Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

"The most effective treatment for breaking any bad habit or addiction is abstinence."    -Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

I've never been drunk, in fact, I don't drink alcohol. I grew up in a home where alcohol wasn’t consumed, so therefore, I didn't acquire a taste for it. However, during college I lived in a house with 28 other girls, and most Saturday and Sunday mornings I witnessed the various hangovers from the drinking parties the night before. I felt so sorry for them. I couldn't understand why they would do such a thing to torture their poor bodies so much.

Well, just a couple of years later when I was in the midst of my own hangovers from toxic food addiction, I could finally understand. When a poisonous addiction takes over, it tortures both body and mind. After a toxic food binge I would feel bloated, painfully miserable, and disoriented for several hours until the foods got out of my system; only to eat them all over again.

For me, being free from toxic food hangovers has been even more exciting than losing weight or getting health restored. To anyone who doesn't understand that concept, be thankful. Be very thankful. To be imprisoned to habitual bingeing hangovers is a terrible captivity, and I was in the dark abyss for over 20 years.

• I dreaded birthday parties and holiday feasts, yet craved them at the same time.

• I dreaded the way I'd feel after eating fake stuff, yet couldn't live without it.

• I even dreaded getting up many mornings to face another day of bingeing; dreading it, yet craving it. What insanity.

Perhaps that's why I'm so staunch about abstinence to the point others may think I'm extreme and crazy. I know how deep one can dig into the pit of food addiction. I've seen what it can do to my body and sanity, and I’ve seen what it can do to others as well . . . and I don't give a rip what anyone thinks about my decision to be abstinent.

Have you ever experienced food binge hangovers, and are you free from them?

If not, you can be starting right now.

Freedom is two-fold:

1) One must eat for health by carefully following the nutritional guidelines in Eat to Live; flooding the body with comprehensive micronutrient adequacy to meet the biological needs of the body.

2) And abstain from those foods and situations that trigger addictive binges. Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging that usually causes one to feel worse for the first several days before feeling better. The key to successfully overcoming an addiction is to never give into the impulse to indulge, no matter what. There is no other way out.

Once you cross the threshold where toxic food binges no longer overpower you, you will be free for the rest of your life! You’ll naturally prefer eating less when you consume high-nutrient foods instead of fake foods; you’ll naturally get more pleasure out of eating and living; and you’ll enjoy a healthy body and sane mind that is free from the physical and mental torment of the addiction.

Contend for your freedom today. Eat for health and remain abstinent from triggers. 

There is no greater joy!

[The pictures are of yours truly. The image at the top was taken on July 10, 2008, the day I committed to follow Eat to Live; and the image on the left was taken this past summer, four years later. This coming July I will celebrate my fifth year anniversary of being free from food addiction! Click here to view my journey to freedom.]

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A new report from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council revealed bleak statistics on the comparative health of the citizens of the United States compared to sixteen other high-income countries.

The report revealed that Americans have been dying earlier, on average, than almost all other countries. Of the sixteen countries ranked, American males ranked last in life expectancy and American females ranked sixteenth out of seventeen. The report notes that this trend has been ongoing and progressively worsening since 1980; Americans are dying prematurely with poorer health during their lives. The report states:

“The tragedy is not that the United States is losing a contest with other countries but that Americans are dying and suffering from illness and injury at rates that are demonstrably unnecessary.”

The report identified nine key areas in which Americans demonstrate poorer health status; a few of note are the direct results of poor nutrition and lifestyle habits: obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Out of the 17 countries, the U.S. was ranked 2^nd in the number of ischemic heart disease deaths and 3^rd in diabetes deaths. Americans consume more calories per person than any other country in the world, and our eating habits are killing us. Obesity was a significant contributor to the shortened life expectancy observed in Americans; obesity accounted for 42 percent of the reduction in life expectancy American females and 67 percent of the reduction in males.

It is well known that the U.S. spends more money on health care per person than any other nation.

The report noted that Americans have greater “control” over blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and still have the next-to-highest death rate from ischemic heart disease. We take more medication for heart disease risk factors, and yet are more likely to die from heart disease. We spend the greatest amount of money, and die the earliest. More medical care does not buy better health.

It’s time for our country to wake up. Our health, happiness, and economic stability are suffering at the hands of our dietary choices.

There were several additional non-nutritional factors that contributed to the relatively short life expectancy of Americans, including infant mortality rate, injuries and homicides, drug-related deaths, HIV and AIDS.  In addition to disease-causing eating habits, behavioral factors such as drug abuse, lack of seat belt use, drunk driving and gun violence are contributing to the poor health and shorter lifespan of Americans. The report also cited deficits in our health care system, higher levels of poverty and income inequality than other countries, and geographical environments built around cars, which discourage physical activity.

Clearly, there are some issues not under our individual personal control that must be tackled by public policy. However, this report also highlights those factors that we as individuals can address – today – to increase our own likelihood for a long and healthy life: our weight and our risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Excess weight, heart disease, and diabetes are inevitable consequences of the standard American diet plus inactivity, but they are not truly inevitable. We can prevent these conditions by making wiser food choices and prioritizing physical activity. Each of us must take responsibility for our own health and longevity. A high-nutrient diet based on protective plant foods is an excellent place to start.

Reference:

Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. January 9, 2013. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2013/US-Health-in-International-Perspective-Shorter-Lives-Poorer-Health.aspx

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Right on the front page of every newspaper and news outlet today was “Overweight People Live Longer." Two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and they are generally aware excess fat on the body is not healthy.  So when word of a study like the recent one on body mass index (BMI) categories and mortality starts spreading through the news outlets, everyone listens, and many take the conclusions to be fact. Sadly this kind of news coverage does a disservice to an already overweight and misguided public, allowing them to believe that their excess body fat won’t harm them and influence many to maintain or add some pounds.  I wonder how much more breast cancer and how many needless deaths this information will cause. 

This was a meta-analysis, pooling data from different studies that analyzed death from all causes with consideration of various BMI categories (normal weight: 18.5 – 24.9; overweight: 25.0 – 29.9; obesity: 30 or greater). The researchers found a small (6 percent) reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality for overweight compared to normal weight individuals, and an 18% increase in risk for obese compared to normal weight individuals.¹

Does that mean almost every study on fitness, and the benefits of dietary excellence in the last 40 years was wrong?  So, should we nutritarians pack on some extra pounds, exercise less, eat some cheese doodles and lounge on the couch watching more TV, so we can live longer?  Hah, and the moon is made of green cheese too.  This paper found an association here between lower BMI and a slight decrease in mortality rate, but for a variety of reasons, this is bad science and should never have been reported.

This study is essentially worthless because it did not exclude people with chronic disease recorded at baseline.  Sick people become thinner.  It is well known that illnesses cause a lower body weight.  The American diet is so disease-causing and weight-promoting that almost all relatively healthy people become overweight, leaving mostly the chronically ill and those with occult illnesses (not yet diagnosed) at a normal or near normal weight. 

A number of medical conditions may cause unintentional weight loss, including depression, anxiety, alcoholism, drug addiction, autoimmune diseases, occult cancer and digestive disorders. What proportion of the normal weight group had one or more of these conditions?  The study did not say, but the list below suggests that it’s a large proportion of those in the normal weight category.   The fact is, the American diet is so fattening and unhealthy that if someone is eating the American diet and is not overweight, they most likely have something wrong with them. Below is a list of conditions that cause weight loss, and the estimated prevalence of these conditions in the general population:

• Alcoholism – 12.5%.²
• Anxiety disorders - 18%.³
• Asthma - 7.7%.⁴
• Autoimmune Disorders – 7.6-9.4% ⁵
• Celiac disease – 1%.⁶
• COPD – 5.1%.⁴
• Depression – 8%.⁷
• Drug addiction – 2.6%.⁸
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome – 10%.⁹

Depression, Anxiety and Alcoholism alone could account for the findings in this study and affect about 20 percent of the population.  Plus the study did not consider subclinical disease, in other words medical problems that have not yet been diagnosed.  For example, there are many with some hidden cancer, not yet diagnosed (called occult cancer) that keeps them thin.  Studies like this always underestimate the impact of overweight and obesity on premature mortality. 

Plus, the only measured outcome was all-cause mortality.  We still see increasing mortality from diabetes and heart disease as weight increases and the increased mortality in the normal weight group was from more unusual causes.  We also know that the overweight live a lower quality life – with heart disease, arthritis, or another lifestyle-related disease or disability. Excess weight is known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol, liver disease, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, arthritis, and impotence and infertility.¹⁰ Let’s not ignore all that.  

In the end, what we can conclude from this study is that many researchers are confused about health and nutrition and because of that their work can just add more confusion.   With the majority of Americans significantly overweight many must be rejoicing in line at those fast food joints after hearing this today.  So please don’t skip the gym and head out to Drunkin Doughnuts tonight for some deep fried flour and sugar with artificial colorings and flavorings.  There is no getting around, you are what you eat.    

Image credits (Flickr): amarette, ActiveSteve, permanently scatterbrained, Matt Ryall

References: 

1. Flegal KM, Kit BK, Orpana H, et al: Association of all-cause mortality with overweight and obesity using standard body mass index categories: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 2013;309:71-82.
2. Hasin DS, Stinson FS, Ogburn E, et al: Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in the United States: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:830-842.
3. National Institute of Mental Health: Anxiety Disorders. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-index.shtml. Accessed January 3, 2013.
4. Akinbami LJ, Moorman JE, Bailey C, et al: Trends in asthma prevalence, health care use, and mortality in the United States, 2001-2010. NCHS Data Brief 2012:1-8.
5. Cooper GS, Bynum ML, Somers EC: Recent insights in the epidemiology of autoimmune diseases: improved prevalence estimates and understanding of clustering of diseases. J Autoimmun 2009;33:197-207.
6. Talluri SK, Besur S, Talluri J: Abstract #74: A Population-Based Survey of Celiac Disease in the United States. In 2012 National Conference on Health Statistics; 2012.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: FastStats. Depression [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/depression.htm]
8. Compton WM, Thomas YF, Stinson FS, et al: Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence in the United States: results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:566-576.
9. El-Serag HB: Impact of irritable bowel syndrome: prevalence and effect on health-related quality of life. Rev Gastroenterol Disord 2003;3 Suppl 2:S3-11.
10. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Overweight and Obesity Causes and Consequences. [http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes/index.html]

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