In this book, Dr. Strand puts forth his arguments in favor of "nutritional medicine" - vitamins, minerals, and other supplements - and how these are essential to combating a lot of diseases. He defines "nutritional medicine" as a way to supplement pharmaceuticals (if needed) - to be distinguished from "alternative medicine," which is an alternative to pharmaceuticals. According to Strand:Scientific research has established beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt that oxidative stress, or cell damage caused by free radicals, is the root cause of more than seventy chronic degenerative diseases.
He devotes a good amount of time to explaining diseases such as fibromyalgia, lung disease, and diabetes. In the chapter about diabetes, he explains how Americans tend to eat way too many high-glycemic foods like white bread, white flour, pasta, and rice (meaning they cause blood sugars to rise very rapidly and stimulate the release of insulin). When our blood sugar drops, we feel hungry - so we eat again sooner. After a while, the release of insulin becomes overstimulated so often that our bodies become less sensitive to it.
It was interesting for me to have read Fast Food Nation recently, because Strand talks about a lot of the same things that Schlosser did. He explains that the RDAs (recommended daily allowances) set forth by the FDA are not very useful. Also: 17% of the American population does not eat any vegetables; and if we exclude French fries and baked potatoes - more than half of the population is not eating any vegetables!
Strand definitely made it clearer to me what these "free radicals" are that I keep hearing about; as well as what anti-oxidants are and why they're so important.
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