The Minimally-Processed Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet.

It looks something like this:-

From http://littlesttumor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/whole-food-plant-based-diet-challenge.html

The commenter Melanie McSmiley reduced her weight by 45% using something very much like the above diet, and didn't suffer from any horrible side-effects such as Metabolic Shut-down. Well done, Melanie!

Here's an interesting talk by Denise Minger, which contains some big surprises:-

Warning signs to look out for when a heart attack is coming.

R.I.P. Davy Jones. I sang "Daydream Believer" at karaoke two nights running as a tribute.


The article Davy Jones Dead: Warning Signs to Look Out for When a Heart Attack is Coming caught my attention.

"At 66, Davy Jones appears to be living a healthy life. He was a vegetarian. He goes on a regular morning run. He was not just a horse owner but also a rider. Davy Jones seems to be generally fit and healthy to succumb to a deadly heart attack."

He's like H. Jay Dinshah, who also died of a heart attack at the age of 66. I strongly advise vegetarians & vegans to watch "Dr Greger: 2003 - Optimum Vegetarian Nutrition - Omega 3 and B12"

Vegetarians & vegans, listen up!

By vegetarian, I mean someone who does not eat the flesh of animals. This includes fish and chicken. By vegan, I mean someone who does not eat any animal produce, including milk or eggs.

Dr. Michael Greger M.D. ("The Vegan M.D.") has a very informative and witty lecture Optimum Vegetarian Nutrition: Surprising New Research on Omega 3's and B12.

In a nutshell, vegetarians & vegans don't live any longer than omnivores – as shown in a study of 28,000 subjects. Vegetarians & vegans have the same rates of coronary heart disease as omnivores, but double the rates of degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer's Disease. WHY? There are two reasons.

1) Vegetarians and vegans don't eat oily fish and most don't eat cracked or ground-up flaxseed/linseed either. This means a deficiency in omega-3 fats. This increases the risk of diabetes, certain cancers and coronary heart disease.

Men are much poorer converters of alpha-linolenic acid (the omega-3 fatty acid in flaxseeds) into DHA than women.

See Eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acids are the principal products of α-linolenic acid metabolism in young men,

Conversion of α-linolenic acid to eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in young women and

Extremely Limited Synthesis of Long Chain Polyunsaturates in Adults: Implications for Their Dietary Essentiality and Use as Supplements.

2) Only animal produce naturally contains Vitamin B12. Lack of B12 in the diet raises the level of homocysteine in the blood, which damages artery walls. This raises the risk of coronary heart disease & doubles the risk of degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer's Disease.

What to do?

1) Men should eat ~50g/day of ground flaxseeds and women should eat ~25g/day. The amount of flaxseed oil for men is ~20g/day and the amount for women is ~10g/day. Vegan men should also supplement with ~1000mg/day vegan DHA.

2) Eat foods fortified with vegan B12 or supplement with vegan B12.

'Nuff said?

See also Linseeds/Flaxseeds & Flaxseed oil and How I Un-Ruined My Teeth.