Stopping America’s BIG 3 Killers!
In my early 30s, my life was probably saved by giving blood. After a donation, I received a letter stating I should see my doctor immediately due to high enzymes in my blood and high blood pressure. I figured it was due to my high-stress legal career. However, my doctor said all I needed to do was lose 50 pounds! In the meantime, he put me on blood pressure medication to keep my pressure under control. Well, unfortunately for me, not only did I not lose the 50 pounds, but I put on another 20. That caused my doctor to prescribe medications to control my high cholesterol and sugar levels telling me I was pre-diabetic . While the pre-diabetes was a wake-up call, it was short lived because I could control my levels with a medication that Publix supplies for free! (I since have figured out why.) I decided to write this article because statistics say that at least a couple of you reading this are just like me . Now, at 58, I have had a true wake-up call due to events occurring around me. First, a college friend with whom I keep in touch on social media, and then a coworker, both around my age, had open-heart surgery. Some of the pictures shared, and the pain of recovery described, were brutal. Then, I just happened to listen to the “Tim Ferriss Show” podcast (Episode #581) on my way to the office and heard his interview of Rich Roll , a middle-aged, former alcoholic, overweight, stressed-out attorney, who had difficulty making it up a flight of stairs. In his 40s, Rich made a decision to change his life and lifestyle based on what he refers to as a “plant-powered” diet and converted his overweight, coach potato, middle-aged body into running Ultra Ironman competitions (that’s double the normal Ironman triathlon competition of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.22 miles for a total of 320 miles over three days.) After hearing his story, I had to get his book: “Finding Ultra,” which is subtitled, “Rejecting middle age, becoming one of the world’s fittest men, and discovering myself.” This article is not specifically about his book, but about resources for those of you who are just like me, facing the battle of America’s three biggest preventable killers : heart disease/strokes, cancer, and diabetes. As I read Rich’s book, which first came out in 2013, I discovered he was basing his changes on books and information I had gathering dust on my book shelf. One was the “Forks Over Knives” cookbook (the knife is referencing the scalpel). It is based on a must- see documentary of the same name. The other book is “How Not to Die” by Michael Greger, M.D. (Also, for a quick introduction to the medical benefits of a plant-powered diet,
I highly recommend checking out Dr. Greger’s free videos at NutritionFacts.org .) As I said, I had previous wake-up calls, but they did not stick. However, by the time you read this, I will have been living on a plant-powered diet for over three months. As of this writing, I am the lightest I have been since college; I feel better overall, have more energy, eliminated one of my blood pressure medications, never feel hungry, and need to buy new clothes! Look, I am not here to proselytize a vegan lifestyle as I, too, would have laughed (and have) at the idea, as I have had more than my share of Big Macs, fries, pizza, and fresh mozzarella. I also can’t tell you I will never have a fresh mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich with roasted peppers and a cannoli for dessert. What I will tell you is the resources I shared above have profoundly changed my perspective on what I eat and, more importantly, have given me the motivation to change my lifestyle with diet and exercise as a result of knowing I can REVERSE the damage I have done and improve my quality of life, especially as I get older. If you take up my challenge to at least investigate these resources, it will open your eyes as to why the medical community, despite tons of research on the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, always defaults to medication to mask the problem, instead of fixing the root cause through diet. In sum, if you have a medical history like mine, I think you owe it to yourself, and your loved ones , to at least educate yourself on alternative ways to improve your health and reverse the negative effects of a lifetime of a bad diet, which is not your fault, but a result of the marketing messages created by the food industry and supported by government subsidies and policies not in your best interests. (See the documentary “Fed Up.”) As an estate planning attorney, I work with many investment/retirement advisors who help individuals plan for long-term care. While we can’t predict the future, what if one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce medical costs and care as we become octogenarians was as simple as a healthy diet? Finally, if you are someone who likes to cook as I do, I have discovered amazing recipes I never would have made but for my change of lifestyle. If I have touched at least one of you to take action to change your lifestyle, this article will have been a success. I would love to hear your story. Ala vostra salute! –Mark Martella, Esq.
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