$$ Dollars and Sense of “The Last Heart Attack”

Posted on 09/10/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Did you notice the advertisers who brought you this special?

The sweepstakes winner with four ads for artery-clogging ice cream in a one hour show dedicated to curing heart disease.

Whenever I see a program like this one, I like to go back and take note of who was paying for it. My very first blog back in February 2011, featured a Barbara Walters “heart attack” special that also included President Clinton. Similar in some ways to Sanjay Gupta’s documentary, Barbara came up way short in being real clear about what we need to do in order to prevent heart disease or reverse it if you already have it. A link to that first blog is provided below.

So yesterday morning after showing my recorded “Last Heart Attack” to Alexandra Stoddard and Peter in my home, I went back and took a look at the various advertisers. The first thing I noticed (within the content prior to the first break) was that they showed the covers of the South Beach Diet books which were written by Dr. Arthur Agatston — the inventor of the Coronary Calcium Scan and prominent throughout the show. I am sure some viewers were confused by that subtle message. Here is an overweight MD who has written an Atkins-type diet book for losing weight and is now on a documentary, whose primary focus is on a diet that that promotes lots of whole plants compared to his diet that encourages a lot of animal protein.

The message in this book is contrary to the message of the "special;" probably confusing to some of the viewers.

First Break (after 8 minutes)

  • Verizon
  • SuperPages
  • Movie “Warrior”
  • Hagen Daz Ice Cream — featuring fruits, honey and children; posing as a healthy food.
  • Farmers Insurance
  • Sleep Number Beds

Second Break (18 minutes)

  • BeneFul Dogfood
  • Chase Bank
  • Golden Corral (with greasy foods featured)
  • Hagen Daz #2, with same phony health message
  • Arthritis Pads (depending on unhealthy diets to stay in business)
  • SuperPages
  • Sandals Resorts
  • Movies, Xfi
  • Paul’s TV Sales and Service

Their two ads features meat and dairy with hardly even a glimpse of a whole plant.

Third Break (27 Minutes)

  • iHop ad with overweight police woman eating lots of meat and dairy with breakfast.
  • Big G cereal ads pretending to be heart healthy, including Cheerios and Lucky Charms (the latter with 14 grams of added sugar and 238 mg of sodium per serving. See my earlier post on Cheerios.
  • Mobil (oil sands project in Canada)
  • Movie “The Debt”
  • Hagen Daz #3
  • Medicare
  • Ad for CNN’s Erin Burnett Show
  • US Postal Service
  • Short ad for Republican Debate

Their two ads also promoted the unhealthy foods that people love; eggs, cheese, sausage, etc.

Fourth Break (39 minutes)

  • Lipitor –“Diet and exercise weren’t enough for me. I stopped kidding myself, I’ve been eating heathier, exercising more and now I’m also taking Lipitor.” Of course, about half the ad covered the warnings of “other” terrible things that might happen to you if you take this toxic drug for lowering your cholesterol.
  • SuperPages
  • Fiber One cereal, probably the healthiest of all items advertised — it even had zero added sugar; but check out the list of ingredients, bearing in mind that whole plants have only ONE. (Corn Bran, Whole Grain Wheat, Wheat Bran, Corn Starch, Calcium Carbonate, Guar Gum, Color Added, Cellulose Gum, Salt, Baking Soda, Corn Oil, Aspartame, Zinc and Iron (Mineral Nutrients), Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), A B Vitamin (Niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate), A B Vitamin (Folic Acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness)
  • AT&T
  • Movie, “Contagion”
  • University of Phoenix
  • iHop #2, with sausage, bacon and eggs
  • Farmers Insurance

Marshmallows for your children's breakfast -- and we wonder why our children are obese and have type 2 diabetes before they're teenagers.

Then, within the program itself at Minute-45, Sanjay gives the meat, egg and dairy industry spokespersons a chance to get in their two cents. With about 15 seconds each, their collective message was almost laughable; plus, two out of the three spokspersons were noticeably overweight as they talked absurdly about the health benefits of eating beef, eggs and cheese.

Fifth and Final Break (50 minutes)

  • Chevrolet Trucks
  • BeneFul Dogfood “omega rich”
  • Golden Corral with pictures of fish and shrimp, with pictures of beef and chicken.
  • University of Phoenix #2
  • Hagen Daz #4
  • Verizon
  • SuperPages
  • Bob’s Discount Furniture
  • Allegra (allergy medication)
  • And the last ad (at bedtime), Bob’s Furniture advertises mattresses.

I know this comment will make me sound old, but this cereal has more ingredients than Carter had pills.

Executive Summary. There were a total of 42 ads which filled 19 minutes of a one hour show. Eleven of those ads were for foods with only one of them featuring a product that was even remotely good for you — Fiber One. But did you notice that science project list of ingredients in that product and the fact that the #1 ingredient, corn bran, is not whole grain?

Three more of the ads had some relationship to healthy living and the cost of health care; two drug ads and one ad for Medicare. Knowing that advertisers plan the positioning of their ad very carefully, I noticed that the Lipitor ad appeared only once, and it was two-thirds into the show, when people might be looking for the “easy pill” way to save their life and keep them off that Tom Bare operating table.

Dollars and Sense. As the movement away from meat and dairy gathers momentum, the folks in the business of statin drugs, high-cholesterol foods, and greasy restaurant meals are in for a rude awakening. In the meantime, there will likely be a lot of confusion among the food and drug producers and the viewers who wonder why their product is being advertised on a particular show.

Winners and losers. What happens when people stop eating so much meat and dairy.?Restaurants can always change their menus to whatever products people want; but the pharmaceutical companies will someday find themselves in a business that produces products that most people no longer need. I hope to live to see the day. The big winners will be the people and their families who choose a health-promoting diet of whole, plant-based foods. Another big winner will be our planet itself which is suffering mightily from the relentless damage being inflicted by our incredibly harmful diet of meat and dairy three meals a day.

When you read this blog on 9-10-11, I will be cruising to Block Island -- but not on Moonglow (She was damaged by Irene) -- Some are forecasting 20-foot rolling swells with Katia passing in the distance.

Once again, Thank you Sanjay Gupta and CNN for bringing us this great show…and thank you Lucky Charms for helping to pay for it.

This link contains two videos of the special (one short, the other full-length. Gupta over Oz…when it comes to CLARITY! (Video included)

My first blog, mentioned earlier: Barbara Walters…A Missed Opportunity

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If you like what you see here, 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. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

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

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

PS: Rate this post below and see the results of the voting…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 Celebrities, Heart Disease, Medical Experts | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Vitamins; a review — with new info on B12 from Dr. Greger

Posted on 09/09/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Happy Birthday to my grandson, Cooper James Hicks, 8 years old today!

Almost every week, I hear from someone who is concerned about certain vitamins that may be missing in a diet without meat and dairy. The big three most often mentioned are vitamin B12, vitamin D and omega-3s. And it was Dr. Michael Greger’s recent video on B12 deficiency that inspired this post today.

My scientist friend Raymond Francis (Beyond Health) recommends this brand of B12 sublingual supplement.

We covered all four of the “vitamins & minerals of concern” in our book and ended with the simple advice of Dr. Campbell: take a regular B12 supplement, take a little D if you don’t get enough routine exposure to the sun and get your omega-3s from plant foods such as flaxseeds and walnuts. For the latter, it seems that the ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s might be more important than the amount of the omega-3s. And when one begins eating lots of whole plant foods while eliminating meat and dairy, that ratio tends to take care of itself.

As for calcium, every single plant that I have ever checked has calcium in it. Eat a lot of whole plants and, as with protein, you’ll get all the calcium you need. Since beginning this blog about seven months ago, I have blogged about vitamins several times; for your convenience, I have provided links to each of them. Later in this post, I will provide you with a link to a 2-minute video by Dr. Greger on B12.

Questions about protein, omega-3′s and B12 — Let me hear yours.

Vitamins…a 27 billion dollar folly?

Vitamin D…the sunshine nutrient. What if we don’t get enough?

Without dairy, where do we get our calcium?

Where do you get your protein?

Dr. Michael Greger

Dr. Greger on B12, during the week leading up to the “Last Heart Attack” special on CNN.

So on one hand, there’s the possibility of eliminating the greatest killer in our country, which decimates the lives and families of more than 100,000 Americans every year, at an annual cost in the hundreds of billions. But, on the other hand, we risk vitamin what deficiency? Are the defenders of the status quo seriously trying to stack a documented cure for heart disease (not to mention the reversal of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension) against some obscure B vitamin?

It’s true, plants don’t make B12.  Animals don’t make it either. B12 is made by microbes that blanket the earth. These bacteria grow in the guts of animals, which is why their bodies and products can be a source of this vitamin. Our herbivore primate cousins get all they need ingesting bugs, dirt, and feces and we may once have gotten all we needed by drinking out of mountain streams or well water. But now we chlorinate our water supply to kill off any bugs. So we don’t get a lot of B12 in our water anymore, but we don’t get a lot of cholera either—that’s a good thing!

Make no mistake: vitamin B12 is important. But so is keeping our perspective, given the millions who are crippled and die from the onslaught of chronic disease that could be prevented,stopped, and reversed with a B12-fortified, plant-based diet.

Provided here for your convenience: Dr. Michael Greger on B12 deficiency

Note that this video is just one of a series of B12 videos recently produced by Dr. Greger. He is now adding one new video every day on his new site at nutritionfacts.org; You should take a look and bookmark this great new resource. One more thing, I recently posted another blog featuring Dr. Greger — on the topic of Alzheimer’s.

The birthday boy, Cooper, is on the left of this group of my four MA-based grandchildren.

If you like what you see here, 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. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

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

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

PS: Rate this post below and see the results of the voting….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 Medical Experts, Vitamins & Supplements | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Steve Jobs — passion, vision and excellence

Posted on 09/08/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

It takes all three, but passion is the key ingredient for delivering excellence

Complete with the Dean Ornish endorsement at the top, this is what I found when I opened that carton.

This post was written twenty-seven days before his death on October 5, 2011.

Steve Jobs is known throughout the world for his passion, vision and excellence; and he also created a pretty cool logo along the way. No, we didn’t steal it for our book-cover, although it is an association that we can live with. But we did embrace his ideas about passion, vision and excellence, and that’s what this post is all about. (A complete copy of a very inspiring speech of his appears at the end of this post.)

Yesterday was a big day for me. At 3 pm Eastern, after carefully adjusting the lighting and turning up the classical music, I nervously opened a FedEx package containing the first six printed copies of our book. It was a moment that I will never forget. So after sending out the first two signed copies to Dr. T. Colin Campbell and his son Nelson (writers of our Foreword), I found myself in a celebratory mood.

Wanting to share my special moment with someone who not only appreciates my passion for the message in the book, but also knows a thing or two about what it feels like to see your book in print for the first time — I thought of a special neighbor. Not knowing if they would be home, I decided to make a “drop-in” visit on my dear friends around the corner, Alexandra Stoddard and her husband, Peter Megargee Brown.

With her great endorsement appearing on the back cover of our book, I wrote a note to her on the title page of the copy that I was about to give her:

“Alexandra, Working together, not only can we help to improve the health of millions of people, we can change the world in the process.”

Celebrating with champagne in Alexandra's "living a beautiful life" kitchen on September 7, 2011

Then, I put her copy of the book in a gift bag, grabbed a bottle of French champagne out of the refrigerator and walked to their home in the light rain. Fortunately they were home and, although not in the habit of welcoming drop-in guests, Alexandra saw the gift bag and the bottle of champagne and knew immediately what this visit was all about.

The next two hours were what great memories are made of…when a veteran author of 28 books (with millions of copies sold) enhances that special moment for a first-time author when he shares his finished book with someone for the first time. It was magical.

Later, after dining together at the Water Street Cafe and saying goodnight to Alexandra and Peter; and not quite ready to go home, I pointed myself in the direction of the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club. While walking, I began to contemplate how this former Ralph Lauren executive went “From Polo to Plant Food” and was now holding a completed book in his hands with powerful endorsements by eleven prominent people from the world of science, medicine, industry and literature. The short answer is passion.

Not learning a darn thing about nutrition while working for Ralph, I learned a great deal about passion, vision and excellence. Then, after discovering my own passion in 2002, the rest was easy. This was on my mind as I walked slowly to the club last night:

Remembering how I had begun studying everything that I could get my hands on about my new topic, about how I made it my business to get to know all the primary leaders in the field, and about how I eventually developed my own “big picture” perspective and then set about documenting that perspective in our brand new book — a four-hour read that can be easily understood by the average 8th grader. It all started with passion.

With passion still on my mind, I woke up at 3 a.m. today, thinking of a Steve Jobs speech about passion that I have been sharing with people (including lots of new grads) for years. So I got out of bed, located that speech on my old Dell computer and transferred it to my MacBook Pro on which I am now typing.

That powerful speech is provided below in its entirety — as Steve tells the Stanford University graduating class of 2005 that, no matter what path they choose in their lives, they simply must find what they love in order to enjoy the rich success and joy of making a difference. Click the link below for the complete commencement address in video and text, posted the day the “Steve Jobs” book hit the stores, about three weeks after his death.

Steve Jobs — 2005 Stanford Speech — Posted 10-24-11

You may wish to bookmark the above speech as you may wish to read it often. You will also want to share it with all of the young people that you know; helping to steer them toward their passion early in their lives. But, as I have proven, you’re never too old to find your passion — and to run with it.

Earlier this summer, I snapped this photo of Peter and Alexandra "living a beautiful life" as they always do.

One more thing about Alexandra Stoddard and her passion for writing and how it has now blended with my passion. After publishing 27 books; she is now working on #28, which will include a chapter entitled “Eat Well – Live Well.” A recent convert to plant-based nutrition, her 90-year old husband’s arthritis simply disappeared after about six months on a greatly improved diet since watching the movie, Forks Over Knives, with me last year.

She is taking that “healthy eating” chapter very seriously as she must now tell her millions of faithful readers that she, like all of us, were raised to believe that our meat-laden Western diet was the world’s most superior way for humans to eat. She must now tell them that we had all been taught the wrong information, after which she will joyfully tell them about the wonderful truths that she and Peter have recently learned about what we really should be eating — for our own health and for the health of the planet.

And while communicating with her followers, she must carefully craft her message in such a way that it will be heard and embraced by her two grown daughters, both with small children. She describes this mission as one of the most important things she has ever undertaken. Look for that new Harper Collins book in 2012; visit our online BookStore now to take a look at her most famous book, Living A Beautiful Life. (Scroll to near the bottom of that page.)

Order “Steve Jobs” biography by Walter Isaacson on Amazon

 

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Our new book surrounds our 4-Leaf Logo with the great books by Campbell and Esselstyn in the background.

If you like what you see here, 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. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

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

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

PS: 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 Activism & Leadership, Book Promotion, Celebrities | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments