Reading material in the bathroom…a red flag.

Posted on 03/13/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

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

Let’s face it; there are some things that even guys don’t talk about that much. One of those topics is the gory details about our elimination of solid waste. So, whatever we experience ourselves, we naturally assume that is “normal.”

Now occasionally your doctor may ask you a few discrete questions about your stools and may recommend some medication for your occasional or chronic constipation. But, I bet he/she has never told you that a truly “high fiber” diet delivers over 60 grams of fiber a day. And that if your source of that “colon cleansing” fiber was a plethora of whole plants every day, that you would never have even a hint of constipation — EVER AGAIN.

My perception of “normal” began when I first started going to the bathroom by myself. Even as a very young boy, I remember straining mightily to get the job done and frequently seeing blood in my stool. Of course, I never discussed any of that with anyone and since my dad would spend a half hour “doing his business,” I just assumed that I was doing just fine with my mere ten minutes.

In you need reading material in your bathroom; you are definitely not eating at the "4-Leaf" level.

Now that I have been eating a near optimal diet of mostly whole plants that delivers 60 to 100 grams of fiber per day — here is my current description of normal.

  • At least one movement per day; sometimes two or three for a total of 10 to 15 per week.
  • A total of 10 to 20 seconds for the total elimination portion of doing your business…effortlessly.
  • Large stools, consistent color and not that much odor.

In one of Dr. John McDougall’s recent books on this topic, I remember the phrase “Small stools = Big Hospitals ** Large stools = Small Hospitals. I also learned that my experience above is consistent with the “healthy normal” and that there are many people out there who only go once or twice per week.

During the first year of my healthy eating campaign, I did experience some very large and strange, dark and yucky stools from time to time. In my study at the time, I had been reading about the impacted fecal matter that resides in one’s colon for decades — simply because we’ve all been eating the wrong food for our species. After a year of eating the right food, your body will simply take care of business and clean up your system.

Want some facts about stool sizes around the world? This post was updated on 10-10-11 with the addition of this informative video entitled, “Who’s #1 at #2? by Dr. Michael Greger, the creator of http://www.nutritionfacts.org, where he is launching a new video every single day this year.

For more on this topic, here is a recent “McDougall Moment” from Dr. John McDougall on the topic of constipation.

Two of my three grandsons, Andrew and Cooper Hicks at Wachusett Mountain -- today -- March13, 2011 at 7:30 AM

As for that reading material, maybe it’s a good idea to keep some of it around for your guests. But, on the other hand, if your guest is a healthy eater, he/she may mistakenly assume that you are still experiencing the “normal” of your earlier years…when you ate meat and dairy three meals a day — every day of your life.

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Want to receive some occasional special news from us? You may wish to Join our periodic mailing list. For daily updates you can choose to “FOLLOW” at the top of the right column.

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.

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.

Please 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 of Directors…

Posted in Colon Health, Health in General, Healthy Eating 101, Video Included | 1 Comment

Weight-loss, longevity or vibrant health?

Posted on 03/12/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

What is your primary motivator for improving your eating habits?

After blogging about the New York Times David Murdock article a few days ago, I have been thinking about the primary motivations that lead people to improve their diet. Which motivation is most likely to be successful in preventing your return to your old habits?

In Murdock’s case, the emphasis seemed to be on longevity as the 87-year old planned his 125th birthday. That may or may not be his primary motivator as the writer may have just been looking for a catchy title. But living a long time is the primary motivator for some people; for others is might be weight-loss or vibrant health.

Co-writer J. Stanfield Hicks and wife Lisa both lost some excess weight they didnt even know they had; until they began eating at the "4-Leaf" level, deriving over 80% of their calories from whole plants.

Let’s take weight-loss first. As reported in our book, diets to lose weight simply do not work for the vast majority of people. 97% of the Americans who go on “diets” to lose weight eventually gain all of the weight back — or more.

Yet, the weight-loss business is huge as people continually seek quick and easy solutions to their problems. With our nation as one big laboratory, during the past fifty years (the heyday of the diet business), our nation as a whole has become fatter and fatter almost every year.

As for longevity, all of us are on the clock and will perish one day — of that we can be certain. In the case of my parents, they both eventually died after having strokes, which were probably driven by restricted blood flow — a result of diet-driven build-up of plaque in their arteries. My father died at 91 and my mother a bit younger, but I am convinced that they both could have lived decades longer if they’d learned what truly healthy eating was all about much earlier in their lives.

If we eliminate the primary causes of premature death like cancer, stroke and heart disease, then the majority of us will simply die of old age and enjoy an active and disease-free life up until our last day on the planet. My guess is that with a super-healthy diet and lifestyle that I probably have the genetic potential to live to be 105 or maybe longer. But like I said in an earlier blog, my primary goal is not to outlive all my friends and family. For me, it’s all about vibrant health NOW.

My brother asked me once, “Who would even want to live to be 105 anyway?” My answer, “How about the 104-year old guy that had great sex last night?”

As my son signs every single one of his notes to his health clients, Always remember, vibrant health is the goal. The 4-Leaf Program — The Pursuit of Vibrant Health. In a future blog, I will cover the top 100 symptoms of vibrant health — and only one of them is a trim body at your ideal weight forever — effortlessly. FYI, eating at the 4-Leaf level simply means deriving over 80% of your calories from whole plants — in nature’s package.

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 Health in General, Obesity | 2 Comments

Friends…the fine line between caring and proselytizing

Posted on 03/11/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

There is a time and a place for sharing information.

A fun gathering of some of my many friends in Stonington, CT

6:00 AM. Living in a compact and quaint New England village by the sea, I know virtually all 1200 of our residents by sight and about half of them by name…and consider a great many of them friends. Just before moving here in 2003, I became curious about the optimal diet for humankind and have made some startling discoveries during the past eight years.We’re talking about discoveries that save lives and preserve life itself on this planet. So, what should I tell my friends about these startling discoveries?

Up until today, only a very small group of local friends have been aware of the depth of my study or the intensity of my convictions. Most of my 1200 neighbors just know me as the guy that eats funny and drives the Mini Cooper with NAVIG*8 on the plates. So, if I consider my recent discoveries as more important than any other single thing in the history of the world, how could I not share that knowledge with my friends?

Everyone knows the answer to that question. Thankfully, our society respects the privacy of all individuals and our sophisticated populace in the Borough of Stonington will simply ask you a question if they are curious about something. Not surprisingly, other than an occasional “Where do you get your protein?” I have been asked very few substantive questions about my favorite topic. Until now.

6:30 AM. A few months ago, I was asked a very important question about my upcoming book and my philosophies about the food that we eat. The question was, “Would you speak at one of our regular Stonington Men’s Group breakfast meetings at the Calvary Church?” My answer was an immediate “I would be delighted!” My speech to that august group begins in one hour; right now, I am sitting in my usual chair at the Starbucks in Mystic, CT….where I am almost every day at this time…working on my daily blog — which I will complete following my meeting with the Men’s Group. Fast-forward two hours…

9:30 AM.  I am now at home watching the Japanese earthquake tragedy unfold. But before getting into that, I will finish up my blog. The meeting was very enjoyable and featured a very attentive audience who asked a plethora of substantive questions at the end. My topic today for my friends was simply “my story” of how I became curious about the optimal diet and all that has happened since.

I told them that they would be the topic for today’s blog that I  will email to the entire group of over 100 men, most of which were not in attendance.

Dear Men’s Group, I invite all of  you to take a tour of my site…beginning with the Book Preview tab. Then, I recommend that you read my “Thirty Minutes to Live” article which can be found by clicking on the Big Picture link.

J. Morris Hicks, writer, speaker, blogger, consultant and resident of Stonington, CT.

Finally, take a look at the Video tab where you can see Bill Clinton and Oprah talking about eating plant-based along with two short videos featuring Dr. T. Colin Campbell. The last video on that page is a full-length movie (93 minutes) called HOME…a compelling documentary outlining the staggering human disruption our planet has suffered in just the last 50 years.

The film does a great job of describing the mess that we humans have created, but not such a great job outlining the solution. While it won’t solve all of our problems, I am convinced that a deliberate move in the direction of a plant-based diet for humans is the most powerful move that we could possibly make.

How strongly do I feel about that? I am convinced that there has never been anything more important in the history of the world. Please pass along the link below to my home page to any of your friends and family that you think might be interested. God bless you.

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 Social Challenges | Leave a comment