[TruthTalk] You can't Fixx this problem

[Chris Barr]

You can't Fixx this problem This week marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Jim Fixx. On 7/20/1984 Jim Fixx dropped dead of a heart attack in the middle of his normal jog at the not very old age of 52. Fixx is credited by many for starting the current fitness craze with his 'Complete Book of Running' published in 1977. In the early 1980s I accurately told people the direction Fixx was headed in and why. They didn't listen then. Maybe they'll listen now? If a road project is started with a full work crew, but raw materials are in short supply, then the road will only go so far before it ends. Jim Fixx was a man who did plenty of work, but raw materials in short supply brought him prematurely to the end of his road. Jim Fixx was a man who did plenty of road work. Raw materials in short supply brought him prematurely to the end of his road. It is primarily due to the influence of Fixx that you commonly see men and women jogging along roadsides, in parks, and to some extent wherever there is room to roam. "The most important single indicator of overall health is cardiovascular endurance, which is what running develops," Fixx wrote in 'The Complete Book of Running'. I counseled people in the early 1980s that the Fixx approach was incomplete. Fixx had a family history of heart disease. Most people call that genetics. One thing I have learned through the years is that the dietary habits one acquires from their family have as much or more importance than the genes that they acquire. Bad dietary habits don't just effect your jeans. Bad dietary habits effect your genes, too. Running requires energy. Energy is produced in the body by glucose (blood sugar) and oxygen. Glucose requires the mineral chromium in your body to be used efficiently. The extra energy required for running requires extra chromium. If that is absent then the benefits of running will only take you so far. The lack of chromium will eventually catch up to you. Sooner or later it will overtake you. Jim Fixx dropped dead of a massive heart attack at the young age of 52 in the midst of his normal 10-mile daily run. It was only seven years after releasing his book on running. Though a runner for many years he died with one coronary artery blocked almost 100 per cent, a second blocked 80 per cent, and a third 70 per cent blocked. Dr. Henry A. Schroeder, M.D. out of Columbia, Yale and Dartmouth Universities determined years before Fixx's book that heart disease does not exist where chromium is plentiful. Chromium is substantially removed during the refining process of white sugar and white flour. The amount of chromium missing from the average American consumption of these items is far in excess of 100 micrograms every day. That means your body has to give up chromium from what is stored in the body rather than filling up the body with chromium. Cholesterol has been blamed for decades as a primary cause of heart disease. Cholesterol is only an effect. The cause is a deficiency of chromium. Cholesterol is managed in the body by the mineral chromium. Dr. Schroeder wrote about "the typical American diet, with about 60 per cent of its calories from refined sugar, refined flour, and fat". He noted that this diet "was apparently designed not only to provide as little chromium as feasible, but to cause depletion of body stores of chromium". "The result is a prevalent disease, in this case, atherosclerosis," concluded Schroeder about chromium deficiency. Atherosclerosis is just a big word for "heart disease". You do not have high cholesterol and heart disease because of a deficiency of Lipitor! Artificial means (drugs) do not fix the problem. They may delay the problem although at what cost (in both dollars and cents as well as side effects)? The old song asks, "How can you mend a broken heart?" Well, if your heart is broke, don't Fixx it. Running causes the release of endorphins and makes those who do so feel good. Running is a better option than drug therapy. It may make you feel better. It may even extend your life more than if you did nothing at all. Ultimately, it still does not address the underlying problem of chromium deficiency. Running in fact demands more chromium and will therefore increase a deficiency if that nutrient need is not addressed. Chromium is a mineral best used in a food form. Almost all chromium supplements are very ineffective or worse. Only chromium from food and chromium supplements that are from a grown source are reliable. The government is trying to encourage health in Americans by emphasizing exercise and activity.  That will only go so far without addressing material needs -- the food we eat. It upsets nobody or nobody's business to address exercise and activity. That puts the responsibility on each individual. That is good as far as it goes. It just won't go nearly as far as also addressing food habits and health care practices (including supplementation). That may upset a lot of people and a lot of people's business. Just telling people to "eat healthier" doesn't tell them how to eat healthy. Exercise alone is not enough. You can't just Fixx your health care problems.