What we eat contributes to diseases’ prevention and reversal.

The text written below is based on reading Dr. Michael Greger’s How Not to Die Cookbook’s Introduction about nutrition facts in the USA.

Coronary Heart Disease:

Causes 647,000 deaths each year in the USA.
Many epidemics of heart disease are absent in people who live in plant-based communities that suffer 100 times fewer heart attacks than Americans of the same age.
If a mother has high cholesterol, heart disease can begin in the womb.
In a study of 300 soldiers who died during the Korean War at the average age of 22, 77% had plaque blocked arteries, atherosclerosis.
The average American 10 year old has fatty streaks, the precursor to plaque buildup and heart disease.

Lung Diseases:

296,000 deaths each year.
A single stalk of broccoli every day boosts the activity of detoxifying enzymes in the liver, helping to prevent lung-cancer-causing DNA damage at the cellular level.
One serving of fruit each day provide a 24% lower risk of dying from emphysema.
High vegetable & fruit consumption halve the likelihood of asthma development or asthma attacks.

Brain Diseases:

215,000 deaths each year.
Strokes result when the blood flow to the brain is cut off, depriving the mind of oxygen.
The fiber and potassium found in plants reduces the likelihood of a stroke.
The same foods that clog our arteries clog our brains.
Alzheimer’s patients consistently have more atherosclerotic plaque buildup and narrowing of the arteries within the brain.
The world’s lowest validated rate of Alzheimer’s is in rural Northern India where people eat primarily whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.

Digestive Cancers:

106,00 deaths each year
Though some cancers have a genetic component, digestive cancers are primarily caused by poor dietary choices.
American people have 10 times more colorectal cancer than Indian people. 7% of Indians eat meat each day. They more often eat legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas, lentils) and dark green, leafy vegetables which have phytates, cancer-fighting compounds. Spices such as tumeric with black pepper have anticancer properties
The consumption of animals is associated with pancreatic cancer risk.

Type 2 Diabetes:

20,000,000 Americans currently have type 2 diabetes.
Cases have TRIPLED since 1990, giving the disease the name “The Black Death of the 21st Century.”
Each year, diabetes causes 50,000 kidney failures, 75,000 lower extremity amputations, 650,000 cases of vision loss, and 80,000 deaths.
Those who don’t eat meat, dairy or eggs have 78% fewer cases of diabetes. Starting a plant based diet has the power to get someone off insulin in as few as 2 weeks.

High Blood Pressure:

65,000 deaths each year.
High blood pressure can strain the heart, damage blood vessels in the eyes & kidneys, and cause bleeding in the brain.
65% of people over 60 have high blood pressure. Blood pressure is not related to age. It can remain steady or decline in advanced age.
What foods & herbs help lower high blood pressure?
ginger, tumeric (with black pepper to make it 2000 times more effective), hibiscus tea, beet juice, red or green cabbage juice, basil, parsley, cardamom, cinnamon, flax seed, thyme, watermelon, oats, garlic, & celery seed.

Liver Disease:

Kills 60,000 people each year.
70,000,000 people have non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of liver disease.
Drinking one soda each day increases the likelihood of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by 45%.
Those who eat the meat equivalent of 14 chicken nuggets each day triple their chance of getting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Blood Cancers:

56,000 die each year from blood cancers including leukemia, multiple myeloma, and lymphoma.
Those who eat 3 or more servings of green, leafy vegetables each week halve their chances of getting a blood cancer compared with those who only eat one serving.

Kidney Disease:

47,000 deaths per year from kidney disease.
Only 41% of Americans have normal kidney function. 9 out of 10 people who have kidney disease are unaware that they have the illness.
Within hours of consuming meat, the kidneys rev up to hyperfiltration mode, working overtime because of the increasing pressure on them. Plant protein preserves ailing kidneys.

Breast Cancer:

40,000 deaths each year from breast cancer.
Eating grilled, BBQed or smoked meats increases breast cancer by 47%.
Research funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, and the World Cancer Research Fund, found that women who consumed 1/4 to 1/3 cup of cow’s milk per day had a 30% increased chance for breast cancer. One cup per day increased the risk by 50%, and 2-3 cups were associated with an 80% increased chance of breast cancer.

Suicidal Depression:

41,000 people commit suicide each year and depression is the leading cause.
Higher consumption of vegetables can lower depression rates by 62%.
The spice saffron was as effective at treating mild or moderate depression as the antidepressant medication Prozac.

Prostate Cancer

Half the men over 80 have prostate cancer.
Kills 28,000 people each year.
Since World War II, the rate of prostate cancer in Japan has increased 25 fold. This coincides with the Japanese people increasing their consumption of dairy 20 fold, a 7 fold increase in egg consumption, and a 9 fold increase in meat.
Early stage prostate cancer has been proven to be reversed with a plant based diet.

Parkinson’s Disease

25,000 deaths per year.
Pollutants and toxic heavy metals that are in the food supply can cause the brain damage leading to Parkinson’s Disease. Poultry and tuna are the leading sources of arsenic. Dairy is the #1 source of lead. Seafood is the primary source of mercury. The highest contamination of PCBs were found in fish and fish oil, followed by eggs, dairy, and then non-fish meats.
The least contaminated foods with PCBs are plants. PCBs are associated with Parkinson’s Disease.

Food Sparks Disease