Pity the nutrition scientist. Everyone lies when they tell them what they ate. Even registered dieticians can't accurately recount what they ate for a week. People are just terrible at it.¹ So when scientists try to compare the effects of various dietary patterns to health outcomes they often get a foggy picture. Sometimes scientists don't just … Continue reading How you can donate your body to science, right now
Maybe you’ve read some of the great success stories of people who have turned their health around by eating a whole food, plant-based (wfpb) diet. Maybe you even feel like you might try it if you are ever diagnosed with heart disease or diabetes, but for now it seems far too austere. http://www.forksoverknives.com/category/success-stories/ I’m afraid I … Continue reading Why the best time to eat plant-based is now, especially if you feel fine.
When I switched to a plant-based diet, I was interested in curing my debilitating microvascular angina. The diet worked exceptionally well for that and within 4 weeks my angina was completely gone. I was thrilled to be back to my old self, but I was surprised to find that I seem to have gone back to a … Continue reading 3 ways eating whole plant foods will make you feel younger
Have you ever had a conversation about whole food plant-based eating and the health benefits with someone who has a serious chronic health issue? By which I mean anyone in middle age or older, pretty much. DIY Plant-Based Cardiology for Women They’ll usually start off with something like “Well, it’s obviously easy for you, but … Continue reading Well, I don’t eat that much meat anyway, and other conversation enders
Disclaimer: Please do not construe anything I say here to mean that you should not seek timely medical care from an appropriate medical professional. And especially do not attempt cardiac surgery on yourself. Heart disease is the main killer of women and more women than men die of it Some sobering facts about women and heart … Continue reading DIY Plant-Based Cardiology for Women
Almost every day, in almost every kind of weather, I take a walk with my dog in the woods. This is normally a very pleasant thing to do and intuitively, it feels like it should be a pretty healthy thing too. Scientists in Japan have studied the physiological effects of spending time amongst the trees. They've … Continue reading The surprising benefits of taking a walk in the woods
There are so many reasons to eat a whole foods plant-based diet, especially if you have chronic health issues. Let Dr. Greger of NutritionFacts.org tell you all the reasons eating a plant based diet is beneficial for your health. http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/plant-based-diets/ Many very smart people advise a gradual transition to this way of eating. Some will … Continue reading 3 Reasons to jump into a whole foods, plant-based life
If you’ve read my story about how I developed debilitating microvascular angina in my late forties, and how miserable and unwell I felt, you may be surprised that when I look back on that period I’m often filled with gratitude for it. This is not to say I would be happy to do it again, … Continue reading 5 Reasons I’m grateful I had early heart disease
I keep reading about keystone habits. These are the habits discussed in Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit, defined as: small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives. Very often exercise is used as an example of a keystone habit that results … Continue reading Why diet, NOT exercise needs to be your keystone habit.
Suffering from chronic illness is not the inevitable price of admission to middle age. While preparing to write this, I found a list of all my symptoms that I had written in preparation for seeing a new cardiologist and it literally brought tears to my eyes to think about. When I wrote that list I … Continue reading How I reversed my chronic angina and got my life back.
No Spring Chickpea: The Plant-Based Midlife Rejuvenation Project 