How did "carb" become a bad word?

I'm not sure how carbs got turned into a bad word, now I'm curious. Logic tells us this much, it couldn't have happened before the advent of processed junk food, because the only carbs back then were good for us.

From the beginning of humans, right up to the industrial revolution, 80% (or more) of the food most humans ate were "good" carbs. It's our native diet, it's highly doubtful we'd be here at all today if it weren't for carbs.

But now the only plants most people eat (standard diet) are refined processed junk that makes us fat sick and tired.

So I guess that's how it happened.

Hey I have a good idea. Let's remember whole plant foods are the best foods we can eat, and refined processed junk is not food at all. And instead of calling it "carbs" let's just call it junk.

Real carbs are a beautiful thing.

are whole food plant based people TOO thin?

I got too thin when I went full-on plant based the first time, way back when I was in my 30's. But I didn't really fully understand the importance of sufficient calorie intake back then, and simply assumed if I was full I had eaten enough. Well, that doesn't necessarily work on a plant based diet...if you are eating a lot of greens and vegetables you may well easily be meeting requirements for vitamins, minerals, and all the other good antioxidants etc, but still fall pretty short on sufficient calories to maintain a healthy BMI.

My assumption back then was "I must not be getting enough vitamin B12, or omega 3's, or protein", all the things vegans supposedly don't get enough of. The problem was a more pedestrian one...not enough calories. Which are not, as it turns out, all that difficult to add to a whole plant based diet.

The basic food categories on a whole plant diet that have more calories are fruits, nuts and seeds, starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, legumes, whole grain rice, etc), and certain fruits that are high in fat, like avocado and coconut.

If we're on a whole food diet we do not use refined fats however, which are extremely high in calories. In fact the vegetable oils are the most calorie dense "substance" we consume. I call it a substance not a food. Why? Several reasons in addition to the fact it is an empty calorie substance (no micronutrients): you couldn't make a meal of it (gag), you wouldn't be attracted to it instinctively for look or taste (it has no taste), and you can't find it growing in nature.

So it is not really "food". But these substances are in everything we obtain from restaurants and processed foods, and are the (more or less) "hidden" reason for the obesity epidemic. If the average American were tracking their calories accurately they would be shocked to see how many they get from vegetable oils every day. For many it would be the largest single category of calorie intake, by a fair margin.

One of the main reasons for a whole foods diet is to avoid consumption of all empty calorie substances! They are not healthy, they are not good. Oils in the diet are the perfect recipe for weight gain.

Many of the leading lights of the whole foods plant based movement are quite lean, and some would say TOO lean. A quick Google image search will show Colin Campbell, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, Joel Fuhrman, Pam Popper, Neal Barnard, Doug Graham, Michael Klaper, Alan Goldhamer, Michael Greger, and Doug Lisle to all be quite lean.

Well we can assume they know by now what a calorie is and how many they want in their respective diets, so they are apparently making a conscious choice to be on the lean side of "healthy BMI range". One may or may not like that "look" (we are not used to seeing it much these days), but there are good reasons for running a bit on the lean side of healthy range. Here's a few I can think of off the top of my head: we tend to feel more nimble and coordinated, we have more energy, and it lasts into days end, when we are active we last longer before getting tired, our bodies just "seem to want" to move more! That one is kind of a biggie, really. We are healthier in general, and more resistant to common colds etc. Last, but certainly not least, we age far more gracefully, and our odds of being healthy right into our elder years skyrocket. Studies also show we live longer when we are lean.

This "lean" group of leading lights has a few things in common: widely published in popular and/or scientific press, MDs, PhDs, DCs, and advocates for an approximate calonutrient ratio of 80% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 10% fat, and consisting of all whole foods. A big part of my own health journey has been to become familiar with all their good works in the world. As near as I can tell, they are, to a person, altruistic in their motivations.

Emotional Health - Balancing the Negative

All of us animals have a tendency to give more weight to negatives, it has to do with survival. We have to be extra cautious about the things that might hurt or "kill" us if we want to survive. And we do, we can't help it, it's just what we do. So we are wired to be extra cautious about those things that might harm us, it's our most basic instinct.

The positives on the other hand don't require that extra "monitoring" layer of vigilance. These are the "good foods" we know will keep us alive and strong, so we consume them and keep moving, but keeping that watchful eye out for potential negatives.

We're just wired that way, all animal life forms are, we "higher level" humans are no different in the regard of basic survival instinct. The reason for this sort of "wiring" is pretty simple - it only takes one thing to kill us, that one thing that can end the entire show. Whereas the positives, the things we need every day to continue, "the good foods", do not require that extra level of vigilance because we know they won't kill us. We only die once, and we are wired for survival. Without that wiring we would probably not last too long, so there is a major benefit to it.

The problem is, as a result of giving negatives "extra weight" for survival, they tend to be "sticky", and can form loops of counter productive worry and fear. "Worry loops" can block our view of the sun, and that is also necessary for survival. Without it's warmth, in just the right amount, Earth would just be another inorganic rock. (Watch the BBC documentary series Planet Earth II on Netflix.)

So for efficient functioning we need the balance of healthy caution and the ability to enjoy the life affirming sun. Sticky worry/fear loops can throw that efficient functioning balance off. What can we do to regain it?

First, we can remember that balance is not a static function, it's a motional one. We're in balance, out of balance, and rebalancing, always. 

And there are many things we can do to rebalance, and we all know what they are, here's some reminders. Remember the people and things that give our life meaning, and be grateful for them. Quiet your mind, sit with eyes closed and just breathe. Commune with your spirit, infinite spirit, whatever that is for you. Get out doors, breathe the fresh air and enjoy the sun. (Did you know outdoor air is healthier than indoor air?) Be active, move your body, especially outdoors when possible. Be social, love the people you love and are grateful for. Find and pursue your passions, do the things that bring you joy and bring meaning into your life. Eat your greens! Eat your fruit! Get your nutrition and sustenance from whole plant foods.

All these things can balance sticky worry loops, and keep us functional, efficient, and best of all, happy. All we need to do is remember to do them!

Me too :)

The Psychology of Addiction - Why It Can Be Difficult To Change Habit Pattern

I'm not sure addiction is exactly the right word for this blog title, but neither am I sure there's a more succinct single word. Let's start by defining addiction a little bit. The most succinct definition I can think of is "self-defeating habit pattern". If that is true it would be as incorrect to say "I'm addicted to healthy foods" as it would be to say "I'm addicted to breathing". Habit patterns that reinforce health are not addictions, and habit patterns that reduce health are. And when we say health lets's assume we are speaking about both types of health, body and mind. Which we know overlap so much as to arguably be one and the same.

These days there's a lot of conceptual grey area around the topics of what is healthy and what is not. No one is making the claim that "alcoholism is healthy behavior", but it can still be a very difficult habit pattern to change. We know how difficult patterns known to be self-defeating can be to change, so what about the areas that are not so clear, that are actively debated by society at large?

I'm also going to diverge slightly from common definitions of addiction at this point to assert that addiction is more of an emotional problem than a physical one. We do feel physically addicted to coffee or cigarettes, but what I have noticed quitting both more than once is sometimes it's easy and fast and sometimes it's difficult, painful, and protracted. It's in the times it was easy I began to realize the problem is primarily emotional. What I have discovered is when I was "ready" to quit, the physical addiction part of it was really not as big a deal as I had been making it.

I'm going to diverge still further from common understanding about addiction to assert that we unconsciously believe that our addictive patterns are "good" for us.

So what does it mean to unconsciously believe something? We cannot unconsciously "think" something because thinking is conscious activity. To understand that thinking is always and only conscious activity is the beginning of really understanding "the unconscious". The unconscious is potentially a complex discussion, for the purposes of blog and brevity I'll try to be succinct.

To understand that the root of addiction lies in the unconscious, and further that we do not have direct access to the unconscious, is the beginning of understanding why addiction can be so difficult to overcome.

What is "in" the unconscious then, if not thoughts? Primarily instinct, those forces that we now have come to understand "drive" 90% of our behavior. Let me give a few brief examples of how instinct can drive addiction. We come out of the womb with two overwhelming impulses, first, to breathe, and second, to suckle mother's breast. Sound a little bit like smoking? What, we may speculate, were the impacts on a generation that was bottle fed some bullshit "scientific" formula (found later to be deficient)? Um, were we angry? Did we have a problem trusting authority?

True, not all addictive pattern is orally based, like shopping for example. But we do call it "consuming", and we are all identified in post industrial culture as "consumers"...right?

So when we smoke we are "feeding" ourselves in a way that tickles deep unconscious associations with the earliest survival activity of our lives. It's a way to "feed" ourselves 20x a day. And the unconscious association is it's good for us.

We can know intellectually, consciously, the reverse is in fact true, but that doesn't make a whit of difference on the unconscious level. It is however a type of control mechanism over the unconscious.

Many folks are more fortunate, and do not have unhealthy and healthy "fused" in their unconscious to a pronounced degree. Good love em, they are blessed and can show the way...if they clearly understand the problems "in the way".

Anyway, this is probably the primary problem with addiction, and the reason it can be so difficult to change. But wait, there's more. In addition to the "early association" problem there is the cultural reinforcement problem.

This problem is twofold: on the surface level it's a kind of wishful thinking, where we culturally say things to ourselves like "red wine is good for you, coffee is good for you". These are the grey areas that are rife with "scientific" debate. Scientific may be too generous a term here, speculative may be more accurate, but you get my drift.

And cultural reinforcement has much deeper roots in the unconscious, and so are consequently harder to "see" and become aware of. This is what we might think of as "the importance of belonging", without which we are quite literally dead.

Instincts are all about survival, and were formed by evolutionary adaptation to environment and sources of food hundreds of thousands and even hundreds of millions of years ago. Today, post industrial revolution, we have many many confounding factors for our instincts to be snagged upon. And many many (too many!) of these (addictive) confounders are marketed as "good for us", and take advantage of our strongest drives that "live" in the unconscious, that we cannot access directly as "thoughts".

But I'm digressing a bit, I want to make a few more points about the power of belonging, without which we are "dead". As mentioned instincts are all about survival, and belonging is as deep and powerful an instinct as any. It's how battered children remain "in love" with the offending parent, instinctually they "know" without which they will die, as they cannot yet "feed themselves". As adults we have as deep a need to "join" our immediate (adjacent) society, without which we are "dead". That society may be far from perfect, manifesting all kinds of counterproductive behavior patterns, but we "need" it to survive, unconsciously, instinctively, and to some actual level also. The line between instinct and actual in the post industrial world is a pretty blurry one.

For a moment let's take as a hypothetical and as a thought experiment the supposition that established scientific fact, debate over, case closed, has shown that animal products are harmful and cause a variety of diseases. And further that plant based diets reverse all of these diseases quickly and efficiently, and further, sustain excellent health and vitality going forward, without the need for medications or even supplements. Let's even suppose for a moment that science has also discovered that medications and supplements cause a net reduction in health and vitality, and we have been doing "health" all wrong for as long as we can remember.

You know, this might not be a hypothetical any longer. It may in fact be true. Something to consider? I believe it is.

Emotional Health - "Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person"

A blog exclusively about physical health is going to get boring, right? Having said, I've learned how better diet and nutrition contribute enormously to emotional health and happiness...but still, it ain't the whole picture.

Here's a humorous but spot on talk titled "Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person", delivered by the brilliant Alain de Botton on the topic of how we might become better spousal partners. I may have to watch this one several times  :)

my story

I try to present overview in my little blog on health, just trying to punch that sliver of light through that crack in the wall that someone might see. I try to be coherent, and keep it simple.

But recently, in an email exchange with one of my primary health mentors, my own story, abbreviated version, spilled out. I think it may make a good blog post, so here it is, mostly unedited:

You probably don't get to Oklahoma very often, but are at least intellectually aware of the health devastation in fly over america, approx equal to big urban inner city america.

My mother somehow got the idea one should never eat fresh produce, it could be tainted and make you sick. one headline about food poisoning that happened to three people? industry bull poopie? don't know how she came to this view, but it devastated her health, and that of my sister and me. our meals always started from canned, processed, packaged, frozen. Their marriage hit the rocks when I was about 7, but they didn't separate, after that sis and I were pretty much on our own in the kitchen, mom shut down.

Not an atypical story. mom became more and more eccentric, depressed, and neurotic, I ran away from home at 15, had my 16th bday "on the road". Returned home but was free to do as I pleased from then on. I tested smart at school, but was held back a year for a straight F report card. School counselor recommended another course for me, join the military when legal age, or go to a military school. i really wanted the former, but chose the latter after a minor epiphany about the direction I was headed, spending junior and senior years at a military academy in Kansas. I never would have graduated high school otherwise.

Fell in love with photography, it saved me. I was always a "reader" as a kid, that saved me too. Spent time in Cali at the SF Art Institute, made my way to NYC at 30. By 37 was sick with a variety of symptoms, overweight with debilitating migraines, emotional insecurity, anxiety attacks. I was a right mess.

Then I found raw food the first time, at 37. Read every book I could find, but still had no real guidance, went from 200 lbs to 135 in 2 years, too far. Figured must be missing some micro or other, now realize was probably just calories. Fell off the wagon in stages and return to ill health was very slow... I did know a thing or two by that time.

Was still not fit for human consumption, girlfriend at the time said "get into therapy or it's over", so I did. Was still pretty raw food at that point and by luck found Jane Goldberg PhD who you met at Fruit Fest, who had been raw for 20 years by then. Jane saved me.

Being a curious reader became fascinated with the process, studied and read Freud and other psychoanalytic theory for personal perspective. And now of course recognize the extreme importance of nutrition on emotional grounding/stability...should come right at the beginning of any therapeutic approach. Time in analysis / psychologist will still be important for those not grounded sufficiently by family. Freud figured out a bunch of basic stuff still not generally appreciated, primarily having to do with the idea we are driven primarily by instinct like any other species....like 90%, most of that completely unconscious. Current neuroscience just now catching up to this perspective.

Life is complicated, and challenge gives life meaning. Life is, all said and done, beautiful. Finding yourself aware and responsive in the moment is pretty much as god as it gets.

The Nutritarian Diet - More than a Metaphor

Dr. Fuhrman's TEDx Talk, posted at the bottom of this page, is much more articulate on the topic of the Nutritarian Diet than anything I could say. He did, after all, invent the term, design the approach, and has prescribed it with phenomenal success for decades. You may want to skip right to his talk in the interest of efficient use of your time.

Meanwhile I'll sum it up the best I can. First, what is a Nutritarian Diet? It's two things, one, it's a beautifully functional metaphor based on a health equation (H = N/C), or health equals nutrition over calories. And second, it's a lifestyle choice that provides consistent vibrant energy, disease reversal, and a healthy lean BMI. Those three qualities combined are really quite something, especially these days.

And amazingly, from a functional perspective, it's very simple and easy to do. And it doesn't even cost anything! (We have to buy food anyway.) The only two things that stand in our way are cultural bias, and long standing habit patterns going in the opposite direction.

But those two things are nothing to sneeze at! It would be as if you had an opiod addiction in a country where the government and society were both telling you: "opioids are good for you"...an inferred (or even blatant) message based on the fact opioid production and sales are such a hugely profitable business.

Humm. Interesting analogy.

Well then, how do we beat addiction? The main step is the first step, where we recognize we have the addiction, which is frequently more difficult than we might imagine, for a variety of reasons. But it's the primary hurdle, giving us context and perspective, without which we are lost. Change becomes possible at that point. From that point it becomes a matter of recognition and management - ah, there's that familiar craving, I'll let myself have it, but first I'll have this beautiful apple. And then you may find the craving diminished sufficiently to manage.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman is an MD in family practice for decades, and author of peer reviewed and published nutrition studies (and many popular books for the rest of us), in his own words in a TEDx Talk titled:

"I Love Nutritional Science"

Sowing the seeds of love

A friend writes:
-------------------
its nuts

This guy says SOY is great, next guy says its the worst because of Estrogen ?

Tomatoes are bad, but you need lycopene ?

Health food stores say eat goji berries, next guy says its poison

Wheatgrass is great, but humans cannot digest grass ? you need 4 stomachs like a cow ?

I think Woody Allen had the right idea in Sleeper, hot fudge sundaes !!!

--------------------

I have nothing in particular against hot fudge sundaes as long as they are made with banana ice cream:)

But I did have a response, perhaps a good blog post as well:

this sort of confusion is how diet and nutrition "junk" marketing survives and thrives. it is no accident, there are billions made on this kind of misinformation. The primary marketing mechanism, which is remarkably effective, works by sowing the seeds of confusion.

first things first - read (or audiobook) "Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition" by T Colin Campbell, who is arguably the most important nutrition (and by extension human health) research scientist in history...and who BTW is elderly but still active.

Until you've done that here are a few key points to keep in mind:

1) there is such a thing as a species specific diet for every species on the planet, including humans.

2) it is, logically, the diet that produces the most robust health for any given species, including humans.

3) it is also, related to point two, the only method that reverses diseases of malnutrition efficiently and rapidly.

4) post industrial developed world humans are suffering epic scale epidemics of malnutrition, although they are not (yet) commonly thought of in those terms.

5) these epidemics of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, and autoimmune disorders are by far the leading causes of disability and death for developed world humans.

6) most people in the developed world would instead die of old age if they consumed the human "species specific" diet, when combined with common sense measures like physical activity, good sleep, and social activity, etc.

7) the information is not complicated, difficult to understand, and assimilate into a daily lifestyle.

What's all this business about intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a hot topic lately. Do a YouTube search on it and you'll be busy for weeks. There are many variations of intermittent fasting, and a large (and rapidly growing) pile of studies showing quantifiable and profound health benefits.

Perhaps the simplest variation is one meal a day. The first question one may (understandably) have is "how do I get enough energy eating just one meal a day?" In fact, if we consume sufficient calories and nutrition in that meal, we will have more energy, not less. Therein lies the "secret" of increased health through intermittent fasting. Now let's hear from a few people with a lot of experience with intermittent fasting.

First up Herschel Walker, a multi-talented career athlete who was intuitively drawn to intermittent fasting from an early age:

Next, a favorite of mine, Ralph Smart makes me smile while I'm learning something (a good combination):

Another heart doc, Dr Joel Hahn, has seen the light

I am so encouraged by the speed at which this information is surfacing everywhere all over the place and even in the dank and dark recesses of Congress. OK, maybe not there yet:)

We are at a tipping point. We can be MUCH healthier taking this information to heart!

Have a look at what Dr Kahn is about:

https://vimeo.com/205258874

And his personal website if you'd like to explore his work further:
https://drjoelkahn.com/

Who is Dr. Greger and why is he so interested in the medical literature?

Approximately 100,000 medical studies are published in scientific medical journals every year, the vast majority we never hear about because no vested interest has motive to bring them to public attention. Dr. Greger, an MD, established nutritionfacts.org to comb through the huge volume of non-biased nutrition studies with a staff of about 15 researchers. Non-biased in this case simply means studies without ties to entities that stand to profit from a given conclusion.

This is powerful information. Here's Dr. Greger in an interview:

A Brilliant Exposition by Dr. Anthony Hadj: Plant Based Nutrition in Clinical Care

Dr. Anthony Hadj, an MD working in Australia, addresses Parliament House, Canberra, Australia.

Here is Dr. Hadj's web site he mentions in his talk:
http://livinglongertoday.com/

And here is the link to download the free PDF he also mentions: My Healthy Eating Guide
http://livinglongertoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Wholefoods-Plant-Based-Nutrition.pdf

I just gotta remind myself once in awhile

In terms of functional strength (strength to weight ratio), plant kicks meat ass every day of the week.

What about autoimmune diseases?

Venus Williams historic career very nearly ended when she developed the autoimmune disease Sjögren's syndrome. Here is that story, how she recovered from the disease, and in the process recovered her brilliant career.

There are more than 100 different autoimmune diseases!
https://www.aarda.org/diseaselist/

Here's list of some of the more common autoimmune conditions: Ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Henoch-Schonlein purpura ,Type 1 diabetes, Lupus, Multiple sclerosis, Psoriasis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Scleroderma, Sjogren’s syndrome, Ulcerative colitis, and Vitiligo.

In this short video Dr. Greger, from the perspective of the medical literature (links on the video page), discusses some of the mechanisms by which autoimmune conditions are addressed with the disease reversal diet.

A surgeon goes off the reservation to save her own life

Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Lorraine Day talks in this interview about what she learned having cancer herself, and how she healed it. She covers a lot of ground here, certain things stood out for me and I'm tempted to comment on them, but I'm sure other things will resonate for other viewers. Here is Dr. Day:

A tale of two experts, young and old

 Here we have two people of very different age, background and experience, who have both come to a deep understanding of the disease reversal diet. They represent two very different perspectives we may find value in.

First, the older gentleman, Dr. Ellsworth Wareham, 98 years old at the time of this interview in 2013, vegan since about age 50, and according to Wikipedia, still amongst us, which would put him at 104 as of this writing. We might imagine Dr. Wareham, a cardiothoracic surgeon, has seen a lot of heart disease in his line of work, giving him perspective your average vegan advocate does not have. Let's hear what the good Dr. Wareham has to say:

Next up is Andrew Perlot, vegan for 10 years at the time of this Youtube vlog in 2014, who developed a severe case of colitis at a young age. Here he discusses challenges with the plant based diet he overcame through intelligent analysis and persistence. Andrew's perspective may be of considerable value also:

There's a major clue bus coming our way

Another family physician, Dr Ronald Weiss of New Jersey, who recently began treating and healing patients with the whole food plant based diet (the disease reversal diet), is raising his voice to a wider audience. The truth will out!

There's a major clue bus coming our way: the disease reversal diet is very very close to the optimal diet for humans. It is so close as to be almost completely indistinguishable. Many doctors and dietitians prescribing it to their patients (with incredible success) will say it IS the same diet exactly. But how can it work? There are no drugs or medications, or even alternative medical tinctures, potions, or supplements. How is that possible?

And the clue bus is: the body heals itself...all we have to do is get out of it's way! Getting out of it's way means a couple of things, first, stop putting toxic substances in our mouths and swallowing them! These substances do not produce the efficient energy the body needs to heal itself. Why? Because they do not contain high levels of that vital substance called "food value", and instead bog an already energy depleted body down further with difficult substances that the body will work to remove, without sufficient energy to do that.

And so they stay in the body, and build up over time, and sooner or later generate disease conditions.

The second thing "getting out of its way" means is to consume primarily only the foods that do two things: 1) produce efficient energy by not loading the body down excessively with the parallel jobs of converting food to energy, and detoxification, and 2) provide correct levels of the micronutrients we need for the body to operate optimally over the long haul.

A medical model that does not recognize the primary role of proper diet, and instead relies on pharmacology, or alternative tinctures, herbs and supplements, is an approach that believes in and relies on "magic bullets".  But there are no magic bullets because "the body heals itself" when we "just get out of it's way" by discontinuing the ingestion of "difficult" substances that provide little to no energy, and further load the (already energy deprived) body down with extra work. The "magic bullets" of pharmacology and alternative medicine, to the extent they are not "food" (most of them are not even close to food), bog the body down further.

Say to yourself a few times "the body heals itself". See how good that feels?

The "proof of concept" is how efficiently and rapidly the body heals once we go to a whole foods plant based diet, and let go of the (yes, sometimes stubborn) wishful belief in magic bullets.

And there is another proof of concept I hesitate to mention because many will find the idea strange, but the logical import is significant, so I will. The body heals the most rapidly under the conditions of a water only fast. This indicates it is not the substances we ingest that heal us, but rather the internal processes of the body alone that do the work: as the energy normally diverted to digestion, assimilation, and elimination is redirected to the reconstructive processes better known as "healing", speed of healing increases, typically rather dramatically.

So Listen! If you think you're ready for an approach to health that "just works" consider the whole foods plant based diet. Your body will thank you!

Doctors in the demystification business

A plant based medical doctor and a plant based nutritionist, both of long experience in the trenches of health care, discuss how it is that America spends more on health care than any country, while it's citizens have the highest incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and the many autoimmune conditions.

We Americans, the majority of us, are mystified when we hear about this. How could this be? These two practitioners are in the demystification business -- in this video they dispel some of the more entrenched myths and misunderstandings.

Heart attack...the ultimate wake up call

A heart attack is the ultimate wake up call...if you are one of the lucky ones who survives it. Something like 50% of first heart attack victims do not survive it. This is not good odds! A better plan is to make yourself heart attack proof before it gets to that point, and that is easier than you might think.

Think heart disease is not a problem for you? Did you know heart disease kills 1 in 4 Americans, and is the leading cause of death for men and women? Even more shocking is the fact every one of us who grew up eating a typical western diet has the beginnings of heart disease by the time we reach puberty...the question isn't whether you have it, the question is how progressed is it...



Unfortunately, as good as medical technology is, it is not yet good at seeing the actual condition of our arteries. Treadmill stress tests typically detect only very advanced heart disease, and even then not at all reliability.
http://epmonthly.com/article/special-report-the-truth-about-stress-tests/?option=com_content&task=view&id=591&Itemid=28

A high resolution imaging procedure that does show the exact condition of our arteries has been developed by the Cleveland Clinic in recent years, but it is not commercially available because it's complex and expensive. If you're curious to know more about it you may be interested in this lecture delivered by Cleveland Clinic Chief of Cardiology:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKXqO3FaBCY_YlnBV3diMEtKFHjrmKMQa

So yes, this is perhaps the most important diet related health topic of our time. Heart disease is not normal, it does not occur in cultures with correct diets (see the book "The Blue Zones"). And reversing heart disease completely is not only possible, it is not complicated from a procedural perspective (see the book "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" by Dr. Esselstyn, formerly of the Cleveland Clinic). Of course changing diet can be difficult for emotional and cultural reasons...motivation helps. The surprising thing is the overwhelming majority of people who make the change report the "new" diet is actually more enjoyable than the old...all the pleasure, none of the pain.

There is a hero story to wrap up this post: a health care industry professional who survived a heart attack herself, and then adopted the disease reversal diet. Hers is an encouraging story.

Basics! Where do you get your protein?

Dr. Barnard speaks to this perennial concern about a plant based diet:

Basics! Health and weight loss benefits of a plant based diet

Dr. Barnard speaks to the basic concerns people may have about a plant based diet: