Alzheimer’s, like heart disease, may need never exist.

Posted on 09/07/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Now the sixth leading cause of death in the USA — apparently preventable

Michael Greger, M.D., posted Alzheimer’s video on his new website yesterday 9-6-11.

Let me begin by introducing a colleague who has just launched a brand new website that focuses exclusively on nutrition. Dr. Greger has committed to providing a new video every single day for the first full year — and he’s got over 300 days to go. His most recent video is all about Alzheimer’s. From his website:

Michael Greger, M.D., is a physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues.  A founding member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Dr. Greger is licensed as a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition. Currently he serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States. Dr. Greger is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Yesterday, his post on Alzheimer’s caught my eye on VegSource.com. Like me, he is a featured blogger on that terrific site. His article began by announcing that September is Alzheimer’s Month, in recognition of the five million Americans who are stricken with the devastating disease. As he said in the post:

We’ve known for almost 20 years that compared to long-time vegetarians, those eating meat (including poultry and fish) appear to have three times the risk of developing dementia. Since studies show “even moderately elevated cholesterol increased dementia risk,” the cognitive impairment more often seen in those eating meat may be due to atherosclerotic plaque building in the brain’s blood vessels, which can cause micro-infarctions or “ministrokes” that can kill off little parts of the brain the way clogged coronary arteries can kill off parts of the heart during a heart attack.

Leveraging the simple, yet powerful concept of maximizing the percent of your calories from whole plant foods — still in nature’s package. Click on image for more information.

Later in the post, he made a point that sounded almost like he was talking about our 4Leaf Program, saying that “New evidence suggests that simply avoiding animal products may be only part of the puzzle. Maybe it’s not just what vegetarians don’t eat, but what they do eat, including the phytonutrients found in plant-based diets have been shown to have a wide range of beneficial effects.”

As Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn stated in the Forks Over Knives movie, “If everyone shifted to a whole foods, plant-based diet, the cost of health care in the United States would be slashed by up to 80%.” Want to save a quick two trillion dollars? Eat more whole plants.

We’ve been eating the wrong food for so long, we’ve lost sight of the magic of nature that can occur when we simply eat the natural diet for our species — the diet that Nature intended for us to eat. We now know that heart disease and type 2 diabetes can be reversed in over 90% of the cases; maybe there’s great hope for the victims of cancer and Alzheimer’s as well.

Learn more about treating Alzheimer’s from Dr. Greger’s short video:

I encourage you to visit his website, take a look around and then click on the Video tab, where you will find lots of great videos. Everything is very well organized and all the videos can be searched by topic, rating, etc. You will want to bookmark this site, as it will likely become a routine source of well-referenced information on a great number of nutritional topics. Visit NutritionFacts.org. In case you’re wondering about the funding for this great new website:

The Jesse & Julie Rasch Foundation was established in Toronto, Canada in the year 2000 by Jesse Rasch. Among the objectives of the Foundation is the funding of research into the role of health and nutrition in the prevention and treatment of disease and to ensure that the research results are appropriately disseminated to the medical profession.  The Foundation is also striving to educate the public on the enormous role that health and nutrition play in disease prevention.

*****************

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 Alzheimer's Disease, Medical Experts | 2 Comments

World hunger, energy, water — and the “obvious” solution

Posted on 09/06/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

The Chairman of the world’s largest food company weighs in.

Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (9-3-11, see link below) by Brian M. Carney (in Vevey, Switzerland), the chairman of Nestlé addresses the ever increasing problem of feeding the seven billion people on this planet — on its way to nine billion.

Exacerbating the problem of more mouths to feed, Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe points out that we now have another one billion people in the emerging economies (India and China) who have access to meat for the first time. And why is that a problem? He states:

“The demand for meat,” he says, “has a multiplier effect of 10. You need 10 times as much land, 10 times as much [feed], 10 times as much water to produce one calorie of meat as you do to have one calorie of vegetables or grain.”

“It turns out that if we eat the way that promotes the best health for ourselves, we will also promote the best health for the planet.” Dr. T. Colin Campbell

He knows a great deal about the incredible inefficiency of a meat-based diet-style, but like so many of the world’s brightest and most powerful people, he doesn’t even mention the possibility of aggressively trying to increase the percentage of plant calories in our diets.

Clearly, according to his own numbers above, a sharp increase of more plant calories in our Western diets would do some wonderful things for the big three global problems we’re facing: world hunger, energy crisis and the availability of water. Like Julian Cribb in an earlier post, he is missing the obvious solution.

But in Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe’s case, even if he knew that ALL of the world’s seven billion people could survive and thrive on nothing but whole plant calories, it would obviously not be great for his huge, global business that “employs some 300,000 people, takes in some $100 billion a year in revenue—and yet represents just 1.5% of a global food industry that feeds billions.” It wouldn’t be great for his business as long as we have today’s rules, but if the rules should change…

So, as he should, the Nestlé chairman is trying to solve the looming issues as best he can. And that means trying to abolish the use of corn (ethanol) for auto fuel worldwide, embracing the use of genetically modified foods (GMO’s increase the yield of calories per acre), and putting a price tag on water. He makes a very good argument about the water.

“If oil becomes scarce,” he notes, “the oil price goes up. But if water does, well, we still pump the same amount. It doesn’t matter because it doesn’t cost. It has no value.” He drives this point home by connecting it back to biofuels: “We would never have had a biofuel policy—never,” he contends, “if we would have given water any value.” It takes, Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe says, “9,100 liters of water to produce one liter of biodiesel. You can only do that because water has no price.”

As the top food producer in the world, the Nestlé chairman seems to have a very good grasp on the most urgent issues that his company, and indeed the whole world, is facing. He is doing what any good business leader should be doing. He is pointing out all of the problems and arguing in favor of some sensible solutions — but once again, he is missing the obvious solution.

I would argue that, looking long-range, the obvious plant-based solution could be a good thing for his business. For even if we’re eating nothing but whole plants, we’re still going to need a food industry to grow them, harvest them, package them and deliver them to us. In the article, he describes his company’s reason for being:

Nestlé exists, Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe says, because as Europe’s population “urbanized,” as people moved to the cities and traded their ploughshares for time cards, “somebody had to ensure that people” who worked 12 hours a day in a factory could feed themselves.

For the first time in history, “you need[ed] a food industry. You need[ed] somebody who takes a product, who treats it so that its shelf life allows it to be transported, to be brought into the consumption center. That’s why we have canning, that’s why we have pasteurization, that’s why we have all these things.”

Now let’s play a little game of what if?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta with President Clinton---scene from "The Last Heart Attack."

Dr. Sanjay Gupta with President Clinton—scene from “The Last Heart Attack.”

  1. What if the world’s leaders got together and (with the help of Sanjay Gupta, Bill Clinton, Colin Campbell, and a few other prominent and credible experts) — came to the obvious conclusion that human beings should no longer be eating animals or their products?
  2. What if they suddenly realized that our consumption of those 60 billion animals a year is destroying our health, our environment, or our continued ability to feed the world?
  3. What if they connected all the dots and came to the unanimous, and obvious, conclusion that the way we are feeding ourselves is not only insane, but it is completely unsustainable for very much longer?
  4. Then what if they came up with a transition plan to steadily decrease our consumption of animal-based calories from where it is today to ZERO over the next twenty years?

Warren Buffett

This is why we need LEADERSHIP. We need for powerful individuals like Bill Clinton, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Ted Turner to begin a series of small conferences where they play a few “what if” games of their own. The world needs to get real serious about these crucial issues and we need to do it soon.

Then, with a game-plan, the great business leaders like Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe will know what to do. They will embrace the new rules of producing food, people will start getting healthier, our cost of health care will plummet, our environment will start to recover, and we’ll start feeding over ten times as many people with the same amount of land, water and energy that we’re using now.

Then, finally, we can begin to end the savage practice of torturing 60 billion animals a year for our dining pleasure. Following the wisdom of people like Einstein, Hippocrates and Leonardo da Vinci, our world leaders can get us back on the right track.

“The time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men.”

—Leonardo da Vinci

(See link to full WSJ article below)

****************

Mr. Carney is editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe and coauthor of “Freedom, Inc.,” (Crown Business, 2009). The Weekend Interview with Peter Brabeck-Letmathe: Can the World Still Feed Itself? – WSJ.com.

Handy 5-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

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 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.

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 page 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.

SHARE and rate this post below.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Center for Nutrition Studies

Posted in Activism & Leadership, Big Picture, Celebrities, World Hunger | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Gupta over Oz…when it comes to CLARITY!

Posted on 09/05/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Another lop-sided football score, something like 49-0

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, an emerging leader in the grassroots revolution to re-claim our health through plant-based nutrition. A part of the SOLUTION.

During the past week, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta aired his heart attack documentary numerous times — and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I am particularly impressed with what Sanjay is still saying — now that the documentary is over.

See videos below, After the first video ends, the link to the full length special appears on the right. (42 minutes without commercials)

He is demonstrating that he is much more than a reporter; he my very well be the leader within the “system” that we desperately need to provide the clarity that can save our lives and our nation’s economy.

On the other hand, our nation’s most famous doctor, Mehmet Oz, who wrote the cover article for the “Special Nutrition Issue” of TIME that is on the newsstands today —  is just further adding to the confusion. See yesterday’s post Oz takes “confusion over clarity” to a new level – TIME In the 24 hours since that post was published, it has been seen by hundreds of people around the world and, so far, the verdict has been unanimous — Dr. Oz is unknowingly guilty of spreading confusion on one of the largest stages in the world. A reader from England eloquently writes…

Dr Oz is just like the Wizard of Oz who conjured up complexities shrouded in uncertainty, fear and doubt, in order to reveal a truth that was there all along.  All those millions of viewers who find this entertaining seem to be just as captivated by his spell as were the original four travellers along the yellow brick road. (Wow, this woman may very well have a future in writing.)

Dr. Oz trying to keep everybody happy, but in the process is just adding to the confusion. Unknowingly, he is part of the PROBLEM.

Problem vs. Solution. We have a huge problem in the Western world — and it will take a huge effort by many of us to implement the already-known solution. The problem with our collective poor health and cost of health-care problem in the Western world is that we eating the wrong food for our species — in great quantities. The solution is going to require relentless clarity from credible people and institutions that we trust.

The problem right now is that those people and institutions that we trust are further confusing the public and are unknowingly and unintentionally making the problem worse every day. The vast interconnected “system” (government, science, medicine, industry and media) is failing us miserably — as they continue to be part of the problem as opposed to the solution. After reading my Oz post yesterday, a reader in California wrote about his take on the Oz article and then about his related experience with that vast “system” mentioned earlier:

I found the Oz article  – well, kind of goofy. It bounced around so much, trying to achieve some kind of hip writing style I think it got confusing and lost. Then he talks about serving on a Wellness Committee in California after being disturbed by a hand-out brought home from school by his son:

I got on that committee when I complained about a “nutritional education” hand-out my then second grade son brought home. Even at that point I knew the information was very wrong and seemed to serve the producer of the piece – the California Dairy Council.

The school said they had no funds for nutritional information, thus had to take the free Dairy Council materials.  Later, after attending State of California Health Department and Ed Department meetings, I found that the Dairy Council was deeply embedded in the whole State school system.

One of the biggest stars of "The Last Heart Attack" documentary. As of today, he is the greatest ally in the world of the power of plant-based nutrition.

Unfortunately, confusion continues to reign supreme over clarity throughout the vast “system” that controls what we eat in this country. But we all saw a glimmer of hope last week in Sanjay Gupta’s “The Last Heart Attack” documentary that reached millions.

In just 42 minutes, Sanjay skillfully told the story of two people who were both told by the “system” that they needed heart-bypass surgery right away. One took the advice of the system and almost died; the other took the advice of the great Dr. Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic and was happily jumping rope at the end of the show — after curing her heart disease with just a simple change of diet.

Toward the end of the telecast, Dr. Esselstyn said confidently that all the public needs is information and education. We already know how to completely eliminate the disease (and most other chronic diseases); we just haven’t yet shared it with the public.

LEADERSHIP. After watching the short video with Sanjay, take a look at the two recent blogs on the man who founded Sanjay's company.

The Bottom Line. We need more clarity and we need more leadership. Dr. Gupta, with the help of Bill Clinton, Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has opened the door — providing the public with a bright glimmer of hope of what is to come. What we now need is LEADERSHIP and we need lots of it. Dr. Gupta may very well become one of those great leaders that we need.

Oftentimes, journalists seem to never take a stand on any issue; they just report what all of the different factions have to say about a particular topic. And in the case of nutrition, with all the special interest factions involved, that just adds up to more confusion. But with Dr. Gupta, he appears to sincerely be in search of the truth; which should be the goal of any good  journalist. He also seems to understand that Esselstyn and Ornish have discovered that truth. I think he truly “gets it.” Take a look at this video of Sanjay being interviewed by another CNN reporter:

When this video ends, watch the entire 42-min. special by clicking the video on the right.

Can Sanjay emerge as one of the great leaders that we need? Maybe Sanjay could influence another great leader to climb aboard the train of scientific integrity when it comes to nutrition. Maybe he could influence the man who founded the company where he is working. Now that, my friends, would be a gold-medal winning team for sure. I wrote a couple of blogs about that leader in the past few weeks:

“One Term President” — just might be the answer

LEADERSHIP. Grassroots revolution or one-term president?

******************

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

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, Celebrities, Medical Experts, Video Included | 2 Comments