“Just the facts” on the infamous Mediterranean Diet Study

Posted on 03/15/2013 by J. Morris Hicks

I am reminded of the saying, “All that glitters is not gold.”

Colin's co-author launches revealing video on YouTube.

Colin’s co-author launches revealing video on YouTube.

Take five minutes and watch the following video by Howard Jacobson, PhD, who assisted with Dr. Campbell’s new book, WHOLE, Rethinking the Science of Nutrition. Here are four of many headlines on this “earth shattering” study:

  • New York Times. Mediterranean Diet Shown to Ward Off Heart Attack and Stroke.
  • Fox News. Protecting your heart with the Mediterranean Diet.
  • Dallas News. Mediterranean Diet Study rocks the medical world.
  • NBC News. Tasty diet cuts heart disease, study finds.

But Dr. Jacobson has just played a little game of “Gotcha” with our host of trusted news sources—he’s suggesting that they all post a corrected headline, something like this:

Three Almost Identically Bad Diets Produce Three Almost Identically Bad Health Outcomes.

Watch his fact-filled 5-minute video to understand why.

Who paid for the study and who stands to benefit from the findings—as misrepresented as they appear to be? From an Associated Press article dated 2-25-13. I don’t know about you, but I smell a rat. From the article (see link below)

The Spanish government’s health research agency initiated and paid for the study, and foods were supplied by olive oil and nut producers in Spain and the California Walnut Commission. Many of the authors have extensive financial ties to food, wine and other industry groups but said the sponsors had no role in designing the study or analyzing and reporting its results.

The U.S. government spends close to one trillion a year on health care, far more than we spend on our armed forces.

“Disease care” in our country is all about this.

The Bottom Line. There are 35 million jobs in food industry, medicine, pharmaceuticals, and media. And not a single one of them has an incentive for us to be healthy. Their only incentive is to maintain the status quo of the “system” and to promote their own sales and profits.

As Dr. Campbell said in The China Study, that system of 35 million jobs works together to promote confusion over clarity when it comes to what we should be eating.

So what can you do to help change this deadly situation that is ultimately threatening the longterm sustainability of our species? You can help people everywhere learn about the truth. You can share our “Health Kit” below for starters. You can also help me find a few corporate CEOs who’re ready to save hundreds of millions of dollars on their company’s cost of healthcare. A few dozen companies (or cities) like that would get the ball rolling big-time.

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 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.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation

Posted in Activism & Leadership, Food Policy | 4 Comments

How long would you like to live?

Posted on 03/14/2013 by J. Morris Hicks

Letterman is now joking on his show about people living to 150.

During my first month of blogging back in 2011, I posted a blog about David Murdock, the  big Dole tycoon who is now 89. My blog was all about his well-publicized goal to reach the record old age of 125 years. An excerpt from that blog (See link below):

David Murdock

David Murdock

After reading his very interesting story, I concluded that David, like myself, probably eats more whole plants than well over 99% of the U.S. population. But, also like me, he doesn’t describe himself as a vegetarian or a vegan. In his case, that’s because he eats seafood and egg-whites.

In my case, while I never plan to have any animal products, I do have a few bites occasionally. Also, like myself, I concluded that Mr. Murdock is eating at the 4Leaf level, referring to a term that we are introducing in our book later this year. Eating at the 4Leaf level simply means consistently deriving over 80% of your calories from whole plants. In his case, the fish and egg-whites are part of the “other” 20%. In my case, it’s the cocktails, beer and an occasional piece of fish or cheese.

Now for a little humor. A few nights ago, David Letterman was citing news about some new medical wonders that were projected to enable humans to live to a record old age of 150 years. Of course, that was his lead-in to the popular Top Ten List portion of his program:

Top Ten Questions to Ask Yourself Before Attempting to Live to 150

David Letterman

David Letterman

10. “Do I want to put off my retirement until I’m 138?”

9. “Am I that desperate to see ‘Die Hard 30’?”

8. “Is 150 really ‘the new 140?'”

7. “Can I keep this a secret from my wife?”

6. “Can I get back the deposit on my own cemetery plot?”

5. “Will I have enough Viagra?”

4. “Do I mind outliving the planet?”

3. “How many colonoscopies is too many colonoscopies?”

2. “Will I end up looking like Larry King?”

1. “An extra half-century of incontinence? What’s the catch?”

So which is your favorite one on the above list? #3 is mine—the one about colonoscopies. And for me, the answer to the question is ONE (is too many)—if you’ve been eating a near optimal whole foods, plant-based diet for a long time.

As for David Murdock, here is a 10-minute video that was shot by Pepperdine University when he was 87. Like I said in my earlier blog about him, I just hope that I will be invited to that 125th birthday party—as a relatively young 104 that I will be at that time. In the following video, he talks a great deal about hard work, healthy living and being successful.

The bottom line. No, I don’t have a particular goal in mind when it comes to how long I would like to live. My goal is simply to do all that I can to enjoy vibrant health for my entire life and then to die naturally in my sleep—in my own bed, not in a nursing home. But my primary goal is to make a difference—doing all that I can with what time I have left to promote the longterm sustainability of the human species.

Who would want to live to be 150 anyway? How about a vibrantly healthy 149-year-old who had great sex last night?

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 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.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation

Posted in Celebrities, Humor, Vibrant health | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ethnic-flavored salt, sugar and fat. Yum Yum.

Posted on 03/13/2013 by J. Morris Hicks

“Served with seared flesh or over-cooked vegetables”

Michael Klaper, MD

Michael Klaper, MD

That is Dr. Michael Klaper’s definition of restaurant food. Of course, some restaurants offer much more healthful meals than others, but almost all of them make extensive use of salt, sugar and fat. Why? Because that’s what people want.

I have been reading about Dr. Klaper and watching his videos for years but didn’t meet him in person until seeing him speak at a Dr. Stoll’s Total Health Immersion event this past fall in Naples, Florida. Shortly after that, I added him to my MD Help page that has become so popular on my site.

Last week, I ran across this fairly recent ten-minute video of Dr. Klaper talking about restaurant foods. It caught my attention and I immediately decided to share it with my readers.

Dr. Michael Klaper’s definition of restaurant food

  • Ethnic-Flavored Salt, Sugar and Fat (Chinese, Italian, French, Thai–you name it)
  • Served with seared flesh or over-cooked vegetables

Toward the end of the video, he offers his own personal guidelines for restaurant eating:

  • Less is more, eat before you go.
  • Order as healthfully as possible and then leave.

Understanding the Truth about Restaurant Food

Although I never purchase any olive oil, dip bread in it before a meal or add it to my salad, there is no doubt that I consume plenty whenever I partake in restaurant meals. But there are some restaurants who do a pretty good job of taking care of their regulars and agree to prepare the foods with minimal salt, sugar and fat.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York

As for sugar, we’ve been reading a lot about this deadly substance lately. As you know, our food producers are putting sugar in everything—with “high fructose corn syrup” ranking near the top of ingredients in almost every packaged food imaginable.

Quite frankly, it is darn near impossible to find unsweetened soy milk, almond milk, or dry cereal (in your typical Big Y or Stop & Shop) these days. You’re more likely to find those unsweetened items in the more upscale and health conscious stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Wegman’s. But even there, the sugared products far outweigh the unsweetened choices.

Mayor Bloomberg. Speaking of sugar, I noticed NYC Mayor Bloomberg on Letterman recently (3-11-13)—right after the courts threw out his ban on super-sized sugary drinks. Although he has good intentions in terms of trying to reduce obesity and promote public health—one remark caused me to realize that he’s going to need some help when it comes to launching a true health-promotion initiative among NY City employees—similar to the one launched by the mayor of Chicago.

What was the remark? He jokingly mentioned something about his fondness for cheese. Little does he know that milk and cheese are probably causing more health problems than sugar—and are causing far more environmental problems. Anyone know how to get me an appointment with the mayor? I would love to have the Big Apple Mayor as my dream client. As for his comment about cheese, you can see it for yourself in this 2-minute video:

“As long as you don’t ban cheeses, you’re okay. Cheeses are my addiction.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

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 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.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation

Posted in Celebrities, soda, Video Included | 3 Comments