Trust At Your Own Risk

Photo: Cia de Foto.

“doveriai, no proveriai” {Trust, but verify.}
—Russian proverb

We trust entirely too easily. And it’s damaging our health. Let alone our bank accounts, our children, and our lives. We are so oblivious to the depth of our trust in things undeserving that the mere thought of questioning them sends us immediately into denial. To admit our naivety or irresponsibility is unthinkable. We rest in the wisdom of the herd; let the consequences be damned. We prefer to slide through life and not rock the boat rather than have to deal with the truth. I hope if you are reading this, you’re a rocker not a roller.

Outside of our family and circle of friends, we trust complete strangers all the way up to companies, organizations, and entire industries. Our American currency even states, “In God We Trust,” which makes the most sense to me since God is perfect and not flawed by greed, fear, lobbying, ignorance, or convenience. If you are going to put your trust somewhere, God is your best bet. People, let alone groups of people, are who you have to watch.

Not everyone or everything is trustworthy. In the United States, one is innocent until proven guilty. This idea usually lends itself to one being trustworthy until proven untrustworthy. There’s just one problem with that. People at their core are sinful. They are not perfect. They make bad choices. They are not inherently trustworthy. Companies are only as honest as their top executive. People need managers for a reason. So in reality, trust those who have proven trustworthy, but verify the important things.

I want to mention a few dangerous things we have grown to believe and the people behind them we trust. They could be doctors, our family members, or the media. My hope is that when it comes to something important in your life, like what you put in or on your body, you will be careful who you trust.

Sugar Is Not That Bad

If you are serious about your health or want to take out a contender for what is ailing you, start here. We grew up with sugar being in everything, and we trust that we can continue consuming it and all its chemical cousins without much negative impact on our health. Wrong. We are suckers. And you know what they put in suckers. I don’t care if you are Suzanne Somers or Whole Foods. Organic or natural labels do not make it any more trustworthy. And yes, organic fruit still has sugar, and too much can hurt you. Need proof with the medical research to back it up? Good, that’s encouraging. Here are 76 reasons to eliminate it from your diet according to the book, Lick the Sugar Habit Sugar Counter: Discover the Hidden Sugar in Your Food by Nancy Appleton.

Avoid All Fat

True fat does not make you fat. It’s one of the most healthy foods you can eat. Your brain depends on it. I’m talking old fashioned butter, bacon, and eggs folks. The way grandma used to make them. There’s a reason she lived to a hundred eating this supposedly artery-clogging fat. Cholesterol is your friend. We have been told our entire lives to avoid fat — to our detriment. “But it’s common sense,” you say, “Everyone knows you avoid sugar and fat if you want to be healthy.” So our answer is drinking sugar substitutes and avoiding an essential food? It’s a recipe for disaster. You will want to read the entire article on fat found at The Weston A. Price Foundation’s website for the history of how we bought the lie, how to eat fat, and the various benefits of the different fats. Of course, it also tells you which fats and oils man has totally messed up that you should immediately avoid. As in, raid your refrigerator today.

You should also read two perspectives on cholesterol from Dr. Uffe Ravnskov and Dr. Ron Rosedale, as interviewed by one of my favorite doctors, Dr. Mercola, who sits on the board of The Weston A. Price Foundation and seeks out the brightest doctors in their fields of research concerning each area of health.

Medical Studies Are Trustworthy

Finally, I want to make one more point on verification. Before you trust the next media story about some medical study that proves that organic cane sugar is healthier than high-fructose corn syrup or saturated fat causes heart disease, check the study’s sponsor. If it is Willy Wonka or some pharmaceutical company sponsoring a study through a university, don’t you think they are biased? Do you really feel confident placing your trust in a study that could have easily been created to find what the company wanted to find and nothing else? I have read plenty of abstracts on these studies that do not quite sum up the research. At all. One New England Journal of Medicine study found that 24 percent of the studies they researched allowed their sponsor to insert its own statistical analyses!

If you want to do some of your own sleuthing, I wonder who was behind this recent BBC News story on the benefits of coffee? Oh wait, they failed to link to the actual studies mentioned. I wonder why.

Trust at your own risk. Verify what you believe. If the boat needs rocking, don’t be afraid to ask hard questions. You are the only one in charge of your health.