Developmental Malformation in Man and Other Animals: A Bibliography with Introduction
By Howard H. Tillemann, PhD
Summary: In the introduction to this bibliography of over 200 references, Dr. Hillemann speaks of the evolution of humankind's beliefs about disease and bodily defects, from early notions attributing such abnormalities to "divine visitation" to the idea, as of 1957, that such disorders are the result of a combination of genes and environment. Regarding the latter, Hilleman points out, "Proper nutrition is the most important single factor in the prevention of disease or in the recovery therefrom" and presents a list of references supporting this claim. While much of the content cited is no longer in print, just perusing the categories and titles of the papers of the bibliography is "impressively educational in itself," Hillemann writes. Reprint 66C, circa 1957.
View PDF: Developmental Malformation in Man and Other Animals: A Bibliography with Introduction
Iodine Use in the Treatment and Prevention of Poliomyelitis
By J. F. Edward, MD
Summary: Writing in a Canadian medical journal, this physician gives voice to his observations on the role of iodine in the prevention of viral disease and "central nervous system fevers" such as polio. From The Manitoba Medical Review. Reprint 76, 1954.
View PDF: Iodine Use in the Treatment and Prevention of Poliomyelitis
Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio (entire book)
By Benjamin Sandler, MD
Summary: The complete book, published in 1951 by the Lee Foundation for Nutritional Research. Captain Sandler, a former United States naval surgeon, had been studying the causes of polio and tuberculosis since the 1930s. In both cases, he found that the best way to prevent these infectious diseases was a low-carbohydrate diet. In this book, Dr. Sandler describes how in the summer of 1948, he convinced the media outlets of North Carolina to put his ideas to the test. Over a few-day period in August, newspapers and radio stations throughout the state ran stories presenting Sandler's low-carb diet as a means of polio prevention. (For an example of one such report, see "Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio—Newspaper Article" in these archives.) Subsequently, North Carolina's rate of polio incidence went from being one of the worst in the country to one of the best. Sandler also pokes holes in common beliefs about polio and examines the disease's pattern around the world, explaining why the United States was the worst hit. Shockingly, this book was banned by the government not long after it was published. Yet it reveals much about polio that most doctors have never heard and merits rediscovery, so that the fundamental truths it details can receive a fair hearing in light of current biochemical knowledge. Published under the original title Diet Prevents Polio, 1951.
Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio, Chapter 2
By Benjamin P. Sandler, MD
Summary: In this excerpt from his book Diet Prevents Polio, Dr. Sandler explains how he came to believe, based on years of clinical observation, that susceptibility to infection by the polio virus is determined by quality of diet. "Specifically," he writes, "I suspected that children and adults contracted polio because of low blood sugar brought on by a diet containing sugar and starch." To see how Sandler proved his theory, read the rest of his book, available in these archives under the title "Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio (entire book)." 1951.
View PDF: Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio, Chapter 2
Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio—Newspaper Article
Author unknown
Summary: In 1948, the polio epidemic in the United States was raging. While medicine attempted to find an answer to the problem with its usual recourse, pharmaceutical drugs, one doctor in North Carolina proposed a safer and easier way to prevent the disease: nutritional therapy. Dr. Benjamin Sandler, a former Navy doctor, had discovered that patients who ate a diet high in quality in protein and low in refined carbohydrates were resistant to infection by polio and other contagious diseases. Sandler would prove his point when he convinced the newspapers in the state to run stories, such as the one shown here, recommending a low-carb diet as a means of preventing the disease. The result was a dramatic drop in polio incidence statewide, transforming North Carolina's rate of the disease from one of the highest in the country to one of the lowest. For more on Dr. Sandler's newspaper campaign and his theory of blood-sugar control and disease prevention, see "Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio (entire book)" as well as "Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio, Chapter 2" in these archives. From the Statesville Daily Record, North Carolina, 1948.
Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio—Newspaper Reports
Summary: In the summer of 1948, polio expert Dr. Benjamin Sandler convinced the newspapers and radio stations of North Carolina to test his theory that a low-carbohydrate diet prevents polio. With an epidemic of the disease raging throughout the state and the rest of the country, North Carolina's major newspapers and radio stations ran stories presenting Sandler's low-carb diet as a means of polio prevention. The story was also released to the Associated Press and picked up by papers throughout the nation, including the New York Times, as shown in these clips. Tragically, though North Carolina's rate of polio incidence decreased dramatically as a result of the campaign, the country's medical and health authorities ignored Sander's work. For more on Dr. Sandler's anti-polio newspaper campaign as well as his theory of low-carb diet as a means of disease prevention, see "Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio (entire book)" as well as "Low-Carb Diet Prevents Polio, Chapter 2" in these archives. 1948.
The Science of Eating
By Alfred McCann, MD
Summary: In this excerpt from Dr. McCann's 1918 book The Science of Eating, the author first outlines an animal-feeding experiment for schoolchildren to conduct in order to observe firsthand the effects of nutrient-deficient foods on the health and resistance to disease of animals (and, by implication, of humans). Then, in the section titled "Famine Due to Artificial Sugar," McCann, who saw clearly that modern methods of food production were leading to the destruction of the nation's health, precociously asserts that many of what were formerly thought of as infectious diseases were actually the result of vitamin deficiency. In presenting a nutrition-based hypothesis explaining the cause of infantile paralysis (polio), he also offers some keen insight into the origins of the disease. "These briefly stated scientific facts lead me to believe," he concludes, "that close scrutiny of the food of the children afflicted may lead to the discovery of a dietetic cause of infantile paralysis.'' 1918.
View PDF: The Science of Eating
