A Journey to Wellness

The Journey: If you have ever taken a trip to some far-off place, you know that it takes preparation. Clothing must be packed, reservations must be made, and plans must be put in place to make sure that you know what you will be doing when you get there. It’s no different with a journey toward wellness.

Basic Information-What’s Possible

This is a journey toward wellness. How will you get there? First you need some basic information. In spite of what you have heard about genetics determining your health, that truth is only partially true. According to research cited by the US Department of Health & Human Services, the major causes of death and disability are more dependent on our lifestyles…the way we live, than on our genetics. Please consider the following: In a little village near Sacramento California, there is a team of nurses and physicians that operate a lifestyle intervention program called NEWSTART.

These nurses and doctors do not readily prescribe medications as others of their profession do. Instead, when guests come for their 18-day NEWSTART stay, they implement a simple program of dietary changes, daily walks, the drinking of pure water, exposure to sunlight, fresh air, adequate rest, and trust in our Creator. These are changes that anyone can implement at home.

What kinds of results do they achieve? Nothing short of miraculous! In only 18 days:

• 50% of hypertensive patients are completely off their drugs
• 80% of the patients with leg pain (neuropathy) have complete relief
• 50% of patients with chest pain (angina) have complete relief

These dramatic results underscore the need for us all to actively cooperate with the laws of heath, which not only prevents but actually reverses a significant number of lifestyle-related diseases. Sooo….are you ready for your Journey to Wellness? In its simplest form, this Journey to Wellness is a three-step process that involves physical activity, simple dietary changes, and adequate hydration with pure water. Let’s begin with what I consider to be the most important lifestyle intervention:

1. A Walking Program: The fastest way to improve your health is to involve yourself in regular physical activity. And the safest and easiest activity to begin, is a walking program. For people with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, or high cholesterol, (“Metabolic Syndrome”) walking needs to be done twice a day for 30 minutes. It needs to be a brisk walk, and uninterrupted….a constant rhythmic brisk walking activity for 30 minutes! Walking has dramatic effects in on least four diseases, and risk factors for diseases

A. Effects on Diabetes. Type II diabetics are diabetic because they suffer from a serious metabolic disorder called insulin resistance. In order to decrease resistance to his or her own insulin, the diabetic must create a demand for blood sugar in the muscles by walking. All muscles need blood glucose for energy. For diabetics, walking creates a demand for energy (blood sugar) in the leg muscles. In response to the increased demand for sugar created by walking, the muscles respond by putting out millions of insulin receptors. These receptors are like “docking sites” or “doors” on the surface of muscle cells for insulin. Insulin “locks on” to the newly created receptor sites, and literally moves blood sugar into the muscle cells. If the walking is regular, twice a day for 30 minutes, in about 3 days, the blood sugar starts to come down dramatically for 80% of diabetics. Coupled with an elimination of animal products from the diet, diabetics see dramatic results from the combination of these simple interventions

B. Effects on Hypertension: For people with high blood pressure, walking serves to reduce blood pressure by increasing collateral circulation, especially around arteries that have been narrowed by plaque and cholesterol deposits. The body literally builds brand new blood vessels around the blockage laterally, or to the side of the arterial obstruction. This is really a lifesaving “natural coronary bypass” that can literally save a life in the event the blocked artery erupts with a dangerous blood clot.

C. Effects on High Cholesterol: For people with high cholesterol, walking tends to increase the amount of HDL or “good” cholesterol in the body. This form of cholesterol is the body’s “coronary bypass surgeon”. It physically removes plaque and cholesterol from arteries, and carries them to the liver for breakdown. Under optimal conditions, it takes about 6-9 months for a coronary artery to accomplish “natural bypass surgery”.

D. Effects on Obesity: For the obese or overweight, regular brisk walking has a powerful effect on the basal metabolic rate….the rate at which you burn calories at rest. That increase in the BMR can account for a substantial percentage of the 1-2 lbs. of fat weight that the walker loses each and every week. In addition, when an unconditioned person begins a walking program, the muscles burn almost exclusively glucose for energy. But somewhere around the 10th day, an interesting thing begins to happen. As the muscles become conditioned from the 30-minute walks twice a day, they begin to burn not only glucose, but also fat. The fat-burning enzymes increase in the muscles in response to regular conditioning of the muscles through walking. This change in the way muscles use fat for energy (instead of glucose exclusively) is the key to sustainable weight loss.

2. The Eden Diet: A plant-based diet is the one chosen for us by our Creator in the beginning. The research from hundreds of studies shows that people who choose fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and grains have fewer health problems and live much longer. On the other hand an animal based diet of meat, chicken, fish, and dairy products tends to shorten life and contribute to lifestyle diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and hypertension.

The leading causes of death in America are all related to what we consume for fuel. If you really think that you absolutely need meat, then look at the animal kingdom for a moment: ever heard the expression “strong as an ox”? How much meat does an ox eat….or an elephant? These animals have a strength and endurance that far exceeds humans…and they NEVER EAT MEAT! Another piece of evidence that indicates you were designed to eat the Eden plant-based diet is the design of your teeth. You have grinders in the back and nice flat teeth up front….like a cow or horse, neither of which eat any meat.

What kinds of results can you expect when you choose the Eden plant-based diet? In a word PLENTY. Let’s look at the effects of the Eden diet on the risk for several known disease killers:

A. Effects on Heart Disease: A diet that does not include animal products automatically excludes all dietary cholesterol. And oxidized cholesterol is a major culprit in the free radical damage that takes place in the arterial wall (atherosclerosis) as a result of dietary cholesterol. Fresh fruits, vegetables nuts and grains are loaded with free radical neutralizers called antioxidants. These include vitamin A, E and C, and trace elements like selenium. Nuts are especially rich in these anti oxidants. But they have another important advantage. They actually aid in lowering cholesterol levels. In one study done by Dr Sabate at Loma Linda University, participants who ate as much as a cup and a half of walnuts a day experience a 25% drop in cholesterol levels over a 45 day period. Vitamin C is a key antioxidant, and it is extremely important in preventing the micro tears in the arteries that are the beginning of arterial disease.

B. Effects on Diabetes: The basic problem that type II diabetics have is that they have something called insulin resistance. That’s a very serious metabolic disorder, because insulin is the hormone that transfers sugar (energy for the cell) from your blood to the cells. The sugar is needed for fuel to keep the cell “firing”…producing proteins, hormones, energy for the body etc. But why would a person end up resisting his or her own insulin? One of the main reasons for insulin resistance is a lack of physical activity and a diet that is rich in fat, particularly animal fat. Animal fat tends to knock out insulin receptors….in the presence of too many calories from animal products, the body literally withdraws millions of insulin receptors from the surface of the cells. This is a very serious metabolic disorder, because when there are not enough insulin receptors on the cells, they literally starve for energy. In addition, since the sugar cannot enter the cells of the body freely, it simply backs up in the blood. High blood sugar causes a tremendous rise in the risk for heart attacks and strokes in diabetics. Diabetes actually accelerates the damage to the diabetic’s arteries! In fact, the number one killer of diabetics is heart disease. Recently, I did a Wellness Weekend for a physician friend of mine who is a vascular surgeon. He informed me that just before he came home, he saw 10 patients with heart disease on his rounds, and 8 of them were diabetics! That’s the bad news. The good news is that when a type II diabetic switches to the Eden plant-based diet, insulin resistance immediately begins to disappear. Coupled with an active daily walking program, “whole plant foods eaten whole” is a wonderful cure for insulin resistance, diabetic neuropathy, and host of other complications that threaten the health and happiness of diabetics!

C. Effects on Hypertension: Hypertension is a “pluming problem”, so to speak. The circulatory system, with its miles and miles of arteries, arterioles, capillaries and veins experiences an increase in the pressure within the system. What causes this increase in arterial pressure? First, it’s important to recognize that arteries are not just tubes that take blood to the various tissues from the heart. Arteries have tiny muscles around them that close (constrict) the arteries or open (dilate) them. A number of things can cause arteries to be constantly constricted. In certain people who are salt-sensitive, salt can cause the arteries to remain in a constant state of constriction. Another key reason for the constriction of arteries lies in the fact that many of us are on an animal-based diet, and we lack enough of a key dietary protein called L-Arginine. This important protein is a basic raw material for an artery relaxer called nitric oxide. L-Arginine is found in abundance in seeds such as walnuts, kidney beans, chick peas, and lentils…almost all the legumes and nuts are rich sources of this key “artery relaxer” building block. But meat, fish, chicken, dairy products, and eggs are very low in L-Arginine. This partially explains why there are so many people with high blood pressure in America today….50 million strong! Americans love animal foods, and hypertension is a natural consequence of that love affair. The good news is that as soon as the individual begins to eat more legumes and less animal flesh, the key raw material for producing nitric oxide is presented in abundance, and more nitric oxide means greater relaxation of arteries, systemwide!

D. Effects on High Cholesterol: One of the ways to control your cholesterol level is to use a plant-based diet. Plants do not contribute cholesterol to your diet, but animal products do. Meat, fish, chicken, eggs, sour cream, cheese, mayonnaise, and other animal based products contribute significant amounts of cholesterol to the diet of Americans. This dietary cholesterol is a contributor to high cholesterol levels in the blood, and the resulting arterial damage from oxidized cholesterol that happens over time. And new research is even suggesting that animal products with blood in them (like meat) may even give the body a false impression that there has been an injury, and create a dangerous constant injury response in the body! Cholesterol levels in the blood tend to decrease nicely when the external sources of dietary cholesterol are eliminated.

E. Effects on Obesity: Dietary fat, especially that which comes from animal products tend to contribute to obesity. Fat is easily stored by the body, especially when the individual has a low basal metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories at rest). One of the safest ways to lose weight is to eat complex (unrefined) carbohydrates, and carry on a brisk walking program.

3. Pure Water: Few People today drink enough water to make a difference in their health. As Americans we drink almost everything but pure water. We drink many things that have water in them, but these drinks are flavored with sugar, which creates obesity, caffeine which makes the blood thicker, and milk protein like casein, which stimulates allergies. How important is Water? All of life exists in a fluid medium...all of the life- sustaining reactions of metabolism are dependent on water. Humans are 70% water by weight. We can live without food for 30 days, but only 5-6 days without water! The body needs about 2500 gallons of water each day to carry on the work of metabolism.

Ways the Body Loses Water

The body recycles LARGE amounts of water-only a small amount is lost each day.

*5.5 glasses lost to urine
*2 glasses lost to exhaling of lungs
*.5 glass lost to elimination of bowels
*2 glasses lost by way of perspiration
Total water lost = 10 glasses

Water Intake-Minimums

We need a minimum of 10 glasses per day equal to the 10 glasses lost.

*3 glasses-Water in food (fruits, veggies)
*1 glass-water released from metabolism
*6 glasses-water we need to drink (Min.)
(depending on sweat losses)
Total Needed = 10 glasses

How to Make Sure You Are Getting Enough Water

Water Intake must be regular, and adequately spaced

*Start of Day........2 glasses-before breakfast.
*Mid-Morning......2 glasses-before lunch
*Late Afternoon....2 glasses-before supper
*Evening........1-2 glasses-before retiring

Thirst is an inaccurate indicator of the body’s need. We must drink all we naturally desire plus 1/3 more in order to be adequately hydrated

How Water Intake Affects Exercise in the Heat

Athletes in an experiment were asked to perform under various conditions and the results observed:

*No water....16 miles, very tired
*Enough to quench thirst....19 miles, fairly fresh condition
*Water intake = water loss....after16 miles, subject reports he can “go on all day”

Research shows that during work, men never voluntarily drink as much water as they lose in sweat! (they usually drink only 2/3 of the total water loss)

Physiological Change in the Heat-No Water

*Rectal temp. and pulse rise to uncomfortable levels
*Rate of sweating declines steadily
*Mechanical efficiency decreases-increase in oxygen consumption
*Subject feels worse and worse...”out of the race” due to exhaustion & dehydration.

Markers for Adequate Water Intake

*Dark yellow urine is a sure sign of inadequate water intake
*Make sure you have clear urine at least twice a day.
*That second glass between meals REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Keep the benefits in mind...it takes 21 days to change a habit!

Guidelines for Drinking Water

Water should be imbibed no later than 1/2 hour before the meals. It’s best to drink midway between meals. No water should be taken with meals....it diminishes flow of salivary glands, and hinders carbohydrate digestion. The body has to warm the cold water before digestion can proceed. Water taken with a meal slows digestion until all the water is absorbed. Water imbibed with food also dilutes the digestive juices, and digestion takes longer, and is more difficult

Benefits of Water Intake

Water between meals hydrates the blood, allowing the digestive glands to draw more water for the formation of digestive juices. It accelerates the movement of blood in the stomach. The vessels and digestive glands become more active, and it quickens stomach function. Water at the appropriate time produces a dramatic increase in the activity of the skin, bowels, and kidneys. It increases elimination of urea & other solid wastes, and more sweat, and more body wastes are eliminated. It has a powerful influence on metabolism in that it increases the assimilation of nutrients and the removal of wastes. It solves the constipation problem

Benefits of Water Intake

*Thins and increases the blood volume
*Reduces the hematocrit level....dramatically reduces the risk for blood clots, heart attacks and strokes
*Heart movements become more energetic...increases the activity of the glands, organs and the lungs
*Keeps body temp. low during exercise
*Helps reduce bad breath
*Water is a NATURAL diuretic!

Water also solves the personal energy crisis. “Doctor I’m so tired” is the #1 complaint in the doctor’s office. I t is interesting that the scriptures declare: “He drinks no water and grows faint” (Isaiah 44:12) Energy levels increase noticeably after water intake, and there is immediate decrease in severity of allergy attacks. How important then to make the intake of pure water a regular habit.

Success in Your Journey

Remember this: success in your journey involves three things: a strategic plan, concerted action, and measurement of the results of your actions at regular intervals.

1. The Plan: The strategy is to have a plan that will bring permanent results in the shortest period of time. Be careful however that you do not put a plan in place that brings quick results, but yields a poor track record over time. Take weight loss for instance. Suppose that instead of setting up a good walking program for a steady weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week, you yielded to the temptation to do the most popular thing which is to go on a diet. In the latter scenario, you would probably notice dramatic weight loss in the first few weeks (mostly water and muscle deterioration), but after 12 months or more, you would most likely discover that you are heavier than when you first began. In fact, the research statistics for dieters are anything but encouraging: 95% of dieters are fatter in a year’s time than when they first began. While the fat loss from a walking program is slower, (1-2 pounds per week), the results are more permanent, if your persevere.

2. Concerted Action: Any plan that is not implemented and put into action proves ultimately to be worthless. Walking regularly for the diabetic or hypertensive person is not an option…it’s a necessity. The results don’t come unless the plan is implemented. Blood sugars don’t drop unless muscles start demanding more sugar as a result of exercise. Blood pressures don’t start coming down unless the hypertensive person takes in enough dietary L-Arginine, the raw material that makes nitric oxide to relax those arteries. Hematocrit levels don’t start to decline naturally unless we drink more water.

3. Measurement of Results: At regular intervals we need to look at how we re progressing toward our goal. You may think you are doing well, but you need an objective system of measurement to determine if you have truly made progress. We recommend two biometric tests for determining general health and wellness: a glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) test for elevated blood sugar, and a C Reactive Protein test to determine the level of arterial inflammation. These two tests indicate your risk for diabetes and heart disease. A general CBC blood test for cholesterol and other markers for disease is also a good idea every 12 months. If you are overweight, weighing once a month is also a good idea. If you are hypertensive, make sure that you are getting a blood pressure check at least once a month.

Make a determination that by God’s grace you will begin with a sensible plan, take action, and measure the results to see if you have been successful

Reversing Metabolic Syndrome: Because of all the media reports lately, it’s likely that you have heard of “Metabolic Syndrome”. Perhaps you even know someone who is diabetic, has high cholesterol, is overweight, or has high blood pressure. Maybe you or someone you know has all four conditions. Metabolic Syndrome is a clustering of these four conditions, and they are a prelude to much more serious life-threatening events such as strokes and heart attacks later on. Most physicians of course are convinced that hypertension and diabetes cannot be reversed. That’s true if you do nothing but take medications. But for 80-90% of Americans, their conditions are reversible if certain simple lifestyle changes are made. The changes that actually reverse Metabolic Syndrome are very simple, but profoundly important to health and longevity. Here are three simple steps that you can take to reverse hypertension Diabetes, high cholesterol and an overweight condition:

Step One: Start walking….briskly, for 30 minutes twice a day. Walking briskly twice a day for 30 minutes is the single most important thing that you can do to improve your health. Walking brings down blood pressure, reduces insulin resistance (and high blood sugar), increases HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and causes weight loss of about 1-2 pounds of fat weight per week. Do you know of any drug that can accomplish that? Yet something as simple as walking twice a day briskly for 30 minutes can go a long way toward reversing these dangerous conditions. Walking also increases your endurance, makes you less prone to heart disease and strokes, reduces tension, and helps you to handle stress better. Walking works as well as it does because it does one thing extremely well….it improves circulation all over the body. It serves as a tonic for every organ of the body, including the two most critical organs, the brain and heart. This improvement of circulation does two very important things: it increases the delivery of oxygen and the delivery of nutrients to every cell of the body. It’s the best way to stay young, and keep you’re your brain function as you age.

So why don’t more people walk regularly every day? In a word, television. Television has become the promoter of disease and disability. It encourages people to be inactive, and do nothing, except stare straight ahead, as if in a trance. This trance-like state does exactly the opposite of what exercise does: it causes a decrease in circulation, and poor circulation contributes to disease by reducing nutrient and oxygen delivery.

Step Two: Eat a Plant-Based Diet: Most of us take in far too many animal products, and the results are clearly seen in the heart attacks, diabetes, cancer and strokes that kill 70-80% of Americans. A varied plant-based diet on the other hand provides the proper nutrients in the right proportions for optimal nutrition. Fresh fruit, vegetables nuts and grains provide everything we need for health and longevity. The Standard American Diet (SAD), with its emphasis on beef, chicken, fish and dairy products increase cholesterol levels, create insulin resistance (type II diabetes), and introduce into the human body the viruses that induce cancer. There are entire societies that use a plant based diet and live longer and healthier lives. We also need to remember that when we take in the body fluids of animals such as milk, we take on the liabilities and disease that are present in those body fluids. Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF-1) is a powerful stimulator of cancer cell growth. IGF-1 has 70 amino acids that have to line up in the same sequence every time to produce this incredibly powerful growth stimulator. In the August edition of SCIENCE (vol. 249), Juskevich and Guyer reported the following:

“Human Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and bovine IGF-1 are identical. Both contain 70 amino acids in the identical sequence”

Consider this fact for a moment: A woman who drinks one glass of milk doubles the amount of free circulating IGF-1 hormone in her body. IGF-1 is literally “rocket fuel for cancer”. Eat one portion of ice cream and one consumes 12 times the amount of this powerful cancer accelerator as you would in plain milk. Notice what J.C. Chen, a scientist reporting in the Journal of Cell Physiology had to say about IGF-1:

“IGF-1 is a potent growth factor for cellular proliferation of cancer in the human breast carcinoma cell line” Jan 1994 158(1)

But for diabetics, the overweight, hypertensives and those with high cholesterol levels, much of the damage created by dairy products comes from the high-fat content of concentrated milk products like cheese and ice cream. Twelve pounds of milk are required to make only one pound of ice cream. But the real danger for the diabetic is the animal fat in ice cream and cheese, which literally knock out insulin receptors, and creates insulin resistance (type II diabetes). That fat also raises the cholesterol levels of the individual, and makes it much easier to gain weight. These animal products are potent stimulators of the condition we know as Metabolic Syndrome.

3. Drink Pure Water: Most Americans drink very little water. They drink almost everything else: juice, soda, coffee, alcohol and a host of soft drinks and coolers. But what the body needs most is pure water. Why? For one thing the body is almost 70% water by weight! Every cell has water on the inside to carry on the metabolic functions of the cell. And there is water on the outside to protect the cell and carry away waste products from the cell…interstitial fluid.

Water of course is the most basic element of blood, and blood is the medium of transportation for nutrients and oxygen, without which we would die very quickly. Thick blood is the enemy of us all, but is most dangerous to the person with arterial disease and hypertension. Thick blood tends to clot easily, and a dangerous blood clot can very quickly end the life of a person at risk for a coronary event or stroke. For people with unstable arterial plaque, blood clots are also particularly life-threatening. It turns out that the simplest way to thin out your blood without the use of drugs like Coumadin is to drink water! It expands the blood volume, reduces the thickness of the blood (hematocrit), and makes it less likely to clot. Most heart attacks happen in the morning. One of my NEWSTART physician friends is fond of telling his patients that one glass of water in the evening, and a glass or two before breakfast can literally stop a heart attack the next morning by thinning the blood! Many Americans have arteries that are partially blocked or occluded. Certain arterial plaques are unstable by nature, and are more subject to ruptures at the site of the blockage. By not drinking water, these individuals put themselves at risk for a fatal heart attack. With no natural way to thin the blood, the risk of a fatal heart attack is much higher. One blood clot can mean the difference between life and death for an individual with unstable arterial plaque. Water anyone?

But water also has other important functions such as cleansing the kidneys from the toxic wastes of protein metabolism. and protecting its health. How much water should you drink? Drink two glasses of water upon arising, two glasses before lunch, and two before supper. Such a level of water intake provides adequate hydration for brain and other metabolic functions.

The 10-Day Test: Here’s a simple experiment in healthful living that anyone can do: try using a plant-based Eden diet for 10 days. While you are at it, walk more and drink plenty of pure water between the meals. After about ten days you will discover a new you…..more energy, less fatigue, and you risk factors for disease will begin to decline: blood pressure, blood sugars, weight, cholesterol levels etc. Stay on it for 21 days and you will really begin to feel great. Why does the body respond so quickly? Remember that you were “programmed” for good health….and when you cooperate with the laws of health given by our Creator, good things begin to happen!

The Bible has an interesting way of articulating what you can expect by cooperating with the laws of nature given by our Creator. It says simply: “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good”! A long time ago in a far-off place called Babylon, a young Hebrew youth named Daniel and his three friends were carried as captives of war by the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel and his friends decided that the animal-based diet of the Babylonians was not for them. He requested a plant-based diet, and water to drink. And he asked his captors to test this Eden diet for ten days. The results were astounding. The Hebrew youth displayed an intelligence and intellect far above their peers. A special blessing on the intellect was given them by our Creator, who gave the Eden diet to Adam our first parent.

Risk Factors and Disease: It’s a shocking thing to realize, but because of our lifestyles, most of us as Americans are on the way to the hospital. The only question for many is when we will arrive! A lack of physical activity, the Standard American Diet (SAD), refined carbohydrate food and drinks, stress, lack of rest, and a host of other lifestyle factors contribute to ill health. Heart disease, strokes, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other ailments account for the lion’s share of the causes of death and disability. Yet they all are related to the way we live and the choices we make daily. What choices are you making daily? Do you drink water instead of soda pop? Do you walk in the evening instead of watching television? Do you choose a plant-based diet instead of an animal-based diet? For most of us it is these simple everyday choices, not heredity that actually determines our health now, and for the future.

Good Health-Not an Accident: Anything that is worth achieving can usually be attained by proper planning, and a practical application of the plan. Good health is no different. It takes cooperation with the laws of health and avoidance of the things that tend to destroy health. All flesh foods lack a very important component of good health: fiber. Many studies have indicated that dietary fiber is important in protecting us form colon cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. An animal-based diet also has several substances that tend to contribute to disease and disability: saturated fat, which raises the cholesterol level, disease-producing pathogens like e-coli and salmonella. Choose the best and good health will follow your choices.

Side Panels:

1. “Behind the Milk Mustache” Perhaps you’ve seen the billboard ads for milk that seem to be everywhere. How healthful is milk, and how necessary is it? A simple glass of milk can deliver a lot more than just protein and calcium. Consider for a moment this fact: currently, 89% of the cows in America are infected with the bovine leukemia virus (BLV).* About 30-40% of cows are also infected with the bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). That glass of milk can also deliver growth hormones that hasten the onset of the monthly cycle in female children, and powerful antibiotics that can create drug-resistant bacteria in your system. In addition, that same glass of milk can deliver a powerful growth hormone called IGF-1, sometimes described as “rocket fuel for cancer”….cancer of the prostate, breast and colon. It takes 12 lbs. of milk to make one pound of ice cream. All of the objectionable elements of milk are concentrated 12 times more in ice cream as in milk! It also takes 10lbs. of milk to make a pound of cheese. That then means that all the objectionable elements of milk are concentrated in the cheese by 10:1. Before milk can be made into cheese, it has to be subjected to the influence of bacteria for extended periods of time. Milk, cheese and ice cream, because of their concentrations of saturated fat, cholesterol, IGF-1, and pathogens that can cause disease, are really high-risk foods, and can lead to diseases and complications that you did not bargain for. Before you are tempted to drink another glass of milk remember this: milk is a body fluid from animals you know nothing about! Why drink the body fluids of another species that may be cancerous, or have life-threatening pathogens secreted in their milk?
Hoard’s Dairyman, March, 2001

2. Heart Disease-A new Perspective: Maybe you’ve heard the classic explanation of how heart disease develops. People on a high-fat animal based diet tend to have higher cholesterol levels…and with those higher levels come increased arterial plaque. As plaque builds up, the artery narrows, until the artery is completely occluded and the artery plugs up. A heart attack ensues, and the patient dies. Newer research now suggests however that this classic explanation is not the whole picture of how heart disease develops. Arteries have a thin wall that heretofore has been ignored in the development of CHD.

How it begins: Arterial disease actually begins with free radical damage within the walls of the artery. The culprit is usually a lack of adequate amounts of antioxidants in the diet, and oxidized cholesterol. This damage causes an inflammatory reaction, which results in macrophage activity, and the deposition of plaque and cholesterol in the artery. As the deposits grow within the walls of the artery, it undergoes “compensatory expansion”, meaning that the walls of the arteries actually grow bigger, and expand. Only after the artery is unable to expand further does the plaque and cholesterol begin to develop on the inside lining of the artery. This fact explains a mystery that has plagued cardiologists for years. Why is it that a man in his 50’s can undergo tests that indicate that his arteries are only 50% occluded, and then drop dead the next day after his doctor gave him “a clean bill of health”?

The mystery is explained by a relatively new concept called “apoptosis”, or spontaneous cell death. For reasons that are still a mystery, some people who have an abusive lifestyle seem to reach a point where after enormous abuse, the endothelium or innermost lining of the artery actually “gives up”, and undergoes spontaneous cell death. At that point, for people with unstable arterial plaque, the endothelium can erupt in a blood clot, which completely blocks the artery, and the patient experiences a heart attack, 50% of which are fatal.

Another Mystery: If high cholesterol is the culprit behind hear t disease, then why is it that bears and other hibernators with cholesterol levels above 600mg/dl don’t all die from heart disease? At a May 2002 presentation at Stanford University, a European researcher, Dr Matthias Rath dropped the bombshell, which may completely change our understanding of how heart disease begins and develops. His premise is simple, and was demonstrated in animal research. Some animals like guinea pigs do not make their own vitamin C, just as in humans. Guinea pigs that are deprived of adequate amounts of vaitamin C develop arterial plaques identical to humans! Control animals that were fed adequate amounts of vitamin C did not develop arterial plaques. Why were guinea pigs chosen? Because they, like humans, do not manufacture their own vitamin C in their bodies, as bears and other animals do. Most animals produce their own vitamin C in amounts between 1 and 20 grams per day compared to human body weight! Dr Rath went on to say that almost everyone in our society suffers from inadequate amounts of vitamin C. And over several decades of time, micro lesions develop in the arterial walls, especially in areas of high turbulence and mechanical stress, such as coronary arteries. Vitamin C induces the natural repair of the blood vessel wall, which leads to a halt in the progression of arterial damage, and even to “natural regression of vascular lesions”. Reminds me of something our Creator said to our first parents in Eden: “The fruit shall be for your food and seed bearing plants” Gen. 1:29. It turns out that the best sources of vitamin C are fresh fruits and vegetables!

What can be done to protect yourself from a heart attack? The most improtant thing that you can do is to become physically active. A brisk walking program for 30 minutes twice a day is protective to the health of your arteries. The reason? Brisk walking increases HDL, a natural substance that removes arterial plaque and cholesterol from your arteries. It also builds collateral circulation, which in combination with HDL action constitutes a kind of “natural surgery” for the problem of arterial plaque.

The second most important thing that you can do is to eat a plant-based diet high in vitamin C, which protects the arteries from the “micro tears” in the arterial wall. These “micro tears” are the beginning of arterial disease, and are largely preventable through adequate Vitamin C intake. On the other hand, animal products such as meat, cheese, sour cream, chicken, fish and the like tend to be high in saturated fat, which trends to raise cholesterol levels. These foods also have cholesterol in them. When oxidized, these oxidized cholesterol end products tend to damage the walls of the arteries and produce inflammation, compensatory expansion of the arterial wall and the eventual plugging up of arteries. Plant-based diets have no cholesterol; they tend to be low in saturated fat, and consequently, do not raise the cholesterol levels, as does an animal based diet.

The third most important thing you can do to prevent heart attacks is to drink water. It thins the blood, making it less likely that a blood clot will develop in the artery. Thinner blood means that the heart does not have such a difficult job in pumping thick blood.

3. “Seeds and Your Health: Hypertension” If you have ever studied the first chapter of the book of Genesis, you know that when mankind was created, our first parents were given a diet. And that diet was a plant-based diet: “The fruit shall be for your food and seed bearing plants”. But what do seeds have to do with being healthy? Apparently, a great deal! For one thing, seeds represent the next generation of plants, and are packed with nutrients to give the baby plant a good start. Seeds are generally rich in vitamins minerals, and trace elements so vital to the health and vitality of the new plant. It turns out that these same elements necessary for the health of plants are the ones necessary for our health too!

They tend to nourish the body, and protect us from disease. Seeds like walnuts, lentils, garbanzos and soybeans have a very important building block protein called L-Arginine. This protein is extremely important in the manufacture of a substance called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is made by the endothelium, a thin one-cell-thick layer that constitutes the innermost lining of the artery. It turns out that nitric oxide is the antidote for a dangerous condition that afflicts 50 million people in America…hypertension. Hypertension puts us at risk for strokes and heart attacks. Nitric oxide tends to relax arteries and bring down blood pressure. Meat, chicken pork, cheese and dairy products have only trace amounts of nitric oxide. But several seeds are rich in L-Arginine, the essential building block in the body’s ability to manufacture Nitric Oxide, which is the natural antidote for high blood pressure.

4. The Best Part of Waking Up: New research now suggests that vitamin C in our diets is even more important than we believed. And while we have been aware for some time of its effects on colds and viruses, we have now discovered that it has a very important preventive effect on arterial health. As an antioxidant, vitamin C prevents the micro-tears that happen spontaneously in our arteries in response to the aging process. Some researchers believe that most of us suffer from a chronic ongoing Vitamin C deficiency, and a chronic lack of adequate amounts of vitamin C is the real culprit behind arterial disease. Fresh fruits and vegetables provide an abundant supply of natural vitamin C for all the need of the human body. That would suggest that the best part of waking up is not coffee, (which makes the blood thicker) but fresh fruit in your cup!

7 Practical Steps to Wellness

STEP ONE: Start where you are…with an Assessment…a blood test, for baseline results. One test that is important for all Americans over age 25 is the one that measures glycated hemoglobin or the glycated hemoglobin test (HbA1c). It will help you to determine whether you are diabetic, pre-diabetic or normal. Another important test is the C-reactive protein test. It is a good measure of arterial inflammation, which happens prior to arterial damage. It is an extremely effective predictor of heart disease, and is a relatively inexpensive test.

STEP TWO: begin a walking program. If you have chronic problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity or diabetes, you need to walk twice a day for 30 minutes each time.

STEP THREE: Make dietary changes. Begin to use a plant-based diet. Add more and more fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains to your diet. By so doing you will dramatically reduce your risk for the major lifestyle killer diseases (heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and hypertension).

STEP FOUR: Learn to drink pure water instead of soft drinks.

STEP FIVE: Ask for spiritual help…all the knowledge in the world will do you no good unless you implement what you know to be good health practices. We all need help from time to time to resist the things that destroy our health. Our Creator is always ready to help us to do what contributes to our health and happiness and peace of mind.

STEP SIX: Seek the support of like-minded people……join a support group.

STEP SEVEN: Retest your self in three months to see how you have progressed. Re-testing provides a medium of accountability, and lets you know if your lifestyle intervention program is successful in reducing your risk for these killer diseases.

Successful Lifestyle Change: I saved the most important thing for last. No matter how much good information you know, it will do you absolutely no good unless it is put into practice. A lifestyle that is lived in keeping with what you know to be healthful and health-producing is critical. We call that personal integrity, and the truth is that there is nothing like it. But why do some people seem to have more self-control and personal integrity than others do? The answer lies in will power….but not the kind you see around you. Most people do not live up to the knowledge that they have. They know they should drink water instead of soda pop, but they give in to inclination and peer pressure. They know they should walk instead of watch television, but they spend 2-3 hours watching violent immoral programs. Why? Because we all have evil desires that that sometimes overpower our desires for what is good and right.

Now as far as these unhealthful desires are concerned, there is good news, and bad news. The bad news is that you cannot change you desire for what is wrong. The good news is that our Creator is in the business of strengthening your desires for what is good and healthful. And He even goes one step further for those who want it: He gives to us new desires and purposes and motives. And the key to receiving these new desires for what is right is to ask Him….in prayer. When our Creator walked this earth in the flesh, he encouraged His disciples to ask for the things that are pure and good. And you can too. Notice what He told them:

Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock, and the door shall be opened unto you”

That’s good news isn’t it? Each day at the beginning of the day, spend some time reading the scriptures, and asking for help that you need (the Lord’s Prayer is a good start if you are unaccustomed to prayer). And gradually, you will notice that new desires are starting to emerge, new purposes are working in your mind, and new motives are driving your actions instead of the old ones. This is what it means to experience truly successful living! May God bless your efforts to live healthfully and make a difference for good in our world.