SMILE. My first ever blog about teeth—and gums

Posted on 02/25/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

Not much of a flosser myself, my New York dentist recommended these.

Also affected by what we eat

Yesterday, I was scrolling through the McDougall Moment series of my friend Dr. John McDougall—and found one about teeth (featured below). As expected, he talked about the role of diet in the health of our teeth—encouraging us to eat more complex carbs: starches, fruits and vegetables. He points out that populations that eat this way (with little or no added sugar) tend to have healthy teeth and gums.

He also points out that most of us adult Americans were raised on the unhealthy Western diet that is loaded with added sugars and very light on the complex carbs. So, what can we do to repair the damage?

What about flossing? Like me, John says that he’s not much of a flosser, but he does advocate the use of the special toothbrush that enables you to clean between the teeth.

This is the WaterPik that my local dentist (Dr. Sally) recommended.

In my case, I was told by a dentist in Tennessee almost 20 years ago that I needed to have a very costly and painful GUM job. I decided to get a second opinion—from my old dentist in New York. He told me about Stimudents, the special toothpicks that really get down between the teeth—cleaning out the debris and massaging the gums.

I kept them in my car and used them religiously twice a day during my driving commute from New Jersey to my Ralph Lauren office in New York. Later that dentist told me that I was living proof that those things work—if used properly.

Fifteen years later, my current dentist here in CT influenced me to start using a water-pik—after realizing that I simply wasn’t going to floss. For me, the Water-Pik is much easier than flossing and probably does a much better job. Another eight years later and I never did have that GUM job that the Tennessee dentist told me was urgent.

The bottom line. The combination of consistently eating 4Leaf, brushing regularly and using my Water-Pik twice a day is getting the job done for this man of 67 years. Now for the 3-minute McDougall Moment.

Dr. John McDougall — on the topic of teeth & gums

Dr. Sally, my local dentist—this one’s for you!

Want to receive some occasional special news from us? You may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

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

And if you like what 4Leaf eating is doing for you and your family, you might enjoy visiting our new “4Leaf Gear” store. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

SHARE and rate this post below…One more thing, occasionally an unauthorized ad may appear beneath a blog post. It is controlled by WordPress (a totally free hosting service). I do not approve or personally benefit whatsoever from any ad that might ever appear on this site. I apologize and urge you to please disregard.

J. Morris Hicks -- Member of the Board of Directors -- Click image to visit the foundation website.

Posted in Health in General | Tagged | 2 Comments

UNSUSTAINABILITY — The elephant in the room

Posted on 02/24/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

Not a C.O.P.D. commercial for Symbicort

We can talk all we want about humans being omnivores and that we’ve evolved to eat meat, eggs, cheese, or plants. But the bottom line is that unless we shift to mostly plants pretty soon, Mother Nature is going to forced to take back her planet. That’s because what we’ve got is grossly unsustainable.

We can also talk about returning to the happy farms of yore (See Chipotle Grill Post) all we want—with the cows, pigs and chickens all frolicking about. But the reality of the matter is that those days are gone forever. We’re simply running out of resources; particularly land, water and energy and will soon no longer be able to sustain the extremely wasteful meat and dairy industry.

And it continues to get worse—not better. Millions of people in the developing world are beginning to choose our wasteful diet AND we’re adding a lot more people to the planet every year.

A little background on population. Humans have been around for about 200,000 years and the global population stood at about 250 million at at year One, A.D. It took us a little over 1800 years to reach one billion mark. Since then:

  • 1927, we reached two billion. (adding one billion in 123 years)
  • 1959, we reached three billion. (adding one billion in 32 years)
  • 2011, we reached seven billion. (adding one billion every 13 years since 1959)
  • 2050—at this rate, we’ll hit ten billion in 2050.
  • A mere BLINK of history (just 211 years) we grow from one billion to seven billion.

Roughly 200,000 new people on planet Earth every single day -- about like having a new Grand Rapids

It gets worse. Our population continues to grow at about 200,000 people per day and is projected to rise to 9 to 13 billion by 2050. At the same time, more people around the world are choosing our wasteful diet-style around the world every year.

When people coming out of poverty have a little money for the first time, they want to start eating like people in the United States and Europe. And we’re placing McDonald’s, Burger Kings and KFCs all over the world so that they can do just that. As I wrote in the Introduction of our book, we have a serious dilemma on our hands. From the last paragraph of the Introduction:

Fortunately, despite the incredible complexity of our current dilemma, the solution is refreshingly simple. All we have to do is educate ourselves, start making better choices about what we eat, and then share all that we have learned with everyone we care about.

I am convinced that there has never been anything more important in the history of the world.

Former Amazon forest; now being used to grow soybeans to feed to pigs in China

The Bottom Line. EVERY YEAR—we’re adding 75 million people—we’re losing 32 million acres of forest—and we’re losing 24 million acres of arable land. Some of that forest goes to replace the arable land that we’re losing.

The world’s appetite continues to grow and we’re running out of land to feed it. Already, we’re burning down trees in the Amazon to make land for growing soybeans that are shipped to China to feed pigs. Burning trees in the Amazon — to feed pigs in China

When does this madness end? The United Nations knows that the rich Western diet is unsustainable, Mark Bittman of the New York Times knows it, and most readers of this blog know it—yet no world leaders have accepted the challenge of leading the global shift  to a health-promoting, plant-based diet.

$10 gasoline will be painful, but it will get us moving in the right direction---with more rice & beans and less burgers and cheese.

What do you think it will take for things to start moving in the right direction? I would like to think it would be leadership, but my guess is that it will take FORCE—the kind that will be delivered by gasoline at $10 a gallon.

What does it take to change the world? Maybe less than you think.

Peak Oil — Food Supply — Global Economy. All connected?

Want to receive some occasional special news from us? You may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

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

And if you like what 4Leaf eating is doing for you and your family, you might enjoy visiting our new “4Leaf Gear” store. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

SHARE and rate this post below…One more thing, occasionally an unauthorized ad may appear beneath a blog post. It is controlled by WordPress (a totally free hosting service). I do not approve or personally benefit whatsoever from any ad that might ever appear on this site. I apologize and urge you to please disregard.

J. Morris Hicks -- Member of the Board of Directors -- Click image to visit the foundation website.

Posted in Activism & Leadership, Big Picture, Energy, Sustainability | 7 Comments

Chipotle Pig Video — They’re missing the whole point!

Posted on 02/23/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

We don’t “need” to eat ANY animal protein.

Just in case you haven’t seen the Chipotle Mexican Grill Ad that aired during the recent Grammy Awards, I have provided it here for your convenience. It’s all about making the lives of the pigs happier.

Clever marketing to be sure—appealing to an almost universal point of view. Studies show that almost everyone loves animals and hates the thought of them being mistreated. Blake Hurst, a former hog farmer, wrote the following in a New York Times Op-Ed this past Sunday (see link below):

At the start of the ad, the farmer and his animals are happy and content. But then progress rears its ugly head, and the animals move indoors, into large, crowded buildings. They are pumped with antibiotics and processed into cubes, all to the mournful sound of Willie Nelson singing a Coldplay tune: “Science and progress/Don’t speak as loud as my heart.” In the end, the farmer sees the light, gets rid of the technological evils and frees his cows and pigs. Redemption is found in a simpler life. And you can have it all at Chipotle, for the price of a burrito.

How about a vegetable burrito? In addition to the suffering of pigs, how about we end the entire process of eating animals? How about we make a huge dent in the world’s water crisis and  dramatically reduce our rapidly disappearing arable land and forests that are necessary to fuel our ever-increasing demand for meat? Cute video; but it does little more than sell a few burritos.

Want to see some real change? Forward this next video to everyone you know. The above video ignores the massive amount of land, water and energy needed to support our meat-eating habits. The days of the happy farm are over—too many people, not enough land, not enough water, not enough energy. As for the next video, if anyone cannot watch this entire video (less than 3 minutes), they shouldn’t be allowed to eat animals. I couldn’t make it past 30 seconds.

For more on this miserable subject, here are a few of my recent blogs:

Pork tales continue; when does the madness end?

COMPLICITY — Billions of animals suffering in factory farms

“Earthlings” — A documentary that we all NEED to see

Suffering of Animals — Remember Michael Vick?

As for not “needing” animal protein—Dispelling the Protein Myth

Ending on a pleasant note—a photo of my son’s family that I took at Stratton Mountain Vermont on my birthday. L to R, the kids are Andrew, Peyton, Collin and Cooper.

Want to receive some occasional special news from us? You may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

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

And if you like what 4Leaf eating is doing for you and your family, you might enjoy visiting our new “4Leaf Gear” store. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

Happy Pigs and Unhappy Farmers – NYTimes.com.

SHARE and rate this post below…One more thing, occasionally an unauthorized ad may appear beneath a blog post. It is controlled by WordPress (a totally free hosting service). I do not approve or personally benefit whatsoever from any ad that might ever appear on this site. I apologize and urge you to please disregard.

J. Morris Hicks — Member of the Board of Directors — Click image to visit the foundation website.

Posted in Suffering of Animals | 4 Comments