One of the highlights of Dr. Stoll’s Seven-Day Immersion Program

It’s all about the food at Dr. Stoll’s “immersion” program. As he says, food is the foundation of health.

Last week, I attended a seven-day Total Health Immersion in Naples, Florida—as a guest of Tom Dunnam, president of the organization. The event is one of many that are conducted throughout the year for their largest client, Whole Foods Market.

Whole Foods founder John Mackey may be the only Fortune 200 CEO in the country who is seriously establishing a true wellness culture within their sprawling operation of over 60,000 team members around the world. For the event that I attended, it is open to all high-risk team members—relative to some combination of their blood pressure, medications, cholesterol, obesity, diabetic, etc. John Mackey knows that a healthy team member is more productive, thinks better and incurs a far lower cost of health care.

And it is paying off. In a recent video, Mackey explains how his investment in the health of team members is resulting in a downward trend in the cost of health care as a percent of sales. Scroll to the bottom of this blog for that video.

But first, I want to tell you about meeting the great Dr. Michael Klaper, whom I have blogged about several times in the past year. A diversified medical doctor, he is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Whole Foods Market, he works on the staff at the True North Health Center & on Dr. McDougall’s staff in California, and he has a private practice. Now for the highlights of one of his lectures this week:

Dr. Michael Klaper

Sense & Nonsense about Nutrition—(My Notes)

1. Don’t worry about destroying digestive enzymes with cooking. Just try to get half your calories from raw foods and use the gentler cooking methods (with water) when you do cook.
2. Olive oil is not a health food; nor is any other kind of oil. It is 100 percent fat with 14% saturated fat. You can stir-fry in vegetable broth, or water.
3. Cow’s milk (and derivative products) is not fit for human consumption at any age; it should be labeled BABY CALF GROWTH FLUID. It is designed to turn a 65 pound calf into a 400 pound cow in 18 months. Just as bad: cheese, yogurt, butter, cream and ice cream.
4. Protein shakes are totally bizarre and completely unnecessary. Too much protein weakens bones, damages kidneys and serves no useful purpose. After 40 years in medicine, Dr. Klaper has never seen a single patient with protein deficiency.
5. Energy drinks. Just a shot of sugar and caffeine, both of which are bad for you; sugar ages your tissues and caffeine weakens bones.
6. Diet sodas do not aid in weight-loss. Most have caffeine, are acidic and may be doing far more damage than we know. Worse than worthless; they’re harmful.
7. Supplements. Most of them are worthless and many do more harm than good. The only thing you might need is a little Vitamin D and some B12.
8. Alcohol and coffee. The less the better; a maximum of one or two glasses of red wine with dinner and one cup of coffee in the morning.
9. Microwaves. Not the best way to cook; use sparingly for no more than two or three minutes. Dr. & Mrs. Stoll use their microwave as a counter pantry—for storage.
10. Colon Cleanses and Colonics. Mostly a scam. You should cleanse your colon naturally by eating a whole foods, plant-baseed diet.

You Can’t Do One Thing!

Everything is connected and even though our intent is to treat a single problem; oftentimes, we inadverdently cause damage somewhere else. Throughout his lecture, he talked about the “side effects” of everything from damming the Amazon (for flood prevention) to taking all kinds of supplements or drugs. When we dam the Amazon, we damage nature’s ecosystem and create all kinds of unexpected problems. When we take drugs and supplements, we do exactly the same thing to other parts of our bodies.

Some of the learning sessions were all about cooking—led by world class chefs from the Whole Foods staff.

He wraps up with humor. As he talked about colonoscopies, he shared some classic favorite comments that patients have made while lightly sedated during the procedure:

• Hey Doc, have you found Amelia Earhart yet?
• Can you hear me now?
• Have you located my dignity yet?
• Any sign of the trapped miners?
• Please write a note to my wife and tell her my head is not up there.

Looking for some sound medical advice from a medical doctor whose first priority is promoting your health? Then contact Dr. Michael Klaper. You can reach his northern California office at 707-586-5555 or email him at mail@doctorklaper.com.

His rates for phone consultations reasonable in my opinion and far better than beginning a lifelong regimen of drugs you may not need. Before calling for an appointment, you may wish to review several of the blogs posted below and watch the videos that are included. Please tell him that J. Morris Hicks sent you.

Dr. Klaper Video Page. The last tab on the right is labeled “Video” and features a drop-down list of 9 pages, all with videos. All of these videos were selected based on their compelling simplicity and overall credibility and legitimacy. All of these videos are helpful tools for you when sharing some of this sensitive information with others. For Dr. Klaper, visit: 5 Minutes with Dr. Klaper

Finally, here is the 5-minute video of Whole Foods CEO John Mackey explaining the benefits of investing in the health of all of your team members.

Promote health and the cost of health care comes down!

• Earlier Dr. Klaper blog. What percent of our MDs know how to promote health?
  
• First Dr. Klaper blog. Finding an MD that appreciates plant-based nutrition
• The organization that conducted the “immersion.” www.totalhealthimmersions.com

There’s even time for some relaxation during this transformational week for the Whole Foods team members.

Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.

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.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

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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