LACK OF NUTRITION CONCERNING

It is a major plus to the community that Pictou County has an excellent physician in Dr. Smith who is concerned about the lack of exercise children are getting. I hope and suspect that Dr. Smith and others are also concerned about the lack of nutrition for most people in the community. It may be difficult considering that nutritional medicine training in most of North America makes for less than five per cent of practical training. In October 2015, The World Health Organization confirmed red meats as Group 2A, probably carcinogenic to humans. Processed meats are Group 1, meaning sufficient evidence exists to confirm carcinogenic effects as a result of processed meat consumption. Joaquin Phoenix’s speech about the dairy industry at the recent Academy Awards hit a nerve among many. Because dairy truly is scary from a health and ethical perspective. Dr. Smith is right to be concerned about the health of his patients. That is his job and he is to be commended for his dedication. I encourage Dr. Smith and his colleagues to take a long look at the nutritional medicine aspects of their practice. It should be concerning that every single day, drive-thru traffic at fastfood places stretches out to turning lanes in the street. The medical community here needs to be concerned about physicians who still accept money from animal agriculture to distort the facts about eating animal products. They need to show more strength to their patients who may not be willing to listen to the truth about the ethical and health-harming realities of eating animal products. Studies have concluded definitively that whole-food plant-based diets is a significant contributor to improved overall health. The majority of physicians know this, but feel their patients will not listen to them. If that is the case, physicians like Dr. Smith need to make their voices even louder. He’s off to a great start and I hope he is heard from again in the near future. Dann Alexander Dartmouth