Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
Saturday, August 24th, 2013
John Tanner uses a novel method to teach others a lesson that nearly cost him his life
John Tanner Gives Away Vegan Nutrition Books In a Quest To Save Lives
John Tanner almost died on October 11, 2009. The 52 year old, cleared by his doctor as healthy, was running near his home, as he had done every morning for five years. Abruptly, without warning, he went into full cardiac arrest. With quick help from his neighbors, firemen, and medical professionals, John beat the 3% survival odds. In fact, in a couple of weeks, his cardiologist told him he could go back to his life “the way it was.”
John questioned this comforting directive, reasoning that his life “the way it was” had caused the heart attack and did not promise a long or healthy future. He began asking people what they knew about the causes of heart disease, and a friend suggested (more…)
Tags: cardiac arrest, cardiovascular disease, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Forks Over Knives, getting healthy, John Tanner, making a difference now, nusci.org, Plant-based nutrition, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | 2 Comments »
Saturday, May 4th, 2013
The highlight of the UCSD
Integrative Oncology Conference for me was listening and speaking to Dr. T Colin Campbell, author of the masterpiece The China Study
The UCSD Center for Integrative Medicine Treats and Prevents Cancer By Helping Your Body to Heal Itself
You may think of cancer as a discrete mass of cells with a life of its own. Every kind of cancer is labeled with the part of the body it first targeted. Yet your whole body is key to preventing and healing cancer, regardless of the type. To a great extent, all cancers begin in your mind, when you tell yourself to eat risky foods and spend the evening stressing out while sitting on the sofa. With the right knowledge and motivation, you can just as easily make healing lifestyle choices.
The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Center for Integrative Medicine weaves together open-minded conventional medicine with evidence-based approaches that go beyond drugs and surgery. I was privileged to attend the Center’s April 2013 Conference on Integrative Oncology, which brought together a range of perspectives on taming cancer using a whole body approach to strengthen self-healing.
The China Study‘s brilliant author, T Colin Campbell, PhD, was a keynote speaker. Dr. Campbell reviewed the highlights of research over decades that develops (more…)
Tags: antioxidants, Bhava Ram, cancer, Dr. Gordon Saxe, Dr. Sheila Patel, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, getting healthy, intgrative oncology, Lauray MacElhern, nutrition and cancer, Plant-based nutrition, recovery from stage 4 cancer, The China Study, UCSD Center for Integrative Medicine, whole foods plant-based diet, yoga
Posted in Health | Comments Off on Cancer Is a Whole Body Disease
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
Robb and Amy enjoy a delicious, hearty dinner a few months after adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet
Robb Trexler Loves His Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet
Most people I’ve known who have moved from a standard American diet to a whole foods, plant-based diet have taken some time to make the transition. For me, it took about four years. While a slow transition works for many, Robb Trexler and his lovely wife Amy show that transforming food choices can happen rapidly, with permanent success.
Robb, a 64 year old nurse, Marine Corp veteran, and Clinical Data Analyst for the Open Heart Program at Scripps Memorial Hospital, is a San Diego friend I love to spend time with. He lives enthusiastically, being sweetly devoted to his wife and family, not to mention his favorite teams. He switched to a vegan diet with (more…)
Tags: Amy Trexler, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, getting healthy, lose weight, making a difference now, Plant-based nutrition, reverse chronic disease, Robb Trexler, San Diego Veg Week, weight loss, whole foods, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | Comments Off on Going Vegan In One Week, No Problem
Sunday, March 17th, 2013
You know your lungs are vital for breathing. Think of them also as a point of exchange between you and your environment. What are you bringing into your body?
Give a Wide Berth to These Four Enemies of Air Quality
Your lungs are an entryway to your body, a site where you literally take in your environment. Millions of tiny air sacs in your lungs have walls only one cell thick. The oxygen necessary to life diffuses into your blood across this cell layer, and carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism, diffuses out to be eliminated from your body. This exquisite design is fundamental to life, and blocking it for only a few minutes will result in death.
Modern indoor and outdoor air pollutants are intruders hijacking this process, leading to premature death, disability, and damage that crosses generations. Microscopic pollutant particles and gases can cross the one cell layer of your air exchange sacs and enter your blood, from there carried throughout your body to cause widespread damage.
Other particles remain lodged deep in your lungs, provoking serious respiratory inflammation and harming your ability to get the oxygen needed for survival. Your lungs are structured to function in clean air, so don’t (more…)
Tags: air pollutants, air quality, barbecue, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, environmental degradation, fragrance, getting healthy, grilling, PAH, particulate matter, Plant-based nutrition, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, secondhand smoke, traffic exhaust, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | Comments Off on Which Air Pollutants Are Worst For Your Health?
Sunday, March 3rd, 2013
Dave’s Killer Bread, fresh out of the oven. Every time I see this picture, I want to grab a loaf.
Bob’s Red Mill and Dave’s Killer Bread Take Whole Grains From Field to Your Lunch
Unlike the political capitol of the US, impressive health flows from Milwaukie, Oregon, the whole grain capitol of food fans. Or at least this food fan. What are whole grains? Simply the seeds of certain grasses. Whole grains, a key part of whole foods, plant-based diets, lower your risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease and help you stay thin. Ridiculous denials of extensive scientific research by animal foods industries and advocates do not change the basic biological facts.
I was in whole grain heaven the day I visited the headquarters of Bob’s Red Mill and Dave’s Killer Bread. Their two facilities, only minutes apart in Milwaukie (near Portland), are united by (more…)
Tags: Bob's Red Mill, cardiovascular disease, Dave's Killer Bread, diabetes, lose weight, Plant-based nutrition, Sin Dawgs, whole foods plant-based diet, whole grains
Posted in Health | Comments Off on Where Do You Find the Best Whole Grain Foods?
Sunday, December 16th, 2012
Your choices significantly determine whether you will go over the health cliff that fills so many lives with pain and limitations
The Health Cliff Is Way More Treacherous Than Any Fiscal Politics
The drama of the “fiscal cliff” is riveting the country. Even when a political deal stops the threat of abrupt tax hikes and deep spending cuts, more battles over finances are sure to rock Congress for years to come, so the core issues will remain hot long after January 1, 2013.
While the fiscal issues are major news, the media spends little time focusing on the health cliff, which is a looming catastrophe for most Americans. You have the choice to make this most personal drama play out (more…)
Tags: cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, fiscal cliff, Forks Over Knives, getting healthy, health cliff, Perfect Formula Diet, Plant-based nutrition, reverse chronic disease, The China Study, Vegucated, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | Comments Off on How To Avoid Your Own Personal Health Cliff
Saturday, December 1st, 2012
Your liver is a vital organ that is essential for health – and for survival. Drinking to excess can injure and eventually destroy your liver.
Wine and Cheese May Be a Particularly Toxic Combination
Drinking too much over a period of years is even more deadly than smoking. Alcohol can damage your brain, liver, digestive system, and other body systems. A recent study found that death rates were twice as high for alcohol-dependent men and almost five times as high for alcohol-dependent women, compared to the general population. Some studies have found small amounts of alcoholic drinks to be protective of heart health, although this may be due to beneficial phytochemicals in the plants the drinks were made from.
You should consult your physician to determine the amount of alcohol (if any) it’s best to set your limits at. The information in this article is educational and not intended to tell you whether you should drink or (if you do) how much; only a licensed health care professional who is familiar with your health history can do that.
Whatever your choice on consuming alcohol, you should know that that animal foods, such as meat and cheese, may boost the normal dangers of drinking by accelerating (more…)
Tags: alcohol, antioxidants, getting healthy, liver disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, nutrition facts, Plant-based nutrition, vegetables, whole foods, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 28th, 2012
The beach gets crowded on a sunny day. The most popular activity is simply taking the sun. On an overcast day, people go home quickly.
Can a Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet Do What Sunscreen Can’t?
Life on earth evolved with the sun. Plants, the base of the food chain, harness solar power through photosynthesis in leaves. Animals live off the energy and nutrients in plants. Over billions of years, plants and animals have perfected their relationship with the sun. Living things have evolved safeguards to benefit from the sun without succumbing to its power.
Yet today, sunscreen manufacturers would have you believe that the sun is your enemy, a cancer promoter. Instead, you are supposed to trust the chemicals in sunscreen to safeguard your health. The fact that sunlight is free and sunscreen drained (more…)
Tags: cancer, environmental degradation, Environmental Working Group, fish, getting healthy, phytochemicals, Plant-based nutrition, President's Cancer Panel, summer, sunburn, sunscreen, vitamin D, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
These three excellent books will myth-proof your mind against dangerous industry tactics
Protecting Yourself Made Easy
The corporate takeover of health is here. You can see the results in soaring health care costs, millions felled by preventable illness, and acceptance of chronic disease as a way of life.
This post is the hundredth blog on my site. Myth-busting remains my specialty and whole foods, plant-based diets my passion. I’m celebrating by sharing with you three books that taught me how to spot corporate disinformation as easily as a keen-nosed dog can find smelly garbage. These models of myth-busting inspired me in writing The Perfect Formula Diet and still keep me going:
- The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America; Allan M. Brandt, Ph.D.
- Appetite For Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back; Michele Simon
- Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine; Dr. John Abramson
Here are insights from each book.
THE CIGARETTE CENTURY
While pretty much everyone these days admits cigarettes are unhealthy, what you might not know is the sordid history of the tobacco industry. These corporations pioneered underhanded methods to deliberately (more…)
Tags: Allan Brandt, Appetite for Profit, cigarettes, Dr. John Abramson, drug industry, food industry, getting healthy, Janice Stanger, Michele Simon, Overdosed America, The Cigarette Century, tobacco industry, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | Comments Off on Three Honest Books Show You How to Beat the Tobacco, Food, and Drug Industries
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Debby before she delves into the journal articles of the day
The Trick Is To Keep Learning As Health Grows In Stages
Debby, The Healthy Librarian, was only 30 when she watched her parents’ dreams of idyllic retirement years turn into a health nightmare. Her dad suffered a massive stroke. “My parents were going to retire, travel, enjoy grandkids. Instead, the stroke changed everything. My dad could not talk, read, or understand language, and in spite of continual health declines, additional strokes, and seizures, he survived for 16 years after his initial stroke. My mom’s whole life became his care,” Debby told me.
After Debby lost her dad, her mom suffered a series of “mini-strokes.” The damage accumulated. Her final years were marred by vascular dementia, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Debby, as caregiver for both her parents, was both heartbroken and transformed by their tragedies. She delved into medical research to find out how to keep from following in her parents’ health footsteps.
I was delighted to meet Debby, a fellow medical article fan, at a Wellness Forum conference. She has been generous in sharing the highlights of her research analysis (not to mention lots of yummy recipes) at her blog happyhealthylonglife. She is also generous in sharing (more…)
Tags: aging, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, eldercare, getting healthy, The China Study, The Healthy Librarian, whole foods plant-based diet
Posted in Health | 4 Comments »
