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How to Prevent 90-95% of ALL Disease…

February 27, 2014 by Bonni

Though it doesn’t happen as often as it used to, I still encounter at least a couple of people every week who still believe that we need to eat animal protein to be strong/fit/muscular/etc.  It’s not just frustrating for the obvious reasons, but also because the very foods most feel we need to eat are the very same foods that are killing us.  In the past couple of weeks, I have heard at least 4 quotes about how 90-95% of the illnesses we treat in our country are a result of lifestyle choices and NOT genetics.  Deepak Chopra said it when Rita and I saw him, and since, I have heard 2 doctors say it and yesterday read the same thing in this article.  It’s time to stop blaming health care providers and our health care system for the trouble we have created for ourselves.  YES, I do know that there are certain (5-10% of all) cancers and diseases like Alzheimer’s that we are genetically predisposed to get and we may not (or may) have control over them, but type 2 diabetes, most cancers and most cases of heart disease are all preventable.  You have at least 3 opportunities every single day to use food to dig your own grave, or instead to use it as a totally awesome “medication.”

Why Everyone Should Eat More Plants

By Rich Roll   |   Posted on February 18, 2014

Running RichRoll 570x299 Why Everyone Should Eat More PlantsThere is a misconception that eating a plant-based diet is unnatural, the purview of activist radicals and the socially marginalized. Instead, I submit that it is beyond a doubt the most natural, healthy, and advisable thing you can possibly do to optimize your wellness and become bulletproof to Western disease.

 Outrageous!

What’s truly outrageous is just how sick we’ve become. We live in the most prosperous nation on Earth, and yet overall we’ve never been more unhealthy. Chronic illness is killing us and bankrupting our economy. One out of every three deaths in the US is caused by heart disease, America’s #1 killer. A close second is cancer, killing one out of every four in the U.S. alone. 70% of Americans are obese or overweight. And by 2030, 50% of Americans will be diabetic or pre-diabetic. Total insanity.

How did we get here? Of course the answer is complex, but the biggest contributor is what we eat. Currently, 94% of the calories consumed by the typical American eating the standard American diet are empty, lacking any true nourishment whatsoever, with only 6% of calories coming from fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and seeds.

Natural has become unnatural. Unnatural has become natural. We’re completely upside down when it comes to food and health. And it’s time for a change.

To right the ship, we must begin by confronting the reality that we’re actually addicted to foods that are killing us. Atop the list are processed foods—soda, snacks, desserts and other packaged items laden with preservatives, saturated fat, sugar, fructose corn syrup, sodium, and other unnatural chemicals. Of course, we all know these foods are bad for us. And yet so many are powerless when it comes to giving them up.

Why?

Because many of these foods are specifically devised to activate the pleasure centers in our brain, enslaving us to habitual poor dietary choices—the very essence of addiction. When combined with our national preference for excessive meat and dairy intake, blood cholesterol escalates, clogging our arteries; our cells become cancerous; and our immune systems spiral out of control in response, creating a state of chronic inflammation. This confluence of factors creates a persistent condition in which our bodies become disease incubators, sentencing us to an almost certain future of chronic illness.

Even more outrageous? Standard operating procedure for treating these common chronic conditions—everything from high cholesterol to erectile dysfunction—is to prescribe medications that treat symptoms rather than address the root cause of the issue. Counsel and guidance to improve diet and exercise have been supplanted by Lipitor, Crestor, Viagra and countless other pharmaceuticals designed to quell the symptoms of every conceivable malady.

Taken as a whole, the aforementioned four conditions (hearth disease, obesity, cancer and diabetes) account for approximately 75% of our current health care costs, to the tune of countless billions of dollars annually. This is simply not sustainable.

And yet the great irony is that so many chronic diseases (exempting certain cancers of course)—in fact 90% of all Western disease—need never exist in the first place.

It’s time to reverse the trend. But how?

Simple. Eat more plants. You might be surprised to learn that a plant-based diet is the only nutritional protocol known to man that has been shown to prevent—and in many cases, actually reverse, these four and many other chronic illnesses that unnecessarily plague us.

In the most simplistic terms, if America flipped the Standard American Diet so that we began getting 94% of our calories from fresh, whole plant-based foods (rather than current levels of 6%), most of our diseases would simply vanish. And our health care crisis would essentially repair itself.

I know it may sound daunting. I can’t imagine life without pizza! How can l possibly live without eggs?

Personally, I cannot emphasize enough how adopting a 100% PlantPower diet revolutionized my life. But I also realize not everyone is ready to jump in with both feet on Day One. I get it. I sympathize.

So I’m here to say, relax. Don’t be afraid. Ease into it. And let go of the idea of perfection. Let it go.

This is not about deprivation. Instead, it’s about a willingness to release old ideas you’ve harbored your whole life about what a healthy diet entails. It’s about being open to the adventure of experimentation, exploring and rediscovering whole foods in their natural state. It’s about developing an enhanced connection to and relationship with your body, learning to pay greater attention to the nexus between the foods you eat and how you feel and function. And ultimately, it’s about developing a more acute intuition about what truly serves you, so you can reprogram yourself to make better choices that are in your best long-term interest physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

With each successive step along the path, you’ll begin to notice changes. As your energy levels improve, your preferences will shift from empty calories to foods that actually nourish you. The more whole, plant-foods you incorporate into your routine, the more likely those unhealthy cravings will subside. And before you know it, that hankering for cheese might just vanish altogether.

Against all odds—and despite being a self-avowed junk-food junkie for most of my life—it happened for me. And I’m here to tell you that it can happen for you, too.

At the end of the day, there is only one rule: eat more plants. Because baby steps move mountains.

I’ll leave you with this: Embracing a plant-based lifestyle didn’t just repair my health. It was the key that unlocked my heart and allowed me to discover, embrace and unleash a better and more authentic version of myself on the world.

I wish only the same experience for you. Because we need more of who you really are.

Originally published on MindBodyGreen.com

Rich Roll

Rich Roll

A graduate of Stanford University and Cornell Law School, Rich Roll is an author, world-renowned ultra-endurance athlete, a wellness advocate, husband, and father, and an inspiration to people worldwide as an example of courageous and healthy living. He is the first of two people to complete five Ironman triathlons on five Hawaiian islands in under a week. Visit RichRoll.com to receive updates and learn more about his book, Finding Ultra.

Thanks for stopping in on this Vegan Feast Thursday.  Make it a great one and remember that any meal you can delete animal products from and incorporate some colorful veggies or fruit into, will be a meal that is not only better for YOU but also for the environment and for our animal friends as well.  Peace……….

Filed Under: health and happiness, Plant-based diet, vegan thursday

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Judith Amberson says

    February 27, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    I’m not a total vegan, but I have added many more vegies and fruits to my diet. As you know we try to grow most of the greens and tomatoes in our garden, which gives us the peace of mind knowing how the are grown.
    I agree with all of the things you pointed out about the health of our nation and the obesity problems that exist today. Part of the problem is that the farmers and producers of our food lie to us about how they grow and raise farm animals. Cage free-chickens aren’t really cage free. Just means that they are kept in less cramped pens. Meat is laced with hormones. Sodium and sugars all over the place. Makes you want not to eat!

    Bonni-I think we need to educate our people about reading labels and try to eliminate those products we have no idea of what they are. Canned vegies are pumped with sodium and sugars, along with chemicals we can’t even pronounce.

    Our health care providers need to educate their patients about food instead of fixing them! That’s what happened with the anti-smoking campaign.

    Our kids need to move more and our schools need to get rid of all the junk food in the cafeteria.
    I’m with Mrs. Obama. We the people need to get involved.

    Now we know, that many people will say no one has the right to tell us what to eat, but we the people all have to pay for the heath care all of those who choose not to care about eating and exercising properly.

    • bonni says

      February 27, 2014 at 1:38 pm

      So very well said, Judy. All of it.

      You guys grow some really beautiful, delicious stuff in that garden. Sam definitely has a green thumb! I am amazed at the abundance you are able to grow. Thanks for sharing 🙂

      All the points you make I so agree with. The deceit in all the food industries and their advertisers is frightening and leaves us all so confused. We do need to read the actual ingredients (not the catchy slogans on products like “healthful,” “nutritionally dense,” “whole grain,” and “all natural,” which mean NOTHING) and understand what they are.

      Thanks for your great input!

  2. Judith Amberson says

    February 27, 2014 at 2:05 pm

    you’re welcome!

  3. ;-}~lar says

    March 2, 2014 at 8:31 am

    Back in nineteen hundred eighty three I was working as a park ranger. A co-worker (a vegetarian) was aware of my service connected ailments. She suggested that I see her Dr., a holistic chiropractor. When I met him, he did not want to know what the medical doctors diagnosis was. Using Iridology,( the study of the iris of the eye for indications of bodily health and disease ), saliva testing, and other techniques, the Dr. was spot on. The result was a daily regimen of Aloe Vera juice, Slippery Elm bark, and other minerals and herbs along with six fruits and six vegetables. I continued to eat meat, mostly fish, maybe 5x’s a week but only once in a day. I include eggs and cheese in that. No Cheese was too hard!! Pizza pizza!! Within a week I began to feel a difference. Within a month I felt like a new man. Mentally, physically and emotionally.

    Bonni I am pleased to discover your website. I’ve since that time digressed in my eating habits and this is a shot in the arm. After losing 20lbs due to stress and poor eating habits I was alarmed that the big C was back. I’m going to the doctor for tests but realise I need to eat right.

    Thanks for looking out for others.
    ;-}~lar

    • bonni says

      March 2, 2014 at 11:57 am

      Larry–hard to catch up on a lifetime in a paragraph. I will definitely be keeping good thoughts for you. Keep me posted, please. I am thinking everyone’s health would improve with 6 fruits and six veggies a day. My veganism was an evolution from years of being a vegetarian. My now 30 year old son took up the vegan lifestyle about 15 years ago. While I don’t believe EVERYTHING can be cured by what we eat, I think many, many, many things can be. A huge turning point for me was reading the book THE CHINA STUDY and then seeing the movie FORKS OVER KNIVES…

      KEEP TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF AND THANKS FOR YOUR KIND WORDS! Keep me in the loop

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