Archived News of the Week

The Vegan Diet, Women and Supplements, the Flu, the PSA, and Stroke Prevention

Forks over Knives: Have you noticed lately how good Bill Clinton looks? He's quite trim, looks and acts more vigorous than he did 20 years ago and - what I have really noticed - he has lost most of those unhealthy looking bags under his eyes. Well, he found that he wasn't being kept healthy on the usual AHA cardiologist's post-quintuple bypass surgery diet/meds after it was found that his brand new arteries were filling up at an alarming rate.

So, he went vegan. As he so poignantly said to Matt Lauer, "I wanted to live to see another day." This means to me that he is willing to make the sacrifices that a vegan diet will demand, as there is no dairy, no eggs, no sugar, no meat of any kind (not even fish) and not much oil, except for avocados. Those bags under his eyes? I have a feeling that he had been sensitive to dairy all along and now without it, his body is starting to heal on many levels. There is a wonderful DVD called Forks over Knives which you can either rent from Netflix et al or buy from Amazon for about twenty bucks. It's all about the China Study, veganism and a maverick cardiologist named Esselstyn. I recommend that you watch it just for a kick in the healthy pants.

But what you probably want to know is this: Do I recommend veganism? No, I don't. What feels better to me and is much less radical is what I am calling a modified Mediterranean/Vegan diet, at least for me. About two months ago, I stopped all dairy to see if I could stop my incessant and annoying throat clearing. You will be happy to know that it's gone, despite the fact that I have a daily "cheat", eating some butter on my toast in the morning. The only flesh I am eating now is fish but I do eat maybe 3 eggs a week. I also use prudent portions of EVOO especially on my salads and I eat at least a teaspoon of Artisana's Coconut Butter every day to keep my mind sharp. I am of the school that thinks you need some really good oils every day.

If you think you might want to go more Med/Veg, try eliminating dairy for starters. We are the only mammals on earth that drink the milk of other mammals, and when you put it that way, it's not too hard to give up. And if you start really LOOKING at the animals from which you derive disembodied cuts of meat hidden sweetly under plastic wrap that you then cook and eat, you might rethink the whole meat thing.

Women and Supplements: Brian Williams reported in his LEAD STORY of Monday October 10th that older women (38,000 women followed over 19 years, U of Minn. study) who take "supplements" are slightly (never gave the percentage, could be insignificant and miniscule) ) more likely to die than those who don't. "WHAT???", I retorted to myself, as I suddenly went slack-jawed in horror and waited for death.

Brian went on to say that those older women who took a MULTIVITAMIN in which there were B6, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, copper and iron had a slight (how much for god's sake! Numbers, please!) increase in mortality but that those who took calcium had lower death rates. First of all, the word "supplements." That could mean anything from a good, clean spirulina capsule to a toxic off-the-shelf brand multivitamin cheapo which is made of mostly binders, fillers and crap. You simply cannot lump everything in a capsule, gel-cap or powder together as a "supplement" then say these "supplements" are causing older women to die.

Even the researchers of this study said "Other studies have not shown such dramatic results" and that further research was needed. Notice, though, how when there is just ONE measly study published on a supplement - and ONLY if it is negative - it gets the lead story in prime time news and a mention in the NY Times while ignoring the fact that at least 100,000 people are dying  per year  of routinely prescribed drugs. Now, just try to convince me that the media isn't bought, lock stock and barrel by "other" interests.

At first glance, there is so much wrong with this study that part of me just wants you to trust me on this and take my word for it and disregard this news as treachery and Big Pharma exploitation and I will stop writing now. However, Big Me can't so here's just a bit of what I think: Yes, too much of the above minerals, of the wrong type, of poor quality and inappropriately chelated will not be ideal for you. Folic acid and B6 are good guys and are routinely suggested by me for you to take to reduce homocysteine levels and I will continue to do so because it works. Yes, it is risky to take iron or copper unless you need it and yes, I am not a big fan of everyone taking multivitamins, no matter how good they are, because for some of you they will be too complex and you won't be able to use the nutrition and then it MAY become toxic to your body. And furthermore, that's why I like the applied kinesiological approach to what I do: Your body actually tells us what you want and I honor that.

Flu Season: I won't belabor this one, as you all know by now that I don't recommend flu shots. They are stupid, ineffective and poisonous but go ahead and get one if you want to. Here are some easy things you can do every day to amp up your immune system to prevent getting sick: Get the Cold Combo now from me to have on hand in case you do get sick and also in case you are around an impolite hacker and cougher and want to use it preventatively. Eat plenty of raw garlic, mushrooms, drink some tea every day, get a good night's sleep every night, wash your hands a lot and exercise every day. All good for your immune system and knocking out the flu bugs. Good luck.

PSA: Big doings on this heretofore routine test for men over 50, which screens for cancers of the prostate. The PSA is not the end all be all anymore for men according to The United States Preventive Services Task Force: "Research shows that, over all, the test does not save lives and leads to unnecessary surgery and radiation for slow-growing cancers that would never have caused harm. As for faster-growing invasive cancers, there's no proof that PSA tests and earlier treatment offer any overall benefit." The problem here has always been that the test is done too frequently and routinely on a large part of the population and is very sensitive yet not very specific. This leads to too many biopsies which then leads to too many (premature) prostatectomies which can result in too many men left incontinent, impotent and cranky. But as the NY Times said in the header to the article in the Science section (10/11/11) the "Prostate Test Finding Leaves a Swirl of Confusion," so of course, getting or not getting the PSA is always your call.

Regarding Stroke Prevention: Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., taking 150,000 lives every year. Scientists at UC-San Diego reviewed 12 studies involving 500,000 pre-hypertensive people and their research suggests this: Young and middle-aged people with slightly elevated blood pressure  called pre-hypertension  are at a "much greater risk" for stroke than normo-tensive people. Pre-hypertension is regarded as systolic 120-139 over diastolic 80-89 while readings of 140/90 or more are considered hypertensive. Findings: People under age 65 with pre-hypertension had a 68% increased risk of stroke. There was no increase in those over 65.

Which leads me elegantly into some news on white fleshed fruit and vegetables (Stroke, AHA, October 2011). Even though we all know that the highly colored fruits and veggies impart the greatest good for us in terms of heart disease and cancer, here comes the white-fleshed guys blowing their horn. Researchers found that when white-fleshed fruits and veggies were eaten, there was a 52% lower incidence of stroke over a 10 year period. The amount eaten matters: Each 25 grams of white flesh fruit or vegetable is associated with a 9% lower risk, e.g. an apple is 120 grams. Other white fleshed fruits and veggies are pears, bananas, cauliflower, chicory and cucumber.

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