The Gift of a Wake Up Call

Anyone remember life before cell phones?  Remember going to a hotel and actually requesting a wake up call from the front desk clerk? Do you recall that time they DIDN'T provide the wake up call and you overslept and maybe missed an important meeting?

I was reading the Happy Herbivore today and she made a comment that really impacted me, "You've been given the gift of a wake up call."  She was speaking of someone that had a "mild" heart attack rather than a massive heart attack.  I like that comment, "You've been give the gift of a wake up call."  It's positive, it's forward thinking, and it provides hope. Unfortunately not everyone get's that gift.

According to Alan Gertler, M.D., "Half of the men that die of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms, and he also claims, "The first manifestation of a heart problem oftentimes is sudden death."  In other words, they didn't get the wake up call.  In all fairness, not everyone that receives the "wake up" call actually makes use of it.  Some continually hit the snooze button until time expires.  And it's sad.  And unnecessary.  And expensive.  And selfish.

Selfish? Yes, selfish.  Ignoring sound nutritional advice in order to live a hedonistic lifestyle is selfish. Choosing a daily cheeseburger and fries when arteriosclerosis is confirmed is selfish.  Children, grandchildren, and spouses deserve to have pleasant memories of their loved ones.

Imagine celebrating the first person in your family to reach 100!  Wow!  Now that's a way to alter a family tree.  If you've received the "wake up" call recently make some adjustments.  Here are 7 things that you can start doing that will benefit your heart.

1. Walk (how long is up to you.  Just do it!)
2. Get and Read Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Furhman 
3. Eat a HUGE salad everyday 
4. Eat more fresh fruit daily (any type or kind)
5. Introduce beans into your daily diet 
6. Pray, meditate, or commune with nature
7. Laugh 

What would you add? 

Heart Attacks, Stents and Slow Death

It is my opinion that heart disease is not truly hereditary in the sense genes control our future.  It's more like we adopt the lifestyle of our ancestors and breaking outside any bad habits is truly difficult.  Furthermore, food is important to us - especially comfort food.  I've yet to see some declare that a fresh, crisp salad is comfort food - even if it's submerged in ranch dressing.  If we're convinced that we must radically alter our diets then often it's an attack or an affront to grandma or mama - even if they died prematurely from heart disease.

I had a long ride to change my diet to one that was conducive to long life and clean arteries.  I slowly changed things (mostly subtracting offenders) and really didn't see positive results.  I did on occasion.  I would have my lipids tested quarterly and sometimes they were up and sometimes they were down.  That was frustrating because it was difficult to determine what was working.  I didn't see consistent, positive results until I adopted a plant-based diet.

Now instead of focusing on what I could not eat I began to focus on what I could eat.  I did my best best to follow the Eat to Live protocol:

1. At least 3 servings of fresh fruit per day
2. 1 pound of raw vegetables (salad)
3. 1 pound of steamed green vegetables 
4. 1 cup of beans
5. 1 serving of starchy vegetable
6. Handful of nuts or seeds

The results were fantastic! 

So what about my family that loves to fry everything and probably only gets about 10 - 15 grams of fiber per day?  Nothing.  Most are aware I eat the way I do.  Most think I'm silly.  Why wouldn't they?  Everyday the news reports something contrary to sound nutrition and people run with headlines.  

Doctors really don't speak of nutrition.  My doctor told me to drink skim milk, eat only chicken breasts, and lean cuts of meat.  None of which is helpful for someone with high cholesterol.  All I can go on is basic science (not reports sponsored by ranchers, dairy farmers, and drug companies) and say, "results don't lie!" 

One cheeseburger doesn't kill.  It's the constant bombardment of our bodies with that stuff that begins to clog the pipes over time.  Some might have an early heart attack others might last longer.  I've seen people after open heart surgery and it's not fun.  

Again, that's the purpose of me writing.  If one person is inspired to start or continue to eat right then I've been successful. 

In the Beginning

I love studying the genealogy of my family.  Obtaining passenger lists from the Father Land, old photos from Romanian immigrants, and death certificates from back in the day.  Unfortunately, a pattern quickly emerged from the deaths of most of my family - heart disease.

It really wasn't a surprise as the majority of the family funerals I attended were the result of heart disease. Heart disease still kills more Americans than all cancers combined and is, for the most part, preventable.  I realized I had issues with cholesterol several years ago and began making changes to my eating habits.  I saw some favorable results but the numbers see-sawed more than I wanted.  When my lipids became alarmingly high and the good doc wanted to prescribe medicine I realized I needed to be unreasonable.

I did some research and ordered three books: Engine 2 Diet, The China Study, and You Can Reverse Heart Disease and began to read.  It took some time but a picture began to form in my mind of how to eradicate the ugly, sticky mess from my blood stream.  I needed to go "plant strong" for an experiment.

My blood total cholesterol was 259 at the time and the goal was to get it less than 150.  I removed all animal based products from my eating for 60 days.  Would it work? I really didn't know but realized I didn't want to take a drug that would destroy one organ to save another.  Kind of like slowly burning down your bathroom in order to remodel your kitchen.

The long and short of it is that it worked well.  My total cholesterol dropped from 259 to 138 during the 60-day experiment and I was hooked.  Is it easy to maintain?  I don't think that it is.  I struggle daily and have a strong repertoire of plant-based recipes.  And that's why I'm blogging.

Consider this a supportive, encouraging place to learn and try new things.

Enjoy!