Category Archives: Whole Food Plant-Based Diet and Chronic Disease

Whole Food Plant-Based Diet can prevent and cure these diseases

Something Bad is really Good!

I have joked for years that the only bad habit I had left was drinking coffee. It always seemed like giving up that treasured morning cup of joe was a bridge too far. My rationalization was that that I was getting too old to give up one more thing!  I mean, is there anything better than that first cup of coffee in the morning?

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The Bad Guys

When it comes to nutrition and diets, the “bad guys” leading to diseases and to weigh gain seem like a rotating cast of characters. When I was young,  it was all about fat. Over the years carbohydrates, sugar and lectin (to name a few) have been pinpointed as the culprits.

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Posted in Gundry, ketogenic, Obesity, Paleo, weigh loss, Whole Food Plant-Based Diet Experts, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Leave a comment

The O Word!

very fat

My last post mentioned the O word – Obesity. It even sound ugly!

The dictionary calls it “the condition of being grossly fat” and goes on to list synonyms like grossness, flabbiness and corpulence. Then there are the less obnoxious synonyms: stoutness and portliness. Finally, there is chubbiness which sounds downright cute after reading all the others! Honestly, none of them sound very appealing! (more…)

Posted in Food Additives, GMO foods, Obesity, processed food, weigh loss | Leave a comment

Paying the Price

dollar standardI was once told that I could do anything I wanted in life if I were willing to pay the price. . .

Over the last couple of months of moving, I have done what I wanted! I somehow decided that eating things like dairy and gluten, snacking on honey roasted peanuts and eating irregularly were just fine. They haven’t been!  I gained 5 lbs, my joints ached and my intestinal tract was VERY unhappy with me. Even worse my blood sugar was so out of whack that it turned me into  something of a whack job to live with! (more…)

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Spring! Finally . . .Ah Chooooo!

42-15530364After a couple of false starts, it looks like Spring is really here. The days are warmer, tulips are pushing up, and the sparrows are starting to arrive.

Spring means that we will be planting a garden soon. We know from experience that planting anything outside before Mother’s day is just setting yourself up for heartbreak! So for right now we are prepping the greenhouse for planting next week. Lots of weeds, dust and dirt to move around.

Which is why I know it is Spring. Besides all the dirt and dust, every plant and tree Prescott is in bloom. Or at least that is what my sinuses think. I can’t breath, my nose is alternatively running or completely stuffed up and I seem to have a chronic headache.

I have tried everything to make me breath better from local bee honey to stinging nettles and a neti pot. The neti pot worked best. Unfortunately,  you have to be a contortionist to use it and/or be willing to be drenched by the time you are done. (more…)

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The Great American Meatout

Ready to take the pledge?

FARM is asking Americans to “kick the meat habit” for one day — March 20 (first day of spring). All you have to do is sign their pledge to eat vegan for one day! And you can pledge to eat vegan one day per week or for always. It’s up to you!

The pledge, Meatout, is spearheaded by FARM and is (more…)

Posted in plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based Diet and Chronic Disease, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet is in the news. A Spanish study showed that people at risk for heart disease eating a Mediterranean diet were 30% less likely to die of cardio-vascular disease than the control group who ate a standard low-fat diet. It is interesting to note that group who ate the Mediterranean Diet added extra helpings of extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts.

The Mediterranean Diet in this study the Mediterranean diet is composed of plant-based foods:  olive oil, fruit, nuts, vegetables, legumes, and cereals. Along with some animal based products like fish and poultry, and limited amounts of dairy products, red meat and processed meats,. And just for fun wine and chocolate are allowed. (more…)

Posted in Caldwell Esselstyn, heart disease, heart disease, Italian, John McDougall, Pasta, plant based diet, T. Colin Campbell, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Music to my Ears

We are having a wonderful time – eating, walking and listening to music. Blues and Jazz.

This McDougall moment came in my email and it was also music to ears. In a different way, but still. . . Here Dr. McDougall eloquently states my belief about being a smart consumer of medical care.  Watch it and enjoy!

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Vegetarian Diet Reduces Risk of Fatal Heart Disease by One-Third

healthinsA new study reported in Medical News Today, and  published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concludes that a Vegetarian Diet reduces the risk of dying of heart disease by one-third!

Starting in the early 1990s the study followed 45,000 Europeans who volunteered for the study.  34 percent of volunteers did not eat meat or fish. Hospital admissions and deaths were tracked and during the study. The final tally showed a total of 1,235 identified cases of cardiovascular disease: 1,066 by hospital admission and 169 by death.

Posted in Caldwell Esselstyn, Dean Ornish, diabetes, heart disease, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ginger–Don’t leave home without it!

I get sick with a cold or the flu once a year if I need it or not. This year it was the stomach flu. Probably not technically the flu but some norovirus that acts like the flu.

Whatever it was, it was a very nasty invader. At first I thought it might be food poisoning because of the nausea, vomiting and general intestinal distress. But I couldn’t come up with any foods I had eaten that would have poisoned me.  Two things convinced me it was a virus: a fever and David having exactly the same thing.

The point of that whole shaggy dog tail is ginger:  for 24 hours the ONLY thing that made me feel any better was a home-brewed ginger tea. (more…)

Posted in GERD, IBS, Medicinal plants, Vitamins, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment