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

Preface by Emily Boller: Last fall, after a few months into my weight loss journey, friends and complete strangers would ask, “How are you losing so much weight?!”  It was a bit time consuming to explain to each person Dr. Fuhrman’s books, so I decided to schedule a public meeting room at my local library to “tell-everyone-at-once” and be done with the various questions.  Ha. 

That first little meeting room was filled, and many in attendance that day wanted me to schedule another one so they could come back and bring their family and friends.  The rest is history. 

I ended up scheduling a large meeting room in our city’s downtown library, and that room was filled.  I’ve had several “library talks” now, and Fort Wayne, Indiana is a buzz with excited people on their journeys to health!  Rod attended that first meeting, and now he shares his own weight loss story and success tips at the library talks.  Welcome to Disease Proof, Rod! 

Tell us about yourself and the events that led up to getting your health back?

I had just received the results of my annual physical.  For the fourth straight year, my cholesterol was over 215.  This time it was 231.  The doctor called and wanted me to start Lipitor.  I was not excited about putting a drug into my body that would have negative side effects.  This left me with the question, “What do I do to avoid taking medicine and reduce my cholesterol?”

In addition to having high cholesterol, my doctor told me that I was obese at 215 lbs.  Wow, what a blow to someone who considered himself an athlete and not a couch potato. 

How did you hear about the library talk?

One evening while checking my email, I received a message that was forwarded to me from my sister-in-law.  Her neighbor, Emily, had lost a lot of weight and her cholesterol level had dropped drastically without medication. That was when I realized that I had received the answer to my dilemma.

How did you feel before starting ETL?

I had low energy, constant bloating, continual cravings for food, and trouble with breathing when I tried to run a couple of miles or sleep at night.  My wife thought I had sleep apnea, and I could not get a new life insurance policy. 

How do you feel now?

My energy level is higher than ever and I seldom take a nap!  The bloating is gone, and I no longer have food cravings.  My breathing is fine now when I’m sleeping, and I qualified for the highest level of Life Insurance at the lowest premium rate.  Plus I’m currently training for a marathon, and I just completed a half-marathon in a surprisingly great time!

After approximately eight weeks of nutritarian eating, I returned to the doctor’s office to have my cholesterol rechecked.  My overall cholesterol dropped from 231 to 127; LDL cholesterol dropped from 168 to 82, and my triglycerides dropped from 142 to 56. 

I now weigh 170-175 lbs.

Success tips you’d like to share with others in the journey to health:

• Find someone else that wants to get their health back also so you have support, eating ideas and an exercise partner.
• Focus on what you can eat and not on what you can’t have to eat. There are so many wonderful food choices with nutritarian eating.
• Be creative. Learn what foods you can eat, and put together combinations that you like. I make a vegetable soup and chili that I eat for lunch. I even mix together the soups to change the taste or add the leftover vegetables from our evening meals (saves money too.)
• Start an exercise program or a sport you enjoy.
• Make a game out of it – I want my cholesterol to go down “this much by this amount of time.”

If you could sum up what nutritarian eating has done for you, what would it be?

Not only has the quality of my health and life improved, but nutritarian eating has given me so much freedom! It feels so good to be free!

NOTE:  A year ago Rod was obese, unhealthy and could barely jog.  Now, at the age of 46, he just completed his first marathon in 4 hours and 9 minutes; placing 416th out of 1005 runners.  We are so proud of him!

Go eating for health!

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Alright nerds, listen up. Are you sluggish? Can’t drag yourself to the gym lately? Ate something you shouldn’t have. Or just feeling lazy? Well, fire up your geek radar, time to get inspired! If an evil horde threatened your home world, what would you do? Cower in fear? No. King Aragorn wants you to fight!

I know, I know. This is totally dorky, but millions of people get charged up over the Rocky movies, so why not the Lord of the Rings too. Whatever it takes! Like me, I’m a huge music fan. Blasting heavy metal or great classic rock gets me going and helps me knock out the extra mile. What works for you?

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Wow, this is a cliché, an Italian dude like me worshipping Rocky. I own the box set. Go figure! Anyway, the Rocky movies always excite me. So, even though Rocky isn’t real, this classic scene from the second movie will stand the hair up on the back of your neck:

Oh man. I’m all pumped now. Like Eddie Murphy said, after Italians see Rocky they come out of the movie theater charged. Same thing happens to me. But I’m not too embarrassed about it. People idolize Superman, Batman and Spiderman, same thing.

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Go outside and run! Because a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows people with high levels of physical fitness, i.e. cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), have lower risk of all-cause mortality and heart disease. Experts analyzed data from more than 100,000 individuals, including 84,323 people with coronary heart disease, and findings revealed people with low CRF had a 70% higher risk of all-cause death and a 56% higher risk of heart disease or cardiovascular event than those with high CRF; HealthDay News explains.

You need to exercise! Exercise keeps you fit, builds strong bones and muscles, and more! It goes double for heart health. In March, a study showed exercising after a heart attack helps improve blood flow by 10%, but Canadians didn’t get the message. They don’t exercise enough.

In related news, a previous report found diabetic men who stay active live longer. Now, if you’re too lazy to run, cycle, swim, whatever. Check out Oscar Pistorius, he does it with no legs!

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Printed in the journal Sports Health, a new study suggests weaker hip muscles could contribute to overuse injuries, such as knee pain, shin splints, tendonitis and sore feet, in runners. Experts estimate 70% of runners sustain an overuse injury each year, with half of those injuries occurring in the knee. If hip abductors, i.e. muscles at the outer hip, are weak or easily fatigued it can cause pain under the kneecap, researchers believe strengthening hip muscles could prevent these types of injuries in runners; via Reuters.

But don’t give on your running just yet! Impact exercise like running has been shown to develop stronger bones and muscles, even better than weightlifters. Now, in Dr. Fuhrman’s DVD Osteoporosis Protection for Life he demonstrates some exercises that help strengthen your muscles and bones.

In August, a report revealed middle-aged runners were 50% less likely to die than people who did not run. Runners also had a lower risk of heart disease and cancer.

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New findings in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research suggest high-impact exercise, like running, helps keep bones strong in men. Scientists studied 42 athletic men, ages 19 to 45, and discovered running yielded bigger benefits for bone density than strengthen training, both runners and weight-lifters had higher bone density than road cyclists, weight-lifters had strong bones due to bigger muscles, but runners had even stronger bones, regardless of muscle size; Reuters reports.

In January, another study on cyclists showed despite having less body fat and more muscle, bike-riders had weaker bones and were 2.5 to 3 times more likely to develop osteoporosis. Researchers recommended adding running or weight-training. Not a bad idea, because in the U.S. the lifetime rate of bone fracture is 40% in 50-year-old women and over 13% in men, with 300,000 hip fractures each year.

Time for some shameless marketing! Strong bones need strong muscles. Muscles strength is directly related to bone density and in Dr. Fuhrman’s DVD Osteoporosis Protection for Life he demonstrates a bunch of bone-building exercises you can do at home and it’s a lot cheaper than a gym membership!

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Wow, new findings in the Journal of Applied Physiology suggest being mentally tired may cause you to become exhausted more quickly during exercise, but researchers claim your muscles and heart don’t underperform. It’s your “perceived effort” that’s dragging you down. On one day 16 participants were given a demanding 90-minute test and on another day they watched TV for 90-minutes. When put on a stationary bike 15% of subjects stopped exercising sooner when they were mentally pooped; Reuters explains.

I relate to this big time! Tell me if you do too. A year ago I exercised a ton; Yoga, running, weights and more running! But I couldn’t do it anymore, too busy. Nowadays, DiseaseProof draws major attention, so I had to step up my game, hopefully you’ve noticed. Long story short, I was leaving the gym near death. Now I’ve cut back. I still exercise 6 days a week, but for shorter intervals and no more working out twice a day. That was crazy!

Clearly, pushing yourself to mental and physical exhaustion is a dumb idea. Our bodies need sufficient rest and recovery to function properly and previous reports insist Americans are overworked and under-slept. So cut yourself a break. You probably need it.

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You’ve probably heard it before. Exercise is really good for your bones. It makes them stronger. But a new study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise claims cyclists were 2.5 to 3 times more likely to develop osteoporosis or near-osteoporosis. However, biker riders did have less body fat and more muscle. Adding running or weight lifting to a workout can help stimulate the bones and keep them strong; via KiroTV.

In other news, the osteoporosis drug Fosamax has been linked to esophageal cancer. And, getting plenty of vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is a great way to keep bones strong and healthy. So is using a weighted vest.

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SpongeBob and MySpace might be super cool. But new research in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests teenagers who spend more than 2 hours in front of a television or computer each day, had less endurance during a standard running test than their peers. However, the findings do not support the theory that watching television or playing on the computer makes kids out-of-shape, but still, researchers recommend parents set clear rules for computer usage and TV time; Reuters reports.

Television has a nasty reputation. A previous report claims sitting around and watching good TV makes people more likely to overeat, the brain becomes distracted and doesn’t realize it’s over-consuming. And commercials make it worse! On average, children ages 8 to 12 are exposed to 7,600 ads a year, teenagers about 6,000 and little kids, ages 2 to 7, 4,400 commercials a year. Eek!

Go outside kids! You haven’t lived until you’ve spent hours throwing a tennis ball against a wall.
 

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As a kid, I logged all my exercising, religiously! Every rep, mile, pushup, pull-up and minute spent hitting a punching bag was accounted for. Nowadays I don’t write it down, but I keep a sharp mental tally.

And the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends keeping an exercise journal. Here are some suggestions to keep your fitness on track:

• Write down every physical activity that you do each day, including what you do and how long you spend doing it.

• Don't just log going for a run or lifting weights. Everyday chores that burn calories count, too. Track activities such as cleaning and vacuuming, or even walking the dog.

• Keep the journal with you, so you can write things down before you forget.

• Commit to entering information in the journal every day.

You know this already, but it pays to exercise. Recent research shows exercise curbs appetite and reduces anger and aggressiveness in obese children. Heck, even our president-elect is a fitness junky.

Actually, last year I blogged about my diet and exercise routine for a week.

Via HealthDay New.
 

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