The number 1 disease prevention strategy
 

Whether it's cancer, heart disease, diabetes or a host of other degenerative diseases, no intervention works better than cutting back on calories. That's why, for example, Okinawans have only 6 breast cancer deaths per one hundred thousand people while Americans have 33. Prostate, 4 deaths vs. 28

This means eliminating high calorie processed foods. These are the foods that cause disease and eventually kill people.

This has been well documented with numerous studies that began in the 1930s.

Medical doctors won't cure you by prescribing drugs to cover up symptoms. It's all up to you and what foods you put in your mouth. Therefore, the best health care system in the world can't magically bestow good health upon their patients. You have to work for good health. You have to earn it. That's why I have always said that, when it comes to degenerative diseases, people usually get the health they are qualified for.

Do you know of any health strategy that's better than the one I outlined above?

I'm glad you said "usually" 'cause sometimes you just draw a bad hand and have to do the best you can with what you've got.

Not worth posting, .....no medical experience or training ....just irritating...

You know VP sometimes your comments really amaze me. My granddaughter developed a very aggressive and deadly form of bone cancer at the age of 13 months. Tell me did she deserve it! It must have been from all that mother's milk she drank.

This is my opinion and worth just that..only an opinion.
 

Our daughter who weighed 115 pounds and ate very healthily and exercised...developed a very aggressive breast cancer at the age of 29.

I know VP's oft stated theory about genetics and what switches it on, but it doesn't line up with the information that I have read.

Yes it does help to keep your weight down, particularly in trying to prevent breast cancer because all tissue produces estrogen, it also is wise to avoid soy products because they mimic estrogen, not take birth control pills and Hormone Replacement Therapy. She took none of these.

I feel in my heart, due to what I have read with my eyes and processed with my brain that if every living soul followed VP's idea of what is healthy to eat and kept themselves as thin as he think is best,and exercised from childhood on....., that cancer and disease would still happen, maybe less, but it would STILL happen The Okinawans are pretty much a group without intermarriage, where we are the melting pot here in U.S. So genetics and other factors skew those numbers.

And I also feel in my bones that NOTHING will convince VP otherwise.

I think it is kind of him to worry so much about all of us.

What more can we do
 

While I agree that the food we eat plays a large part of how healthy we are, there are other circumstances that may lead to poor health or worse. We can take care of our body by eating healthy and exercising but if the good Lord has another plan for us then it would be out of our control. I had a neighbor, 30 years old who ate well, jogged religiously and had a loving wife and kids. One morning he went out to jog and never came home. He collapsed of a heart attack. So, our destiny is not always in our control. His poor parents also lost his 17 and 18 year old sisters in a car crash. 3 children, 3 lives gone. Live each day to its fullest.

VP, I don't know you that well yet. But I must say I simply don't understand the point of your post. It doesn't ask a question. It doesn't request information. It doesn't respond to someone else's point. It doesn't pose a topic for an exchange of opinions and information. It simply states as fact an opinion that is highly arguable and, in some cases, hurtful and offensive.

What's the point?

Good question! What is the point??
Eating is simply not the root of all evil.
Spending your days counting how many calories you can do without makes your world very small and closed in.

I can find a scientific study to support EVERY point of view.

Red wine is good for you, or alcohol in any form is bad for you.
Coffee is complex and is good for you, or caffine is bad for you.
Raw sugar is the only sweetener that is good for you, or that all sugar and artificial substitutes are bad.
Eat only fruits and vegetables, or lack of protein in the form of meat or fish is bad.
Lower calories add years to our lives, or your better off with a high fat diet.
Olive oil is the only one to use, olive oil is bad
Carbohydrates are good, or they are bad

I can find a well done scientific study to support every one of those positions. About the only consistent message is exercise in most any form is good. Sedentary is bad.

I personally believe that any thing in moderation is good. Doing anything in excess is bad including eating a so called healthy vegan diet or exercising to extreme. A balance of everything including wine, fat, sugar, meat, fruit, vegetables, olive oil, fish, and most everything else is OK if done in moderation. I believe natural anything is better then processed anything, that true organic is better then any thing grown using pesticides, that exercise is any form is better then none, and that by trying and experiencing all that life has to offer is the very best path to health and happiness.

Yes, I agree. Even among the Okinawans, who are the healtiest and longest lived people in the world, 6 out of 100,000 people die from breast cancer each year. That was in my opening post so I'm glad you understood that "usually" doesn't mean "always".

But what must you think when you read: 6 Okinawan breast cancer deaths per 100,000 people versus 33 in the U.S.?

Buy the way, I looked up the word "deserve" in the dictionary and it has multiple meanings, as one might expect. One implies punishment but then it said "qualified" and I think that word works better to express my point. So I went back and changed it to "qualified".

That's why I went back and changed the word from "deserve" to "qualified". I had my first childhood asthma attack at age nine and almost died from it. But my main point is not what always happens to individuals, it's what usually happens when people live less than optimally healthy lifestyles. An important point is to look at the difference between one lifestyle and another such as Okinawa versus American. The Okinawans are known to "restrict" calories by not eating processed foods and by eating until they are 80% full. And there's a world of difference between their disease rates and ours.

No, she didn't deserve it (the word has been changed to "qualified") because you have to more-or-less do something that you know runs contrairy to a healthy lifestyle. Obviously, at 13 months old she didn't choose a lifestyle.

I don't think it's a theory when the CDC states that only about 4 to 6 percent of cancers are genetic. And I've read information from authoritative sources (doctors and professors) that put the general disease rate caused by genes at about 3%.

And my opening post proves it because I pointed out that there are 6 breast cancer deaths each year per 100,000 Okinawans.


No, genetics don't skew those numbers. Who told you that? Studies have been done to determine whether genes have anything to do with it. Over the years, many thousands of Japanese people have immigrated to the U.S..
The first generation tends to favor the Japanese lifestyle that they brought with them from Japan. But the second generation usually adopts the American lifestyle. And studies have shown that the rates of disease for them are the same as for all other Americans. It therefore proves that genes have nothing to do with it.

I'll keep an open mind. Can you point to any studies that show the Japanese are healthier because they are different genetically?

Thank you, what I nice compliment! However, I'm sure there are many who will think I don't DESERVE it. :icon_wink:

I can only speak to the issue of the heart attack. Did he have a heart defect that he was born with? Who knows? When it happens to a neighbor, we often don't have access to all of the medical details. Often we think we know everything about someone when we don't. When I was young I took lots of unnecessary risks that not even my parents and siblings knew about, much less neighbors.

His death is one good reason why they say: "Before starting an exercise program, see your doctor."

I'm with Happinow. I firmly believe that sometimes the good Lord has different plans for us. You can live a really good healthy life and still die young. All part of that master plan !

Thanks for the input/suggestion. I went back and added a question.

The point is to get people thinking. What do you think about the big difference between the Okinawan's disease rates and our own?

Yes, but this thread is not about "all evil". All evil covers a lot of teritory and we might agree on a lot of it.


Sure, assuming I have been doing what you just immagined. :)

All of us were incorrectly and forever told what the öldest profession"is.......... Truly the oldest profession is not prostitution but that profession where someone is going to advise you on how and what to eat how to act, etc and in what measurements and then promise you that is the fountain of youth.

I agree with those who subscribe to the Greek admonition of "äll things in moderation;albeit i have a sibling who will respond with I agree as long as i can get a lot of moderation.

In addition to moderation, I believe in excercise and a good sense of humor. As we often heard its a great life if you don't weaken.

I appreciate people's point of views on this subject and would never reject anything out of hand. However, life is to be lived and enjoyed because there is no such thing as a dress rehearsal.

Good post except I'll have to respectfully disagree with the practice of "moderation". The problem with moderation is that it generally represents something different to each person. Your concept of moderation may be far different than mine. One person might eat pizza once a week and call it moderation while others might choose twice a month or once a month. The last pizza I had was about 10 years ago. Is that moderation?

I think most Americans, if questioned about it, would claim to practice moderation. Yet our disease rates are much higher than they are for Okinawans. So how can we say that "moderation" is the key to good health when it's something that can't be quantified and the quality of food is unknown? It sounds like a very mysterious strategy. :)

If anyone is interested, I can give some parameters for the diet that I recommend.

A do-over post.
 

Probably true but not all studies are created equal. And in our society, for example, someone who has a family history of heart disease might be advised to eat differently. And there are foods that naturally have both good and bad qualities, of which coffee and wine are good examples.

Do you work for the food industry? The reason I ask is because what you are suggesting is exactly what the processed food industry wants Americans to believe. The processed food industry would love for everything to be in doubt. That's their best strategy because, if people believe it, they will just go ahead and eat everything, including lots of high calorie processed foods.

There is some truth to some of the things you say. But to suggest a balance of sugar is good, for example, is something that adds calories with no nutritional value. You believe that natural is good but I wonder what's natural about sugar? And where is the scientific study to prove that sugar is good?

Furthermore, I started this thread to suggest that a reduced calorie diet (calorie restriction as practiced by the Okinawans) is healthier and leads to a much lower rate of all degenerative diseases, not to mention that Okinawans enjoy a longer lifespan. What well-done long-term study can you point to that proves the opposite? High calorie diets, over a long period of time, lead to higher disease rates and a shorter lifespan.

P.S. At the end of your post there was the following statement: "Life is too short to drink cheap wine." In the new book, "Gulp", the author mentioned a blind taste test where they gave several experts a choice of different priced wines. One was a $10 dollar wine and I believe the other two were $50 and $60. The experts chose the $10 dollar wine.

Nahhhh...I'm just gonna straight to an Okinawan.

villages PL: IMHO when folks reference "moderation in all things"they are referring to a way of living over a life time. The above-stated explanation you offer seems to me to be some short term explanation. Ex.. it doesn't mean I count how many pieces of pizza I had this week vis a vis another week, month etc.

VP

I have a great solution for you. Move to Okinawa. I bet you would be so much happier then you are in TV. It's really not such a bad place. Been there many times. My wife lived there for a while. Except the last time I was there, they moved us to each different location in the airport with armed guards carrying AK 47's. Not for me, but you might love it. And health care is not so good either. There infant death statistic is excellent. Of course they don't count it as a birth until the baby is 6 weeks old. Here we count it when born. Look it up if you doubt me. And also the poor there have limited access to good health care so some of those "facts" you quote might be skewed just a bit. But you seem very willing to bet your life they are right. Sorry, but I don't believe there life is so perfect. I do agree that eating good food improves your quality of life, and exercise is a benefit to longevity as well. Obesity is also not good for a healthy life, however there is no magic answer.

As to your wine advice. Cheap wine does not equate to the price, but to the quality. I have had some excellent wines for under $10 a bottle. And some excellent wines for $300 a bottle. I have about 1000 bottles in my wine cellar with an average price of $64.20. (inventory app on iphone) Last night I had an excellent Brunello that was $85. And the night before a very good Sangiovasie from Traders Joes that was $6. Both were not cheap in quality, but one was low cost. Probably should change the saying to "life is to short to drink poor quality wine.

Well now, that certainly sums things up!

For the moment.

...

Thank you for your two sentences of clarity. I too agree that processed foods can be unhealthy, and that very processed foods can be very unhealthy. For example, more and more people are becoming aware of the pitfalls of high fructose corn syrup to the point that food processors are "nervously" beginning to address it. More and more of us are becoming aware that "natural flavoring" or "natural seasoning" equals MSG? There are those who believe that when we left the farm and began to live in cities at the time of the Industrial Revolution, we lost the ability to prepare our own healthy foods on a daily basis, giving rise to something called "shelf life" and the need for it. History is fascinating, particularly when we choose to learn something from it!

HOWEVER, to make a leap from this to first "deserving" and subsequently "qualifying" for certain serious health conditions based on our personal choices just seems so over the edge and incredibly judgmental. If the OP had posited about processed foods, consuming too many calories, not exercising enough and left it at that, the point could have been well taken. But what followed--well intentioned as the OP might have been--at the very least makes no sense, and at the very most creates unnecessary upset for those readers who cited tragic experiences of loved ones and friends.

OP, perhaps you'd consider revising the ENTIRE second part of your post rather than the change of just the one word....

And reading about the suggestion that OP move to Okinawa reminds me of my comment to people who constantly complain about having to pay taxes. "Why not move to a place like Somalia where there are no taxes because there's no central government to collect them? Just be prepared to live a completely different lifestyle than you're used to--and be prepared also to dodge the bullets fired by the people of one warlord against those of another...." No roundabouts! Hmmm....

OK here I go with my OPINION:

1. When all possible factors are the same: A balanced diet of whole---NON processed foods and especially additives will increase your likelihood of a longer life. I believe all the posters to this thread Know this to be true.

2. Rather than adding to or debating the OP Observations, some decided to pick a word or portion of a sentence to discredit the entire thread. I find those posts self serving and distracting to an other wise informative piece of information.

3. I give a sincere salute to VP for addressing, quite well, every negative response with grace.

4. I have decided that a holistic life including diet, drinking habits, exercise and even faith is far to difficult for me to follow, so I am overweight, have arthritis, allergies and so on. I do however know that if I would follow VP OP I could at least reduce some of the issues I have.

So, I say VP the second half of your thread was strong in the judgemental direction, but I also say thank you to Villages PL for a fine informative thread and I for one agree with you totally.

I think Golfingnut that you MAY have got into this discussion, one of many...

when the credits were rolling.

In order to understand the point of view of any poster you need to read all of their prior posts.

VP is very sincere and I am sure well meaning.

MY MY MY. If you would take the time to read my post, you will see this line in it I also say thank you to Villages PL for a fine informative thread and I for one agree with you totally.
What part of that makes you think I missed VP's point. I got and I agree with it. It appears that you may been sleepy when you read mine. Also, keep in mind that if a post is OFF TOPIC, Admin will delete it. Please allow the moderators to do their job.

But if I was trying to figure out how to do it, your explanation wouldn't help. You mean you keep track of the number of pizzas over a lifetime? Or maybe you mean that you just don't keep track at all because you tend to forget over a long period period of time. Your explanation leaves me more confused than before.

Someone needs to write another health book titled: "How to Achieve Great Health, Weight Control and Happiness Through Moderation of Food Consumption and Exercise: At last, an athoritative guide book for those who don't understand how moderation works." :loco:

Your right again VP. You summed up in a short post what this Link talks about.

What Does Eat In Moderation Mean? | LIVESTRONG.COM

I think "all things in moderation" is a reasonable way to live a reasonably healthy life...unless of course you spend too much time trying to figure out what moderation is. :sigh:

You say that but I don't think you agree with VPs diet. I think your diplomacy made golfingnut miss your point.. In fact you have disagreed with VPs diet many times.

Completely plant based with a teaspoon or so of fat is very hard to maintain over time. I would call it an extreme diet.

LOL Great assessment of the sitceeashun. :jester:

By the way is that a small mouth bass in your avatar

Thanks for the link. It talks about quality (nutrient dense) foods that are consumed in moderation so as not to gain weight. I like that part. But I don't agree with some of the food choices, like milk and meat. And there were no suggestions as to what an ideal weight might be (BMI).

The part about nutrient dense foods was very important because I don't think people on this board mean the same thing when they say, "all things in moderation". When they say, "all things" I take them at their word. All things means: Cakes, pies, cookies, donuts, ice cream, soft drinks, pizza, lasagna, french fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken pot pie, and many other processed foods.

If you're satisfied with moderate health and a moderate lifespan that's your choice. I love life and expect to have the best health and live a long long life.

Really?!? You're equating moderate health and a moderate lifespan" with a philosophy of all-things-in-moderation? Really? I mean...REALLY??!!?? :1rotfl:

Actually it's a small (but feisty!!) large-mouth bass. :^)

I'm going to give myself some credit:
 

I started this thread on 5/21/13 and this is part of what I said in my opening post:

"Medical doctors won't cure you by prescribing drugs to cover up symptoms. It's all up to you and the foods you put in your mouth. You have to work for good health. You have to earn it."

Yesterday, (on 5/22/13) doctor Joe Hildner, chief medical officer of The Villages Health, was quoted in the Daily Sun as saying the following. He said he doesn't manage diseases - his patients do, and he shows them how. He said the clinics won't treat diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure etc.. The patients will be taught how to do it themselves.

This is what I have been saying all along that needs to be done. Now it's official because it has the stamp of approval from The Villages Health. But saying it is one thing and actually doing it is another. Let's wait and see how effective they are at following through.