Carolyn’s cancer story — it could save your life…

Posted on 04/30/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

First let’s start with heart disease….our #1 killer in the USA. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has been lecturing all over the country about how heart disease is totally reversible — even in very advanced stages. Even though this news has been out there for twenty years, it still hasn’t been officially disseminated to the public; nor is his method of plant-based heart disease-reversal being taught in any medical schools.

J. Morris Hicks turns the mike over to Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn at a yacht club in CT

As you might guess, he is frequently approached after a lecture by people who have recently had open-heart surgery. Sometimes, they are angry about the fact that they were never told that there was a less-invasive option of curing your heart disease. The same feelings of resentment happen with cancer as well.

Just this week, I learned of a similar example from a recent breast cancer victim. In her first email to me, Carolyn told me about learning the news about how to prevent cancer AFTER having a double mastectomy…

I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and had a double mastectomy in September.  The week before my surgery I was watching the Bill Clinton interview and immediately ordered the books he mentioned.  I read them and everything else I could get my hands on during my recovery period and I have been convinced ever since that a plant based diet is absolutely the best.  I just love it!  One of my favorite meals is just roasted vegetables. Your website is terrific.  I could spend hours and hours just reading everything there. And I’m sure I will be buying your book.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study -- By the way, there is no longer a "for credit" course in plant-based nutrition at his own Cornell University. Why? too much pressure from the dairy industry.

I was glad to get this message from Carolyn but saddened to hear her story. It was also gratifying for me to know that some of my work on this blog was actually helping people in need.

Then a few days later, I got another email from Carolyn; this time expressing a little more resentment for our “system” that does not distribute the life-saving cancer-prevention message that she learned in The China Study…Carolyn writes:

I received an email last night from on old friend of mine. It was a picture of a baby girl wearing a T-shirt that said “Find a cure before I grow boobs”.  Cute but what about preventing it in the first place?

As a victim of breast cancer myself, I now get so angry when I see the pink ribbon stickers on cars and the emails about finding a cure for cancer.  I wish I could scream out…

“What about preventing it in the first place?”

I am also angry that I only found out about the plant-based diet after all this occurred in my life — thanks to our government for keeping this away from everyone.

I read online recently that the American Cancer Society spends a minimal amount of all the money they get from donations etc. on preventing cancer.  The majority of their money is spent on all the horrible things they do to you after you’re diagnosed.

Just wish it was mandatory for everyone in the world to read The China Study.  Maybe someone as rich as Bill Gates or Donald Trump could afford to send everyone a copy.

J. Morris Hicks, trying to do my best to help people everywhere take charge of their own health.

Dr. Campbell tried to explain “why you haven’t heard all of this before” in his book and we tried to do the same in our book. The short answer why the known life-saving information about heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. never makes it to the public is money, politics and special interests.

As awful as it sounds to say it, no one in the “system” has a financial incentive for us to be healthy. Most of their jobs depend on us staying sick. Consider…if everyone ate an optimal diet and we shaved $2 trillion off our health care bill, the “system” would lose some 15 or 20 million jobs.

Before closing, I want to tell you one more very troubling part of Carolyn’s story….here is was her most recent message to me…

After my breast cancer diagnosis, my Oncologist prescribed Tamoxifen which he wanted me to take for 5 years.  This drug has been used for about 30-40 years as a “cancer prevention” treatment.  After taking it for about 2 months I went back to him and told him the side effects were horrible and I couldn’t take it anymore.  He looked at me and said “then you are no longer my patient” and walked me to the door.  Needless to say I was stunned.

Armed with the knowledge that Carolyn had to learn the hard way, maybe you can do something wonderful for you and your daughters — before it’s too late. The simple answer to this entire mess is a grassroots revolution of which you and I are a part.

Just start by taking charge of your health by making better food choices — then share this website with everyone you know. When enough of us take charge of our own health, the “system” will be forced to change. By the way, Carolyn readily encouraged me to share her story with you — for as she said, “the more people that are aware of this, the happier it makes me.”

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 Cancer, Heart Disease | 1 Comment

Dr. Oz Show — focusing on plant-based, whole foods

Posted on 04/29/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

First Oprah, now Dr. Oz — the movement of the western world back to the natural diet for our species is beginning to gain some traction with the mainstream…albeit ever so slowly. With Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Neal Barnard as guests on his April 27 show, Dr. Mehmet Oz devoted much of the hour to a comprehensive review of the why and how questions around a whole foods, plant-based diet.

One of America's favorite doctors (first discovered by Oprah) talking whole plants on April 27, 2011.

But as he said in the program, “Notice that I haven’t used the word diet here. That’s because we’re talking about a whole new way of looking at how we eat. Sure, you’ll lose weight, but that’s not what this is all about.”

With the new Forks Over Knives movie opening in theaters across the country next week, Dr. Oz promoted the movie by interviewing the two primary stars: Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study

Dr. Campbell spoke very briefly about plant-based eating with regards to preventing or reversing cancer and Dr. Esselstyn (See book) did the same regarding heart disease. As usual, Dr. Esselstyn referred to our nation’s #1 killer as a “toothless paper tiger that need never exist.” Then the show shifted quickly to a review of the foods involved with author Rip Esselstyn (See photo) and Dr. Neal Barnard, both of whom were also in the movie.

Finally, about halfway through the show, Dr. Oz asked Dr. Neal Barnard the famous protein question, “If you’re not eating any meat, dairy or fish, where do we get our protein?” Now, maybe Dr. Oz knew the answer but was just asking it because he knew that millions of viewers were wondering about protein when they saw that the diet-style being proposed included ONLY plants. But after hearing more, I’m thinking that like over 90% of all Americans, even Dr. Oz was thinking that we really do “need” to eat some animal products in order to be healthy. (See protein page)

Rip Esselstyn -- Author of Engine 2 Diet

Dr. Oz went on to say that his wife was a vegetarian and that he eats no red meat but that seafood was very important to him and that they had featured the benefits of fish on the show many times. Dr. Barnard replied that while fish does have omega-3 fats, it also is loaded with other unhealthful fats and cholesterol and that it was missing the things that we need — key things like fiber, vitamin C and phytonutrients that are only found in plants. (See related post on fish)

Great show — good information — good promotion for the movie….BUT my question is this.

Where’s the urgency? Campbell and Esselstyn talked candidly about reversing heart disease and cancer, yet those comments were almost lost in the shuffle. We’re talking about the nation’s top two killers. We’re talking about a toxic diet that is driving up to 80% of our $2.7 trillion cost of health care. Yet there was no feeling of urgency.

J. Morris Hicks, writer, speaker, blogger and health coach

My next question is: “Where does the Dr. Oz Show go from here? He featured a diet-style on Wednesday’s show that has the power to end most disease in this country. So what does he do on Thursday as a follow-up? Does he just go back to the endless discussions of a zillion medical problems? Or does he get real serious about the “big picture” root of 80% of our medical problems? Like a blinding flash of the obvious – it’s right under our noses. It’s what we put in our mouth everyday.

Does he get real serious about getting the truth about nutrition out to the millions of Americans who are about to be diagnosed with cancer or heart disease — are about to undergo serious procedures — and have not been told about the power of simple whole plants to either prevent, slow, arrest or completely reverse BOTH?

I just got a sad note this week from a reader who didn’t learn about the truth in The China Study until AFTER she was diagnosed with breast cancer AND had a double mastectomy. She now wants to know, “When is our government, mainstream medicine, and academia going to get serious about addressing the causes of our disease instead of just treating the symptoms?”

Sadly the answer to her question is up to us. We are forming the grassroots revolution that will demand change in the future. While taking charge of our own health, we plant the seeds of change that will enable millions to get the word – before it’s too late. Thank you Dr. Oz for opening the door, now we must keep telling the story.

Earlier in this blog, I stated that I wondered what Dr. Oz would do next; my concern was well-founded — as he went back to the same old garbage a few days later. The next week, he was almost like a huckster for the dangerous low carb, Dukan Diet. Take a look. 

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 Cancer, Heart Disease | 4 Comments

Suffering of Animals — Remember Michael Vick?

Posted on 04/28/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

An article by Mark Bittman in the New York Times yesterday prompted me to write this piece. While a full chapter in our book is devoted to it, this is my first full blog on this miserable topic. After 81 consecutive days of blogging, I figured it’s about time for me to tell you how I feel.

First of all, almost no one in this country actually likes the idea of any animals having to suffer — especially those poor animals who suffer at the hands of humans. That probably even includes Michael Vick. As Jonathan Saffran Foer pointed out in his book, Eating Animals, there is no other single topic on which so many people agree. But out of sight — out of mind is the order of the day in the good old USA.

Over 99 percent of our chickens and eggs come from factory farms like this. People talk about "free range" but it's almost non-existent.

None of us want animals to suffer, yet we willingly participate in an industry that probably is responsible for 90% of ALL animal suffering in the world — including those animals in the wild. How so?

My conclusion is that wild animals only suffer briefly when they are killed or eaten by their natural predator — whereas the sixty billion animals we raise for our dinner tables around the world suffer every minute of their lives.

Home on the range...ain't what it used to be -- a typical feedlot where most of our beef comes from these days.

In the article, Bittman wrote about “Who protects the animals?” (See link to complete article below) While referring to himself and most of us as “omnivores,” he writes about protecting those ten billion animals a year who suffer in the United States so that we may enjoy eating their flesh without feeling guilty. Why does he not support getting rid of the whole industry?

I should mention that Mark was writing to object to the efforts of three states to criminalize the reporting of what goes on behind the “closed doors” of our industrial food complex. In a related Times editorial on the same day (2nd link below), it led off with the following:

A supermarket shopper buying hamburger, eggs or milk has every reason, and every right, to wonder how they were produced. The answer, in industrial agriculture, is “behind closed doors,” and that’s how the industry wants to keep it. In at least three states — Iowa, Florida, and Minnesota — legislation is moving ahead that would make undercover investigations in factory farms, especially filming and photography, a crime. The legislation has only one purpose: to hide factory-farming conditions from a public that is beginning to think seriously about animal rights and the way food is produced.

One of the smartest animals, pigs get a bad rap -- most live their complete lives in horrid conditions until they reach their ultimate destiny as part of your breakfast, your pizza topping or your barbecue sandwich.

Mark has been writing great articles on our food industry for years and he, better than almost anyone, knows that eating their flesh promotes our chronic disease. He has also written about our western feeding model as being the “most harmful, wasteful and unsustainable” system that could possibly be devised. Yet, he himself, continues to be an “omnivore.”

Being an omnivore, he always comes up short when it comes to writing about the ultimate solution to all of the above. Why not just end the madness, stop eating animals and their products, and return as swiftly as possible to the natural diet for our species. (Read this if you’re worried about getting enough protein?)

After looking through the above photos of typical factory farms, we must ask ourselves, “What are we teaching our children when we thoughtlessly continue to support these nasty businesses?” Maybe this quote from our book will help jolt you into action…

“Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar.”

—Bradley Miller

Every species has a natural diet; herbivores eat plants and carnivores eat meat (after killing it themselves and then eating it raw). Like our closest relatives in the wild, we are herbivores and ending the needless suffering of billions of animals a year is just one of a host of improvements that would result from our return to that natural diet — as we promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

A dog gets his revenge on Michael Vick; our food animals get their revenge by giving us heart disease, diabetes and an early trip to the old nursing home.

One final question for you. Is our continued support for a global system that causes the life-long suffering of sixty billion animals a year that much different than Michael Vick and his cronies causing a few dozen dogs to suffer and die? Are we any less guilty?

Then there’s horse-racing; just another way that humans have devised to amuse themselves at the expense of animals. “They shoot horses, don’t they?”

Great thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and others have long advocated a meatless diet for the human race. I will end today with this quote by another great thinker (also in our book)…

“I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals; as surely as the savage tribes left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.”

—Henry David Thoreau

Ready to kick the meat and dairy habit? Just climb aboard our 4-Leaf trainand enjoy the warm feeling that you will no longer be supporting a system that causes the needless suffering of sixty billion animals a year.

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. 

Who Protects the Animals? – NYTimes.com (Bittman article)

Hiding the Truth About Factory Farms – NYTimes.com (editorial)

Posted in Suffering of Animals | Leave a comment