…is not the same thing as proselytizing.
The 4Leaf Program is not extreme at all---when compared to this "routine" bypass procedure.
From time to time, one of my friends gets a wake-up call. He feels some chest pains, goes to his cardiologist and is scheduled for immediate open heart surgery. This series of events happened two months ago.
My friend had an emergency triple bypass on a Friday and I visited him in his hospital room two days later. Much to my delight, he was not only feeling and looking great, but I caught him reading our book when I arrived.
After visiting for a bit in his room, I left when some family members arrived. Later, I followed up by phone and found that everything was continuing to proceed very well. Finally, I paid him a visit in his home this week…and after discussing sailing and yacht club matters for an hour, I left him a few handouts (my heart disease reversal kit) on my way out. The next morning I sent him this note:
Life saving ring for a yacht club friend
Hi George, Thanks again for the nice visit yesterday at your fabulous waterfront home. So glad that you’re feeling well and looking forward to seeing you on the water soon.
As for the handouts that I left you, I am following up to see if you need any help. If you’ve already taken our 4Leaf Survey, I’d be surprised if your score is more than minus 20. That’s because over 90% of Americans would score minus 20 or lower—with less than 10% of your daily calories from whole plants.
Another handout was all about using your Survey Results to improve your diet. You have it within your power to almost guarantee that you’ll never have another invasive heart procedure. As Dr. Ornish and Esselstyn say, “heart disease is a toothless paper tiger that need never exist—and if if does exist, need never progress. And it can be easily reversed in 95% of the cases.” These guys are not quacks; they’re the two prominent MDs that influenced Bill Clinton to radically change his diet.
If you make enough changes in your diet to score plus 20 or better, you’ll be eating at the 3Leaf or 4Leaf level—and will be among the top 3% of the healthiest eating Americans. Not only will you be reversing your heart disease, but your body will begin to seek vibrant health—and will reward you in many other ways too numerous to mention.
You should go ahead and finish our book, then take a look at all the healthy eating information at 4leafprogram.com. You should also definitely watch “The Last Heart Attack” that aired on CNN last August.
After doing all of the above, let’s have another fireside chat at my place before it gets too warm. Your friend, Jim
Part of my "heart disease reversal kit"
Proselytizing? I know from experience that most people will not make large enough changes in their diet to reverse heart disease—even after learning the truth from a reliable source. But, I never know when one of my friends might surprise me.
So I threw George a life ring; now he must decide whether or not to grab it. Is what I did “proselytizing?” I think not. All I did was share some powerful knowledge with a friend that just might enable him to avoid future heart surgery—and could possibly save his life.
The Bottom Line. I normally don’t offer dietary advice to anyone unless asked. But this is not a normal situation—this is a case where my knowledge can help to save a friend’s life. For whatever reason, he may not decide to take charge of his health at this time. But the seeds have been planted and who knows when they might lead to some positive action on my friend’s part?
I hope that I have some good news to report within the next few months. In the meantime, I will simply wait for him to contact me if he wishes to discuss this matter further.
*****************
Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com
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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.
For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.
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Blogging daily at hpjmh.com…from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.
—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation
J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy. 
In all the years I have been preaching McDougall, I have had about five people request more information about the plant based diet. Of the five, not one followed through with the information to make the change.
How discouraging is that? Of the five, three had heart surgery, one died, and one is still sick.
My feeling is that when people read that they must change their diet to plant foods, they reject the idea and continue with the SAD. They just don’t believe that food is the cause of their problems.
And this is the dilemna: How do we get people to change.
Sal Liggieri