Promoting “common ground” with Michael Pollan

Posted on 01/26/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

Susan Benigas -- sailing off Stonington, CT on 9-30-11

Moving the world in the direction of more whole foods, plant-based eating

My good friend Susan Benigas, who lives in Missouri, recently went with her husband, Jon, to see the famous “food” writer/speaker Michael Pollan at a St. Louis Speakers Series. She shared with me some of his comments; most with which she agreed. But not all.

When I first read over those comments, I realized that, just like me, Michael Pollan is out there urging everyone to eat more whole plants. It’s not important whether or not we agree with everything he says, the bottom line is that he’s out there helping to move the world in the right direction.

Common Ground vs. Argument. For those of you who’re familiar with the pioneering “veggie docs” out there, you probably know that Dr. Esselstyn doesn’t always agree with Dr. Ornish and Dr. Fuhrman doesn’t always agree with Dr. McDougall. But all four of them have helped thousands, if not millions, of people take charge of their health by adding more whole, plant-based foods to their diets. And all four of them share much more “common ground” than they do differences. So let’s forget the differences and dwell only on the common ground, on which we designed our simple, positive, flexible and powerful 4Leaf Program.

Leveraging the simple concept of maximizing the percent of your calories that are derived from whole, plant-based foods.

Leveraging the simple, yet powerful concept of maximizing the percent of your calories from whole plant foods -- still in nature's package

In embracing that simple philosophy, I have recognized that our world benefits far more if one billion people move just halfway to the 4Leaf level than if 100 million people went all the way. In a previous blog, I actually did the math for that example and concluded that the one billion that went halfway contributed over four times as much global benefit as the one million who adopted almost perfect, near optimal diets. A tiny few eating a perfect diet? — or truly changing the world?

So I am happy when I hear a prominent individual like Michael Pollan saying that we all should be eating more whole plants. And my good friend Alexandra Stoddard continues to remind me of the importance of embracing the great benefit of the “common ground” that I share with influential people such as Mr. Pollan. For the record, he appears 4 or 5 times in our list of 306 footnotes in our book. From his speech in St. Louis, here are some of those common ground statements that I like:

Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food" and "Omnivore's Dilemma"

    • Eat real food, mainly plants!
    • Current animal protein consumption patterns are unsustainable.
    • The vast majority of what grocery stores carry today is consumable food-like substances, not real food.
    • If something has more than five ingredients or has ingredients that a third grader cannot pronounce, then you shouldn’t eat it.
    • If there are health claims on the package, don’t buy it!  The items in the produce section with no packaging and no health claims are the most healthful—-these and whole grains. 
    • Until we address the fact that Americans are eating themselves into chronic disease, we will never be able to address our broken healthcare system—–the current model is unsustainable. 

Regarding this list, I really liked the fact that he used the word “unsustainable” twice; and his description of typical grocery “foods” is one of my favorites:

“consumable food-like substances, not real food”

J. Morris Hicks, author and activist. Working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

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 4-Leaf page.

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

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

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Posted in Activism & Leadership, Celebrities | 1 Comment

Paula Deen now shamelessly hawking $500/month drugs

Posted on 01/25/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

For a disease that is totally reversible in 95% of the cases. Disgusting for sure, but not that surprising.

From the video below, Paula and her friend create a doughnut burger with two doughnuts, a beef burger, a fried egg and 4 or 5 slices of bacon.

Last week we learned that celebrity chef Paula Deen has type 2 diabetes and that she has found a way to make money off of it—without changing her horrible eating habits. She now has an endorsement deal with a Danish pharmaceutical firm that makes medications for her disease—drugs that cost about $500/month.

So, do you think she might be planning to change her eating habits and perhaps try to help some of her viewers avoid developing diabetes in the first place? Not. From the New York Times article (see link below)…

All the same, Ms. Deen said she would not change her own lifestyle or cooking style drastically, other than to reduce portion sizes of unhealthful foods. “I’ve always preached moderation,” she said. “I don’t blame myself.”

According to the Times article, Paula Deen for the past ten years has been  “wielding slabs of cream cheese and mounds of mayonnaise and has become television’s self-crowned queen of Southern cuisine and one of the country’s most popular chefs, with an empire built on layers of gooey butter cake, fried chicken and sheer force of personality.” (See video below of her disgusting creativity in action—her doughnut burger.)

As with heart disease, Dr. Dean Ornish states on the cover of our book, type 2 diabetes is almost completely reversible with an optimal diet.

Not that surprising. While her behavior appears to be extreme as it ignores the future health of her viewers, should we be surprised? She has just decided to focus on what the “health care industry” tells us every single day,

Type 2 diabetes is not your fault. And, with the right combination of insulin and drugs, you can “manage” your disease for the rest of your life.

Although many physicians have completely reversed type 2 diabetes in 95% of their patients with diet change only, try to find that piece of information on the American Diabetes Association website. It’s not there.

No, Paula Deen is not the villain here; she’s just taking financial advantage of our extended f00d-healthcare-pharmaceutical-government-media “system” of maintaining the status quo and making money. You see, there’s not a lot of money to be made if millions Americans suddenly start getting healthy.

My colleague Dr. Greger posted an article on VegSource.com earlier this week (See link below.) He contrasted Paula’s behavior with that of Yul Brynner, who taped a commercial for the American Cancer Society the year before he died…

“Now that I’m gone,” he pleaded into the camera, “I tell you: Don’t smoke, whatever you do, just don’t smoke.”

Dr. Greger continued. Celebrity chef Paula Deen, known for using doughnuts to bun her bacon-and-egg burgers, could have used her diabetes diagnosis in the same way, in hopes that others wouldn’t make the same mistakes.

Instead, she announced yesterday, she is partnering “with a reputable pharmaceutical company” as spokesperson for a $500-a-month diabetes drug (with side-effects that may include pancreatitis and thyroid cancer). Instead of withdrawing her endorsements for Smithfield ham and Philadelphia cream cheese, Paula Deen just added another to the list. It would be as if Yul Brynner’s last breaths were instead spent hawking chemo.

Welcome to the Paula Deen Show

Before you watch, you may want to make sure your will is up to date.

So what do her fans think about her new role as a drug endorser? Mixed, as you might expect. From the Times article,

“Thousands of Ms. Deen’s fans tweeted their support and posted messages of sympathy on her Facebook wall Tuesday.

But many others questioned her motives in concealing the condition for so long, or said they spotted hypocrisy in her decision to profit from an illness that they believe she had abetted. On Facebook, Dolly Furst of Pennsylvania posted: “Sorry Paula. I think you hid the disease because the network thought people would dump your show.”

The Bottom Line. Our “system” is broken and can only be fixed with a grassroots revolution of people like us. As we spread the word about plant-based nutrition, gradually people everywhere will eventually have their own “blinding flash of the obvious” and start making better food choices.

Then, our free market system will deliver those healthy foods, and the former healthcare and pharmaceutical companies will slowly shrink to virtual insignificance. No, Sal, it may not happen during our lifetimes, but it will happen. In the meantime, eat more broccoli. Here are a few of my recent blogs on the topic of type 2 diabetes.

J. Morris Hicks, author and activist. Working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

The GEICO health promotion project — without the little gecko.

Got Type 2 Diabetes? “Get rid of it,” says Dr. Ornish

American Hangnail “Association.” Do we need one?

One more thing. A shot in the arm for our revolution would be for Paula Deen to accept the “bet” from Dr. John McDougall about reversing her diabetes instead of just managing it. Click here for all the details.

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

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 4-Leaf page.

And if you like what 4-Leaf eating is doing for you and your family, you might enjoy visiting our new “4-Leaf 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.

Paula Deen Says She Has Type 2 Diabetes – NYTimes.com.

Dr. Michael Greger — on Paula Deen Vegsource.com

Posted in Celebrities, Diabetes, Video Included | 11 Comments

Is our food addictive in America? Or just a bad habit?

Posted on 01/24/2012 by J. Morris Hicks

Addictions are tough to break; habits, not so much.

Although most people think they’re addicted to food; I believe that most of our poor eating habits are just that—habits. And habits can be broken. Unlike cocaine, heroin or even caffeine, bad eating habits can be replaced easily with good eating habits that feature delicious, filling and super healthy foods. (And if it is a drug addiction problem please seek the help you deserve).

Over the past few years, I have seen hundreds of people switch from the toxic Western diet to 4Leaf and are thrilled with the results. Just today, one of my local friends posted this comment beneath one of Lisa’s recipes:

Lisa’s Vegetable Lasagna — a great meal that everyone loves, but they don’t become addicted. They finish their meal feeling satisfied and happy.

Hi Lisa – This lasagna is unbelievable! It tastes terrific, and — though I would NEVER have believed it — you do not even miss the cheese! Instant famiy favorite — including my five-year-old! Thank you so much for this great recipe! LTB in Stonington

This is exactly what I am talking about; we’ve all been eating cheese and butter for so long that we think that we must be addicted. Yet when we understand what a 100% plant-based 4Leaf meal can taste like, we realize that we’ve just been practicing a disease-promoting bad habit for most of our lives.

Just last week on the Dr. Oz Show, they polled the viewing audience across America with this question, “Do you think that you may be addicted to food?” To me the results were astounding:

    • 63 percent said YES
    • 19 percent said MAYBE
    • Total of 82% think that they may be addicted to food.

Fast Food “Addiction” is a widespread phenomenon in America

Those are staggering numbers. Although the Oz sampling is not statistically significant,  it suggests that some 200 million American adults may be having difficulty controlling their eating impulses. Some may truly be addicted, but my guess is that most are just suffering from nutrient deficiency and a bad habit of eating meat, dairy and eggs three meals a day.

No matter how much they eat of the salt, fat, sugar, cheese, butter and white flour-laden foods; their body is telling them to keep on eating. And at least 83 percent of Americans are doing just that—so much so that there they now have their own organization: http://www.foodaddicts.org. And we now have the fattest nation in the history of humankind.

CNN reported on a study in 2010 that appeared on Health.com. Link to the complete article appears at the end of this post. From the March 30, 2010 article:

Scientists have finally confirmed what the rest of us have suspected for years: Bacon, cheesecake, and other delicious yet fattening foods may be addictive.

A new study in rats suggests that high-fat, high-calorie foods affect the brain in much the same way as cocaine and heroin. When rats consume these foods in great enough quantities, it leads to compulsive eating habits that resemble drug addiction, the study found.

Doing drugs such as cocaine and eating too much junk food both gradually overload the so-called pleasure centers in the brain, according to Paul J. Kenny, Ph.D., an associate professor of molecular therapeutics at the Scripps Research Institute, in Jupiter, Florida. Eventually the pleasure centers “crash,” and achieving the same pleasure–or even just feeling normal–requires increasing amounts of the drug or food, says Kenny, the lead author of the study.

Not picking on Domino’s; just haven’t featured them lately. ALL fast food producers are in the same deadly business.

Our food producers have mastered the process of adding just the right balance of sugar, fat, salt, cheese, butter and white flour such that we all begin to behave as if we were addicts. Yet, when presumed addicts shift to a 4Leaf, whole plants diet-style—and can eat all they want, when they want; they tend to fill up long before they’ve eaten too many calories. And they say goodbye to their former “addictions.”

AND, they begin getting all those nutrients that were missing in the typical Western diet. Whenever I think about our food producers, I will always think of this Wendell Berry quote that I posted yesterday for the first time:

People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health—-and are treated by the health industry which pays no attention to food. —-Wendell Berry

J. Morris Hicks, author and activist. Working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

What about the health industry? All we have to do is name this addictive eating disorder and they will have a drug for it. Our health industry is fond of acronyms like COPD; how about CFAD for this? Chronic Food Addiction Disorder?

The Bottom Line. While the great majority of our nation believes that they may be addicted to food, I truly believe that the most of those “addicts” could replace their bad eating habits within six weeks on a 4Leaf eating regimen—simply deriving over 80 percent of their calories from whole, plant-based foods.

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

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 4-Leaf page.

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

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

Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction

By Sarah Klein, Health.com
March 30, 2010 4:22 p.m. EDT

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.

Posted in Health in General | Tagged | 4 Comments