Lycopene Magic Bullet

Well, I know I already wrote earlier, but I couldn't let this one pass me by.

Last night, my favorite news magazine show ran a piece on the discovery of resveratrol and it's fountain of youth and wonderful antioxidant qualities. Even though this segment was a repeat, it reminded me of how we are so duped into thinking this new product will do the trick, give me the quick fix, and make me live till 100. I should have counted the number of times the doctor interviewed or the reporter used the phrase, "magic bullet." I couldn't have written an infomercial better.

Resveratrol...the story ranted, is found in red wine. So follow the wisdom of the Mediterranean diet and drink till you feel healed. A double-whammy...not only do we have a magic bullet, but it comes in something that we can feel justified in getting drunk. How wonderful. Is anyone questioning the reporter, "what about alcohol and its' link to cancer? What about the connection of drinking leading to more eating which leads to weight gain which is not good for cancer survival and other conditions? Why isn't it equally wonderful to just eat friggen grapes which have every bit of resveratrol that wine does, only they are healthy enough that kids can eat them!???"

What are these reporters and their bosses thinking? Again, I understand how cash-strapped media outlets are. But why are the true heroes of our time, Drs. McDougall, Barnard, Essylstyn and Colin Campbell not the focus of real investigative reporting? Why are their successful lifetimes of fighting so many diseases with a low-fat, plant-based diet not in the headlines.

As a cooking instructor for The Cancer Project and lessons of the above-mentioned docs, I see these battles being won on the front lines every day. It is so friggen easy! Food as too many have said, is powerful medicine. I see how relatively easy it is for students to lose weight without every being hungry or counting a calories. I see them come off heart, blood pressure and diabetes medications. As Dr. McDougall says, this is so much more convenient than having your chest cracked open, chemo, or daily insulin injections. Where are the courageous doctors who tell it like it is and have the guts to tell patients what they need to hear, not what they want to hear? When you see how easy and lucrative it is to sell a supplement, a gadget, a device or a complicated diet plan, then you understand why your doctor may not share this lifesaving information.

In my classes, many attend knowing this is the best way to eat. But they just don't know how to make a variety of salads, or even salads without lettuce. They don't know how to cook beans, or the huge variety and advantages to some over others.

I don't get paid for saying any of this. I do it because I've seen death and disease up close and personal. It isn't pretty, convenient or life-saving. It is so sad to know that your parents are so sick they will never pick up your child, let alone baby-sit. Selfishly, I want to be healthy if and when my children ever have kids. I want to be there for them, able to do what my parents could not. And I hope my children will learn enough through good examples that they won't be part of the coming generation which may be the first to not live longer than the one before them.

I feel better now. Do you? Till next time...and thanks for being here!

Russert, Fixx & Heart Disease

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.