Dear Readers:
I started this blog 4 years ago to share my experiences trying different diets, striving to achieve optimal health and sharing delicious recipes. Unfortunately, I simply don’t have the time to keep posting these days, so I’m winding down my blog.
I plan to keep the website running for a while longer, so the recipes will still be available and the blog content can be searched. I remember when I started my health journey – before Google was invented – how difficult it was to find non-conventional, wholistic health information. Even though that is no longer the case, sometimes I think it’s helpful to read about the actual experiences of others in deciding whether to venture down a particular path, so I’ll keep the blog up for a while and try to respond to comments and emails as best I can.
I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who has stopped by this blog for their readership, interest and support, as well as the many thoughtful and kind comments and emails.
It took me a while to decide what the content of my last post should be. An update on my latest blood test results (those posts received a lot of interest!)? Another comparison of diets I’ve tried? Tips on going vegan?
In the end, I decided to compile a list of the things I’ve learned over the years which have most greatly contributed to my overall good health. After seeing too many friends and family suffer debilitating illnesses and difficult deaths, I realize that the best gift you can give to yourself and your family is the gift of good health through proper diet and exercise. The old saying is true – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
So here it is – my last blog post:
My Top 10 Best Health Tips
- Eat a plant-based diet to maximize your health, the health of the planet, and protect animals from abuse and exploitation. Eat a wide variety (and colors!) of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes and beans. If you must eat animal products, buy from local, organic farmers who use humane practices. Limit meat consumption to 10 – 15% of your diet.
- Drink water and eat plenty of fiber every day. I drink 2 to 3 liters of water a day. It helps flush waste from your body and keeps the digestive tract moving along smoothly. I eat a minimum of 7 fiber-filled veggie and fruit servings per day. Now brace yourself for some poop talk. Most people don’t take elimination seriously. You should. It’s essential to long-term, good health. If you don’t have at least 2 – 3 good “cleansings” per day, consider increasing water and fiber consumption. You may need to increase it slowly, but once you achieve regularity, you’ll feel reborn!
- Don’t over-emphasize consuming “protein”. Humans need a balance of the 3 macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates and fats. But protein is what gets the big headlines. Government subsidies have made meat, egg, milk and cheese production so cheap that they can make it in massive quantities. So that’s what is marketed to you – and you are encouraged to consume way more than your body needs. Unfortunately, animal protein – which is completely devoid of fiber – doesn’t pass through your digestive system as efficiently as fruits and veggies do. What doesn’t get passed out can slowly build up in the intestines, coating the intestinal walls, making them less flexible and less able to pass nutrients into the body. The end result can be colon cancer, heart disease or many other chronic conditions. So how much protein do you need? According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman (yes, I’m a big fan of his), a high-nutrient diet (like his Eat To Live program) supplies about 40 to 70 grams of protein based on a 1,200 to 1,800 calorie diet. Generally if you consume enough calories from a wide variety of whole foods, you’ll get enough protein along with the fiber needed to properly digest it.
- You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet. Most chronic diseases and cancers result from years of a poor, unbalanced diet. So don’t think that running marathons or spending hours in the gym are enough to counteract your daily consumption of a brick of cheese melted over a pound of bacon.
- The only way to build muscle is to exercise. Eating well, by itself, is not enough for overall good health. I’ve seen too many loved ones become bed-ridden because they do not have the physical strength to get out of a bed or chair, get up off the floor after falling, or being able to bathe or go to the toilet by themselves. Balance and strength are essential to remaining upright and independent, so exercise your core, back, arm, leg and shoulder muscles. The earlier you start exercising, the better. Although muscle knows no age – it can be developed at any point in life – it just makes everything easier the earlier you start.
- Get a calcium heart scan (cardio scan). This is a fast, simple and low cost ($50 – $200) scan that measures any calcium buildup in your arteries which helps detect your risk for coronary artery disease. My total calcium score is ZERO. In other words, I have nothing, nada, zilch, zippo buildup in my arteries. I thank my vegan diet for that. And for anyone who thinks their cholesterol “destiny” is determined by genetics, please note that my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles – pretty much most of my relatives – had/have high blood pressure and cholesterol. I’m the only one who doesn’t. Yes, our parents pass on their genes, but they also pass on the family recipes which tend to be chock full of unhealthy fats, carbs and protein. There is plenty of research showing that diet plays a larger factor in health outcomes than many genetic factors. I feel like I’m living proof of that.
- Get a C-Reactive Protein test annually. This test is a marker of general inflammation in your body. An ideal reading is less than 1.0 mg/L. A higher reading can indicate a chronic condition may exist or is forming. That’s where annual testing is helpful – one reading which is way out of line with past results is a warning sign and calls for further diagnostic testing. Of course, I also recommend an annual check-up with a routine blood panel draw, but the C-Reactive Protein and calcium heart scan tests must be asked for separately. Know what your base line numbers are and track them from year to year for any noticeable deviations.
- Sugar is Cancer and Chronic Diseases’ favorite food – so DON’T EAT IT! The USDA (which is heavily lobbied by Big Sugar, Big Food and Big Pharma) recommends added sugar should be limited to 10% of daily calories. For adult men averaging 2000 calories per day, that equals 12 teaspoons a day, and for adult women averaging 1500 calories per day, that equals about 9 teaspoons. A child’s intake could be half of that depending on age, weight and caloric intake. The World Health Organization recommends only 5 added teaspoons per day. Personally, I think both recommendations are WAY too high, but for purposes of this post, let’s assume they are right. Unfortunately, the average American eats 17+ teaspoons of added sugar a day. Even reading food labels to calculate how much sugar is in food is confusing unless you know how to convert grams to teaspoons and teaspoons into calories. Here’s the answer: approx. 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon; 1 teaspoon of sugar = approx. 17 calories. So read your food labels and those of the foods your kids eat. Just one serving of their favorite beverage or snack could max out their daily allowance. So please start counting your sugar intake. Awareness of what you’re taking in is a great first step on your journey to good health! Let’s stop diabetes, cancer and chronic diseases in their tracks!
- If it’s advertised on TV, it’s probably not good to eat. Foods that are boxed, jarred, packaged, etc. are generally not as healthy as fresh produce from the grocery store. Most frozen vegetables and fruits are basically as good as fresh, so that can be a good option when fresh produce isn’t available. If it has more than 3 – 5 ingredients on the label, don’t eat it. Fillers, food dyes, preservatives, sugar, salt and oil are ubiquitous in packaged foods. Keep you and your family healthy by avoiding excess artificial ingredients, sugar, salt and oil.
- Teach yourself, your spouse and your kids to enjoy grocery shopping and cooking! Think about this: what you put in your mouth, and those of your family, is THE most important decision you will make on a daily basis to keep your family healthy. Cooking is not a time suck! It’s the most fundamental way to express your love for your family, friends, and yourself by taking the time to care and think about what you feed them. Make shopping and cooking a fun, family affair! Kids are more likely to eat healthier when they get to help with the preparation and menu choices. And if you’re lucky enough to have a garden, kids are much more likely to take an interest in eating their veggies and fruits when they grow and harvest them from the back yard! Farmers’ markets, in both summer and winter, tend to have kid-centered activities that can get them interested in whole, healthy foods. It’s an investment of time that will pay off over everyone’s lifetime!
So there are my best pieces of advice for keeping yourself and your family healthy. I hope you find them helpful. I’ll sign off my last post with this:
Eat like your life, and the health of the planet, depend on it – because they do. Eat well, be happy!
May the Holidays and New Year bring peace, joy and good health to All.
MatchaMe says
Thanks for the great advice!
-Jared
Health Care Medicine Information Blog says
your health tips is very informative and helpful, thanks for sharing the article.
Health Care Medicine Information Blog recently posted…Sex Health Benefits
Emily Zielinski says
Great advice, thank you for sharing your Top Tips 🙂
Amy says
Thanks for stopping by, Emily!
Maggie says
Hi,
Your blog articles were awesome! I know you have stopped the blog, but I wonder if you could share a snapshot of what you eat in a day with the approximate number of calories to keep your weight and bloodwork where you want them to be?
Amy says
Hi Maggie: It’s hard to give a snapshot of what I eat in a day as my diet is very diverse. And I don’t count calories – I count nutrients. 100 calories of chocolate versus 100 calories of broccoli makes a big difference in your health and weight. If I had to narrow down my favorite meals it would be these.
Breakfast smoothie: oat/almond/soy milk, baby spinach, pea protein powder, chia/hemp/flax seed, dash of turmeric, squirt of ionic minerals, Stevia and water.
Lunch salad (very large): mix of greens (arugula, spinach, red/green cabbage, shaved brussels sprouts, romaine), carrots, celery, tomato, red pepper, green/red onion, black beans/edamame, advocado, artichoke hearts, palm hearts, nutritional yeast, pinch of salt, splash of extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Then I use a double-sided salad chopper (Google it – I can’t live without mine) to chop everything up very fine. It helps meld the flavors beautifully minimizing the need for oil.
Dinner: Tofu/Veggie Stir Fry over Wild Rice Pilaf – mushrooms, carrots, bok choy, broccoli, snow peas, green onion and diced tofu. To make the sauce, I mix in a blender toasted sesame oil, fresh lime juice, tamari or Bragg’s Amino Acids, Sriracha sauce, white vinegar & water. I make extra wild rice (it’s actually considered a seed) because it’s become my favorite carb that I don’t seem to gain weight on!
Snack (if needed): either grapefruit or sliced apples dipped in almond butter.
Supplements – every other day: Vitamin D3 (5000 IU), Vitamin K2 from Natto (90 mcg) and Vitamin B12 – sublingual (1000 mcg)
Hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by!
Linda Gajevski says
Thank you so much, Amy, for all the positive energy you put into sharing your experience. I found your blog as I searched the very issue you were grappling with in 2017. I too am a huge fan of Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutritarian lifestyle, and have also immersed myself in the knowledge Dr. Hyman has shared in several books. A vegetarian since 1980, I have been attempting to follow a Nutritarian diet style on and off for the past five or so years, but have only recently given up eggs and dairy completely. I am attracted to the idea of greater satisfaction from using more e v o o and coconut oil, and your last blog confirms my apprehension about weight gain. Thanks for making the comparisons of the two plans. I think I’ve already arrived at the same place. I’ll stick with Fuhrman and try to exercise away the olive oil. I have been taking Dr. Fuhrman’s Supplements (multivitamin/immune support/EPA-DHA algae based) for years. Again, much appreciation for all your insights and generosity. Best wishes.
Amy says
Thanks so much for stopping by, Linda!