Kind of shocking isn’t it? A friend of mine gave me a CD with that same title written by Dr. Susan Silberstein. . I had never heard of her, but apparently she has been researching how what you eat affects whether or not you get cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc… since the mid-70’s.
Her husband died of cancer when he was 30 years old and she has spent her life helping people with cancer and to help them beat cancer so that others won’t have to go through what she did, by becoming a widow at a young age with 2 young children.
Some of the statistics she mentioned were staggering. It was a 20 minute CD which I downloaded onto my I-pod and I listened to it 4 times. Here are a few of the statistics she mentioned:
23 million Americans have cancer
40 million Americans have high cholesterol
41 million Americans have heart disease
50 million Americans have high blood pressure
18 million Americans have diabetes
64% if the American population is overweight or obese
She also mentioned that according to the World Health Organization 75% of American deaths each year are related to diet!
I almost couldn’t believe those numbers, but as time goes on, and if people don’t take their health seriously, its only going to get worse.
She recommends that eating a diet LOADED with fruits and vegetables, it can change your health dramatically. We all know that eating fruits and veggies are good, we learn that when we are kids. And she said that the recommendation of the American Cancer Society of eating 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day is outdated. She recommends 10-13 servings a day! 10-13 servings a day, how is that possible I thought? I thought I was being good by bringing an apple and a banana to work!
One way to get a bunch of servings in she recommends is by juicing. Adding a bunch of fruits and veggies into the juicer, and you get all the benefits plus a lot of servings in one fell swoop. I have a juicer, but its super old and was super huge and a pain to clean, so I only did it a few times. But hearing about all the benefits of a VARIETY of fruits and veggies, I’m starting to rethink that.
Making soups with a lot of different veggies can help, as well as bulking up sandwiches with spinach, maybe avocado, shredded carrots, onions etc. adding veggies to stir fry’s and of course salads with many different varieties is a great start.
Another thing she mentioned is that your body contains free radicals which damage DNA cells to the tune of 10,000 hits a day. She said the only way to neutralize free radicals are from the anti-oxidants from fresh vegetables and fruit.
So, questions for you are, what do you think of that? How many servings of fruits and veggies are you eating every day? Do you think that the health benefits are as profound as she says?? I’m interested to hear your thoughts on that.
She ended her lecture by quoting Hippocrates, known as the founder of medicine:
“Natural forces within us are the true healers – let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food.”
I love reading/listening to different takes on health and wellness. There are so many different thoughts out there about what people should do it can be overwhelming at times.
If you get a chance, visit I-tunes and go to Podcasts and search, “health” or “nutrition” or “weight loss” and you can download tons of information most of which is free.
I’m very certain i’m not getting enough of either. If only carbs and protein were the positives – i’d be doing famously well!
I think a “serving” of veggie/fruit is 1/2 cup, so sometimes a larger apple might count as 2, and a salad would be like 4!
I became very interested in Edgar Cayce about two years ago. He was a psychic, but was very well known for doing health readings and would suggest holistic healings such as chiropractic adjustments, dietary restrictions, and oils and massages. I have read a couple books of his and have his drugless therapy book. It’s really very interesting, and is focused on whole body health like you’re talking about – w/ priority put on diet and an alkaline/acid diet. There is an Edgar Cayce health center in VA Beach that treats patients w/ the alkaline/acid diet and has reversed cancer diagnoses! Also, if you notice the Cancer Treatment Center of America’s commercials list that they focus on diet for their patients. It’s incredibly important to maintain your body’s proper levels and I believe that’s why there’s all those health concerns you listed – when it gets off balance!
I eat spinach everyday and I thought I was doing good. I guess not so much!
wow, those numbers are staggering! I don’t eat nearly enough, but I’m working on changing that. I’m gonna hafta give her a listen, thanks for sharing.
I started to really focus on eating more fruits and veggies over the summer. I thought I had been doing well as I haven eaten a big salad every day for a long time. But when it came down to it, I really wasn’t eating that many servings of fruits & veggies (especially since I didn’t eat much fruit at all).
In the early summer, I started eating fruit first thing in the morning. And while I had never loved fruit, I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed the different fruits I was eating.
I got a juicer at the end of the summer and have been juicing about four times a week, and I love it. Romaine lettuce, kale, a cucumber, a couple apples, and two lemons make the best juice, and I feel great after drinking it (it may very well be that part of it is psychological…).
I also realized that it makes a lot of sense to make veggies truly the biggest part of your meal (versus a side dish). I try to start each meal with a salad; that way, I fill up on mostly salad before eating anything else.
For me, the key is to focus on fruits and veggies without obsessing over them. I think it’s so easy to feel badly about not eating enough fruits and veggies, and that takes the joy out of eating good, healthy food. And food should be most of all a pleasurable experience. 🙂
Those all all very interesting numbers, that’s for sure!
I love fruits and veggies and eat one or both of them with every meal and then some just because I really do like them so much. If a person actually eats that much each day, I don’t think they’d have time to eat a bunch of junk food! Ha.
These ARE some amazing numbers and do make me think. Wow 10-13 sevings of fruits and veggies a day. Then I think we would have to do more organics or we would be exposing ourselves to even more pesticides that are sprayed on fruits and veggies. This could be pricey but I think we are worth it! I am going to think about all of this and figure out ways to get in more of the good stuff. Thanks Jenn
In our family, we tend to have relatively healthy meals…but tend to add on desserts and other junk (too often!).
Those numbers are sobering. It reminds me of a post Dr. J did about the fact that we really don’t want to be “normal” because normal Americans aren’t healthy!
I work hard at getting enough fruits & veggies in. Some days I do better than others!
I try to incorporate vegetables into everything I eat. Fruit not so much because of sugar content and things I’ve read about how they co-exist or interfere with other foods in the digestive system. Wish authorities were in accord and we had a firm and true guideline for healthy eating.