whole foods diet Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Which Diet Works Even Better the Longer You Do It?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 07:00:32 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – The most well-published community-based lifestyle intervention in the medical literature is also one of the most effective. CHIP, the Complete Health Improvement Program—now known as Pivio, may be “the most well-published community-based lifestyle interventions in the [medical] literature.” It is also one of the most effective, with clinical changes “approaching those outcomes achieved in [live-in] residential lifestyle programs.” As I discuss in my video The Weight Loss Program That Got Better with Time, CHIP encourages people to transition toward a more whole food, plant-based diet, and the “average reductions in blood pressure were greater than those reported with the DASH [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension] study and comparable with the results” of blood pressure-lowering drug trials. If we’re going to reverse the worldwide chronic disease epidemic, though, we’ve got to scale this up. To make CHIP more accessible to a wider audience, each of Hans Diehl’s live presentations was videotaped. Then, a “trained and certified” volunteer facilitator got people in a room to watch the videos and helped foster discussion. When it comes to safe, simple, side effect–free solutions, such as a healthier diet and lifestyle, you don’t need to wait for a doctor to show up and give a lecture. Sounds great, but does it work? Those individuals who were the worst of the worst and participated in the program, finishing all the videos, had a 20-point drop in blood pressure, a 40-point drop in bad LDL cholesterol, and more than a 500-point drop in triglycerides, as you can see below and at 1:08 in my video. Of those who came in with diabetic-level fasting blood sugars, about one in three left with nondiabetic-level fasting blood sugars. Remember, all of this was achieved simply by empowering people with knowledge. Just encouraging people “to move toward a whole-food, plant-based diet” led to these remarkable benefits. What was the effectiveness of this volunteer-delivered lifestyle modification program on 5,000 participants? The same kind of significant reductions in weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugars were found. Most studies giving “dietary advice to free-living subjects can be expected to reduce blood total cholesterol by only 3-6%…[but a] sustained reduction in blood total cholesterol concentration of 1% is associated with a 2-3% reduction in the incidence of heart disease.” So, on a population scale, even small differences matter. Put thousands of people through just one month of CHIP, however, and you get an 11 percent drop on average and up to a nearly 20 percent drop among those who need it most, as you can see below and at 2:12 in my video. Do the participants maintain their healthy habits, though? Doctors can’t even get most people to take a single pill once a day. How effective can a volunteer-led video series be at getting people to maintain a change of eating habits? Researchers looked at the CHIP data to find out. How were participants doing 18 months after completing the program? Most were able to maintain their reductions of meat, dairy, and eggs, though some of the junk food had started to slip back in. Their fruit and veggie consumption dipped, though not back to baseline. Ready for the huge shocker? Even though the participants had been told explicitly to eat as much as they wanted without any calorie- or carb-counting and without any portion control, just by being informed about the benefits of centering their diets more on whole plant foods, by the end of the six-week program, they were eating, on average, about 339 fewer calories a day without even trying. Instead of eating less food, they were just eating healthier food. But that was right at the end of the six-week program when they were all jazzed up. Where were they 18 months later? Anyone familiar with weight-loss studies knows how it works: You can excite anyone in the short term to lose weight using practically any kind of diet, but then after six months or a year, they tend to gain it all back—or even more. The CHIP participants were eating about 300 fewer calories a day during the program, but 18 months later, they were eating about 400 fewer calories. What kind of diet can work even better the longer you do it? A whole food, plant-based diet. “Many weight loss programs restrict energy [calorie] intake by limiting portion sizes, which often results in hunger and dissatisfaction with the eating regime, thus contributing to low compliance and weight regain,” but the satiety-promoting all-you-care-to-eat plant-based, whole-food dietary approach may be the secret weapon of sustainable weight loss. Key Takeaways The Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) encourages transitioning to a more whole food, plant-based diet and may not only be the most well-published community-based lifestyle intervention in the medical literature, but also one of the most effective. Its clinical changes may be on par with outcomes achieved in live-in lifestyle programs, and the average drop in blood pressure achieved with CHIP exceeded reports by the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study and was comparable to results from trials with blood pressure–lowering drugs. To make CHIP more widely accessible, each live presentation delivered by Hans Diehl, the developer of the program, was videotaped so volunteer facilitators, each trained and certified, could screen the lectures and foster discussion among participants. Participants who completed the facilitated video program had a 20-point drop in blood pressure, a 40-point drop in bad LDL cholesterol, and more than a 500-point drop in triglycerides. Most of those who started CHIP with diabetic-level fasting blood sugars left with nondiabetic levels. Typically, studies giving dietary advice to participants not in a live-in setting may get cholesterol reductions of 3 to 6 percent, and sustained reduction of 1 percent is associated with a 2 to 3 percent drop in heart disease incidence. Just one month of CHIP achieved an 11 percent drop on average and up to a nearly 20 percent drop among those participants most in need of intervention. Eighteen months after completing the volunteer-led video series, most CHIP participants maintained their reductions of animal products, though some began eating more junk food and less fruits and vegetables (though not back to baseline quantities). Importantly, they were eating about 400 fewer calories a day than before they started CHIP. (At the end of the six-week video program, they were down only 300 daily calories.) Unlike many weight-loss programs that count calories and limit portion sizes, an all-you-care-to-eat plant-based, whole food dietary approach appears to be more sustainable. To read the original article click here.

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Raw Milk: Is It a Health Food or Health Disaster?

AHA Publisher — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 07:00:49 +0000

Richard Sacks via NaturalHealth365 – The topic of raw milk, and whether it is “good or bad” for us as a food, has been a controversial one for a long time. Many highly respected health teachers like Dr. John McDougall have pointed to studies and their own long experience, showing health problems and dangers associated with consuming dairy products at all. On the other side of the issue, those connected to the Weston A. Price Foundation and people like Mark McAfee, founder of Organic Pastures raw milk dairy have explained their own evidence and experience, showing great health benefits from drinking raw milk, along with following the rest of their dietary recommendations. A major problem with government-sponsored ‘health’ reports As an independent health scientist since 1965, I have learned not to just assume government agencies or scientific journal articles are telling the truth, since I have found many cases over the years where they are not. My motive has been a desire to decode what should have been our “owner’s manual” of how to keep these beautiful physical bodies fully functioning at their highest potential. So, the question remains: Is raw milk a super food or toxic for human consumption? My own experience is that for many people, it can be a super food in its own right, but it has to be fresh, raw, organic, and produced from cows (or goats) that are not abused for any reason. Some people have found that milk causes congestion or is hard to digest, but I have seen these things go away as the body gets clean and better nourished, and the enzymes are abundantly present for better digestion. To get the most out of any food, you have to detoxify your own system, and then improve your nutritional program, as well as taking advantage of other free natural therapies like grounding, sunlight and watching your everyday mental and emotional patterns. In this way, you can get a completely different reaction to any healthful food, and your body’s tolerance (and desire) for junk food will also gradually disappear. One of the most interesting things I discovered about raw milk is its potential use by people who currently consider themselves raw vegans (of which I myself was one). Seems like a contradiction in terms, right? Why are vegans avoiding raw milk? I have looked at all of the claims by vegans (both raw and cooked food vegans) that any animal-derived food is basically unfit for human consumption. The studies I have seen on the unhealthful qualities of milk have been done on commercially produced pasteurized milk, so it is basically cooked and polluted with chemicals from multiple sources, and the animals suffer great abuse. I agree that this food is not fit for humans, or even for animals. But raw milk produced from cows or goats treated with respect instead of abuse, great environmental conditions, fresh organic feed and clean water is an entirely different situation. I have not seen any study showing credible evidence that such milk is unhealthful in any way. From the data I have seen, raw milk has a much better safety track record than pasteurized, factory produced “milk.” Most interesting to me is that fresh raw milk has been recommended by one of the greatest Essene teachers – thousands of years ago in a book, The Essene Gospel Of Peace – that some of the most well known raw vegan teachers promote. A raw vegan dilemma emerges So, here’s my observation of why this is relevant to vegans, specifically to raw vegans. It has been known to the greatest health teachers for millennia that raw food contains the best nutrition for people, just as it does for animals and other life forms. But, when humans live on just raw vegan food, while it is fantastic for cleansing and detoxification and providing a wide variety of nutrients in living form, especially when combined with proper use of fasting and colon hydrotherapy, most 100% raw vegans that I have known eventually after a certain number of years, run into problems, and for most of them supplements do not solve the problems long term. Usually if they are committed vegans, they eventually start cooking some of their food, even if they know it destroys or diminishes many important nutrients. If they don’t, they can become emaciated, low in muscle mass, unable to produce sufficient body heat, and/or psychologically unstable. In my opinion, as 100% raw vegans, they run short of certain fats and perhaps certain amino acids and various subtle nutrients (most nutrients, in my opinion, have not even been identified yet by science). Adding some cooked whole organic foods adds sources of carbohydrates that the body uses as fuel, and often more sources of essential fats, so even if the cooked foods are lower in certain nutrient values, they can lead to healthy weight gain and a feeling of stability for many people. Is there another option to remain 100% “RAW?” It is easier, in my opinion, to maintain health on a 100% organic whole foods diet that includes some cooked foods than to do it with a 100% raw food diet in today’s environment. But, I found another way, for those that want to stay 100% raw, but keep their energy, muscle mass, body heat and psychological stability. I personally experienced every one of the above problems on an organic, fresh 100% raw vegan diet. They all went away almost immediately when I added organic fresh raw milk, from cows treated as they should be treated, that is, essentially as pets, and respected creatures sharing this planet with us. I also found excellent results from fresh organic raw butter, cream and cheese (not the cheeses aged over 60 days – there is a reason those are considered OK by FDA – I found only the ones made fresh and recently to be free of negative effects). Now, I have all the benefits claimed by the raw vegans (no problems with congestion from the milk after the first two or three weeks of adaptation), but I am again strong and stable. Lack of energy and aging issues go away My energy stays high just about all the time and I never get sick unless I push extreme stress or lack of sleep past my body’s limits, and I’ve learned not to do that. I don’t experience “normal aging” anymore. Raw milk is only one of the many tools and understandings required, and it may not be right for you, you just have to listen to your own body to know. Each of us has to find what works best for us individually. To be clear, I myself would not include any dairy at all, or any cooked foods, on a detox program such as in dealing with any serious health condition. But for maintenance, I have found that either some cooked whole foods or raw organic dairy as I have described can be valuable, and for myself I have chosen the latter, so I can stay 100% raw. It is the only way I have found to stay in great condition and natural high energy all the time. Just as a side note: some vegans say that cow manure contaminates the environment. But, in fact, it is a great soil conditioner/fertilizer. Nature used it to great advantage when the wild bison roamed the plains of America, and the environment did not suffer. Why are raw milk dairies under violent attack? It is certainly not because of any danger to us. So many government programs are in full swing to destroy any chance we may have of maintaining our health. Just think how counterproductive and irritating it would be from government’s point of view if we had easy access to all the tools we need to be healthy and not need the current “healthcare” (actually a sick care) system” except maybe for accidents. Properly produced raw milk looks like one of those tools to me. Believe in yourself and take back your life. I encourage you to do your own exploring and studying, because each person’s body has its own unique requirements. Sure, read the scientific studies. But don’t stop there! Read other people’s experiences, watch their videos and compare to your own experience. Take a fresh look at your comfortable habits to see if they are really good for you. Learn how to listen to and communicate with your own body and always keep learning more. If you learn to listen and understand its messages, your own body will tell you what is right for you and what is not. Make your life an adventure again, and be true to yourself. The discoveries are waiting for you. About the author: Richard Sacks has been an independent health scientist for over 50 years, and a consultant for the last 30. Sources for this article include: Westonaprice.org To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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