The Power of Plants!

So after a long hiatus, I return. I spent the summer months cooking up new recipes, checking out amazing vegan eateries and farm fresh foods, and really discovering a lot about the role each of us has to ultimately determine our health through simple life-style choices.

My mother has, for as long as I can remember, always had health issues... high blood pressure, heart problems: my grandma died of a heart attack and my mother had one too. This summer my whole family and I included worked together towards a healthier diet and lifestyle.... and by the end of the summer, my mom's blood pressure was lower than it had ever been, and her doctor was talking about taking her off her medication! The individual has immense power over their own life, even over those things we think out of our control... we make our own reality and this is just a small, amazing testament to that.

With that in mind, here's just a few links to some new studies and videos supporting this idea in relation to health... showing us how a plant-based diet has the potential power to reverse even some of the worst medical conditions. What we decided to subject our bodies to determines how our bodies grow, or fall.

Bill Clinton on how a plant-based diet has helped him lose 24 pounds: "So I did all his research and I saw that 82 percent of the people since 1986 who have gone on a plant-based, no dairy or meat of any kind, no chicken, turkey—I eat very little fish, once in a while I’ll have a little fish; not often—if you can do it, 82 percent of the people who have done that have begun to heal themselves"

Time's food writer Mark Bittman's Vegan Before Dinnertime (in Food Matters): "Within three or four months, I lost 35 pounds, my blood sugar was normal, cholesterol levels were again normal … and my sleep apnea indeed went away. All these good things happened, and it wasn’t as if I was suffering so I stayed with it…. I have not eliminated anything completely from my diet."

Some books to check out:

The China Study

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease: The Only System Scientifically Proven to Reverse Heart Disease Without Drugs or Surgery

The Engine 2 Diet

Walgreens is now selling fresh fruits and veggies at stores in Manhattan, Denny's now has a vegan veggie patty on their menu, and the support for flexitarian options such as Meatless Monday and Time's food writer, Mark Bittman's, Vegan Before Dinnertime.

And its no wonder since 3 out of every 4 Americans is expected to be obese by 2020 and the environmental impacts of factory farming (not to mention the horrible, abusive conditions for the farmed animals) are becoming more and more evident everyday...