Health, Taken Seriously

I read the book Disease-Proof Your Child in late 2006 and liked it so much, that I recommended it to several friends.  The first few chapters have a lot of great information about how diet affects health and disease.  However, the recipe section at the end of the book was never a big hit with me.  I never made a single recipe twice and was put off by the author’s suggestion to cook things as little as possible (he even suggests baking with the oven door cracked to lower temps, which is absurd to me!)  I also have not experienced what he has with his children–having them eat so wholesomely at home that they turn down unhealthy food when around their friends.

However, I just re-read the book and I have to say that the first three chapters are very, very good.  I think the fifth chapter, and parts of the fourth, made me forget the important content at the beginning of this book.  Therefore, I’m recommending this book for parents, but only up to chapter three, and maybe four.

The book is written by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.  What I really like about that is that he has tried his dietary suggestions with patients for over a decade and has seen many successes.  The last diet book I read, The China Study, did not have this clinical application and I thought it weakened the author’s theory.  Like The China Study, Disease-Proof Your Child advocates a diet low in animal products and high in plant foods.  One thing I especially like about Dr. Fuhrman’s recommendations is that he emphasizes that no one needs to be completely vegan to benefit from a low-animal product diet.  In fact, he thinks animal products can be incorporated into the diet, more as a condiment than a main course, so long as the bulk of the diet comes from vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and legumes.  He quotes a study that even found that while vegetarians lived longer than meat-eaters, near vegetarians also lived almost as long as vegetarians.  I have to say that after about a month of trying to eat as few animal-products as possible, I welcome the advice that consuming some animal products may not be the end of my health.

Here are some interesting facts from the book:

• In 1996, Americans ate 23% of their calories from dairy, 12% from meat, 13% from added sweeteners, 11% from refined oils, 9% from white flour, 7% from eggs, and only 5% from fruits, vegetables, beans, and unprocessed nuts and seeds.
• “Saturated fat has the most powerful causative relationship with heart disease and cancer.”  I think most people know that saturated fat in the diet can lead to heart disease, but not cancer.
• Cancer kills about 35% of adult Americans, with heart disease and stroke killing about 50%.
• Besides sugar, butter and cheese contribute the most calories to children’s diets in America.
• Cheese consumption in the U.S. has tripled in the last 30 years.
• Four ounces of cheddar cheese contains 24 grams of saturated fat.  Dr. Fuhrman recommends consuming no more than 5 grams of saturated fat per day.
• It is important to consume raw nuts and seeds daily, as they have a powerful protective effect against disease.  One study found that men who ate raw nuts had half the heart attack rate of men who did not.  Eating raw nuts and seeds has also been shown to decrease the death rate from all causes and extend life span.  This effect was noted in various populations.
• Children should obtain most of their essential fats from avocados, nuts, and seeds, not dairy fat.
• The foods with the most nutrients per calorie are vegetables and beans.
• Most vegetables have more protein per calorie than meat and more calcium per calorie than milk!!!
• We have been taught to equate protein with good nutrition.  Most Americans think that animal products, not vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds, are our best source of protein.
• In America, about 70% of dietary protein comes from animal foods.
• People who eat a vegan diet have been found to consume 60-80 grams of protein a day, well above the minimum requirement.  Vitamin B12, not protein, is the missing nutrient in a vegan diet.
• One hundred calories of skim milk contains 334 mg of calcium.  Of that, only 107 mg are absorbed (about 32%).  One hundred calories of kale = 449 mg (59% of which is absorbed), bok choy = 787 mg (54% absorbed), and broccoli = 189 mg (53% absorbed).  If cows get their calcium from green grass, then people can get their calcium by going straight to the source–mostly green vegetables–instead of relying on cows.
• Both the incidence of and the death rate from breast, prostate, and colon cancer (the three most prevalent cancers in modern societies) have shown no significant decrease between 1930 and today.  There is a huge geographic variability in the incidence of these cancers, suggesting dietary factors as the main cause.  When people from a low-risk country migrate to the U.S., their cancer rate increases considerably, while the rate of their children jumps to match that of other Americans.
• Epidemiological studies show that saturated fat, refined sugar, and white flour are cancer promoters.  Unrefined plant foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and beans) are powerful cancer protectors.
• The more animal products in the diet, the greater the cancer occurrence.  The more fruits and vegetables in the diet, the less cancer occurrence.
• A 60 year study of almost 5000 participants found that those who consumed more fruit in their childhood (the highest quartile) were 38% less likely to develop cancer as adults.
• The earlier in life a food is introduced, the more likely it is to be favored by a child.
• Research shows it may take children 8-15 times for a child to accept a new food as familiar.  One study showed that 75% of parents give up after 5 tries.
• The avoidance of fruits and vegetables seen in older children, adolescents, and adults originates in life experiences between 6 months and 3 years of age.

Definitely try checking this book out from your library.  It is one of the best books I’ve read on diet and the health of children!

Filed under: Book recommendation, Children, Food and Nutrition, Vegetarian/Vegan on July 22nd, 2009