Excerpt from the introduction to 'Toxic Food Syndrome'...

If you are like 95 percent of Americans, you are poisoning yourself every day. There is an old saying that some people live to eat, while others eat to live. But the tragic fact is most people are actually eating to die - or at least exist in a sort of living death. Stop right now and think about it.

When was the last time you made an excuse for something in your body that hurt, or when you simply lacked the energy to get up and go. Does the phrase, "I must be getting older," sound all-too familiar? Or how about, "After 40, it's all downhill from here." What health problems have you simply learned to live with, while telling yourself, your family and others you are getting old?

Well, I have news for you about this old age stuff. In 1999, Franklin Mason of Mullins, S.C., ran the Grandfather Mountain Marathon not far from where I was living and writing this book. He covered the 26.2 miles, all up and down some of the steepest parts of the Appalachians, in 4 hours, 57 minutes and 31 seconds. What makes that amazing is he was 74 years old, and running a mile every 11.3 minutes! But wait - there is more to the story.

Mr. Mason was back in 2000, but didn't finish quite as fast: it took him 5 hours, 1 minute and 6 seconds (at age 75) to cover one of the toughest courses anywhere. There's more: he came back this year (2001) and beat his record for the past two years, finishing in just 4:53:06 at age 76.

Or consider Edith Autorino, who in 2000 completed the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. She swam 2.4 miles, bicycled 112 miles and ran 26.2 miles - and did it all in a record (for her age group) of 15 hours, 19 minutes and 20 seconds. Not bad for someone 70 years old, do you think?

So what gives? Here you are, nursing aches and pains and minor ailments all the time, and these folks are out running marathons when they are your age, or 10, 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years older. The answer is a secret I learned the hard way, but I want you to learn the easy way: many of the chronic conditions that are limiting you and taking the enjoyment out of your life are the direct result of what you eat. I'm not talking about food that is not nutritious; I'm talking about everyday foods, which are toxic to your particular system.

Publish date: 03/13/03