“Breast is best.” But what if not possible, then what?

Posted on 07/28/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

Jane E. Brody — New York Times

In a 7-23-12 New York Times article, veteran health and wellness columnist Jane E. Brody tackles the delicate topic of breast-feeding for human babies. While almost everyone believes that mother’s “breast is best,” there is a growing amount of controversy regarding the practicality in today’s world.

In this article (See link below), Ms. Brody does an admirable job of presenting all the latest evidence and opinions from around the world. (see link below). Who is Jane Brody? She is the journalist who wrote the famous “Grand Prix” article in 1990 about Dr. Campbell’s world-changing China Project.  And from her own website:

Jane E. Brody is the Personal Health columnist for The New York Times. She joined The Times as a specialist in medicine and biology in 1965 after completing degrees in biochemistry and science writing at The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism, respectively, and a two-year stint as a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune. Her award-winning column is published in The Times’s Science Times section every Tuesday and in many other newspapers around the country.

Ms. Brody is a much-sought-after speaker who lectures frequently to both lay and professional audiences on issues relating to health and wellness, including end-of-life preparation and care. Though no fanatic, when it comes to healthful living, she practices what she preaches, enjoying a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains along with fish, lean meats and poultry, and engaging in daily physical activity. 

I’m not ever surprised to see that last phrase about “healthy eating” that appears in almost every message that you will ever see from our meat and dairy loving system of health, wellness and food. That’s just the way it’s going to be—until we dispel the ubiquitous “protein myth.” The one about almost everyone believing that they truly “need” to consume animal protein to be healthy.

Even Dr. Spock learned the truth before he died — and he wrote about it in the final edition of his famous baby book. See the fifth link below.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the late Dr. Benjamin Spock, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and I would argue that we never “need” to eat ANY animal protein. The soul exception is when we are infants—and the absolute best food that we can consume is “animal protein, fat and carbohydrates” in the form of our mother’s milk. Before he died, Dr. Benjamin Spock concluded that cow’s milk was not good for humans at any age.

If not breast milk, then what? Well, that’s the main problem. If conditions do not permit a woman to breastfeed her babies, almost everyone seems to agree that infant formula is best. Jane even provided her own personal story on this topic:

Forty-three years ago, when my twin sons were born, the pressure to breast-feed exclusively for six months was not as strong as it is today. I nonetheless felt I had let them — and myself — down when this proved impossible. I had looked forward to feeding only breast milk for the six months of maternity leave my job allowed. But nature had a different plan.

Dr. and Mrs. Sears (askdrsears.com) agree with Jane that “breast is best.” Take a look at what Mrs. Sears has to say in this 46-second video.

Speaking of formula, I published an article awhile back on this topic. It included an analysis of the “contents” of the typical infant formula in the marketplace. I’m not sure what mothers should do if they can’t breastfeed, but it’s sad to think that this might be their only option.

Infant Formula—Yum, Yum

Be sure to check the ingredient list.

Have you taken a look at the ingredients list lately? It doesn’t matter which brand you’re looking at, they’re all pretty scary. Unable to breast feed your newborn?

Then find an enlightened registered dietitian or MD to help you work out a truly healthy way for you to feed that precious child. Here’s what most babies are getting today—and the collective impact on their future health is what I call “unknowable data.” Notice that the leading ingredient is from cow’s milk, which is unfit for human consumption at any age.

WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE (FROM COW’S MILK, ENZYMATICALLY HYDROLYZED, REDUCED IN MINERALS), VEGETABLE OILS (PALM OLEIN, SOY, COCONUT, AND HIGH-OLEIC SAFFLOWER OR HIGH-OLEIC SUNFLOWER), CORN MALTODEXTRIN, LACTOSE GALACTO-OLIGOSACCHARIDES*, AND LESS THAN 2% OF: POTASSIUM CITRATE, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM CITRATE, MAGNESIUM CHLORIDE, FERROUS SULFATE, ZINC SULFATE, SODIUM CHLORIDE, COPPER SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, MANGANESE SULFATE, SODIUM SELENATE, M. ALPINA OIL**, C. COHNII OIL***, SODIUM ASCORBATE, INOSITOL, CHOLINE BITARTRATE, ALPHA-TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, RIBOFLAVIN, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, PHYLLOQUINONE, BIOTIN, VITAMIN D3, VITAMIN B12, TAURINE, NUCLEOTIDES (CYTIDINE 5′-MONOPHOSPHATE, DISODIUM URIDINE 5′-MONOPHOSPHATE, ADENOSINE 5′-MONOPHOSPHATE, DISODIUM GUANOSINE 5′-MONOPHOSPHATE), ASCORBYL PALMITATE, MIXED TOCOPHEROLS, L-CARNITINE, SOY LECITHIN.

  • *A prebiotic fiber sourced from milk.
  • **A source of arachidonic acid (ARA).
  • ***A source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

What’s a new mother to do? My recommendation is to take a look at the information below, do some research on your own, and then decide course of action is best for you and your growing family.

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

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

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.

To order more of my favorite books—visit our online BookStore now

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.

SHARE and rate this post below.

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

Posted in Children, Dairy, cow's milk | Tagged | 2 Comments

96% of restaurant entrees exceed USDA limits

Posted on 07/27/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

Is anyone surprised by that news?

This image implies that if you don’t have that “dairy” in the top right corner, then it is not a complete meal.

And exactly what do we learn from the 18-month study by the Rand Corporation that was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation? My first thought is—what a colossal waste of money. (See link to USA Today source article below)

A whopping 96% of main entrees sold at top U.S. chain eateries exceed daily limits for calories, sodium, fat and saturated fat recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reports the 18-month study conducted by the Rand Corp. and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“If you’re eating out tonight, your chances of finding an entree that’s truly healthy are painfully low,” says Helen Wu, assistant policy analyst at Rand who oversaw the study. It examined the nutritional content of 30,923 menu items from 245 restaurant brands across the USA. “The restaurant industry needs to make big changes to be part of the solution,” she says.

If you know anything at all about the USDA dietary guidelines, you know that they are nowhere close to describing a health-promoting diet; one that would in fact reverse heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. Every child’s meal is likely to have some form of animal protein along with a cold glass of cow’s milk—neither of which will promote health. The study only checked to see if the menu item fell within the USDA limits for calories, sodium, fat and saturated fat.

Apparently they examined almost 31,000 entrees from 245 restaurant brands across the USA. So with 4% of the meals falling within the USDA limits, that means that over 1200 of those meals were deemed to be healthy. But they didn’t tell us which items they were, but I would be willing to bet that possibly none of them were 4Leaf, deriving over 80% of their calories from whole plants.

The benefit of publicizing this study. It might get the attention of a few million folks. Most of them will blame it on the restaurants, some will blame it on the government, a few will cut back on eating out and a tiny minority might even begin examining all of their meals. A precious few may even join our grassroots revolution to make things right.

But sadly, hardly anyone knows what a truly healthy meal looks like. And they won’t get much helpful information from the American Dietetic Association or any of the disease-specific websites like the American Cancer Society. The average consumer has almost no chance of eating a healthy diet. And we wonder why the rates of type 2 diabetes and obesity are skyrocketing while heart disease and cancer remain our number one killers.

Who is to blame for this mess? Well, it’s not just the restaurant industry. They’re just giving people what they want and none of those people give a hoot about the USDA limits. Here’s one response to the study from a restaurant spokesman:

The restaurant industry is “employing a wide range” of healthier-living strategies, says Joan McGlockton, vice president of food policy at the National Restaurant Association. Among them: putting nutritional information on menus, adding more healthful items and launching a 2011 program at nearly 100 brands in more than 25,000 locations that offers children’s meals in line with 2010 dietary guidelines.

The Bottom Line. Everything begins with education, most of which is controlled by our federal, state and local governments. But it also includes our schools of nutrition, most of which are controlled by unhealthy food producers like the meat and dairy industry. As for blaming the president of the United States or members of Congress for these problems—none of those people would get elected if they ran on a platform of eliminating  meat, dairy and eggs from our diet.

Published by BenBella — October 2011

What about our medical doctors? They’re no help either because they weren’t taught very much about nutrition in med school and the health care system provides no incentives for helping people prevent or reverse disease. All of the money is in testing, conducting procedures and prescribing drugs. And, as we explained in Chapter 8 of our book, those drug companies are now controlling the curriculums of our schools of medicine.

Who is going to fix this mess? Look in the mirror. It’s going to take a grass-roots revolution that has already begun. Fortunately, as you join that revolution, you get rewarded with vibrant health and all of your descendants will learn how to avoid most disease throughout their lives.

Ready to take charge of your own health and teach your children the secret to a long and healthy life? Are you interested in helping to change our completely dysfunctional system when it comes to our health? Then this is a good place to start. After you’re done with this simple kit, share it with your family and friends.

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

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

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.

To order more of my favorite books—visit our online BookStore now

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.

SHARE and rate this post below.

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

Posted in Activism & Leadership, Food Policy | Tagged | 1 Comment

Reversing cancer; not quite as simple as heart disease

Posted on 07/26/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

Dr. Max Gerson

Last week, I received a note from a reader who was responding to my recent post about the “cancer industry turning 41.” Like another reader, she had heard about Gerson Cancer Therapy and wanted to know my thoughts. She wrote:

Hi Jim, Have you watched the DVD, The Gerson Miracle?  They’ve been curing cancer for 60 years.  It’s on Netflix.   I know it sounds incredible but that’s the first move I’d make if I ever get a cancer diagnosis. I think I read where Dr. Campbell did a water fast after exposure to dioxin.   What are your thoughts? (gerson.org)  Thanks for all you do. Regards, Joyce

In thinking about my response, I considered the career of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. Although he operated primarily on cancer patients during his lengthy surgical career, it was with coronary artery disease patients where he has earned most of his fame. Why is that?

The highly regarded Cleveland Clinic, where Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr, has spent his entire since graduating from medical school.

As he tells the story, while working as a general surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, he became disenchanted with the conventional treatment paradigm for treating chronic disease like cancer and heart disease. He felt that the medical profession should do more to help the next victim avoid these diseases—instead of treating with the standard surgical, radiation and chemo approach.

So after a decade or so of studying the published medical information that was gathered by many health professionals who’d preceded him by fifty years or more, he reached a conclusion. He became convinced that heart disease could be prevented, slowed, arrested or even reversed—even in older patients. But he wasn’t so sure about cancer and wanted to give himself—and his patients—the best chance of success.

Turned out that he was right as he went on to completely reverse the advanced coronary artery disease in all 17 of the terminally ill patients sent to him by the Cleveland Clinic. And the only thing that he did was change their diet to one of whole, plant-based foods, while keeping their fat consumption below 10% of their calories. But as we all know, reversals of cancer are not nearly as common and not nearly as predictable. With his story in mind, I responded like this:

J. Morris Hicks, where the simple and clear advice will always be the same and can be summed up in two words: Whole Plants.

Hi Joyce, I have watched some of the Gerson videos and notice that Leo just included a couple in his comment today. Like you, I would never subject myself to cancer treatment by conventional methods. Further, I am not likely to be diagnosed with cancer because I quit going to the doctor about ten years ago, except for treating injuries from accidents.

With cancer, I prefer to emphasize the fact that our toxic diet is the leading cause of cancer. But unlike heart disease or type 2 diabetes, cancer is more complicated and more difficult to reverse. As a board member of Colin Campbell’s foundation, I like to follow his lead. He speaks highly of Dr. Max Gerson but didn’t mention him in his book, “The China Study.” That’s probably because, while there have been lots of successful anecdotes, there have been no scientific studies about reversing cancer.

We know much more about what causes it; and also know that it can grow for decades undetected—and in many cases be discovered when it’s simply too late. We must start focusing on the cause and quit “skydiving for the cure.” Be well, Jim

A few of my earlier blogs on this topic

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

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

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.

To order more of my favorite books—visit our online BookStore now

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.

SHARE and rate this post below.

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

Posted in Cancer | Tagged , , | 4 Comments