Pages

Monday, August 29, 2011

Watch the full CNN show "The Last Heart Attack" with Sanjay Gupta, Bill Clinton, and Caldwell Esselstyn. Save Lives.




Finally, "The Last Heart Attack" show played on CNN!! It was only because I am on 4 gazillion healthy living "lists" that I actually knew when it was going to appear. Although I have always liked Sanjay (who doesn't?), I never really was super excited about  him just because he seems afraid to "test" the waters too much. But I think when an ex-prez tries to save his life with diet, when a meat & potatoes guy who used to jog to McDonald's, is eating quinoa & chickpeas now- it's hard to "ignore" anymore. This special comes at a time when more Americans then ever are losing their health insurance. I remember hearing years ago, that when Cuba was cut off from receiving a lot of financial help & foodstuffs, that their health actually got better.  They had to eat a mostly plant based diet and their heart disease rates plummeted.   While it is terrible that we are losing health insurance, I wonder if there will be some sort of movement to become proactive in our health (if we have no other choice). I am all for diagnostic testing, using the technology to see what issues we have. However, when regular doctors say it's radical to ask Americans to change their diet, they have lost my faith. These are the same doctors that are doing open heart surgeries on a daily basis! What about heart surgery isn't radical? And when you really start looking into people who have had bypass surgery, that usually isn't the end of their heart issues. It won't "fix" the problem unless you fix the cause. The cause? The food the government subsidizes. According to Esselstyn, Campbell, and countless others, it's the meat and dairy that are killing us. Esselstyn suggests to make ourselves "heart attack proof" that we eat a low-fat, whole foods, plant based diet. Do you douse everything with olive oil? Don't!! Yep. Olive oil is only helpful to you if you are using it instead of butter. But to someone eating a wholefoods, plant based diet, olive oil doesn't help you a bit! The "Forks Over Knives", "Engine 2 diet", and Esselstyn, and Campbell's diet promotes avocados & raw nuts for your oils, and Esselstyn is even stingy with those, suggesting that if you are at risk for heart disease-skip even the nuts.

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure


Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health


The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds


sThe China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health


Radical? Well, if you are a mother or father, and you are trying to stay alive to see your kids get married and hang out with your grandkids-I don't think eating differently is "radical". I feel like fruit loops, McDonalds, heart surgery, countless drugs, and the entire country getting diabetes by 2020 (if we don't make any changes) is a whole lot more radical than eating foods in their natural form.
Like I said in my last post, my early years were spent on a primarily plant based diet because my folks got married at 19 and 20. They had nothing! They used a plant based diet because it was the cheapest way to nourish themselves. White Rice was basically not allowed in our home. Although I would come home begging my mom for "Minute Rice" after I was at my Bolivian friend's house (she is still up for grabs by the way), my mum wouldn't cave. And I am very grateful for that. Fast Food french fries?? Not after my dad saw in a science zine, over twenty years ago, that they were cooked in BEEF tallow!! Plant based is old school. White bread, Hostess, Little Debbie, packaged lunch meats are wonder products from the late 40's and we are still paying for their convenience. Yep, convenient at the time, but when you watch a relative take a last breath because of an accumulation of this type of food, ya might change your mind.

Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!
(Kris Carr and her holistic way of dealing with a rare cancer.  Lifestyle tips for everyone!!)

The great thing is this diet is ultra cheap. No, don't go to Whole Foods and buy packaged foods!! Then it is expensive!!! BUT, you can go to Whole Foods, and hit the bulk aisle. You can find endless beans & grains, organic, for very little money.  That is what Whole Foods started out as, it wasn't always a mega store with every type of "boxed", frozen, processed food!! It was "built" on beans, grains, veggies, and YOU can still used it like that!  A co-op is great too, but we don't all have that.   Quinoa cooks up in just a few minutes. If you eat wheat, well, bulgur wheat also is a super quick meal. Beans & Greens offer a ton of protein. And if you eat organic tofu or tempeh, just throw some on a bed of a whole grain or in a salad. And beans & grains if you don't buy organic-even cheaper! Although at WF, most beans and grains (dried) run about 1.70 to 3.00 a pound. Cheap kitchen tools to make your life easier are rice cookers and slow cookers. I have a Miracle Rice Cooker, which makes a stellar batch of Brown Basmati Rice (yes, you can buy organic BROWN basmati!). The Miracle has a stainless interior. But you can pick up other brands of rice cookers for next to nothing in nearly any "box" store, or of course online. Crockpots are a very inexpensive, unscary way to cook dried beans.

Stainless Steel Rice Cooker Model ME81 (Formerly ME8) - by Miracle Exclusives
This is what I bought when my other rice cooker broke.  It is pricer than others,  but we don't go out to eat much and we use it all the time!  But any rice cooker will do.  I bought this brand because it was stainless on the inside and I try to avoid plastics.


Crock-Pot 3060-W 6-Quart Round Slow Cooker, White



What's so "shocking"?  That if we have the knowledge to end heart attacks, that we aren't actually promoting that knowledge and using it.  I just wish that the grandfather that I never got to meet because he died at 42 from a heart attack, well, I wish that he would have gotten to use it.  It really is a difference between life or death.  

I know cholesterol has become a real hot button issue these days.  Many people say now it doesn't matter.  In my opinion, it is because we are doing an incomplete cholesterol test.  It seems that the plant based docs say if you are below 150 then you are safe.  But we also need to do an actual cholesterol test that matters.  That tells us the size of our particles.  One name for this type of test is the VAP test-a very comprehensive test.  If you have small dense particles, you are in trouble. (But you can still change!).  You want big fluffy pretty particles.  Even if you want to take medicine, apparently this test will help navigate which medicine would actually work for the type of cholesterol you are trying to treat.  I went to a preventive doctor, who ordered this test when I became a new patient, and it's awesome!  If your doctor writes the script for it, and you have just "normal" insurance, it should be covered.  But check!  I have had several friends & family members have a difficult time getting tests written, because doctors don't ever want to put up a red flag to their insurance, so either go to a different doctor and ask or go to Any Lab Test Now.  Any Lab Test Now doesn't deal with insurance at all but you can get tests done for very cheap.  So you pay out of pocket, but this may allow you to take tests that your insurance won't cover, or if you don't have insurance.  And ya know what, you don't even need a doctor to write a script if you use Any Lab Test Now.   Remember, you are a consumer of the health care industry.  Doctors aren't Gods and don't really want to be Gods.  But you are the customer.  There are good doctors out there, so if you are not "being heard" then make an appointment with someone else.  If you have insurance, you are only out your co-pay.  But it's important to find doctors that you feel like you can trust.  If you don't have a good relationship with your doctor, then you just may blow off ever going-so find doctors what will work with you.  You are the customer and it is ultimately up to you to be your own advocate.









Sunflower Power Balls



Raw Vegan Poppyseed Pastry.

Raw Vegan Spinach Dip.


**The entire "The Last Heart Attack" show with Sanjay Gupta will be REPLAYED on CNN this Saturday Night, twice.  Please check your local listings.  I believe it will be 8:00 pm and 11:00 CENTRAL time.  But check and just set your DVRs for the whole night!!






Sounds True, Inc.

7 comments:

  1. now that the fast is over i want KALA CHANA NOW! :) damn that looks good.

    your posts rock. this was no different, and i love your writing style. our only difference of opinion revolves around RFW. you are obviously an affiliate and big supporter. don't know if you saw my posts about them, but i'm not a fan to put it lightly. hope you look into it :D

    Rick

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmmmm.....the Kala Chana ROCKS!!! Yes, I don't know exactly what you are talking about in regards to the Raw Food World, but I may have an inkling?? I like Angela a lot, and Matt, I appreciate but I am not into the entire "Empire" with David Wolfe, etc....However, I think that even David Wolfe has some useful information out there-like he talks about taking DIM to balance the hormones. I do shop from the Raw Food World, but in general I do the "At Cost Specials". So basically, I see what the prices and products are for those each month, and buy accordingly. I don't buy a bunch of super weird stuff either-Lucuma is about as weird as I get. No deer antlers, etc...So I don't align 100 percent with them, but I do shop there. Just one of the places though. I am always looking for the best, cheapest, raw food nuts, grains, chia seeds, etc....Often it is from Amazon as Nutiva brand offers great bulk packs. I am always on the look out for a great raw/whole foods super store though, so if you have suggestions, please let me know! We actually eat (not just drink smoothies or aiming to be breatharians (until food prices get too high anyway) so it's not like small amounts of high quality food do......We are, after all American :) and we even get "The Daily Show" and "Steven Colbert" in our home to prove it (that we like to lay on the couch and watch tragic and humorous news!). Let me know of the best value/best product places please!!!! I also shop at Amazon a lot and I am sure that I am not into that whole thing either!! Whole Foods too, and they sell meat!!! So I try to spend money at places that align with a mostly vegan diet or are cheap and delivered to our house (Amazon)!! But please let me know!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, I just love this post! I don't have time to watch the video right now - my 5 yr. old will be wanting breakfast soon, but I hope to see it. What you said about health is so true, and I love that you just don't point out the negatives, but you offer alternatives for people. What I do wish is that for people who can't afford health insurance, they probably will have a hard time affording organic fruits and veggies - I wish those would be more affordable. However, you pointed out some wonderful options in bulk sections for people.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @blessedmama. I WISH fruits and veggies were subsidized. But now many Farmer's Markets are taking welfare cards so that is great!! Even if fruits and veggies aren't organic, they are still good for you and the farmers markets, especially later in the day, offer great deals on this stuff. I think a lot more people have taken up backyard gardening as well. I know our own square foot gardens, in a very small city lot, have done well this year with the kale, mustard, collard greens. Love both of your blogs as well (Rick & Blessed Mama). OH, and the show is rebroadcast this Saturday Night, twice!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm going to program my DVR to record this!

    Great post, as always. I couldn't agree more about the "radical" issue. My dad had quintuple bypass surgery at age 42, then a quadruple one just ten years later. Yet, he still thinks our way of eating is radical. It's so sad to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. to elaborate a bit...RFW screwed me. i can't put it any other way. Not only did they screw me once, but then after they told me they cannot serve me as a customer, they didn't give me the $35 in affiliate money they still owed me either. The company has no ethics. The whole empire thing is another topic in itself. They mislead the people, they're only in it for the money, and they've started carrying non-vegan products. They care nothing about the health of the people. I choose to spend my money at places where the ethics are sound. That company has no scruples. I have a few DETAILED posts about what happened over in my blog, you should seriously read them.

    I go to Natural Zing for everything now as their prices are comparable to RFW, but they ship everything that exact day and don't take 8 days to get to me like RFW. They don't have "at-cost" specials because they aren't part of the evil empire with david wolfe (who i'm going to talk mad shit on in some upcoming posts, just found out about his plagiarism).

    as for your comment on my blog, i wasn't saying that we don't have soy and wheat in our house either - every once in a while is okay, but those foodie-playing-a-health-advocate blogs seem to feature baked goods, soy all the time, etc. it's maddening. the normal vegan should be adopting a WHOLE-FOODS, plant-based diet. baked goods and burgers w/ TVP protein all the time is just ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A huge thanks for posting the full episode of "The Last Heart Attack." I was afraid I was going to miss it this weekend... Think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't have a DVR.

    ReplyDelete