September/October 2006 Alternative Health
The Hundred-Year Lie: Challenging Society's Synthetic Belief System

Human beings are the most toxic species on earth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In his new book, The Hundred-Year Lie, investigative journalist and author Randall Fitzgerald points to the 100-year bombardment of our bodies–from both the outside and inside–by synthetic chemicals, and our acceptance of the synthetics belief system. “We now carry more than 700 of these chemicals within our bodies,” he says. “Study after study has shown that our immune systems are increasingly compromised, and synthetics are the culprits. Our food and medicines are full of them.”

Toxic Mythbuster

Randall Fitzgerald, author of The Hundred-Year Lie, became a toxic mythbuster through his countless hours of research.

Myth: Artificial sweeteners are safe as sugar.

Busted: Aspartame, the most common sweetening additive, contains three major components--methanol, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. All three chemicals individually have been shown to either stimulate brain cells to death, upset hormone balances in the brain or act as a nerve poison.

Myth: One drug dose fits all.

Busted: Individual variation in absorbing and metabolizing any prescribed drug can extend from a 400 percent to even a 4,000 percent difference in the dosage required for one patient versus another.

Myth: Drugs have extended our lifespan.

Busted: The real success story concerns the economic, social and lifestyle changes that have brought about longer lives for most of us. Our lifespan has increased by 40 years, but only seven years can be credited to modern medicine.

(Source: The Hundred-Year Lie, www.hundredyearlie.com

What is the lie we have been told for a century? In the early 1900s, Du Pont promised that “a better life through chemistry” can be ours from the application of synthetic chemicals to our foods and medicines. The pharmaceutical and food industries climbed on board, and this inspired other chemical manufacturers to join the search for new additives and “life enhancers.” The result? Synthetic toxins are producing or exacerbating every major health problem afflicting society today.

Society accepted the hundred-year lie, believing the claim that there have been no ill health consequences to our embrace of synthetics. We now know that this chemical bombardment has compromised the health and wellness of humanity.

We are surrounded by an invisible sea of synthetic chemicals, and our bodies absorb them like a sponge until we are toxic. We consume foods that have been depleted of essential healing nutrients and replaced by synthetic chemical additives. These additives interact synergistically in our bodies with synthetic chemicals absorbed from water, air and consumer products, furthering weakening our immune systems. Once weakened, we become susceptible to illnesses and diseases that medical practitioners treat with synthetic chemical drug compounds that often prove even more toxic to us, creating a harmful cycle.

Fitzgerald personally experienced the hundred year lie when he fell during a snowstorm in South Dakota. He took the full impact of the fall on the right side of his lower back. The morphine drip at the emergency room barely dulled the severe pain. After X-rays for broken bones proved negative, the physician speculated that Fitzgerald had bruised his kidney, wrote him a prescription for a strong narcotic painkiller and sent him home. Cost of the hospital visit–$700 out of pocket.

Fitzgerald debated whether to fill the prescription because of his concern about the narcotic’s potential for disorientation and addiction. But the pain was so constant and intense, he could not imagine any other choice.

On the way to the pharmacy, he drove by a chiropractic clinic and followed his intuition to stop. The chiropractor immediately applied a heat compress to Fitzgerald’s lower back, followed by ultrasound and deep tissue massage. The manipulations combined with heat and sound–a synergistic effect–helped to restore the internal alignment of the kidney.

Fitzgerald’s pain was immediately and completely relieved. The session cost $55, convincing him that the synergistic effects of natural treatments and remedies can be effective and economical.

Fitzgerald believes that we can harness the power of positive, health-enhancing synergies from foods and herbs to strengthen our immune systems. Using food as medicine enables us to detoxify ourselves of chemical contaminants and cure ourselves of illness and disease. Our ancient legacy of naturally-occurring health and healing is now being affirmed by Western medicine in experiments, proving that they are more effective, less costly and less toxic than most pharmaceutical drugs.

5 Steps to a Natural Belief System

  1. Study the labels. On every product with an ingredient label—food, medicine, or household items—compare the chemical names with the list of toxins at www.hundredyearlie.com. Reject products with too many toxins.
  2. Replace home pesticides. A wide range of natural, non-toxic remedies exist for common household pests. The neem tree from India provides a natural insecticide for plants and gardens, while peppermint oil spray works for ants and baking soda mixed with powdered sugar helps to repulse cockroaches.
  3. Drink wheatgrass juice. To help strengthen your immune system and cleanse your body of chemical toxins, drink wheatgrass juice.
  4. Do intermittent fasting. By doing a juice fast one day a week, you stress the cells of your body in a good way, aiding in the secretion of chemical toxins from body tissues and organs.
  5. Choose nutritious organics. Consuming these raw foods three or more times a week supports your liver's detox functions and produces immune agents in your body to fight infection: broccoli, garlic, spinach, cabbage, sprouts, blueberries, ginger and curcumin.

(Source: The Hundred-Year Lie, www.hundredyearlie.com.)