An Apple A Day Might Not Keep the Doctor Away

Many old sayings dance around the world of healthy eating and living. "You are what you eat," and "An apple a day will keep the doctor away," are just two of these common adages.

But according to Dr. Michael Rotham of East Brunswick, the foods that society views as healthy can often lead to illness.

Rotham shared his thoughts in a presentation titled, “The Power of Nutrition: How the Foods You Are Eating Are Making You Sick” inside the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library on June 27.

Today, 50 percent of the people in this world will have a heart attack, while 100 years ago that number was just one percent. According to Rotham this increase is caused by what people eat.

After being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in his sophomore year of college in 1978, Rotham was unsatisfied with his treatment. He took a personal interest in the world of medicine and soon discovered that what people are encouraged to eat isn’t always healthy.

“Nutrition is extraordinarily powerful and that to a certain degree [illness] is self induced by the terrible diets out there,” said Rotham. “Even when you follow what the doctor or mainstream is telling you, that’s not necessarily the right thing. It might be good for the food and pharmacy industry, but not you.”

The 90-minute discussion involved how chronic diseases come from the everyday commodities we intake and simple ways to prevent them.

“In my practice I see miracles when people change their diet,” said Rotham. “Unfortunately what we’re told to eat, what we’re told is good and what’s bad is mostly misinformation.”

As a doctor, Rotham was taught to diagnose and treat a diseases but never why someone is suffering from it. Most professionals blame diseases on age, genetics, mental issues, and fat, according to Rotham.

“A lot of the diseases that we see are caused by your diet,” said Rotham.

Rotham said that cholesterol happens to be a precursor to your adrenal glands, which are responsible to help the body deal with stress. More stress means other hormones decrease and lead to a negative impact.

“You need to start with a good diet,” said Rotham. “In mainstream society we start with drugs or surgeries.”

While the Food and Drug Administration trys to encourage healthy eating, it can be challenging to determine in the grocery store what is truly healthy, and what is just marketing.

“Stay away from anything that says smart, healthy, balanced, low fat or diet. They are trying to fool you,” Rotham said.

It is important to read the labels and aim for a balanced intake of all the necessary nutrients, including some fats and some carbohydrates. But, the key there is balance.

Taking excessive carbohydrates can increase insulin, estrogen and cholesterol levels and lead to fatty liver and an imbalance of blood sugar levels.

According the Rotham, sugar and fructose corn syrup can be as addictive as cocaine and should be considered a poison. There is no nutritional value and the sugar waste away the vitamins already inside the body.

According to Rotham, omega-six fatty acids, such as cooking oils, cause inflammation and are not as beneficial as their marketing team would like people to believe. Omega-three fatty acids, such as flax seed and fish oil, can only reduce inflammation and may speed up the aging process, he said.

The artificial sugar used today, aspartame, was originally used as an insecticide and later developed for consumption when it was discovered how sweet and profitable it could be, said Rotham.

Rotham has his own prescription for healthy aging. Avoid sweetened beverages, oils, mega-dosed nutritional supplements and overcooked and processed foods. Eat three meals a day with low starch vegetables, while limiting sugar intake. No fried foods and drink mostly spring water.

Rotham advocates that following these steps can balance carbohydrates, maintain blood sugar control, lipid levels and maintain a healthy weight. The best way to do this, he said, is to examine the label on the package.

“All of these epidemics in our society are largely because of our diet. If you want to be healthy take this to heart,” said Rotham.

For more information on Rotham and his views on nutrition, visit his website.