healing, p. 324.
Fanatics take sensible, correct, health advise to extremes, unhealthy extremes, that end up causing more harm than if the advise was never heard. Let me illustrate this problem from my own experience. I was once a fanatic, especially in the area of food. I read, rightly so, that meals should be at regular times, not haphazard. This means, unless circumstances are exceptional, don't have breakfast at 7 am one morning and then 9 am the next day and 6 am the next. But I interpreted it to mean that if breakfast was scheduled to be 7 am then I needed to start the meal between 6:55 am and 7:05 am to avoid problems. I read, rightly so, that fruits and vegetables should not generally be eaten together because they have different rates of digestion and the fruit component, which has the faster rate, will tend to ferment. This means avoiding eating watermelon or other fresh fruit after a heavy vegetable meal; but I used to pick out the currents and tomato from my salad. I read that two meals a day is generally better than three, so I would inflexibly apply this rule too, even while working in a busy hospital where a proper lunch was impossible to regularly obtain. My weight went down from 70kg to 56kg, my stomach shrunk so I could not eat much without feeling full. And if I did eat too much I chastised myself for being a "glutton" and breaking the all-important "don't overeat" rule. Thankfully I broke out of this delusionary state after realising I had a problem and going to my GP for his advise.
Fanaticism seems to most commonly occur in the area of food, but it does manifest elsewhere too. Some are exercise fanatics and overexercise to the detriment of their health. People can die on ultra-marathon running events. For example, two people died in the 2007 Comrades Marathon of South Africa (The Comrades Marathon is the world's oldest and largest ultra-marathon run over a distance of approximately 90 km). There are plenty of fanatical sunbathers of course, who want to get that special (?sexy) brown colour. To those who have not got caught up in the fanatic delusion it all seems so obviously wrong. But for those who are "in it" it often consumes their lives.
Some forms of health fanaticism can morph over time into full blown obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hygiene is important, for sure. But do you really need to scrub your hands and arms to the elbow before every meal - as the over-fussy hygiene promoter might advise. Of course, you need to be professional and follow the health laws with commercial cooking. But some people, after washing their hands before a meal will head off to wash them again if they get "contaminated" by touching the bench, cupboard, clothes and so on. Similar issues can develop with those who get overly concerned about such things as synthetic clothes, drug medication, electomagnetic radiation and chemical pollutants, all of which are, in themselves, important issues worth knowing about.
How do you avoid fanaticism? It is my observation that it is more common in those who isolate themselves. It appears also more common in those of a certain "intense" temperament. Such people seem to be in more danger than average of over-focussing on something. Intense people need to make sure they mix. Another help is to keep an open mind and to avoid getting too puffed up with one's own knowledge.
Testimony. The following is a testimony that we have on file for public release from Leone, a recent guest with Highwood who, indeed, had very significant crohns. She was treated with a variety of things, but the most helpful were fomentations and large poultices of ground linseed and charcoal: "I am so grateful to an elderly couple who I do not know, mentioned to my husband that I should go to Highwood. It has been the answer to my prayers. The staff have all been very caring...I arrived there very sick with crohns disease and am going home well on the way to recovery. For this I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for leading me to find Highwood."
Highwood Highlights is a brief and simple message sent out monthly by Highwood Health Centre, www.highwoodhealth.org www.highwoodcollege.org (Ph. 03 5963 7011). To subscribe send an email to davidbird777@bigpond.com with "subscribe" in the subject line. To unsubsribe please put "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Please send other email correspondence for Dr. Bird to birddavid777@yahoo.com as the Highwood newsletter email address is checked infrequently.
Disclaimer: Any medical comments made by Dr. Bird are not to be taken as personal medical advise and are presented for general educational purposes only.
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