Everywhere today there is  talk and ‘information’ about health, weight loss and food.  From my point of view,  a lot of this is misinformation and so I really wanted to get involved in the debate.  Everywhere around me, at work, with friends and on the street, I see and hear about ill-health.   What is particularly disturbing is when I talk to people who have a chronic health condition(some of these people are very young and  some of these conditions are very serious, with a highly negative effect on  quality of life and length of life) and  I ask them, “what did the Dr say to  you about food?”  They answer, “nothing”.  Or worse still they say, “I asked the Dr what could I do in terms of my diet” and he said(generally a he), “diet has no impact on the condition”.   What did the  Dr offer these needy people?  Drugs or surgery.  It is very important to remember that this is the business that Dr’s are in and this is what they know about.  If you go to a lawyer you will get a legal opinion, if you go to a carpenter you will get something  made out of wood:if you go to a Dr, in general with a few exceptions you will get drugs and or surgery.  While both can sometimes be necessary, they  can also be very dangerous for your health and very expensive to  your hip pocket.   As Dr John McDougall(see link on left) says, if food is causing the problem, then drugs are not the solution.   Drugs or medication very often are only getting to the symptoms of the problem and the real problem is going on unabated.  Obvious examples are drugs for high blood pressure or drugs for diabetes(high blood sugar or insulin resistance).   The problem with drugs tackling symptoms is that they are expensive, either for you or the  taxpayer and they have the  potential for other negative effects on your body and this  potential is often  realised.  The taking of  drugs for illnesses often puts people in a very passive position in  relation to their health where the Dr and the drug are responsible for taking action in relation to their illness and the underlying illness that the drug is treating the symptoms of, continues to get worse.  In fact, when you are diagnosed with a chronic illness a future of degeneration or decline is mapped out for you by your Dr.  This is your prognosis-in five  years you will be here, in ten years you will be here and it is all downhill.  This is because there is a reliance on technology, drugs and the passive quick fix mentality to manage our health problems and this is the reason why health is eating up more and more of our budgets and the  nation’s budget, while at the same time the  health of the population is getting worse.

I  eat a whole food plant based diet and have done for many years now.   I have never felt healthier, never had more energy and never has my mood been better.  I am continually ‘tweaking” what I eat.  A significant ‘tweak’ I made recently was to give up alcohol.  I will talk about this more in a blog down the track.     As they say, “one swallow doesn’t make a summer” so just because I am in good shape (my blood results are all good) it doesn’t mean anything-could  just be chance or genetics  right? (we will come back to genetics in a later blog-big story that one).   The nutrition research I will be discussing indicates that the more plants you eat and the less meat, eggs and  dairy(and don’t forget that fish and chicken are meat) the healthier you are and the longer you live.   An important factor in relation to how long you live is how long you live with quality of life:pain  free, mobile, still have your  wits about you.

Even if you are sceptical about the  value of eating more plants, as Dr Greger(see link) says, “what’s the down side?” of doing this for a month or so.   The worst(actually the best) that can happen is that you will spend more time in the toilet with bowel movements and save money on your food bill.   The best that can happen is that your health will improve and if you are carrying some extra weight you will lose some of it.   The very best that can happen is that you will make a  permanent change to a more plant based diet(beans, peas, rice vegetables) and enjoy your life more and be around with your loved ones longer.

I plan to post at least once/week and I hope that this blog can be helpful to you in taking  control of your life by taking control of your health from the multinational food companies, the multinational drug companies, the (ill) health industry and the latest exercise and wonder food (eg fish oil) craze.  How?  By changing what you put in your mouth.  We have control over what we put in our mouth and by this we have control over our environment.  Our biggest contact we have with the environment is the surface area of our stomach(even bigger than the surface area of our skin) and of course, our stomach is the gateway to what reaches every cell of our body to promote life, energy and health.

Enjoy food and good health!

Gary