Welcome back to Prevention Not Prescriptions Tuesday.This is a weekly forum where we’re coming together to inform and inspire each other to healthier living. Tuesdays are our chance to take our health into our own hands and say “hell no” to more pills and the pharmaceutical industry’s endless search for profits.
Healthcare...it's complicated.
A philosophical take on prevention
The most compelling thing I learned about healthcare last year is that above all else it’s COMPLICATED! The year long debate showed that anything you can say about healthcare has another side, a mitigating issue, an unconsidered side effect. Remarkably, this is true even with the idea of preventative health. Increasingly, prevention is moving from the margins of healthcare to take a center stage. It was certainly one of the things that Obama called for in his campaign, and this is not surprising since preventative healthcare is often very popular with consumers. We see it as a corrective to the worst aspects of biomedicine. Rather than waiting till we are sick, when medical or surgical intervention can be difficult, painful, and costly, why not tend to people before they get sick? By heading off sickness before it starts we can side step the pain, expense, and limited effectiveness of corrective interventions. That sounds good, but I’m afraid even here healthcare is complicated and the picture is not so simple. Continue reading...
Welcome back to Prevention Not Prescriptions Tuesday. This is a weekly forum where we’re coming together to inform and inspire each other to healthier living. Tuesdays are our chance to take our health into our own hands and say “hell no” to more pills and the pharmaceutical industry’s endless search for profits.
Jamie Oliver's food revolution. Yes!
Marion Nestle's take on the real food reality show
I’m not much of a TV-watcher but from what I’ve been hearing about Jamie Oliver’s new series, I thought I had best take a look.
Don’t miss it. Get your kids to watch it with you.
Oliver, in case you haven’t been paying attention, went to Huntington, West Virginia (ostensibly the obesity capital of the world), TV crew in hand, to reform the town’s school lunch program.
Take a deep breath. Try not to get turned off by Oliver’s statement that “the food revolution starts here” (no Jamie, it doesn’t). Try not to cringe when he calls the food service workers “girls” and “luv” (OK, it’s a cultural problem). Remember: this is reality TV. Continue reading...
I’m not much of a TV-watcher but from what I’ve been hearing about Jamie Oliver’s new series, I thought I had best take a look.
Don’t miss it. Get your kids to watch it with you.
Oliver, in case you haven’t been paying attention, went to Huntington, West Virginia (ostensibly the obesity capital of the world), TV crew in hand, to reform the town’s school lunch program.
Take a deep breath. Try not to get turned off by Oliver’s statement that “the food revolution starts here” (no Jamie, it doesn’t). Try not to cringe when he calls the food service workers “girls” and “luv” (OK, it’s a cultural problem). Remember: this is reality TV.
With that said, let’s give the guy plenty of credit for what he is trying to do: cook real food. What a concept!
And let’s cut him some slack for what he is up against: USDA rules that make cooking too expensive for school budgets, entrenched negative attitudes, widespread cluelessness about dietary principles as well as what food is and how to cook it, and kids who think it is entirely normal to eat pizza for breakfast and chicken nuggets for lunch, neither with a knife and fork.
What impressed me most is that Oliver is going about addressing these barriers in exactly the right way. From my observations of school food over the years, the key elements for getting decent food into schools are these:
A principal who cares about what kids eat
Teachers who care about what kids eat
Parents who care about what kids eat
Food service personnel who not only care what the kids eat, but also know the kids’ names.
For a school food program to work, all of these elements must be in place. That’s why the school food revolution must be achieved one school at a time.
Watch Oliver go to work on these elements in this one school.
Teacher that I am, for me the most moving – and hopeful – sign was what happened in the classroom. Oliver holds up tomatoes and asks the kids what they are. No response. Not one kid recognizes a potato or knows it as the source of French fries.
How does the teacher react? As any great teacher, she recognizes a teachable moment and uses it. When Oliver returns to that class, the kids recognize and can name vegetables, even an eggplant.
This program has much to teach us about the reality of school food and what it takes to fix it. That is why I so appreciate the comments of the New York Times reviewer. His review ended with this comment:
One thing noticeably absent from the first two episodes is a discussion of any role the American food industry and its lobbyists might play in the makeup of school lunches and in the formulation of the guidelines set for them by the Agriculture Department. If Mr. Oliver wants a real food revolution, it can’t happen just in Huntington. Yes!
This article originally appeared on Marion Nestle’s blog FoodPolitics.com and has been re-posted with permission for Prevention Not Prescriptions Tuesday.
Marion Nestle is a professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University. She has been a member of the FDA Food Advisory Committee and Science Board, the USDA/DHHS Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and American Cancer Society committees that issue dietary guidelines for cancer prevention. She is the author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health.
Read this week’s full Prevention Not Prescriptions line-up.
Listen to Kathleen’s interview with Marion Nestle.
Welcome back to Prevention Not Prescriptions Tuesday. This is a weekly forum where we’re coming together to inform and inspire each other to healthier living. Tuesdays are our chance to take our health into our own hands and say “hell no” to more pills and the pharmaceutical industry’s endless search for profits.
Healthier negotiations...
A conscious approach to prevention
What exactly is prevention?
Most of us would agree that we want to live as long as possible, as healthy as possible. Prevention, then, becomes a means to achieve that goal.
We do preventive things – or we don’t do non-preventive things – to maximize our quality and quantity of life. We eat healthy foods – or we avoid unhealthy foods. We don’t smoke. We drink alcohol in moderation. We exercise regularly. Prevention helps us manage that balancing act toward achieving our goals of living our longest and healthiest lives.
Welcome back to Prevention Not Prescriptions Tuesday. This is a weekly forum where we’re coming together to inform and inspire each other to healthier living. Tuesdays are our chance to take our health into our own hands and say “hell no” to more pills and the pharmaceutical industry’s endless search for profits.
Get your fit on
Time is on your side
One of the questions I get the most is, "How long did it take you to get in shape?" I get this about once a week. They look at me and try to access whether this is a do-able task for them and whether they should start penciling in their workouts. When I tell them "years", I see that mini eye-roll, body-sag and the look of "forget it." But when I tell them, I've been maintaining my fitness for a while and that my real transformation took about 6 months, they begin to perk up. And when I tell them I trained for my first competition before my baby was two and took 2nd, they are intrigued...read more.
When people and planet factor into the bottom line...
Part of the thrill of doing this job is talking to people who excite the heck out of me. These are the passionate and visionary ones who forge their own path and do what they love. They know their craft forward and backward. They are infectious.
Who knew that tea could have you on the edge of your seat? Or as my sound engineer Sarah said as I walked out the studio, “Who knew that tea could be so damn interesting?”
Joshua is clearly a man who loves his work. That ignites the sleeping giant in all of us and equally important gets us fired up about healthier options to put into our body.
Listen to the interview and you'll know exactly what I mean:
And did I mention Josh is a political science grad? Me too. Bonus points. (smile)
We need to support business leaders like Joshua—those who factor people and planet into the bottom line. It’s why I have chosen to partner with Rishi Tea. You too can send a clear message that organic and fair trade and high quality is important to you—by voting with your wallet.
Welcome back to Prevention Not Prescriptions Tuesday. This is a weekly forum where we’re coming together to inform and inspire each other to healthier living. Tuesdays are our chance to take our health into our own hands and say “hell no” to more pills and the pharmaceutical industry’s endless search for profits.
Getting past the "protein myth"
Kathy Freston talks conscious eating
When I tell people that I'm a vegan, the most popular question, by far, inevitably follows: "But, how do you get enough protein?"
There it is again, I think, the meat industry's most potent weapon against vegetarianism -- the protein myth. And it is just that -- a myth.
In fact, humans need only 10 percent of the calories we consume to be from protein. Athletes and pregnant women need a little more, but if you're eating enough calories from a varied plant based diet, it's close to impossible to not to get enough.
The way Americans obsess about protein, you'd think protein deficiency was the number one health problem in America. Continue reading...
When I tell people that I'm a vegan, the most popular question, by far, inevitably follows: "But, how do you get enough protein?"
There it is again, I think, the meat industry's most potent weapon against vegetarianism -- the protein myth. And it is just that -- a myth.
In fact, humans need only 10 percent of the calories we consume to be from protein. Athletes and pregnant women need a little more, but if you're eating enough calories from a varied plant based diet, it's close to impossible to not to get enough.
The way Americans obsess about protein, you'd think protein deficiency was the number one health problem in America. Of course it's not -- it's not even on the list of the ailments that doctors are worried about in America or any other countries where basic caloric needs are being met.
What is on the list? Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity -- diseases of affluence. Diseases linked to eating animal products. According to the American Dietetic Association, which looked at all of the science on vegetarian diets and found not just that they're healthy, but that they "provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases."
They continue: "Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence ... Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer."
Dr. Dean Ornish writes of his Eat More, Weigh Less vegetarian diet -- the one diet that has passed peer-review for taking weight off and keeping it off for more than 5 years -- that in addition to being the one scientifically proven weight loss plan that works long-term, it "may help to prevent a wide variety of other illnesses including breast cancer in women, prostate cancer in men, colon cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, and so on ...."
So when people ask me about protein, I explain that protein is not a problem on a vegan diet, that the real problems that are plaguing us in the West can be addressed in part with a vegetarian diet, and that I get my protein the same way everyone else does -- I eat!
Beans, nuts, seeds, lentils, and whole grains are packed with protein. So are all vegetables as a caloric percentage, though they don't have enough calories to sustain most people as a principal source of sustenance. And these protein sources have some excellent benefits that animal protein does not -- they contain plenty of fiber and complex carbohydrates, where meat has none. That's right: Meat has no complex carbs at all, and no fiber. Plant proteins are packed with these essential nutrients.
Plus, since plant-based protein sources don't contain cholesterol or high amounts of saturated fat, they are much better for you than meat, eggs, and dairy products.
It is also worth noting the very strong link between animal protein and a few key diseases, including cancer and osteoporosis.
According to Dr. Ornish (this may be the most interesting link in this article, by the way -- it's worth reading the entire entry), "high-protein foods, particularly excessive animal protein, dramatically increase the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, and many other illnesses. In the short run, they may also cause kidney problems, loss of calcium in the bones, and an unhealthy metabolic state called ketosis in many people."
The cancer connection is spelled out at length in a fantastic book by Cornell scientist T. Colin Campbell, called The China Study. Basically, there is overwhelming scientific evidence to implicate that animal protein consumption causes cancer.
And just a few quick anecdotal points:
Olympian Carl Lewis has said that his best year of track competition was the first year that he ate a vegan diet (he is still a strong proponent of vegan diets for athletes).
Strength trainer Mike Mahler says, "Becoming a vegan had a profound effect on my training. ... [M]y bench press excelled past 315 pounds, and I noticed that I recovered much faster. My body fat also went down, and I put on 10 pounds of lean muscle in a few months."
Bodybuilder Robert Cheeke advises, "The basics for nutrition are consuming large amounts of fresh green vegetables and a variety of fruits, to load yourself up with vibrant vitamins and minerals."
A few other vegans, all of whom sing the praises of the diet for their athletic performance: Ultimate fighter Mac Danzig, ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, Minnesota Twins pitcher Pat Neshek, Atlanta Hawks Guard Salim Stoudamire, and Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Tony Gonzalez.
And let's not forget about tennis star Martina Navratilova, six-time Ironman winner Dave Scott, four-time Mr. Universe Bill Pearl, or Stan Price, the world-record holder in bench press. They are just a few of the successful vegetarian athletes.
Basically, vegans and vegetarians needn't fret about protein, but many Americans do need to worry about their weight, heart disease, cancer, and other ailments -- many of which can be addressed by healthier eating, including a vegan or vegetarian diet.
Vegetarians and vegans get all the nutrients our bodies need from plants, and will thus, according to the science, be more likely to maintain a healthy weight and stave off a variety of ailments, from heart disease to cancer.
For answers to other popular questions about conscious eating, please check out my previous post on the topic here.
Happy eating!
Listen to Kathleen's interview with Kathy Freston:
Kathy Freston is a renowned personal-growth author and spiritual counselor. She is the author of several best-selling books on the topic of life and health, including Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness. Kathy’s work has been featured in several prominent magazines and TV talk shows, including Good Morning America, The CBS Early Show and Oprah.
Read this week’s full Prevention Not Prescriptions line-up.
Welcome back to Prevention Not Prescriptions Tuesday. This is a weekly forum where we’re coming together to inform and inspire each other to healthier living. Tuesdays are our chance to take our health into our own hands and say “hell no” to more pills and the pharmaceutical industry’s endless search for profits.
We pay to create health problems
Dr. Neal Barnard weighs in
The luxury cruise ship was outfitted with a gymnasium, a squash court, a Turkish bath, and an on-board swimming pool, justifying the ticket price of $4,350 for first class passage. What it did not have was a hull capable of withstanding an iceberg. And on April 14, 1912, the Titanic went down.
The health care reforms proposed by the administration and in Congress all aim to provide basic health care for the uninsured, an essential goal. But unhealthy federal policies have turned health care into a luxury, with no means of fending off the icebergs that lie dead ahead. Continue reading...
We love it when listeners share their stories with us. And recently we had Christine Pierangeli on the air to talk about how the show got her fired up to make some changes in her life.
Christine had just heard the podcast of Kathleen’s interview with best-selling author Kathy Freston (from about a year ago) and got turned on to her 21-day Quantum Wellness Cleanse—no caffeine, no animal products, no gluten, no caffeine and no sugar. She called into the show on day 15 to report in on how she was doing…
“I’m finding that I don’t have those sugar lows that I might otherwise have. I just feel like my body is able to glide along at just a little bit of an easier, gentler pace.”
Listen to the rest of Kathleen and Christine’s conversation:
It’s so fun to hear how you’ve all been inspired by our guests. So if you want to be a caller on the show and weigh in on any of our topics or share your own story, shoot us an email.
I'm a filmmaker, writer, and talk radio host. After a decade of schlepping drugs for big pharma, I finally got the ovaries to walk away from my career as a pill pusher and share what I knew on the big screen. I wrote and directed the feature film Side Effects (starring Katherine Heigl) as well as...(Read full bio)
The making of Side Effects starring Katherine Heigl
