Gene Stone - The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick: What They Know, Why It Works, and How It Can Work for You

What they know, why it works, and how it can work for you

GENE STONE

Workman Publishing New York

Copyright 2010 by Gene Stone

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

eISBN 9780761171430

Design and Illustrations by E.Y. Lee

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This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. Readers should regularly consult a medical professional in all matters relating to their health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following:

: Pep-Up recipe from Lets Eat Right to Keep Fit, by Adelle Davis. Copyright 1970 by Adelle Davis. By permission of The Adelle Davis Foundation.

: Tips on Calorie Restriction by permission of the Calorie Restriction Society.

: Excerpts from How to Live to be 100Or More, by George Burns. Copyright 1983 by George Burns, by permission of George Burnss estate.

: Chicken Soup recipe from Cooking Jewish, by Judy Bart Kancigor. Copyright 1999, 2003, 2007 by Judy Bart Kancigor. Used by permission of Workman Publishing Co., Inc., New York. All Rights Reserved.

: Sweet PotatoVegetable Lasagna recipe from The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn. Copyright 2009 by Rip Esselstyn. By permission of Grand Central Publishing.

: Bug Crazy: Assessing the Benefits of Probiotics, by Laura Johannes. Reprinted by permission of The Wall Street Journal. Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. License number 2418860309904.

: Excerpts from Dr. Fulfords Touch of Life, by Robert C. Fulford with Gene Stone. Copyright 1996 by Robert C. Fulford, DO, by permission of Robert C. Fulfords estate.

The original material by Thomas Moore, Judith Orloff, and Tim Sanders, and the advice of Susan Smith Jones, were provided by those authors. To learn more about each, please visit their websites:

Thomas Moore: Careofthesoul.net
Judith Orloff: Drjudithorloff.com
Tim Sanders: Timsanders.com
Susan Smith Jones: susansmithjones.com

To all the people working toward
a health care system that pays as much
attention to the prevention of illness
as the curing of it.

The Secrets

When I started this project, some people, especially doctors, told me that I would never find enough subjects to fill a book. People who never get sick? Ridiculous.

They were wrong. It turns out that the world is teeming with people who seldom, if ever, get ill. They just dont get a lot of attention. Sad stories about people who have come down with terrible diseases or inspiring tales of brave people who have managed to overcome the same issues strike us as newsworthy, but not their happy counterparts. (Its hard to imagine a TV report announcing: Local Woman Never Gets Sick! Story at 11.) And that is unfortunate, because living in a world in which discourse on disease treatment trumps conversation about disease prevention allows us to forget that the natural state of the human body is health. Extolling that state of healthfulness is why I wrote this book, and encouraging people to stay healthy through proactive behaviors has been my intent.

As youll see, all the people in this book think about their healthand they do something about itevery day. Since the books original publication, Ive talked to many other people who dont get sick. No matter their particular secret, that daily commitment to health is universal.

So, what are these other secrets? Closing the toilet lid before flushing is a popular one. So is oil of oregano. Laughter. Colloidal silver to help fight off infections (a remedy that dates back to Hippocrates). Suspensions of liquid gold (another mineral whose efficacy has been touted, questioned, studied, and dismissed in cycles over the centuries) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Green tea. Warm baths (as opposed to the books hydro-related secret of cold showers). All interesting, and all worth exploring. But perhaps the oddest secret I heard came from a woman at a reading in Kansas City. She listened intently to my talk, taking notes and occasionally looking up with a quizzical expression. She waited politely until I was finished, and then stood up.

I know the secret to good health, she said.

Great, I said. Can you tell us what it is?

Sure, she said. Divorce your husband.

Thats not a secret that would work for most people, but it may well have worked for her. (The reduction of stress certainly counts as a proven key to health.) The point is this: She found her secret, and so should you. This is not something most of us are taught or encouraged by our current health system to do. But it is not only importantit could also save your life, and it certainly will save you much money in health carebills. So either adopt a secret from the ones included in this book or, if you feel like it, invent your own. If you choose the latter and discover something that works wonderfully well, please visit www.secretsofpeople.com, where you can post it and find out if others share your secret.

I hope to hear from you.

Gene Stone

Luigi Cornaro, a wealthy Venetian nobleman, was born into a prosperous family sometime around 1460. Like his peers in Renaissance Italy, Cornaro lived extravagantly, wearing imported, luxurious silk clothes, enjoying costly seats at popular jousts and parades, and eating whatever and whenever he wanted.

The life of an aristocrat consisted largely of the pursuit of pleasure: sport, intellectual exercise, and food. An average day might consist of waking to a generous breakfast, handling some business, downing a midmorning meal, then off to a horse race or a policy discussion with the doge (the Venetian chief magistrate). Then another meal and, after a nap, perhaps dancing and an extravagant supper.

Wealthy men like Cornaro typically consumed four or five massive meals a day. These feasts were opportunities to astonish guests with a lavishly spread table offering many courses and emphasizing difficult-to-obtain ingredients such as sugar (which was costly) and asparagus (which grew off-season only outside of Italy).

Here is an actual menu from a Venetian feast held during Cornaros time.