Feeling like the purpose of life is to improve your community and world is what gets me up in the morning. That goal has been best served the past number of years by teaching my Cancer Project cooking classes and giving media advice to those in a position to best influence the health of others. Namely, the doctors and health care professionals I'm privileged to work with who support a low-fat vegan diet as the best medicine against diseases of affluence.
But was anyone else struck by the Tim Russert postmortems? Here's one from USA Today comparing Russert's sudden death from a heart attack to legendary runner Jim Fixx: "Both men took steps to reduce their odds of the same fate. Russert had been diagnosed with coronary artery disease...and his doctor prescribed medication and exercise. Fixx changed his diet, laced up his running shoes and ate up the miles." Fixx died alone, on the side of the road, of a heart attack similar to Russert's.
When will it become obvious to the majority of doctors that changing the diet didn't go far enough? When will doctors like John McDougall and Neal Barnard who have been singing this song for so long be appreciated and accepted by all of the mainstream doctors and media? How many Russerts will pass away before the light goes off?
I'm not a doctor, but I am a runner who suffered from angina when I did high protein diets and my cholesterol soared in one year from 135 to 203! My medical records are on Dr. McDougall's site...http://drmcdougall.com/stars/ellen_jaffe_jones.htm
All my ills completely evaporated when I changed my diet to low-fat vegan. I couldn't run without chest or joint pain until I lost the 25 pounds. My uncle dropped dead of a heart attack in his fifties, both parents had major heart disease, and so do my two sisters now. Did I get all the good genes? Don't think so. It really is this easy. I've seen it so often in my classes. More than half the class usually loses some weight after only six weeks...half of them more than 10 pounds. Without counting a single calorie or ever being hungry, and loving the great tasting CHEAP food!
Anyone concerned about the cost of food? This is the way to go. Three bucks a day. It can be done.
I'm just so weary of reading the quotes in the Russert/Fixx USA Today summary: "Though you can lower your risk of sudent death, you can't always prevent it...no matter how many veggies and miles he ran." McDougall and others have said, yes you can prevent and even reverse it. So tragically sad.
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