Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Today's soapbox speech

One of my jobs (for Grumpy) is to listen to companies' quarterly earnings conference calls and edit the transcripts. I actually enjoy this a lot, and pretty often I use the information in them for my own investing decisions. Today I was slated to hear the earnings call for a midsized pharmaceutical company, and since I don't currently own any pharmaceutical stock, I was curious to see if it was at all promising.

Sigh. Here are some of the diseases the company makes drugs for: Depression. Fibromyalgia. Alzheimer's. Irritable bowel. Anxiety. High blood pressure.

Diseases linked to diet. Diseases almost no one should have to suffer with! Here's a multimillion-dollar business that stays afloat simply because people don't understand what kind of food is good for them and what kind of power their food has to make them sick.

Like the evil cereal and tobacco companies, this one's days are numbered. (Sell! Sell!)

I'm an optimist, but I really think it's about five more years until we reach a turning point where high-quality organic food is affordable and easy to find—and diseases that still need curing are rare and expensive.

The optimist on her photo shoot. Hope you can see it now!

3 comments:

  1. I hope you are right, but since Dr. Fuhrman has been healing people with nutrious food for decades and still the drug companies are very profitable and producing more toxic drugs,I don't look for a change in the near future; but I'm hopeful.

    Quote from his latest book "Super Immunity"... "I remember the first pharacology lecture I heard in medical school, when the professor emphasized, 'Make no doubt about it: all drugs are toxic and can even hasten one's death. They should be used only after careful consideration of the risk-to-benefit ratio, because thy all have considerable and serious risks.'"

    I believe that most doctors get their drug information from the drug companies... what a "Catch 22"

    BTW, nice picture, I can see this one. I do believe that in the next few years you will be the shortest one in your family.

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  2. I guess it feels to me like the movement is gaining steam and scientific credibility to the point where it's on the cusp of being mainstream. But yeah, the problem is the drug companies fund all the research, and they're not going to compare themselves to "stop eating food that's not food."

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  3. The drug companies fund the research and have an incredible lobbying group in DC. As far as the movement gaining steam???? I hope you are right about that.

    My mother-in-law was preaching against sugar and white flour in the 70s, we all thought she was nuts. The government and all the "experts" were telling us that we should eat off of "their" food pyramid and as a 20 year old why shouldn't I believe them. Even going through cancer treatment my medical team never once said, "change what you eat". It was a special on PBS that brought me to the "light bulb" going off in my head.

    My MIL would have had more credibility if she could actually cook and pull of a tasty meal cooking the way she "preached", but alas she isn't a good cook and what she served was inedible. It helps a lot that we can find good food, and good recipes.

    PS, I've lost another 15 pounds since I've see you. When I see you at Hilary's wedding I expect to have been at my goal for awhile and looking fabulous.

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