I can not imagine being so afraid of death that I would endure the living hell of a diet based on goop

^And I'm not being funny. I was at a world music festival on Sunday, and I thought I was surrounded by HIV infected heroin addicts, until I realised this was the vegan crowd. A diet of vegetables and fruit alone was not doing these people any good.

Considering that it was a 'World Music Festival' you could have been seeing a whole host of other diseases or parasites in play:


1. Lower respiratory infections - More than 4 million people each year. Mostly pneumonia and other diseases of the lungs, windpipe or bronchial tubes, including Legionnaire's disease.

2. HIV/AIDS - More than 3 million deaths attributed to AIDS in 2004. HIV stands for "human immunodeficiency virus". It erodes the immune system. Infection with HIV has been established as the underlying cause of AIDS, which stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Most people with HIV develop signs of AIDS within eight to 15 years unless they receive treatment. AIDS-related deaths are often caused by pneumonia or tuberculosis.

3. Malaria - Death toll is between 1 million and 5 million each year. It is spread through mosquitoes.

4. Diarrhoea - Kills around 2.2 million people each year. It is caused by dysentery, cholera and a host of lesser-known scourges - is a symptom of infection from bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms like microscopic worms. Most diarrhoea-related deaths, particularly in children, are due to dehydration. It is spread through Contaminated water and food.

5. Tuberculosis - Two million people die every year. Symptoms of tuberculosis (TB) include a chronic cough, fever, chills, weakness and weight loss.

6. Measles - An estimated 530,000 measles deaths annually, mostly children. Measles can cause blindness, brain damage and make children susceptible to pneumonia and diarrhoea. Potentially fatal if left untreated. It is highly contagious, spreads through coughing and sneezing.

7. Whooping cough, or pertussis - 200,000 to 300,000 die each year. Highly contagious acute bacterial disease of the respiratory tract. Most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa.

8. Tetanus - 214,000 deaths a year. Also known as lockjaw, tetanus is a potentially fatal disease of the central nervous system. Caused by a wound becoming infected with bacteria. Clostridium tetani spores live in soil, so are present everywhere.

9. Meningitis - 174,000 deaths a year. A frequently fatal infection of the tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord. Even with early diagnosis and correct treatment, five to 10 percent of patients die. How is it spread? Droplets from the throat or breath. Close contact or sharing eating and drinking utensils can spread the disease.

10. Syphilis - 157,000 deaths a year. Syphilis is primarily spread by sexual contact, though it can be transmitted internally from an infected mother directly to her baby. Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America -- in that order -- experience the highest rates of syphilis.

( Reuters via WHO )


Or, then again maybe it was just the goop.

Last edited by NJS (2011-06-28 13:45:45)

The biggest determinate of good health and longevity (morbidity and mortality) is the level education of the women in a society.

The close second determinate of health and longevity is income level.

The close third determinate of health and longevity is genetic.

All of the above are best controlled by choosing your parents wisely.

Last edited by The_Shooman (2011-06-29 01:22:47)

l understand their is 18 months to go. Time to get crackin'!!!

Shooman -

Certainly you must recognize that your journey will not be complete until you give away all your shoes and barter for a pair of Birkenstocks.

BTW - I have found that one can be at peace and live with no regrets regardless of diet because it's not what one consumes that makes one what they are.