Growing Younger With The Years. Part 2

Begin now to feel young and really alive. The point of describing all these extraordinary results in making older as well as younger people feel vital, young, and fresh, filled with the zest and capacity for living, is that it is never too late to feel young and really alive again! No matter what your age is, the right diet and nutrition described in this book may do wonders for you. If you really work at it, it can repay you tenfold. It is not enough just to eat "three square meals" a day and take a vitamin pill. That way you can still age before your time and just "exist" during your lifetime. There is evidence that the aging process may be reversible. Out of the horrors of Hitler's concentration camps there came just recently some amazing news announced at the 1956 International Congress on Arteriosclerosis. A crucial question was asked of the general assembly as to whether there was definite evidence that the low-fat diet could effect actual absorption (or reversal) of the fatty deposits in the arteries. The question was also expanded to ask, "Is the atherosclerosis or aging process reversible?"

A German pathologist, who was well-known to many, arose and hesitantly gave the following answer: During World War II he and other pathologists were assigned to study the postmortem conditions of victims who, after incarceration for several years, had died in European concentration camps. It was found that even in older people there was an astonishing disappearance, through absorption, of atherosclerotic fatty deposits in the arteries of both the heart and the brain. These amazing results were attributed to the complete absence of any fat in the meager scraps of food given to the victims of persecution in the camps. Obesity was completely unknown. Virtually all victims who had died had exhausted all fat deposits in the body and were underweight. The medical congress was even more startled to hear the German pathologist report the following: The absorption and reversal of atherosclerosis in the World War II victims was the same that he and other pathologists had often found among the German population in World War I. At that time, the reason for the reversal or absorption of atherosclerosis was ascribed to lack of fat in the German diet resulting from the British blockade of Germany. No fat products necessary for war material could get into Germany. Therefore, all fats possible had been removed from food for the manufacture of war products. It is thus perfectly conceivable that the so-called aging process itself - atherosclerosis - may be reversed in many older people by following the low-fat diet and nutritional program. Possibly this accounts for the remarkable changes, noticed in older as well as middle-aged people, who have carefully followed our diet and nutritional way of eating and living.

No wonder that people, after the diet, so often report the results in such remarks as, "I never felt better in my life", "I seem to feel younger and younger each day," or "Doctor, I feel like doing things I haven't done since I was a youngster, I feel so young!" Typical also is the case of our patient, Mr. J., a 61-year old manufacturer. After 40 years of back-breaking labor, he had built up a nationally-known, successful business that made precision tools for engines in the airplane industry. His son and son-in-law noticed that in the past year dad had "slowed up" pathetically. Mr. J. seemed suddenly to have become an old man. He felt tired, listless; it was a great effort for him to stay awake during important conferences with production engineers, salesmen, and Army Air Force officials who came to study the "plant," its methods of manufacture, tooling, and equipment. On several occasions, to his intense embarrassment and utter humiliation, he discovered that he had fallen asleep during important conferences. A visit to his physician, a noted university professor, and a thorough check-up in the hospital yielded no signs of any disease. Mr. J. was informed he needed a long rest and vacation, that he was tired out and should take it easy, that he should "act his age." There followed a visit to the travel agency by Mr. J. and his wife. They selected a luxury cruise round the world for four months. They enjoyed it, although Mr. J. noticed he tired easily when walking around seeing the interesting sights in various countries. He also seemed tired and sleepy most of the time. When he did go to sleep, he slept restlessly and fitfully. On awakening, he felt even more tired than he was when he went to bed the night before. It seemed difficult for him to concentrate on anything for long. Even watching the movies aboard ship seemed to tax his patience and he would leave in the middle of a picture, finding himself too restless and "twitchy" to sit for too long. Yet his appetite was the same as always. As a matter of fact, he was a bit too "portly," but he carried his extra weight well; in fact, it made him look dignified and impressive.

When Mr. J. returned from his long voyage, he felt not much different than he did on leaving. True, he was rested and eager to get back to the plant to see how the new models being prepared for the Air Force were working out. After a week back at work, he found himself feeling exactly the same as before his voyage. Sleepy, tired, and now growing nervous and irritable, much to the dismay of his family, for he had always been a model of kindness and emotional stability. In desperation, his wife persuaded him to try the new low-fat diet with the vitamin- nutritional plan of eating and living. He felt he had nothing to lose and agreed to give it all a "sporting chance," but he really suspected the whole thing was a ridiculous fad. After all, he ate three good square meals a day. What was the point of losing weight and going to all this fuss about funny "health" foods? To his own amazement and disbelief, in one month he noticed sudden changes in himself. Still later, he found himself one day hurriedly running upstairs ahead of his son in his eagerness to see a new machine installed. A few months later, on another occasion, he noticed that his younger associates were growing tired after a long conference. They asked for a coffee-break. And yet he felt just as fresh as when he started. He really couldn't understand it. He was sleeping well for the first time in a long while and noticed that, although he had lost 25 pounds in weight and had to pull in his belt three notches, his step had become light and springy.

In another month, the whole world seemed somehow to be a new one, he felt so good. He could hardly wait to get to work in the mornings. He felt a real joy in all he did, was conscious of a continuous surge of cheerfulness and optimism in everything he did and said. In short, he felt young again! Now he is a real convert to the low-fat nutritional method and urges it on his children, his business associates, and everyone who will listen. Clearly, Mr. J. was the typical case of overweight and chronic malnutrition amidst plenty. His body had great need of severely lacking, vital nutritional necessities. His characteristic symptoms of chronic fatigue and premature aging were repeated hundreds of times in the cases where Doctor Tom Spies and his associates had similar, extraordinarily successful results.