Could what we eat be more important to our health than not smoking?

The CDC estimates that poor diet is as harmful to health as is smoking. Yet, while smoking status is routinely assessed at every patient visit, evaluation of dietary health is neglected because a quick tool to assess its status has been lacking. Until NOW.

The simple 4Leaf Survey can be completed by patients in less than three minutes. Their 4Leaf score generated serves as a dietary “vital” sign, assessing the healthfulness of each patient’s diet.

Without a doubt, the future of medicine will include a great deal of focus on what we put on our forks. And it has already begun–all over the world. In New York City, Arizona, Australia, Canada, Ireland and in the Finger Lakes Region of New York state–primary care, mainstream physicians who are fed up with “disease management,” are embracing a whole new way of practicing medicine. They are now harnessing the power of food to reverse disease and promote health.

Real doctors embracing the power of food. That’s right, we’re not talking about a bunch of “veggie-loving quacks,” we’re talking about top notch physicians with degrees from places like Yale, Columbia, NYU and Cornell–and practicing medicine at places like Bellevue Hospital in New York and Kaiser Permanente in California. And many of them have begun to use our 4Leaf Survey score as the new “vital sign” of healthful eating that trumps everything else when it comes to promoting health.

“When diet and exercise are not enough…” How many times have you heard this phrase during TV commercials advertising a never-ending stream of drugs?

“When diet and exercise aren’t enough, ask your doctor if our new drug is right for you.”

The problem is that, up until now, medical doctors rarely told patients anything at all about the most important word in that phrase: DIET, let alone what constitutes a healthy one. Like almost everyone else in the developed world, our medical professionals have never been taught what constitutes an optimal diet OR how crucial it is to human health. But that sad fact is about to change.

We used Dr. T. Colin Campbell’s definition of an optimal diet for humans.

Mainstream physicians around the globe are now learning that near optimal diets do indeed promote health– by preventing disease or reversing it if it already exists. So what is the optimal diet?

The healthiest people on Earth, the ones who live the longest and have the least disease, eat diets composed of mostly whole plants. According to Cornell’s Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the researcher who led the most comprehensive study on nutrition ever conducted:

“The closer we get to eating a diet of whole, plant-based foods, the better off we will be.”

The Origin of 4Leaf. The closest we could possibly get to Dr. Campbell’s definition would be to derive 100% of our daily calories from whole plants. As that would be nearly impossible in today’s world, we set the top bar at 80%, and called that the 4Leaf level of eating—the healthiest of six possible levels. The other five are:

• 

  If eating at the 2Leaf level, one is deriving between 40 and 60% of their daily calories from whole plants.

  Unhealthful Diet. Fewer than 10% of daily calories from whole plants. This is the Typical Western or the Standard American Diet (SAD).

• Better than Most. 10% to 19% of daily calories from whole plants.
• The 1Leaf level. Deriving 20% to 39% from whole plants.
• The 2Leaf level. Deriving 40% to 59% from whole plants.
• The 3Leaf level. Deriving 60% to 79% from whole plants.

So, how do the physicians know how well their patients are now eating? It all starts with the 4Leaf Survey. While waiting to see the doctor, the patient takes the one page survey. That’s when the average patient first realizes that he/she is eating nowhere near an optimal diet—with most of them scoring below the 1Leaf level. (Visit 4leafsurvey.com to take our 2-minute online survey now.)

Food is about to become a HUGE part of healthcare.

Reviewing with the provider. The patient then reviews the survey with the medical provider. They are given handouts to explain the various leaf levels and suggestions as to how to improve their score* and, more importantly, their health.

In addition, they are sent home with a daily version of the survey and a tracking form to use to monitor their progress. (All of these forms can be found in the “4Leaf Tool Kit” at 4leafprogram.com)

Engaging the patient in the process. This is the secret behind the use of the 4Leaf Survey. It is a simple tool that gets the patients actively engaged in the process of taking charge of their health. With the survey, they can easily see where they are losing points and can quickly begin replacing some of their “negative” points with “plus” points that accompany the whole, plant-based foods.

More calories from whole plants; less from everything else. How simple is that?

Next comes meal planning. The key is replacing animal-based and highly processed foods with whole plants. With the handy tools found on 4leafprogram.com, the patient begins by working on transforming all of their “routine” meals to the 4Leaf level.

4Leaf eating works FAST. Whenever someone at the 1Leaf level or lower begins to eat at the 3Leaf or 4Leaf level, he/she can expect to see rapid improvements, including weight loss, more energy and a sharp reduction in the requirement for prescription drugs–a fact that prompted us to include this statement in our book.

CAUTION. Eating the 4Leaf way may quickly decrease your need for medications. You should tell your physician what you’re doing. If he/she is not familiar with, or skeptical of, this eating-style, please direct him or her to plantrician.org and nutritionstudies.org.

Highly efficient. For the health-care professional who is more interested in promoting health than in managing disease, there is no more efficient process to evaluate diet and promote improvement than 4Leaf for Life. Simple + effective + low cost and fast = very high value.

By “prescribing” the 4Leaf Survey, the many helpful tools on the 4Leaf website and our new book, “4Leaf Guide to Vibrant Health,” physicians can facilitate HUGE improvements in the health of their patients with very little expense (or time) expended by the patient or the physician.

Special one-pager for all healthcare practitioners. Containing much of the above content, this special, printer-friendly, one-pager is entitled, “Guiding Your Patients to Vibrant Health.” You may want to share it with your doctor.

Like we said earlier, If your doctor is not familiar with, or skeptical of, this eating-style, please direct him or her to plantrician.org and nutritionstudies.org.

For more printer-friendly copies of 4Leaf Survey forms and other materials, look under the “4Leaf Tool Kit” at 4leafprogram.com.

Copyright © 2015, 4Leaf Global, LLC

For more information, visit our website at 4leafprogram.com and contact us about the use of our 4Leaf materials in your practice.

The following five books and one DVD can be purchased on Amazon for a grand total of less than $60—and will enable you to understand the overwhelming challenges we face—along with the single most-powerful solution of all.

Six-Pack from Hicks—for health, hope & harmony on planet Earth

1. Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
2. A life changer for millions, including James Cameron. Forks Over Knives DVD 
3. An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell; the primary book that influenced Bill Clinton to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet.
4. What have we done to our planet? Full Planet, Empty Plates by Lester Brown
5. A horrifying wake-up call for leaders. TEN BILLION by Dr. Stephen Emmott
6. Food choices are the primary cause of our environmental problems, yet our world leaders, scientists & experts are Comfortably Unaware, by Richard Oppenlander.

Why should we be eating mostly plants? The “big picture” in 4 minutes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Survey. It takes 2 or 3 minutes. eCornell is now using our survey in their plant-based nutrition course. Check it out on your smartphone at eCornell.com/4Leaf-Survey.

International. We’re now reaching people in over 100 countries. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or get daily blog notices by “following” us in the top of the right-hand column. For occasional updates, join our periodic mailing list.

J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

To order more of my favorite books—visit our online BookStore now For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, visit our 4Leaf Program and also enjoy some great recipes from 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.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member since 2012; click banner for more info: