Telling My Father's Story

We are getting ready to host another immersion beginning this weekend, with a second one scheduled for June 22 – 28. Seats are still available for the June event, so if you’re interested in attending, please visit our new website at PlantPureCommunities.org.

To prepare for these programs, I’ve been reviewing again the two presentations I use to tell my father’s story. Each time I revisit them, I notice new nuances, and I remain awed by the depth of his research.

When most people think of research, they picture clinical trials in which participants receive a drug, supplement, or—rarely—a diet, while a researcher observes the outcome. That isn’t what my father did. He went much deeper, examining the effects of animal protein and other factors on cell membranes, enzymes, DNA, cell division, hormones, natural killer cells, rates of metabolism, and on and on. He explored details understood by few people, yet never lost sight of the larger picture. Indeed, it was his exhaustive research of detailed mechanisms of action that led him to his triumphant philosophy of biological wholism.

Much of today’s confusion arises because most commentators lack even the basic vocabulary found in my father’s papers, yet still declare what is—or isn’t—true about nutrition and health. Medical education focuses primarily on pharmacology, reinforcing a highly reductionist view of biology. This view sees the body as a collection of linear relationships, and assumes that if we can understand how one thing connects to another within that ‘system’ we can know the system. This notion is preposterous, and underlies much of the conflicting information that saturates our community.

I am not a scientist, and would never pretend to be one. I am a storyteller, though, and have studied my father’s story well enough to tell it to others. I will tell this story the rest of my life, helping to carry his torch, because his ideas are still poorly understood, if they’re even known at all. Indeed, many people today engaging in nonsensical health chatter know nothing of my father. I believe, however, the day will come when he is recognized as the greatest nutritional scientist—perhaps the greatest health scientist—ever to walk this planet. Unfortunately, such recognition often arrives long after the work is done.

I’m looking forward to this upcoming immersion event, which my dad will attend. He’ll be in the audience with my mom as I tell his story. Afterward, I’ll ask him how I did, and we’ll open the floor for Q&A. It should be a great time.

I’ll share the same story at our June immersion, which will also include extensive culinary instruction led by Kim, much of it hands-on as you come together to help prepare each evening’s delicious meal. If you’d like to take part in this special event in June, please visit PlantPureCommunities.org.

Nelson