Stupidly Simple Rules For Lifelong Health

STUPIDLY SIMPLE
RULES FOR LIFELONG HEALTH
By Adria Mooney and James DiPadua
1 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Chapter
Introduction 3
1. Startling Facts 17
2. What Do The Experts Say? 27
3. Food Basics - Macronutrients 32
4. Diseases of Affluence – A Closer Look 51
5. Nutrition - Stupidly Simple Key #1 To Good Health 65
6. Exercise – Stupidly Simple Key #2 To Good Health 83
7. Goals – The First Step to Success 95
8. Conclusion 97
Glossary/Index 100
Bibliography 107

Introduction
"The entire system--government, science, medicine, industry and media--promotes

profits over health, technology over food and confusion over clarity. The confusion
about nutrition is created in legal, fully disclosed ways and is disseminated by
unsuspecting, well-intentioned people, whether they are researchers, politicians or
journalists...it is a silent enemy that few people see and understand." (T. Colin
Campbell)
America is a sick nation. Despite a generally high standard of living, access to food,
clean water and shelter, Americans are plagued with health problems and disease.
Believe it or not, heart disease has killed more people than the Black Plague. Literally
billions of dollars are spent each and every year for the health care, fitness, and
pharmaceutical industries to research and combat our health problems. With pills,
treatments, surgeries, diets, equipment and information of all kinds, we’re as confused
as ever about food, nutrition and how to care for ourselves.
Why is that after so much money and years of costly research do we as a nation fail to
improve our health? The answer is simple. The solution is simple. The rules to lifelong
health are known, proven, replicable, attainable, and stupidly simple.
So why don't you already know and already practice the rules to lifelong health?
As strange as it is, there are actually barriers standing in your way and not all of them
have to do with your own will power. No matter how hard you try, if you are not given
the right information, you will never achieve optimal results. First, we need to identify
all the barriers standing in the road to lifelong health. After that, it will be smooth
sailing because you will be in control!
In this book we are going to look at the Diseases of Affluence (heart disease, cancer, and
diabetes) and a provide solution to this 100 year nightmare.
Who is this book for?
Simply put, this book is for everyone who’s a little (or a lot) overweight, just diagnosed
with diabetes or struggling with high blood pressure and cholesterol. This book is also
for the average American athlete in “really good shape” who exercises daily because
recent studies and events show that they are not immune to the Diseases of Affluence.
Unfortunately, as Runner’s World points out in a 2008 article, exercise alone does not

eliminate the risk of heart disease. Many athletes die “suddenly” of heart attacks.
Whether you are sick, old, overweight, overworked, this book will give you the tools
and facts you need to get healthy fast and, more importantly, get healthy
permanently. You will not need expensive treatments, equipment, or even specialized
knowledge to get healthy and follow the suggestions in this book. All you need is to
understand the basics of how your body works and how to give your body what it
needs. There is no magic or mystery about it. The fact of the matter is people have
been living healthy, long lives around the world for thousands of years doing what we
recommend in this book. More surprising still:
Over 70% of the world’s population still lives on a diet similar to what
we recommend, avoiding heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
Hundreds of scientific studies compiled over the past 100 years, especially the last 20,
guide and serve as a basis for the recommendations in this book. We’re going to break it
down for you, make sure you’re ready to get started on your new lifestyle as well as
provide you with the information you need to help others make the same transition
away from debilitating and devastating lifestyles.

Chapter Exercise #1
Many books have activities to help the readers work through particular points.
The first exercise is real simple -- and it's going to be your own personal litmus
test.
Read this statement aloud with conviction.
"I will complete the exercises in this book because I know and believe they will
help me get my health on track and extend my lifetime by years. The
information and the exercises in this book enable me to control my life.
Therefore, I commit myself today to read this book with an open mind and to
complete each exercise. When completing future exercises, I will be sincere and
honest with myself."
If you haven't already, read the statement aloud with conviction and belief.
Read it aloud two times.
If you cannot complete this simple task, then the litmus test results are: you fail.
Unfortunately, this book is not for you at this time.
If you have completed this task, then you're ready. Let’s get started!
What is this book about?
The goal of this book is to present the most proven diet and exercise methods in a
concise and clear way. In fact, you will be surprised at how stupidly simple our
recommendations are. We want you to see right away why America is so unhealthy and
how incredibly quickly you can gain control of your health, no matter how unhealthy
you are.
How will it help me?
The recommendations in this book have been shown to:
• prevent disease
• reverse disease
• burn fat

• build muscle
• increase energy
• increase metabolism
• improve sleep
• improve sex (reduction in impotency)
Using the recommendations in this book, you will be able to quickly and permanently
regain your health without drugs, surgery, or expensive diet programs. How quickly?
Depending on your starting point, you could lose 15 pounds in only a matter of weeks.
Even our most active readers will be surprised at the results. Only YOU have the power
to improve your health permanently. It's time to stop feeling frustrated, tired, sick, and
take control of your life for good. We’re here to help you do that.
1. Science
“I was on the inside of the system for many years, working at the very top levels,
and saw enough to be able to say that science is not always the honest search for
truth that so many believe it to be. It far too often involves money, power, ego and
protection of personal interests above the common good. Very few, if any, illegal
acts need occur. It doesn't involve large payoffs...not a Hollywood story; it's just
day-to-day government, science and industry in the United States." (T. Colin
Campbell)
The healthiest and most long-lived peoples of the world are not informed by scientific
knowledge relating to health, nor do they even necessarily have access to modern
medicine. Long-lived individuals simply lead active lifestyles and eat a wide variety of
extremely fresh fruits and vegetables. You don’t need to have scientific knowledge in
order to stay healthy. The human body is a near-perfect system, designed and proven
to thrive in a wide variety of environments. However, human-driven industry and
society has rapidly changed the world —and our diets have changed as well. We now
suffer from diseases at increasing rates because we changed how and what we eat
faster than our bodies could adapt, not because we’re simply living longer. (Our average
lifespan has increased but the maximum age limits have not increased.)
There is not one single scientist who completely understands all our bodies’ interactions
with food and the environment. There are simply too many variables to be absolutely
sure. Although scientists have made great strides in understanding how our bodies
work, the reported results of scientific studies all too often confuse what the public
really needs to know about their bodies and their health.

By design, scientific studies are complex interactions of variables. For practical
purposes, scientists typically try to reduce all the variables into as few manageable
components as possible. The main problem with this situation is not unknown to the
scientific community: Oversimplifying complex processes produces oversimplified
results and isolated scientific studies produce isolated results that by themselves do not
paint a holistic picture of how the body functions and how it can best be cared for.
But the real problem with science is not the scientific method itself, or the complexity of
understanding results of studies. The real problem is the corrupting influence of
industry.
“The vast majority of scientists are honorable, intelligent and dedicated to the search
of the common good rather than personal gain. However, there are a few scientists
who are willing to sell their souls to the highest bidder. They may not be high in
number, but their influence can be vast.” (T. Colin Campbell)
It’s true. Some scientists are heavily funded by corporate interests and enjoy extremely
high salaries and “perks” as a result of their cooperation. The studies in major scientific
medical journals are frequently funded by pharmaceutical companies, who maintain
veto power over whether findings can be published. This means that results not in
alignment with the “corporate strategy” are suppressed. Even worse, there is no easy
way to tell which studies are funded by corporate interests, so the hunt for unbiased
truth becomes even more convoluted. As unlikely as we’d think it to be, the complexity
of scientific research and the publication process act as barriers to your health.
2. Industry
“Much lip service is paid to the importance of prevention, but the healthcare industry,
being an industry, stands to profit more handsomely from new drugs and procedures
to treat chronic diseases than it does from a wholesale change in the way people eat.”
(Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma)
If everyone found out they could actually treat diseases and stay healthy simply by
changing their diets and exercising, some of the largest and most powerful industries in
the world would be in trouble. Fortunately for these industries, they have the power to
pay scientists to conduct research that supports their findings. They have the power to
"educate" school children about the benefits of their food products. They have the
financial reach to influence government into making policies in their favor and censor
scientific reports that may harm them.

Industry associations garner quite a bit of power in D.C., and the results of studies are
sometimes "softened" in government reports when the findings are not favorable to
powerful industries. Companies also often use scientific findings to market and justify
use of their products. When you hear about scientific findings in the news, it is often
the result of a public relations, a segment of marketing departments. The marketing
and public relations industry is structured to maintain contacts at news publications for
the purpose of placing new information to the public. It is quite easy for scientific
research to seem contradictory or confusing to consumers because it is so often
contextually misplaced by marketing departments and journalists that are not
necessarily qualified to analyze and communicate scientific findings. (To the media
industry’s credit, many reputable newspapers do hire science-journalists who specialize
within a sector of research; however, this does not make that individual immune to
biased or misleading results). The lack of scientific understanding—which is very
different from the business of news publication—is another major barrier to better
health. If the journalists responsible for communicating results to the community do
not understand the results themselves, there is little likelihood of the public receiving
accurate coverage of pertinent information.
To solve this issue, we're going to share the results of the overwhelming majority of
studies on health with you in this book. When you’re finished, you will have a clear
picture of the American nutrition and health landscape—a picture that isn’t as cozy and
good intentioned as you would like. In fact, readers who take the information in this
book seriously may be angered and disturbed by the behavior condoned by politicians
and carried out by profit-driven, cash-laden corporations.
Healthcare/Pharmaceutical Industry
Cutting edge treatments, surgery, and drugs to treat diseases of affluence (the main
killers of Americans) mean literally trillions of dollars a year for the healthcare and
pharmaceutical industries. These industries have a deeply invested interest in making
sure you stay unhealthy. It cannot be underemphasized that the companies’ business
models rely on your inability to obtain sustained health.
In 2008, the top 20 healthcare companies alone amount to approximately 1.2 to 1.6
trillion dollars worth of assets and operations. That is a lot of money! To give you an
idea of just how much, those 20 companies represent MORE than the US government
spent on defense, social security, and Medicare in 2007. It is also about double the 2008
bailout package for the financial sector.

Percentage of GDP Spent on Health Care
14
12
10
8
Percentage of GDP Spent
6 on HealthCare
4
2
0
1960 1970 1980 1990 1997
Figure 1 Percentage of GDP Spent on Health Care (Adapted from T. Colin Campbell's The
China Study)
Physicians are taught early on to cooperate with drug interests:

inte gifts and incentives are
given to medical studentsnts by pharmaceutical companies, doctors
d are rewarded for
prescribing pills to patients, and medical
edical research is focused on drug trials (because
these studies are heavily funded) rather than on seeking more natural paths to health.
Drugs are pushed onto consumers more easily than you would expect, or care to know.
20% of all new drugs have serious, unknown side effects, and more than 100,000
Americans die each year from taking such medications! While we’re all busy focused
on Osama bin Laden and the Global al War on Terror, the real threat to our national safety
is right here at home in our healthcare industry.
The modern healthcare and pharmaceutical industries depend on developing new and
expensive treatments in order to make money year after year. Do not be fooled. These
industries do not care about your individual health.

Diet/Fitness Industry
Even if you are ready to stop yo-yo dieting and get healthy once and for all, how do you
know what to do? What information can you trust? As we just, there is a powerful
industry invested in making sure you don't find out how stupidly simple it is to be in
control of your own health and avoid disease.
The diet and fitness industry makes billions of dollars a year selling the next "quick fix”
to overweight, frustrated, sick Americans. Whether it's a magic fat burning pill, an
exercise contraption, or a miracle diet, the results are always the same: A little bit of
loss in the first month or two, a lot of gain within a year, and you're off to buy the next
product. It's time to break this cycle! We’re going to help you do that and provide you
the mental ammunition you need to do so.
What's wrong with current diet programs out there? Why are people trying so hard to
lose weight and continuously failing? Why do people continue to shell out thousands of
dollars for "proven" diets that don't give lasting results?
1. They are designed to make money. They depend on selling you related "products" in
order to assist in your weight loss. You should never have to depend on a product for
your health. Real food and exercise is the only thing that will make you permanently
healthy. (We don’t believe that knowledge is a product.)
2. They are gimmicky. Diets are usually designed to be appealing to you as a consumer
in some way. They sound easy, let you eat certain foods that you love in exchange for
giving up others — such as giving up “carbs” in exchange for more meat. It’s almost as
though Eric Cartman from South Park came up with the Atkin’s Diet; it is that ridiculous.

What is Nutrition?
Aside from the science of nutrition, nutrition is the conglomeration of
substances in our food that fuels our bodies. Whereas diet refers to our habits of
eating, nutrition refers to the "stuff" in food that ultimately provides us with the
tools necessary to maintain life.
Without even considering anything but the two definitions provided
here, which do you think is more important?
1. Diet, the general habit of what we eat.
2. Nutrition, the actual food and beverages we consume.
While it's true that you are what you eat (most of the time), our nation's
obsession and extreme fixation on diet led us astray of what's really important
about food--it's what you actually eat and how you fuel your body that ultimately
makes the biggest impact on your weight. Whereas we Americans are going on
"doctor prescribed milkshakes", Jenny Craig's, Weight Watchers, Atkins, South
Beach, and Zone (to name only a few), we should be examining ways of bettering
our understanding of the processes driving our bodies' fluctuations in weight
(and shape). Maybe it's just our culture. Are we too lazy to "get" nutrition?
Maybe so but that’s highly doubtful. Americans just suffer from misplaced trust.
We have a lot of trust that when we pay for a service, such as diet advice, we're
getting expert information. We expect the person to know all the ins and outs of
their recommendations, despite the fact that we live in a profit driven society
and the fact that nobody can know all there is to know.
In the rest of this book, we will use the term 'diet' but we don't want to
elicit thoughts of Atkin’s, South Beach or any other fad you may have heard of.
The stupidly simple truth to lifelong health starts with understanding the
nutritional requirements of the body. It is important that our readers understand
that nutrition comes first, diet second. Diet is just something we all have; a
nutritional understanding of what's driving our diets is optional. Electing to have
that information is going to make the difference between the reader who avoids
a life of pain, suffering and financial hardship and the reader destined to a life
free of these issues.
3. They are complicated. Many diet programs do not admit to the simple truth that
there are some types of foods that you simply should rarely eat, for your whole life.
They do not admit to the simple truth that you have to exercise regularly, for your whole
life. They cleverly design ways for you to balance calories in and calories out in order to
lose weight in the short term while you are on the diet. In the end, when the
complicated formulas or over-restrictive diets get tiresome or too expensive to
maintain, you stop the “diet” and backslide to previous habits and weights.

The stupidly simple truth is you cannot continue your life going on and off various diets,
yo-yoing your way from sickness to health and back again. You have to embrace the
fact that you are a human being. Your body needs to consistently receive the nutrients
and energy of healthful foods and consistently engage in rigorous exercise to use that
energy. If your body is allowed to do what it is supposed to do (that is, what it’s been
doing over the course of millennia), it will not develop diseases of affluence. Your body
will look healthy, you will feel healthy, and you will feel ALIVE. There’s no other word
for it.
It’s time to stop being lazy about your health habits. It’s true. Many of us are
overworked and overly tired. We also all too easily fall into the habit of “It’s 5pm, time
to head home, grab some takeout and watch TV for 4 hours.” That’s the very lifestyle
that is killing us with tragic and debilitating diseases as well as the healthcare costs that
risk bankrupting of our social system. Rather than giving up and making excuses, it’s
time to make some simple changes to your daily habits that will have permanent
positive effects on your life.
Food Industry
Food consumption is intrinsically a stagnant market; people eat approximately the same
amount of food every day, every year. As Michael Pollan illustrates in Omnivore’s
Dilemma, the food industry is able to make significantly greater rates of return by selling
processed foods.
So how do large food companies increase their profits? By making new food-like
products and selling them for more than the sum of their parts are actually worth. Most
packaged foods are made of incredibly cheap, abundant ingredients like corn and sugar,
and other chemical compounds. Moreover, the food industries play a role in making
sure you don't change your eating habits for the better. By chemically engineering their
products to “taste” better while also using ingredients with little to no real nutritional
value, mega-corporations are pulling off the greatest heist in human history. We are not
only consuming more and more surplus food but we’re doing so with zeal and rabid lust
for these “food” products.
The dairy, meat, sugar, corn and soy industries, the largest food industries and
producers of the industrial diet, also have a strong economic interest in obscuring
information about the harmful effects of their food products from consumers. Most
people don’t even realize how money-hungry corporations are subverting the health of
the populace at large. Most people also don’t realize that they’re actually physically
addicted to the foods that lead directly to highly increased risks of diabetes, cancer and
heart disease.
We call this a heist because large food corporations profit handsomely by taking

advantage of government subsidized raw materials such as corn and soy to bolster their
bottom-lines. They also profit by marketing these products heavily (especially to
children), creating lifelong addictions to highly sweet, fatty, and salty foods. They
secure their profits by ensuring through government lobbying and paid research studies
that information about the health dangers of their food products never leaks to the
public. They also allow the public to shoulder the economic costs and ramifications of
diets and industrial processes that result from these subsidized activities.
Translation: This is a pretty cushy business model and a lot of money and effort is put
into keeping it that way.
Real food is not new, not in packages, not expensive, and not as
profitable to big business. Real food is what you should be eating.
3. Government
Although it is not necessarily the responsibility of the government to make sure its
citizens lead healthy lifestyles, the government is entrusted with providing unbiased and
accurate information for public use. Unfortunately, when it comes to issues about food
and health, this is often not the case.
Industry has its hands in some of the government programs we trust to care for our
most needy vulnerable citizens: children, the poor, and elderly. The Food and Nutrition
Board (FNB) is a government organization responsible for research and reporting that
influences food decisions related to the Food Pyramid, the Food Stamp Program, the
National School Lunch Program, the Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Feeding
Program (WIC), and Medicare hospital food programs, as well as food labeling. In all, at
least 35 million Americans are fed directly by these programs every day. What’s so
scary? Simple: the fact that academic scientists of the FNB receive financial
compensation from corporate sponsors including M&M Mars, Coca Cola, Taco Bell, and
Burger King (a shortened list to be sure). Many of the members of the FNB have ties to
the dairy industry and major dairy companies such as Dannon and Nestle. The findings
of the 2002 FNB report sided heavily with these interests, literally guaranteeing that our
nation’s vulnerable citizens will be force fed unhealthy doses of sugar, fat, processed
foods, meat and dairy, all under the guise of a “balanced diet.” Balanced to what?
Balanced to maintain the profits of food industries? Or balanced toward long life and
health?
School lunch and other government food programs, the food pyramid, and many other
government reports and programs on health and nutrition are influenced by powerful
industries. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for
formulating the US Dietary Guidelines and the Food Pyramid. It’s major office holders
are previous employers of the meat and dairy industry, and many of them are still
compensated by these industries. As a result, USDA dietary recommendations fall more
in line with the food industry interests than in the public’s interest.
It is no coincidence that the American government allows up to 25% of your daily

calories to come from sugar, whereas the World Health Organization recommends that
no more than 10% should come from sugar. The simple truth is that consuming 25%, or
even 10% of daily calories from sugar—rather than from whole food, complex
carbohydrates—is reckless and absolutely divergent from the needs of any human.
Once again our elected representatives and entrusted scientists in government felt
compelled to bow down before the profit-alters of industry and recommend a diet
structure that is ultimately detrimental to the entire populace.
The dairy industry, for example, is an extremely powerful interest and has more
influence than most imagine. The marketing budget for the dairy industry association
was $165 million in 2003. One of their main target markets is children, and they have
the clearance to market to kids via government channels, our public schools! The dairy
industry’s stated mission is to increase demand for dairy products by making children
“life-long consumers of dairy products.” They “teach” children about the benefits of
dairy by providing educational kits, posters, videos and other materials to schools.
Lesson plans developed by the dairy industry are taught in schools to millions of kids
each year. What’s so bad about that – milk is good for you, right? When profit-driven
industry has its hands in public education, it is no longer education. It is indoctrination
and propaganda. We will discuss the effects of dairy products on health in more detail
later.
“Evil industry”, “big government”, and “confusing science” are not the only barriers
standing in our way to achieving lifelong health. It is always easier to place blame on a
scapegoat rather than admit our own part in the game. The truth is, our culture is also
part of the problem.
4. Culture
We build our worldviews based on what we see and experience over our lifetimes,
much of which includes the influence of our parents and community. We all grew up
eating foods prepared a certain way, and we may even cook the same way our parents
did. We have strong feelings and prejudices about foods that we may not even be fully
aware of—at least not until we are faced with a challenge to our beliefs. When it’s our
lifestyles, habits, and food preferences that are challenged, we tend to justify our
actions with excuses, objections, and denial, ignoring any potentiality of the information
being correct.
Our lives are constantly bombarded with images, smells, and messages about food
products. Take a minute to imagine the sound of a soda can opening, the smell of a

burger and fries, the smell of a fresh donut, or the latest McDonald’s jingle. How about
completing this sentence: “Milk, it does a ___ ___.” Easy, right? Now try imagining the
smells, images, and sounds of vegetables. Maybe not so easy; nutritious foods are not
heavily marketed, and therefore not as present in our culture and daily thinking about
food.
Cultural bias about food is present at all levels, from consumers to scientists. We are
reluctant to accept evidence that challenges our way of life, and the things we like to
do. That is a perfectly normal way to react. It’s fine for a moment or two, but
ultimately we need to have an open mind and consider what could impact our lives for
the better. At the end of the day, it is a personal choice what we eat and whether we
exercise or not; failure to make the correct choice does have consequences, and often
these consequences end our lives prematurely.
It is true that the rules to living a healthy life are stupidly simple; this does not mean
they’re easy. People may not want you to know how simple it is to live a healthy life and
maybe YOU don't even want to know. You may insist on finding some magical solution
in which you continue to lie on the couch and stuff yourself with chocolate cake while
the pounds just melt away.
Well, that is never going to happen. The problem with that solution (stuffing your face
and taking a “magic pill”) is that it’s not replicable. In fact, most of the diet programs on
the market are so complicated (or costly if you count gastro-bypass or angioplasty or
any other elective medical treatment), that these programs are not replicable. We’re
going to show you what’s not only stupidly simple but also replicable. Meaning, no
matter your age or starting health, you can obtain a healthy body and lifestyle. Simply
said, it's time for you to change your life for the better, once and for all. The
suggestions in this book may be tough to swallow at first, but if you embrace our
recommendations with an open mind, nothing will stop you from achieving a long,
healthy life.
More importantly, it's time for you to stop relying on others to solve your problems. It's
time to stop feeling hopeless. It's time to take action and make a difference in your life
and the lives of your family and friends. The solution to your health and weight
problems is stupidly simple:
Eat Right and Exercise Regularly
There you have it. That's it! You probably feel cheated for buying this book because
you've heard that before. We told you it was stupidly simple though. We also said it’s
not easy. That’s why we are going to discuss exactly what “eat right and exercise
regularly” means and how incredibly powerful doing it right can actually be. “Eat right”
does not mean go hungry or count calories—that’s a huge waste of time. “Exercise

regularly” does not mean spend hours on a treadmill, stationary bike or become a gym
rat. Before we get into our lifestyle recommendations in more detail, first you need the
background information to prepare yourself to accept the recommendations. In the next
chapter, we’re going to start looking at the facts that led us to writing the book. We’ll
cover the economic toll—numbers you’ve probably never seen—and also touch on the
actual figures of our health epidemics in America.
Chapter Exercise #2
Take out a blank piece of paper. Turned so it's longer from left-to-right (rather
than up-down, as normal), fold the paper into fours. About an inch down from
the top of the page (still turn on its side), draw a line, creating a "row". Within
each fold and above the line, write Overweight, Diabetes, Cancer, and History
of Heart Disease.
Fold the paper such that you only see one of the words (doesn't matter which
you start with). Below the heading, write the names of each person that fits
that description. Start with you, your family, friends, coworkers, etc and move
outward (with yourself as the 'closest' proximity to you yourself). Feel free to
use celebrities or politicians or whomever you think of during this exercise (but
make sure to move outward from yourself). Use these definitions as the
criteria:
Overweight: Body mass index of over 25. If you don’t know, make a subjective
guess – stomach fat, large waist size, or massive thighs are obvious visual cues.
Diabetes: Type 2 diabetes
Cancer: Currently diagnosed, recovered, in remission, or passed away (note
which kind if you know)
History of Heart Disease: High blood pressure, cholesterol, heart attack, stroke,
arrhythmia, angina
After you complete one column, go on to a new column. When you're
completed, circle the names of people that repeat. Finish this exercise by
simply reflecting on what each of the circled people has in common. Feel free
to jot down any notes that occur to you as you think this over.
Save this page with any notes you took for an exercise later in the book.

Ch. 1 Startling Facts
The simple fact of the matter is that Americans have been suffering
from higher rates of diabetes, obesity, cancers and heart disease over
the last 100 years, not less.
America is getting fatter and unhealthier every year. The leading killers of Americans
are heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. These diseases are not natural causes of old age
or a result of the body breaking down over time. In fact, these diseases have been
shown to statistically appear in developed nations up to ten times or more than in less
developed nations! Why? (It is what we eat and how much we move our bodies).
Figure 2 Obesity in America (Center of Disease Control)
Less developed nations suffer from diseases caused by a lack of nutritious food, clean
water, and basic hygiene (diseases of poverty). Americans and people from other
developed nations today do not generally die from typhoid, malaria, diarrhea,
tuberculosis, or measles. Developed nations suffer from diseases called "diseases of
affluence" (heart disease, diabetes, cancer) caused by too much energy-rich
energy food and

too little exercise.
The facts and statistics below will quickly show you how bad the problem is. Read this
section. Reflect on it. Note: skimming over the facts is what got our nation into this
predicament in the first place. As a whole, Americans are overweight, we do not
exercise, we do not eat right, we spend more money on healthcare than any other
nation in the world and it’s all for naught. Meaning, we suffer from diseases and health
problems related to our lifestyle and we ultimately die more frequently because of it.
It’s time to face the dirty secret of American health problems: the key to our sickness
and our health is in our control. It’s time to keep an open mind and start truthfully and
critically evaluating how our daily habits are slowly eroding away our health.
Healthcare in America
• There were 1.5 million deaths in 2000 due to diseases of affluence. At that rate,
we are losing the equivalent of the entire population of Philadelphia…each and
every year!
• Americans spend far more per person on healthcare than any other nation in the
world
• Americans spend one out of seven dollars on healthcare -- 300% more than only 40
years ago
• 81% of Americans take prescription drugs every week
• Medical error (adverse drug effects and surgical errors) is the third leading cause of
death in the US, right behind heart disease and cancer
• The number of uninsured American citizens without healthcare has increased for six
consecutive years and is not slowing
• In 2005, the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey found that the rate of
patients without insurance outnumbered insured individuals by 2 to 1 (twice as
many)
• In 2006, 14.8 percent of all American citizens lacked health insurance; that’s 43.6
million people—an increase of 18.9% from 2005 (only one year!)
• Of those 43.6 million people, 36.5 million of them were working age (18-64)

50
Uninsured Americans
45
40
35
Millions of Americans
30
25 Adult
20 Children
15
10
5
0
Uninsured Americans (43.6 Million Total)
Figure 3 Uninsured Americans (National Health Interview Survey, 2006)
Diet
• In 1996 approximately 42% of Americans ate cakes, cookies, pastries or pies on

ANY GIVEN DAY, while only 10% ate green leafy vegetables
• Americans consume more meat and added fat than 30 years ago
• Americans consumed 32 teaspoons of added sugars per day in 1996 (that's 525
calories, or close to the 25% of government recommended total daily calorie intake!)
• 3 vegetables account for over half of Americans' vegetable consumption - potatoes,
head lettuce, and tomatoes… “Burger and fries" anyone?
Weight
• 64% of Americans are overweight (is your list from chapter exercise #2 looking a
little short?)
• 31% of Americans are obese
• The average American man's waist size is 38.8 inches
• Males with waists larger than 35 inches have double the risk of developing heart
disease
• Individuals with a waistline of 37-40 inches have a significantly increased risk of
respiratory problems, so they're less likely to work out because it's "difficult”

Physical Activity
• Close to half the US population is perpetually sedentary

• Over half of Americans age 65 and older lead a sedentary lifestyle
• One-third of young people in grades 9-12 do not regularly engage in vigorous
physical activity
• In 1999, less than 60% of American 11th graders exercised regularly
• In 2007, less than half of Americans aged 35-44 exercised regularly
Heart Disease
• Heart disease is the #1 cause of premature death in the US--and it has been for
almost 100 years!
• Heart failure will kill 40% of Americans
• 82% of American adults have at least one risk factor for heart disease
• Over the next 24 hours, 3000 Americans will have heart attacks, roughly the same
number of people who died in the 9-11 attacks
• 50 million Americans have high blood pressure
• People who develop heart disease and suffer from a heart attack have an
overwhelming risk of dying from heart disease
• The average American blood cholesterol level is 215 mg/dl, putting those individuals
at extremely high risk for developing heart disease
• 100 million Americans have high cholesterol – that’s 33% of the total population!
Cancer
• Americans have over a 1 in 3 chance of getting cancer

• Approximately 500,000 Americans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this
year
• 6% of Americans get colon or rectal cancer (close to 16 million people)
• Developed nations have 300% more colorectal cancer death rates than "less
developed" nations
• Cancer death rates have increased since 1974, despite advancements in medicine,
treatment techniques, and earlier prognosis methods

• Men who consume the most dairy have double to quadruple the risk of developing
prostate cancer
• 1 in 8 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime
• Increased estrogen exposure increases risk of breast cancer (is in fact the main
cause of breast cancer)
• Diets high in animal-products are linked to elevated levels of estrogen
Diabetes
• 15 million Americans have diabetes - that's 5% of the total population

• 8% of American adults are diabetic
• Diabetes increased 33% from 1990 to 1998
• Japanese men living in the US have a four times higher rate of diabetes than
Japanese men living in Japan
What are the causes of these startling statistics? Why do we continue to be overweight,
diabetic, cancer-ridden, and develop heart disease despite advances in medicine? The
stupidly simple answer is that a “pill” or “surgical method” is not enough to solve these
problems.
Despite efforts by the food and pharmaceutical industries to guide scientific research
and control public opinion, there is an overwhelming body of research with consistent
findings on diet and health: Proper nutrition and exercise prevents and even reverses
many of America's most common health problems.
We can say with 100% confidence that reducing consumption of animal products and
industrial foods to zero will nearly eliminate your chances of developing a disease of
affluence (cancer, heart disease, diabetes). Just as important, removing these foods
from your diet can actually reverse these diseases after they have been diagnosed.
It is that stupidly simple. The countries with the highest intakes of

animal fat and animal protein have the highest incidences of diseases of
affluence.
We know you're thinking, "But why don't I know this? Why wasn’t I told? That must
not be right. These vegetarians have an agenda they’re trying to push on me." (We
know you're thinking that because we were thinking the same thing when we first
learned of these findings). Two words sum up why these findings never make it to the
front page of the daily paper: Big Business!

The following statistics illustrate how much money there is to be made on diseases of
affluence, and how simple (and affordable) treatments can be with diet and exercise
alone.
Heart Disease
Heart disease is big business for the healthcare/pharmaceutical industries, but

treatments are expensive and dangerous for patients:
• 1 out of 750 Americans received a voluntary heart bypass operation in 1990

• 70-80% of patients who undergo elective bypass surgery procedure, costing about
$46,000, do so for angina relief (chest pain caused by clogged arteries)
• Within three years of the operation, up to one third of the patients will again suffer
from chest pain
• Within ten years, half of the bypass patients will die, have a heart attack, or again
experience chest pain
• 1 in 16 patients will experience an "abrupt vessel closure" during angioplasty, leading
to death, heart attack, or an emergency bypass operation – angioplasty is also a
voluntary procedure
• 40% of the arteries opened during the angioplasty will close again, nullifying any
previous achievements
• No surgery, treatment or drug currently has the ability to CURE heart disease
(though there is a cure). Procedures only ease symptoms and are not guaranteed to
prolong life spans
• The American Heart Association recommends a cholesterol level below 200 mg/dl,
yet 35% of heart attacks strike Americans who have cholesterol levels between 150 and
200 mg/dl; a truly safe level is below 150 mg/dl. Three renowned cardiologists (Dr.
Castelli, Dr. Roberts, and Dr. Esselstyn) admit they have never seen a heart disease
fatality among patients with blood cholesterol levels below 150 mg/dl.
Curing heart disease with diet alone would mean lost money for the healthcare,
pharmaceutical industries and high-paid surgeons (wouldn’t you defend and justify a six-
figure income?) Medical professionals are highly rewarded for prescribing drugs and
performing expensive surgeries. Fortunately, there are a few “renegade doctors,”
whose patients have achieved amazing results from diet and exercise programs alone.
Dr. Esselstyn's 100% plant based diet completely reversed the affects of heart disease
for patients who stayed on the program. The diet also resulted in significant reversal in
heart disease symptoms after just a few weeks.
Dr. Ornish sees a sustained elimination of chest pain for 60% of his patients on a low-
animal-food diet. Dr. Ornish has had such amazing results over the years that insurance
companies are beginning to accept the costs of his program because it saves the
insurance company thousands of dollars per patient per year.
Diabetes
The total economic toll for diabetes in the US is over $130,000,000,000 per year.
In 2007, medical costs attributed to diabetes include $27 billion for care to directly treat
diabetes and $58 billion to treat the portion of diabetes-related chronic complications
that are attributed to diabetes.
The largest components of medical expenditures attributed to diabetes are hospital

inpatient care (50% of total cost), diabetes medication and supplies (12%), retail
prescriptions to treat complications of diabetes (11%), and physician office visits (9%).
People with diagnosed diabetes incur average expenditures of $11,744 per year.
People with diabetes have medical expenditures averaging 2.3 times higher than what
expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes. $1 in $5 health care dollars in the
U.S. is spent caring for someone with diabetes.
Studies have shown that within weeks, type 2 diabetics (over 90% of diabetics are type
2) that switch to a whole foods, plant based, low-fat diet were able to dramatically
reduce—if not eliminate—their insulin shot dependence.
Cancer
The estimated overall annual cost of cancer in 2007 was $219.2 billion, $89.0 billion of
which were direct medical costs. Just under five percent of all U.S. spending for medical
treatment is spent on cancer.
Between 1995 and 2004, the overall costs of treating cancer increased by 75 percent.
According to Cancer Facts & Figures 2008:
• 1 in 5 people with health insurance who are diagnosed with cancer use all or most of
their savings because of the financial cost of dealing with cancer. (So much for the
“safety net” of insurance).
• Cancer patients, who have no insurance or not enough health insurance, have higher
medical costs and higher rates of death.

Obesity
Obesity, caused largely by poor diet, goes hand in hand with the major diseases of
affluence. When obesity rates increase, rates of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and
cancer increase as well. The overall effect has been sky rocketing health care decades,
bankrupting Americans in the process.
Since 2000, an estimated five million families have filed for bankruptcy in the
“Since
aftermath of serious medical problems. The current health care finance system is
bankrupting hard-working, play-by-the-rules
rules American families”
families (Elizabeth Warren,
Harvard Law bankruptcy expert). In general, about half of bankruptcy filings can be
attributed to medical causes.
Percent Obese Population
35
30
25
20
Percent Obese Population
15
10
5
0
1976-1980 1988-1994 1999-2000
Figure 4 Percent Obese Population (adapted

adapted from T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study)
The American Obesity Association estimates that the economic costs of obesity are one
hundred billion dollars per year ($100,000,000,000), and that doesn't include the
additional $30,000,000,000-$40,000,000,000
$40,000,000,000 (billions) spent on fad diets and quick fixes.
fixes
It’s time to wake up! That is a lot of money being spent on perpetuating our bad habits
and false beliefs about health—especially
especially since the “secrets” of lifelong health are
stupidly simple.
ies sends a clear and consistent message about the
A mountain of sound scientific studies
effects of diet on health: Eating a balanced diet of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables
combined with frequent exercise is THE KEY to lasting good health.
health

So, what are we eating?
"The supermarket had become the only place to buy food, and real food was rapidly
disappearing from its shelves, to be replaced by the modern cornucopia of highly
processed food-like products...there was really only one kind of food on the national
menu, that was whatever industry and nutritionism happened to be serving."
(Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food)
Most Americans eat what can be described as an "industrial diet." An industrial diet is
comprised of foods produced using industrial processes (chemicals, refining, and
processing). Refined/processed food has been altered from its "whole" state and
reproduced into a new food "product," losing its original nutritional integrity in the
process. An industrial diet is also high in animal products because they are readily
available and affordable due to reduced production costs. Production costs are reduced
by “mass producing” livestock in ridiculously small areas and sustaining animals on
cheap food (such as other animal parts, blood, and government-subsidized corn and
grain).
In addition to being highly processed, the industrial diet is extremely energy rich. This
simply means industrial foods are high in fat, protein, carbohydrates and therefore
calories per unit of food weight. Although extremely energy rich, these foods are
devoid of most of the nutritional components that keep us healthy (fiber, vitamins,
antioxidants).
Due to the nature of the food industry (supported by subsidies and designed to make
profits), meat, dairy, and highly processed carbohydrates are the cheapest and most
heavily marketed foods. Since the human body has a natural addiction to meat, dairy,
and sugar, they are also the foods which we most enjoy eating. Before humans had
access to enough food, it made sense to seek out energy-rich food. It is a natural
attraction. However, now that we have more than enough food available at all times, it
no longer makes sense for us to "eat efficiently." It is incredibly easy to eat hundreds
more calories per day than necessary simply because industrial food is so efficient
(calorie-dense).
In an industrialized society, we must actually eat "inefficiently" (eat foods that are NOT
calorie-dense) in order to prevent weight gain and a host of other health problems.
NOT CALORIE DENSE: 100 calories of spinach has 12 grams of protein and weighs 15
ounces
CALORIE DENSE: 100 calories of porterhouse steak has 13.5 grams of protein and

weighs 1.73 ounces (the 12-oz steak should sound a bit ridiculous by this point—that
would be 692 calories and 92 grams of protein—about double your daily protein
requirement!)
The next section will introduce you to the health experts behind our recommendations.
We have compiled the findings and experience of the world's most renowned health
experts and pioneers in health research. The evidence pointing towards these
recommendations is rock solid and has stood the test of time. We are not
recommending anything new, crazy, untested, or unproven.
You can trust this information and use it to regain control of your life
and achieve lifelong health.
Chapter Exercise #3
Write down everything you eat and drink for three days. Be completely honest.
Be relentless; try to catch yourself forgetting to take note of it.
Save this list for later; you will need it.

Ch. 2 What Do The Experts Say?
The doctors, scientists, and experts described here are anything but “quacks” or
dogmatic zealots hell bent on pushing their worldview on others. To the contrary, these
people were raised on traditional American diets and began their careers as mainstream
scientists and doctors. It was only because of their open minds, deep commitment to
human health, and willingness to stand behind the implications of their research that
they changed their lives. Each of these experts is a maverick in his own right, standing
against the status quo that values profits over health. They practice what they preach,
and they are passionate about helping others to improve their lives.
Dr. Campbell
T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., a nutritional biochemist, has been at the forefront of nutrition
research for more than 40 years. His culminating work, the China Study, is in large part
based on his research project “The China Project”, one of the most comprehensive
studies of health and nutrition ever conducted: 6,500 adults were studied across 65
counties in China. The study was the product of a 20-year partnership of Cornell
University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine which
generated over 8,000 statistically significant associations between lifestyle, diet and
disease.
Some of the findings of the China Study include:
• The average calorie intake, per KG of body weight, was 30% higher among the LEAST
active Chinese than among AVERAGE Americans. Yet, body weight was 20% lower.
• Fiber consumption was at least three times higher in China than in the US.
• American men died from heart disease at a rate almost seventeen times higher than
Chinese men. This means that for every one Chinese heart disease fatality there are
17 American deaths due to heart disease.
Dr. Campbell has conducted original research both in laboratory experiments and in
large-scale human studies, has received more than 70 grant-years of peer-reviewed
research funding, and has authored more than 300 research papers.
Dr. Ornish
Dean Ornish, MD, is the founder, president, and director of the non-profit Preventive
Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California. He is Clinical Professor of Medicine
at the University of California, San Francisco.

For the past 28 years, Dr. Ornish has directed clinical research demonstrating that
comprehensive lifestyle changes can reverse even severe coronary heart disease,
without drugs or surgery. Dr. Ornish showed that a low-fat, plant based diet and regular
exercise could not only stop the progression of coronary artery disease but could
actually reverse it.
The results of his study, the Lifestyle Heart Trial, showed that 82% of heart disease
patients who followed his strict diet and exercise program saw total regression of their
heart disease within one year. Over 90% of the patients also had a reduction in chest
pain. In contrast, the control group (those that did not follow his program), experienced
a 165% INCREASE in chest pain and an increase in artery blockages.
Dr. Ornish is the author of five best-selling books, including New York Times’ bestsellers
Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, Eat More, Weigh Less, and Love
& Survival.
His work has been featured in virtually all major media, including cover stories in
Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Ornish has been a physician consultant to The White House and to several bipartisan
members of the U.S. Congress. He is listed in “Who’s Who in Healthcare and Medicine,”
“Who’s Who in America,” and “Who’s Who in the World.” He was also chosen by LIFE
magazine as “one of the 50 most influential members of his generation.”
http://www.pmri.org
Dr. Esselstyn
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has been associated with the Cleveland Clinic, the nation’s most
renowned heart center, since 1968, where he started as a heart surgeon. He served as
President of the Staff and as a member of the Board of Governors. He was named one of
the "Best Doctors in America" in 1994-1995. He has authored over 150 scientific
publications and several books.
Dr. Esselstyn became frustrated with the poor results of heart surgery and procedures
and began recommending dietary changes to his patients, resulting in far higher
recovery rates. Through diet alone, he was able to eliminate chronic heart disease in his
patients. He has treated many of his fellow cardiologists who were formerly wary of his
unorthodox approach to treating heart disease.
In 1995 Dr. Esselstyn published A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease:
A 5 year longitudinal study of a single physician's practice, quickly becoming a
benchmark for long-term nutritional research on arresting and reversing coronary artery
disease. That same study was updated at 12 years making it one of the longest
longitudinal studies of its type. ALL of his patients who follow the diet
recommendations still experience the benefits of reversed heart disease symptoms—
and these were the “untreatable” bunch.
Dr. Esselstyn and his wife, Ann Crile Esselstyn, have followed a plant based diet for more
than 20 years.
http://www.heartattackproof.com/
Dr. McDougall
Dr. John A. McDougall has been studying, writing and speaking out about the effects of
nutrition on disease for over 30 years.
Dr. McDougall has cared for thousands of patients over almost 3 decades of medical
practice and has run a highly successful live-in program for more than 17 years.
Dr. McDougall is the author of several national bestsellers including: The McDougall
Plan: 12 Days to Dynamic Health, McDougall's Medicine: A Challenging Second Opinion,
The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss, The New McDougall Cookbook, The
McDougall Program for Women, and his latest ground breaking book, The McDougall
Program for a Healthy Heart.
Dr. McDougall advocates a low-fat, plant based diet that promotes lasting health
benefits and can also reverse serious illness without drugs or surgery.
http://www.rightfoods.com
www.drmcdougall.com
Dr. Barnard
Dr. Neal Barnard grew up in Fargo, North Dakota in a family of cattle ranchers and
physicians. He received his M.D. from George Washington University School of Medicine
in Washington, D.C.
In 2003, he was awarded a US$350,000 research grant from the National Institutes of
Health to study the effect of a low-fat, vegan diet on diabetes. The study results,
published in Diabetes Care, found that a low-fat, vegan diet gave the greatest
improvement in glycemic and lipid control in type 2 diabetic patients.

Neal Barnard is the author of dozens of publications in scientific and medical journals as
well as numerous nutrition books. He is frequently called on by news programs to
discuss issues related to nutrition, research issues, and other controversial areas in
modern medicine.
He has lectured for the American Public Health Association, the World Bank, the
National Library of Medicine, the Franklin Institute, the American Medical Writers
Association, the Association of Healthcare Journalists, and the Center for Science in the
Public Interest, among other state dietetic associations.
He founded the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in 1985. PCRM
has since grown into a nationwide group of physicians and supporters that promotes
preventive medicine and addresses controversies in modern medicine. As president of
PCRM, Dr. Barnard has been instrumental in efforts to reform federal dietary guidelines.
In 2004 Barnard founded the Washington Center For Clinical Research, a nonprofit
subsidiary of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine that aims to conduct
research into the role of nutrition in health.
http://www.nealbarnard.org
Chapter Exercise #4
What did you do at the gym last? In addition to writing down the activities, next
to each activity, write down why you did it. Also answer these questions: did
you do any long, slow cardio? Did you do much "isolation" work (like bicep curls
or "butt" exercises)? Did you do really light weights and lots of reps? Did your
workout "kick your ass"? Again, looking over your list of what you did at the gym
last and the reason for doing it, make sure you didn't forget anything that stands
out. Somewhere with a bit of space write down one of these statements in big
letters as best fits your sentiment right now about what you did at the gym:
"This works!" or "This Doesn't Work!"
It's only one or the other; we'll let you decide. Again, like all the exercises in this
book, you have to be completely honest with yourself.
Save this page for later.

What Doctors Measure
When the body digests food, all the chemical compounds are broken down into
smaller parts. Our body uses these basic pieces to rebuild into compounds useful
for the cells and tissues.
One example of this is the breakdown of fats into cholesterol. When you eat a
piece of steak, the body breaks down the protein and fat within the meat. The fat
compounds in the steak are strings of lipids and fatty acids with a particular
structure that is not soluble in blood. For this reason, the compound is
deconstructed and then reassembled.
Cholesterol is an essential compound for all human cell functions. Because the
chemical compounds of undigested fat are almost identical to the chemical
compounds of digested fat, doctors can estimate a person's cholesterol intake by
measuring the residual cholesterol in the blood. When doctors measure the blood
cholesterol levels, they measure three types of fat compounds: HDL cholesterol,
LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
So, next time you go to the doctor and he or she measures your cholesterol,
you'll understand that the doctor is looking for a loose relationship between
what's in your blood and what you typically eat.
The same process of measuring cholesterol is applied to measuring blood sugar
too. Whereas there are three types of fat measured by a blood test, there is only
one sugar relevant to blood and/or urine tests: glucose. Glucose is the digested
form of many types of sugars, fructose to sucrose to high-fructose corn syrup.
There are a number of health consequences to having improperly balanced blood
sugar levels.
It's stupidly simple: humans, like all animals, shouldn't need to worry about
'blood sugar' or 'high cholesterol;' these terms are only important for humans
living in an unbalanced, manufactured and highly refined world.

Ch 3. Food Basics - Macronutrients
Food is made up of three macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. The body
needs to take in a large amount of macronutrients every day to live and function.
Micronutrients refer to vitamins, which the body needs in small amounts. This section
will introduce you to the three macronutrients and how they affect the body.
About Protein
Protein is a polypeptide, a string of repeating molecules built from amino acids, making
amino acids the basic building blocks of protein.
Amino Acids:
Amino acids make up 75% of the human body. They are essential to nearly every bodily
function. Every chemical reaction that takes place in your body depends on amino acids
and the proteins that they build.
A total of 20 different kinds of amino acids form our proteins. Nine of the amino acids
cannot be created by the body in the digestive process—these are called essential
amino acids. Essential amino acids must be ingested through food.
Simply said: When you eat food, the dietary protein in the food is broken down into
smaller amino acid “pieces” and then rebuilt into protein chains that your body can use.
Failure to obtain enough of the essential amino acids through food results in
degradation of the body's proteins in order to obtain the amino acid that is needed.
Meaning, we start to literally eat our own bodies to access the protein needed to
sustain us. Unlike fat and starch, the human body does not store excess amino acids for
later use—amino acids must be ingested in food every day.
What is high quality vs. low quality protein?
High quality protein sources contain the right proportions of all the essential amino
acids our bodies need, making the protein an efficient source for accessing properly
balanced nutrients. Examples of high quality protein sources are all meat/dairy
products, as well as soy, spirulina, quinoa, hempseed, amaranth and buckwheat.
Low quality protein sources contain one or more amino acids that are not in the right
proportion for the body. This might make you think that you should avoid “low quality
proteins.” Don’t worry though, the only common cases of protein-deficiency occur
among undernourished populations (America is not one of them). Most plant sources of

protein are technically considered low quality, but that does not mean you should worry
about not getting enough protein.
Keep in mind two things: (1)because the body doesn’t store protein for later use, we
need to eat it every day and (2) as long as you eat enough variety every day with
adequate portions (meaning, you’re not going hungry), you will get more than enough
protein.
One way to make sure that your meals contain enough protein is to combine different
foods together so you get all the essential amino acids in the right proportions.
Combining any grain with nuts or beans will create a high quality protein (e.g. rice and
beans, pita and hummus, peanut butter on whole wheat bread). Vegetables also have
protein and can combine with grains and beans to create an incredibly nutritious, high
quality protein meal.
Though the usage of “high quality” versus “low quality” at first glance looks like a clear
delineation between what we should and should not eat, the terminology turns out to
be merely a bias in how we view food.
How much protein do you need?
Karl Vogt, an early German nutrition researcher, calculated that an adult male only
needed 44.5 grams of protein per day. Nonetheless, he felt a "civilized" diet should
consist of approximately 118 grams per day (the USDA currently recommends
approximately 55 grams per day). It may be difficult for most Americans to imagine a
time when meat was a rarity—and an expensive one at that. To avoid an overly
complex discussion of culture and history, it will suffice to say that “civilized” meant
meat. Meat was culturally associated with wealth, power, and masculinity. In this
context, the more meat, the better the person.
In addition to being influential himself, Karl Vogt mentored two prominent American
researchers, Max Rubner (1854-1932) and W.O Atwater (1844-1907). Atwater went on
to become director of the USDA as well as started the first nutritional laboratory of the
USDA. As director, he recommended 125 grams of protein per day. Though these
figures have since declined, the concept of animal protein as the cornerstone of not only
a strong, healthy "man" but also of a "normal, civilized" diet are still pervasive in society
today. Our bias toward meat and dairy is so strong in America that only 16% of
Americans would agree to give up meat and dairy for one week for $1000. Would you
give up meat and dairy for one week for $1000? After finishing this book that will be an
easy question to answer.
The RDA (recommended daily allowance) says that about 10% of our daily calories
should come from protein (about 50-60 grams). The more active you are, the more
protein your body needs. If you consume too much protein, however, excess protein
will be excreted in the urine and not used by your body. You might think that you’ll need
to eat more protein to keep the body healthy and strong because you lead an active
lifestyle. Take note, studies indicate active strength trainers gain muscle mass on 10%
calories from protein. Be wary of protein supplements, especially from animal sources
(whey, casein, and egg white are all animal protein supplements). Your body probably
gets more than enough protein as it is. More importantly though, the body does not
need animal protein to function properly and gain muscle. This is a common
misconception for many individuals.
We can now expand our stupidly simple rule to living a long, healthy life: eat a balanced
diet of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables combined with frequent exercise.
We don’t actually mention animal protein anywhere in that sentence. In fact, the
reason we don’t is that animal protein consumption is directly linked with increased
rates of a slew of human diseases, specifically, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
How does eating animal protein cause disease?
Several landmark studies have shown that animal protein plays a huge role in the
promotion of cancer cells in the body after exposure to carcinogens. Higher doses of
animal-based protein promote DNA mutations, which can lead to cancer. The studies
showed that after exposure to carcinogens, the development of cancer in the body was
almost entirely dependent on how much protein was consumed, regardless of how
much of the carcinogen the person was exposed to. Maintaining low levels of animal
protein actually prevented the cancer from developing.
When we look at heart disease, the connections between meat consumption and heart
disease development are clear but the process is still under scrutiny by researchers.
What we do know is that it doesn’t matter if you consume “fat free”, “low fat” or “full
fat” animal products; the end result is the same: an increased risk of heart disease.
Data indicates that sticking to a whole foods, plant based diet with minimal added fats is
the most effective method of reducing and eliminating your risk of heart disease. In fact,
as our survey of heart disease costs, death tolls, and post-treatment results indicate, a
whole-foods, plant based diet is the only method of reducing and eliminating heart
disease.
Recent research is also beginning to paint a picture of how animal proteins lead to an
increase in auto immune disease incidence (diabetes and multiple sclerosis are
examples of auto immune diseases). Current thinking is along these lines: Semi-
digested animal proteins escape the intestines and are absorbed into the blood stream,
where they become identified as "foreign" invaders. Because animal proteins closely
resemble our body's proteins, the immune system can become "confused" about which
proteins are normal and which are foreign, resulting in an immune system that attacks

itself (i.e. auto immune disease). This is not a swift process in most cases, developing
over the course of years.
In Norway, there is evidence that inland, dairy-consuming areas have higher rates of
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) than coastal, fish-consuming communities. Dr. Roy Swank
conducted a trial on 144 MS patients for thirty-four years. He hypothesized that MS
was not a result of genetics or viruses or other environmental factors but diet, and
cow's milk in particular. His clinical study focused on reducing total saturated fat intake,
and so animal product consumption in general. Remember, there is little-to-no
saturated fat in plant based foods.
Some patients followed the recommendations, others did not. Dr. Swank had ample
evidence to delineate between "good dieters" and "bad dieters," and after thirty-four
years 80% of the "bad dieters" had died while only 5% of the "good dieters" had.
Moreover, 95% of the "good dieters" were able to postpone the serious affects of MS,
being only partially disabled by the disease. If you know anyone with MS, this is a
startling finding and cannot be ignored.
How does milk consumption result in more disease occurrences?
Just like you, we learned in school that milk is good for growing bones because it's a rich
source of calcium. This leads us to our first question about milk.
If milk is so good for building healthy bones, why is it that Americans, who consume
more cow's milk and its products than most populations in the world, have some of the
highest rates of hip fractures in the world? Are we just naturally clumsy?
The claim of milk being good for developing bones because of the calcium levels in milk
is at best a half-truth. Animal-based proteins cause an acidic increase in the blood.
Calcium, a main ingredient in milk, is a base and can neutralize this increase in acidity.
That is, theoretically milk consumption should help offset the acid load while also
contributing to rapid muscle and bone development. It turns out that the calcium levels
in milk aren't significant enough to offset the increase in acid loads. So while the milk
does contribute to faster bone development--and so a greater density than non-milk
consuming people—over time that added density doesn't prevent a weakening of the
bones that results in the disease osteoporosis.
So, what is osteoporosis? Osteoporosis is caused by weakened bones, often resulting in

fractures or breaks later in life. Unlike plant protein, animal protein causes bodily acid
loads to increase. The daily acid load in the body is comprised primarily of foods
containing acid. The daily addition of acid to the body must be excreted to maintain acid
base balance. In an effort to reduce the acid load, the body begins to secrete calcium
directly from the bones. This is why, despite high consumption of calcium via dairy

products, the bones of life-long milk drinkers are still highly susceptible to osteoporosis.
You might know that calcium is required to absorb protein so you would think that the
calcium in milk is helpful for the body to metabolize the protein in the milk. True,
calcium is required to absorb protein but at too high of levels, the process is inhibited
so the protein is not completely absorbed. Also, numerous studies indicate that dairy
protein is linked to increased calcium excretion in urine. High calcium levels in the urine
are closely associated with kidney stone development.
During an episode of Seinfeld, the character Kramer is diagnosed with having a kidney
stone—he also learns that the only way to get rid of a kidney stone is to “pass it,”
meaning pee it out.
Kidney stones are extremely sharp, dense rocks of calcium and other mineral-deposits
that develop in the kidneys over time. The body’s solution for this problem is to pass
the stone. In some cases the stone is too large to pass and advanced medical treatment
is necessary.
Toward the end of “The Comedian,” Seinfeld and Kramer go to see a circus
performance. Kramer goes to the restroom during the performance and begins to
scream at the top of his lungs while standing at the urinal. He’s screaming so loudly that
the tightrope walker falls and breaks his leg. Kramer was screaming because passing a
kidney stone is one of the most painful things a human can ever experience.
So, now that you know you really, really don’t want a kidney stone, how do kidney
stones form?
Remember dairy and animal-product consumption leads to an increase in body acid

loads, and that our body’s way of offsetting the increase in acid is to secrete calcium
directly from our bones. The function of the kidneys is to filter blood of harmful,
metabolic residue. Because there is an increased concentration of calcium in the blood,
the kidneys become a natural collection-depot for the excess calcium secreted by the
bones. Though much of the calcium is simply urinated out of the body as it’s filtered
from the blood, small amounts of calcium remain in the kidneys where the stone
eventually forms.
There’s another nasty little secret about milk consumption:
Vitamin D, produced by the body, helps prevent cancers as well as bolster the immune
system. Consumption of animal proteins prevents the body's production of Vitamin D.
This is also true of people with increased calcium levels. So, people who consume more
dairy are actually at risk of getting sicker (cold, flu, etc) than non-dairy consumers.
What we see is that not only do people who consume dairy and meat in large quantities

have higher trace levels of calcium in their blood, the same individuals have the highest
levels of bone fracture late in life. By the way, the only nations with higher rates of
bone fracture than the US are New Zealand and Norway, two notoriously milk-focused
nations. There's no coincidence here.
We do need protein and proteins are more accessible during digestion if coupled with
calcium. Lucky for us, there are a plethora of veggies with calcium and protein available
for the body to use in the digestive process so there's no biological need for consuming
large quantities of milk in order to strengthen bones or build muscle--despite what the
milk industry would lead us to believe. Their stated goal is to increase consumption of
milk and to make lifetime milk drinkers. With the help of beautiful Hollywood milk
drinkers and school milk programs in addition to our own national bias toward milk
consumption, this isn't that hard for the industry to accomplish.
The National Dairy Checkoff, the marketing arm of the dairy industry, was established in
1983 to increase national milk consumption. Their stated mission:
“By funding programs to help increase demand for and sales of U.S. dairy products and
ingredients, dairy producers get a long-term value for their investment by helping to
increase consumption and build loyalty for dairy” (www.dairycheckoff.com).
The dairy checkoff has succeeded in increasing per capita milk consumption from 522
pounds to 605 pounds since 1983. How? By marketing heavily to children:
"As the best avenue to increase fluid milk consumption long-term, children are without
a doubt the future of dairy consumption. [That's why the dairy checkoff] began
examining how improved packaging, additional flavors, coolers with merchandising and
better temperature regulation can affect fluid milk consumption and kids' attitude
toward milk both in and out of school" (2001 Dairy Management, Inc. annual report).
Isn’t that a sweet way to talk about children?
But don't people who eat more protein get taller and bigger?
Yes, but they also have the highest rates of cancer and heart disease! However, greater
plant protein intake is also closely linked to body growth, but does not have any
correlation with higher rates of cancer and heart disease. You or your children can
develop equally well on plant based protein as on animal-based (even though our
cultural bias says that “meat is better”).
Eating protein is not what causes increased muscle development. High intensity
exercises that challenge the body, requiring muscle repair, is what stimulates growth.
Protein provides our bodies with the building blocks needed to build the muscle but
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"
What is it about ice cream that is so darn good? Creamy, sweet, cold, and just
great to have on a hot day. It’s creamy (high in fat) and sweet (high in sugar). No
secrets there.
We all know that our bodies naturally gravitate toward foods high in fat and
sugar. Most of us also have a firm understanding that it was a byproduct of natural
selection that developed this propensity for fat and sweetness--because fat and
sugar (carbohydrates) are two of the three macronutrients required for our bodies'
survival.
Despite what most people think, humans did not consume diets high in
animal foods for the vast majority of history; we mostly ate plant based foods.
The societies with the most centenarians (100 years or older) still consume diets
high in plants, low in animals.
Plant based diets don't contain calories in the same magnitude of density as
ice cream (soy ice cream is still ice cream). Essentially, the "creation" of new food
stuffs, whether ice cream, cake, or cheese-stuffed portabellas, lead to the creation
of a new type of food.
The apple became mixed with butter, eggs, refined flour and sugar and we
named it a "pie." What was a nutritional and safe sweet snack (a plain apple)
became a calorie-dense spare-tire-generator.
Our bodies are amazingly efficient systems, constantly operating on near-
autopilot. When we eat something, we don't have to do anything to ensure proper
digestion and conversion of food into energy. But, ultimately, the body's auto-pilot
can be a two-edged sword.
We cannot safely eat anything dense in calories: fried chicken, German
chocolate cake, mashed potatoes with butter n' gravy, or New York cheese cake.
Our bodies simply are not designed to deal with energy dense food like this.
As strange as it may sound, in our world of overabundance and easy access to
calorie-dense foods, one of the stupidly simple rules is to eat inefficiently--that is,
to eat foods less dense in calories.
that growth is triggered by challenging the body. Just eating a lot of protein is only
going to result in expanded waistlines, heart disease, cancer or other debilitating and
tragic diseases.

About Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the body's fuel; they are sugars (also known as "starch") consumed
as food to be used for energy.
When we eat a carbohydrate, our bodies digest it and break the compound down into
glucose, a simple sugar that our body uses as energy to fuel physical activity and other
body functions.
Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates are made of chains of multiple sugars bonded together. Whole
grains (such as whole grain pasta, flour, and rice), beans, fruit and vegetables are the
main sources of complex carbohydrates. Our body's digestive enzymes have to work
harder to break the bonds of these chains to convert the sugars to glucose. For this
reason, digesting complex carbohydrates takes place over an extended period, providing
the body with a steady and even supply of energy.
Complex carbohydrates are also high in fiber, which is the cellulose content of the
plant. If you’ve ever used a juicer, the cellulose is all the stuff that comes out the back
of the juicer as ‘waste,’ whereas the water and sugars come out as juice. That’s why
juice is not nearly as good for you as fresh fruit. The fiber slows digestion of the fruit,
preventing a surge of easily accessible energy. Although fiber itself is not digested by the
body (it comes out the other side), consuming high-fiber foods helps keep you full
longer because of the added volume. As you may have heard, fiber is also linked with
lower colorectal cancer rates. There is no fiber in meat and other animal products
(which is why Atkin’s dieters often experience severe constipation). Eat your fruit and
veggies, and eat a lot of them!
Simple Carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates are found in sugar (including syrups, honey, fructose, sucrose,
dextrose) and any food product sweetened with sugar (cake, pastries, cookies, candy,
soda). Simple carbohydrates are high in energy, and this energy is quickly and easily
accessed during the digestion process. The body can only use so much energy at once
though. There is a good mechanism for the body to store unused energy until later...it
turns into fat!
You might be wondering why we call that a “good mechanism” for storing energy.
You’re right that it is a bit unfortunate for us now, considering fat is the new culprit to
our health issues. This is an instance of human-capacity for overcoming natural barriers
faster than our bodies could adapt. As concerns our health and these over-abundant
times, we actually need to focus on being “inefficient” rather than maximizing food

efficiency. This means reducing, if not eliminating simple carbohydrate consumption
(except in the form of whole foods—the apple, banana, cucumber or squash).
Sweet fruit also naturally contains simple sugar, though in quantities much smaller than
pure sugar, since fruit is composed of mostly water and fiber. Sweet fruit is a great
snack to eat just before a workout to give you a burst of energy your body can use while
exercising. Also, the fiber in fruit helps spread the sugar levels through the workout,
making you feel strong from start to finish. Unlike pure sugar, it is not really possible to
eat enough whole fruit to make you fat. Just making a switch from “sugary deserts” to
whole fruits (NOT juice) will have a dramatic impact on your body, without even
exercising.
Refined Carbohydrates
Refined carbohydrates are created by processing food, and refer to complex

carbohydrate sources that have been stripped of their fiber and most of their non-sugar
nutritional content. Sources of refined carbohydrates include white flour and all white
flour products (crackers, chips, pretzels, baked goods, pasta, pizza dough), juice, and
sweetened dairy products.
Refined carbohydrates have a similar effect on the body as simple carbohydrates;

however, the refining process makes the sugars even more accessible to the body,
surging it with energy it cannot effectively use. As a result, consuming refined and
simple carbohydrates leads directly to fat gain. What's worse, refined carbohydrates
have no fiber (so refined-carb foods don't keep you full), and very little natural vitamins
and minerals.
Refined Carbohydrates and Disease
Consuming refined grains raises levels of triglyceride levels in the blood, which leads to
heart disease. High triglycerides contribute to a hardening of the arteries — which
increases the risk of stroke and heart attack.
Triglycerides are fats that circulate in your blood and provide your body with energy.
One way triglyceride levels rise in the body is from the consumption of refined
carbohydrates. Calories ingested in a meal and not used immediately by tissues are
converted to triglycerides and transported to fat cells to be stored.
Studies also link consumption of refined carbohydrates with diabetes. The results of
studies show that those who consume more refined carbohydrates are significantly
more likely to develop type 2 diabetes – also known as “insulin resistance syndrome.”
The function of insulin is to supply energy to the body. Insulin resistance is caused by
the consumption of refined carbohydrates, which leads to surges of insulin in the blood.

After years of higher than normal insulin levels, the body develops a resistance to it,
resulting in diabetes.
How many carbohydrates should I eat?
If you haven't already guessed, you should minimize simple carbohydrates and avoid
refined carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are an essential part of a healthy diet,
since they are the richest sources of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and provide a steady
stream of usable energy to fuel the body.
Complex carbohydrates (whole grains and whole grain products, whole

fruits/vegetables) can make up anywhere from 40-80% of your total calories. As long as
you avoid animal products and refined/simple carbohydrates, you will naturally get a
good amount of healthy carbohydrates to fuel your body.
Do “carbs” make you fat?
A carbohydrate in and of itself does not make you fat. It is unused energy stored for
later use that makes you overweight. Refined carbohydrates and simple sugars are the
only sources of carbohydrates that have the ability to flood your body with so much
unusable energy. Meaning, consumption of refined carbohydrates is what makes you
get thunder thighs, spare tires and badunka-dunk in the trunk.
What about potatoes?
Potatoes are a special case in the vegetable kingdom, as they contain high
concentrations of starch and cause a similar response in the body as refined
carbohydrates. That being said, they are still a natural food and can be part of a healthy
diet. Small and colorful potatoes are better than large baking potatoes, which are
higher in starch. As long as you eat a variety of other vegetables with your potatoes and
avoid refined carbohydrates, you need not worry…but avoid French fries!
Now that you’ve got the facts straight about carbohydrates and protein, it’s time to
understand fat, the macronutrient that has more than twice as many calories as protein
and carbohydrates.
About Fat
Fat is a nutrient that is essential for normal body function, but most people consume
more than enough fat each day. Each gram of fat has 9 calories, whereas each gram of
protein or carbohydrate only has 4 calories, making eating too much fat an easy way to
go over your daily caloric needs.

Fats are molecules made of fatty acids. Omega-6 and omega-3 are essential fatty acids,
meaning they can't be produced by the body (like essential amino acids) and need to be
consumed via dietary fat in food. Both essential fatty acids are unsaturated fats and can
only be produced by plants. There is no need to consume saturated fats (the stuff found
in animal products) as the human body does not need them.
Essential fatty acids come from plants, not animals. They are the only
fats our body needs. Saturated fats primarily come from animals, and
our body does NOT need them.
Seeds and grains are the primary sources of omega-6 fatty acids.
Green leafy vegetables are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, although flaxseed is
among the best sources.
Early Homo sapiens consumed approximately equal parts of omega−3 and omega−6
essential fatty acids. There has been a huge increase in omega-6 fat in the human diet in
the last 50 years, due to cattle being fed grains rather than their natural diet of grass,
and as vegetable oil and corn consumption increased as the main ingredients in
industrial food. Currently, the ratio of omega−6 to omega−3 fatty acids in the American
diet is 20−to−1 or more, and in some cases as high as 50-to-1. Research has shown that
this imbalanced essential fatty acid ratio leads to increased rates of diseases of
affluence.
To get a healthy ratio of essential fatty acids, all you have to do is eat a wide variety of
WHOLE plant foods. Concentrated foods such as oil and refined corn products and
grain-fed meat throw your essential fatty acid ratios out of balance.
There are three types of fat:
Unsaturated fat: highest in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, olives, avocado, fish
Unsaturated fat comes in two types, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These fats
are commonly regarded as "good fats" because they do not raise blood cholesterol
levels.
However: several major studies on both humans and animals showed that consuming
unsaturated fat progressed heart disease just as much as saturated fat, even though
blood cholesterol levels were lower. This data is the basis for Dr. Esselstyn’s
recommendation that heart disease patients completely avoid vegetable oils and nuts in
addition to animal products.

Saturated fat: highest in meat, dairy and coconut oil. Foods high in saturated fat raise
our blood LDL cholesterol, which leads to heart disease. Reducing saturated fat intake
without reducing overall animal-product intake does not have the same health benefits
as eliminating animal products altogether. This cannot be emphasized enough so we
repeat:
There is no health benefit to exclusively reducing saturated fat intake

without also reducing animal-product consumption in general. Simply
focusing on saturated fat results in no net-change in risk. Reducing
animal-product consumption is the only way to reduce your blood
cholesterol levels.
Trans fat: found in industrial food (this is primarily a man-made fat). Trans fat is the
worst kind of fat; avoid it completely.
In food labeling, “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” is the ingredient containing trans
fat. The industrial process of hydrogenating vegetable oil was developed in the early
1900s and first commercialized as Crisco in 1911. The use of hydrogenated vegetable oil
increased steadily in the 1950s and 1960s due to its low cost and long shelf life.
Consuming trans fat increases the risk for coronary heart disease more than any other
nutrient.
Trans fat is a man-made fat found in processed foods such as margarine, cookies, chips,
crackers, frozen dinners, dips, sauces, fried food, and fast foods (including pizza).
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) states that "from a nutritional standpoint, the
consumption of trans fatty acids results in considerable potential harm but no apparent
benefit" and has concluded that there is no safe level of trans fat consumption. On July
25, 2008, California became the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants. We’ll go into
more detail on this at the end of this chapter but keep in mind that this is an example of
the body’s reaction to chemicals it is not adapted to handle. Dying from the failure to
adapt to environmental conditions (in this case, our diet) is a basic tenet of evolution
called “selection pressure.” The significant changes in human dietary patterns
combined with significant increases in disease and death rates show that humans are
not immune to natural selection.
How much fat do I need?
You don't need to worry about how much fat you "need" since fat is in most foods and
you already get more than enough.
Most of your fat intake should be from unsaturated fats. The less fat you eat, the more

food you can eat throughout the day, since fat is more than twice as calorie-dense as
protein and carbohydrates. For example, one tablespoon of olive oil has 14 grams of fat
(126 calories), whereas one whole cup of chopped broccoli has no fat and only 30
calories. Adding fat to your food piles on calories without adding much benefit.
Scientists and nutritionists do not agree on how much dietary fat is acceptable. Dr.
Ornish, Dr. Esselstyn and other health experts recommend no more than 10-15% of
daily calories should come from fat, whereas the government Recommended Daily
Allowance allows up to 30%. We suspect profit, bias and misinformation guide the
government’s recommendations.
The truth is that as long as you avoid animal products and minimize added fats (oils),
you should not worry about how much fat you eat daily; you will have adequate
consumption of your needed fats.
It is possible to cook extremely delicious meals with little to no oil. The only way to find
out is to try.
Don’t recent studies show there is no connection between fat intake

and heart disease?
There are several large, heavily funded research projects underway in the US, namely
the Nurses' Health Study and the Women's Health Initiative, that routinely find no
correlations between fat intake and heart disease or cancer. Why would that be? Why
after decades of cumulative research costing hundreds of millions of dollars is there no
evidence to show everything we claim in this book? The answer is tragic in its simplicity:
study flaw.
One of the things to keep in mind about these two American health and nutrition
studies, among many others, is that they are comparing Americans to other Americans.
Our diets are fairly homogenous across the entire nation, reducing the statistical
significance of the studies. If you’ll recall from the first chapter, we mentioned that
scientists attempt to reduce any study down to as few variables as possible. A part of
that process is to create a set of “control” variables—variables that won’t be altered by
the researchers so they have a “normal case” to contrast their work against. When all
the participants in a nutrition study have the same diet, everyone is the control group.
There’s no “contrast” group.
What do some of the critics of the Nurses' Health Study and the Women's Health
Initiative say?

“The women who were supposedly consuming a low-fat diet were actually getting 29
percent of their daily calories from fat. For those on the front lines of nutritional
research, that is not low-fat at all,” (Caldwell Esselstyn).
Translation: Since NONE of the women studied in the Women's Health Initiative
consumed a low fat diet, the study was not able to find a connection between disease
rates and fat intake. With all the study participants consuming high fat diets, they all had
comparably high rates of disease.
“When women in America, such as those in the Nurses’ Health Study and the billion-
dollar Women’s Health Trial, reduce their fat intake, they do not do it by reducing
their consumption of animal-based foods. Instead, they use low-fat and nonfat
animal products,” (T. Colin Campbell).
Translation: the study never accounted for animal protein as a factor in and of itself.
The nurses may have lowered their fat intakes, but they offset their reduction in fat
consumption with increases in animal protein (fat-free cheeses and skim milk). As we
emphasized earlier, there are no health benefits to exclusively reducing saturated fat
intake without also reducing animal consumption.
“To try to fill out the food-frequency questionnaire used by the Womens’ Health
Initiative…is to realize just how shaky the data on which all such dietary studies really
are. The survey…starts off with some relatively easy questions…But the survey soon
became harder…I would hope they’d take my answer with a grain of salt because I
honestly didn’t remember…what sort of fat [my okra] was fried in…Now that we
spend half or our food dollars on meals prepared outside of the home, how can
respondents possibly now what type of fats they’re consuming?” (Michael Pollan).
Translation: the study is so fundamentally flawed in its emphasis on remembering

specific food intakes that really getting reliable information is unlikely.
Since you completed “Chapter Exercise #3,” feel free to pull out your sheet and look
over what you ate in just three days. Did you remember everything? Could you have
you remembered everything if we asked you today to recall the details from those three
days?

Taking studies carried out worldwide, research clearly shows a relationship between
animal food consumption and diseases of affluence. In many countries, fat intake and
animal food consumption correlate evenly (since animal food is naturally fatty).
Your opinion and purchasing decisions do make a difference though. The industrial food
system responded to consumer concerns about fatty foods by producing low fat and fat
free meats and dairy (either through processing, refinement or genetic manipulation).
As a result, American animal food intake is higher than ever, whereas fat intake is the
same or lower. It is much more appealing to industry experts and shareholders to "fix"
their product rather than admit it is simply not good for people. The industrial food
system strikes again!
Children of Survivors
“Technology may greatly reduce what otherwise would be powerful selection

pressures (as it does in many societies where eyeglasses can correct what in earlier
times would have been fatal nearsightedness), but it will not eliminate many selection
pressures and may even exacerbate some” (Paul and Anne Ehrlich).
Before moving on, we felt it important to briefly discuss evolution and how it affects
humans and disease. In the process, we’ll shed a bit of light on what's going on in our
society (and bodies) as a result of our actions and social institutions (such as cultural
bias toward meat, dairy and profits). We also feel it’s important to discuss evolution
because far too much time is spent blaming “bad” genes for diseases.
First off, our bodies developed all of its tools (digestion, eye-sight, hearing, etc) over the
course of thousands of millennia. It was through selective pressure that the human
body evolved to what it is today.
A selective pressure is an event, or series of events, that change the conditions in which
one lives. A simple example is a prolonged draught that results in extended food
shortages. A situation where an entire region is stressed by low-food stores results in
individuals and animals with less efficient digestive systems to perish first. The
individuals surviving the prolonged draughts and food shortages are said to have better
fitness. Fitness is a gauge that is relative to the dying individual--hence the term
"survival of the fittest." Fitness can be expressed in many ways: the slower antelope is
“less f it” than the faster, the quieter leopard is more fit than the loud if it’s able to
catch food better, etc. Efficient digestion was not a prerequisite for humans until the
conditions were created under which it was needed for survival. Selective pressures
such as drought, fire, etc—resulted in some dying and a few surviving. The remaining

individuals are left to breed and pass on all of their genetic endowments to future
generations, even things that may be “less fit” in new situations.
We live in a world where there are many more plants than there are animals. Plants are
the most abundant source of food for humans, just as they are the most abundant food
source for most living animals. The general rule of thumb is that there are 90 percent
more plants than herbivores (measured by weight, not “number”) and about 90 percent
more herbivores than carnivores. Although we culturally cling to the idea that ancient
humans spent the majority of time hunting, in actuality we spent the vast majority of
our history (approx. 5.9 million years) consuming plants. Statistically, most people on
the planet still consume mostly-plant based diets. The tools needed for appropriately
hunting food weren't even prolific in human cultures until around 400,000 years ago,
and those only wooden spears. Have you ever tried to kill an animal with a wooden
spear? It’s not going to be easy. In the end, humans are significantly more predisposed
to plant consumption than animal consumption. In other words, there are no selective
pressures guiding humans toward meat consumption.
In order to segway back to modern society and how our diets are affecting everything
on the planet, we need to understand one more concept: Coevolution. What affects
one life form, affects another. This means that the selective pressures put on humans--
the foods we successfully digest and the bacteria and viruses that we can resist—are
reciprocal. The perfect examples of this are domesticated plants (corn, wheat, rice and
soy) and domesticated animals (cattle, pigs, goats, etc).
Currently, humans produce major corn surpluses, and we also feed this corn to
livestock. What's the problem with that? Very few animals consume a diet solely based
on one food--this would be a very precarious position ecologically.
Cattle are often referred to as ruminants because of an enzyme in their bodies allowing
for the digestion and processing of grasses. The stomachs of cows, and other
ruminants, have a genetic disposition to consume large amounts of grasses because
previous selective pressures created a fitness for grass consumption (not grains like
corn).
The current result of cattle consuming grain is a proneness to disease and infection. The
vast majority of cattle are incapable of properly digesting corn and the result is
undernourished, infection-prone cattle that under normal ecological conditions would
not survive. These infections and sicknesses are treated through heavy antibiotic usage.
Bacteria, the main cause of infections, are among the oldest genetic entities in
existence. That means bacteria have been exposed to the selective process for a far
greater time period than humans--or any other mammal on the planet, making them in
many ways much more flexible and adaptable than other life-forms. Through heavy
exposure to antibiotics (i.e. selective pressure), illness-causing bacteria are beginning to

form resistance to our most powerful antibiotics. This is exactly what we would expect
under the evolution model: most individuals of a species die from the selective pressure
(antibiotics), leaving behind a select few who are (a) resistant to the selective pressure
and (b) remain behind to breed, creating a high concentration of antibiotic resistant
offspring. This means that animals and humans are at risk of dying from antibiotic
resistant bacteria.
When thinking about society, our exposure to new chemicals, new drugs, new food-
production methods and evolution in general, it is extremely important that you keep
the timeframe in mind. Human evolution, which gave us massive brains and powerful
immune systems, occurred over hundreds of millennia, not just a few generations.
Modern agricultural techniques, usage of antibiotics and newly developed chemicals
(such as high fructose corn syrup or trans fat) are less than 100 years old. The results
are clear; we cannot survive under the conditions presented by modern society.
Current research also indicates it is highly unlikely that your genes possess all the
genetic conditions necessary to develop a disease. Meaning, very few humans
experience the results of "bad genes." In fact, there are so many variables within the
human body that the genes don’t even control everything we develop; the genes are
mere “guides” for how the body should develop. It is only when our genes interact with
the environment around us that conditions are met to develop diseases. As the
research supporting the arguments in this book indicate, we can control the course of
development (or non-development) of many of the diseases plaguing our society
through diet alone.
Now that you understand the basics of food and how it affects the body and have a bit
more perspective of the road humans took to get here, let's take a closer look at the
main diseases of affluence (cancer, heart disease, and diabetes).

Chapter Exercise #5
Fold a piece of paper in half
• In one half of the page, list the rough times or dates you drove your car
for distances up to one mile (in one way distance) over the last week
o across the street to a new store, a new place on the “other
side” of a parking lot, drop something at a friend's house "real
quick," etc; it all counts
• Next to the time or date (in the same '1/2' of the page where you started
your list), write where you went and about how far you traveled.
• On other half of the page list the times or dates you walked or rode a
bike to the grocery store or the last time you went anywhere without a
car, if you’ve never walked or biked to the store.
• On this same half, list any activities you knowingly did to ‘offset’ the
elimination of physical activity (due to driving, not walking or biking)
If you're like most people, one of your lists will be significantly longer than the
other. We've not met many people who even think in terms of "offsetting" a
short drive; it's just a matter of everyday life for Americans.
What is important about this exercise is understanding that our outlook on the
world needs to change. In some instances, to save us from ourselves, we need
to do what's less efficient. We need to be "impractical" but it's only impractical
from the perspective of a failed paradigm. You can, no matter how old you are,
walk for most of your activities. There's no need to drive everywhere. Your
body is supposed to be active, propelling itself forward--not being driven
around for every little activity. (NOTE: Some areas are admittedly too remote
or too dangerous to make this possible. A distance of 5 miles or more is an
example of too remote for walking, and the absence of sidewalks or bike lanes
may make some trips dangerous. If you think your neighborhood is dangerous,
you just need to go outside more. Sidewalk usage is shown to dramatically
reduce crime.)

"How can it taste good without butter?”
"I'd burn boiling water."
Those two statements sum up many Americans' cooking perspectives.
Sure, fat has flavor. It's a bit greasy and somewhat appealing but ultimately
very few people will elect to eat a stick of butter or sip on a cup of oil by itself.
What do we typically mix butter and oil with anyway?
Veggies and fruits. Whether it's a pie, mashed potatoes, or buttered carrots,
something else is the focus of the dish. It's as though we understand instinctively
that fat and fat alone will not sustain our bodies. And it won't.
So as stupidly simple as it is, fruits and veggies are actually what taste good, not
butter and oils. Overloading your taste buds with fat and salt deadens their ability
to taste the subtleties of real food.
Let's get back to the "I'd burn boiling water" crowd.
Get over it. Stop letting fear, laziness and excuses cripple your ability to
accomplish the most basic of all life processes: feeding yourself. Eating every meal
at restaurants will cripple and limit your ability to eat a truly healthy diet.
It's important to keep in mind when entering a lifestyle change that there can
be no shortcut to learning. You cannot rush learning. You will make mistakes and
failure-dinners that are not edible. That's the nature of the beast. But if you're
careful, take your time and start with some recipes, you will pick up the skills
needed in no time. In fact, it won't be long before you come up with new methods
and dishes without the help of a step-by-step guide. Like riding a bike, with a bit of
practice, the method of preparing a meal becomes second nature. You will also
find that it doesn’t take as much time to cook at home as you thought.

Ch. 4 Diseases of Affluence – A Closer Look
Heart Disease
There is nobody in the US who hasn't heard of Heart Disease. We're always asked by
doctors if we have a family history of heart disease, any strokes or chest pain. The
doctors typically nod their heads in a sagely manner when we tell them that "my father
died at 54" or "my grandfather had a massive heart attack at 46" saying “that puts you
at increased risk. Are you watching your diet at all?" The doctor says this knowing full
well that you are 40 lbs overweight, have a 37 inch waist, are borderline diabetic and
working 50 hours per week on top of a daily 3 hour commute to and from work. "No"
would be the simple answer. "Trying to, Doc" is about all you can muster.
The physician will probably tell you what some of the risk factors are, politely reminding
you that you need to exercise and reduce your fat intake...but that's it! Why is it that
from years and years of study, doctors have so little advice for us?
One reason is that medical school (and continuing education for doctors) does not
emphasize the effects of nutrition on health. Surveys indicated as early as 1968 that
doctors were not confident in their level of nutritional understanding--and that hasn't
changed in the last 40 years. Doctors focus most of their studies on the technical aspect
of their job; slicing and dicing. Why?
The big money is in surgery and procedures. Top heart surgeons earn literally millions of
dollars a year, and heart procedures are among the main sources of revenue for many
hospitals. No wonder some doctors don’t want you to know heart disease can be
prevented with diet alone. We certainly don’t mean to imply that money is the only
draw for people entering the medical professions. Let’s all be realistic and accept that
money is an important factor for nearly everyone, and that many people enter while-
collar professions like medicine, law, accounting and hedge fund management because
of money.
The problem with medical treatments also comes back to the emphasis on technological
fixes to our problems. In most instances, this is an over-reliance on chemical
treatments. Our medical institutions treat the effect rather than the cause. It’s like
bailing out a sinking boat rather than patching up the leak.
What is high cholesterol?
Despite its bad reputation, cholesterol is essential to human cellular activity. It is what
makes cells permeable (meaning, the cholesterol actually helps to aid the cellular-level
absorption of nutrients).

Remember we explained that dietary cholesterol refers to cholesterol found in foods.
When your doctor checks your cholesterol, she checks your blood cholesterol levels.
Blood cholesterol is produced in the body, after dietary cholesterol (the kind we eat) has
been consumed. Research over the past 50 years indicates there is an extremely strong
correlation between high blood cholesterol levels and heart disease. What you may not
know is that those same correlations occur for every disease of affluence, such as
diabetes and Alzheimer's.
There are two types of blood cholesterol, LDL and HDL. But what's the difference
between HDL and LDL Cholesterol? HDL cholesterol is produced by the liver to help
metabolize the various enzymes and nutrients we consume. LDL cholesterol is a
variation of cholesterol that is not produced by the body. This type of cholesterol can
be found in only one location. Up for a guess?
Animals. Animal fat is the only source of LDL cholesterol. The "bad" cholesterol. That
is why the medical industry suggests cutting back on red meat consumption (a
considerably denser source of LDL cholesterol than chicken) and reducing egg
consumption. Elimination of LDL cholesterol was also the original rationale for
switching from butter to margarine (a vegetable based fat). Unfortunately, trans fat
laden margarine turns out to be worse for your body than butter.
The recommended dietary solutions to avoiding heart disease, cutting back on saturated
fats (the fat from animals), ended up confusing the issue. Trans fat is shown to increase
total saturated fat and triglyceride levels as well as act as a potential clotter in the
blood. Furthermore, cutting back on saturated fat without cutting back on animal
products in general does not prevent heart disease.
Animal-based foods increase blood cholesterol levels whereas plant

based foods reduce blood cholesterol levels.
Heart disease is caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries. Plaque is a greasy layer of
proteins and fats (including cholesterol). Higher levels of blood cholesterol lead to
gradual buildup in the arteries—this is the stuff people pay tens of thousands of dollars
to have "squished" to the walls of the artery during angioplasty. If you have plaque
buildup in your coronary arteries, you have some degree of heart disease.
As the blood cholesterol levels build up in the form of plaque, the blood moving through
the veins also seeps through the plaque, so buildup in veins and arteries that are 90%
clogged are actually riddled with small tributaries where the blood is able to flow
(collateral flow), albeit obstructed and slowed by the plaque.
Though the body is able to develop collateral blood flow, the blood moving over and
through the plaque is erosive. Just as waterfalls have smooth edges because of the

constantly flowing water, plaque slowly erodes down until a small piece breaks off the
artery lining, releasing a slurry of rotten blood and fats directly into the blood stream.
To counteract the threat of blood loss, the body begins to create a clot over the exposed
gap. If the clotting occurs too quickly, the vein or artery ruptures from the rapid
increase in blood pressure (and the lack of time to develop a collateral flow around or
through the blood clot).
Unfortunately, if the initial rupture doesn’t kill you, the danger still isn’t over.
Due to the clotting, the heart is now receiving less blood than it would normally, causing
parts of the heart muscle to fail (and die) from lack of oxygen. Heart attack victims feel
a crushing pain or severe shooting pain down their left arm because of the “suffocating”
heart muscle. Victims who survive the first stage of heart attack are still not out of the
clear. The rapid decrease in blood flow to the heart affects the entire body and the
brain in particular: more than half of patients exhibit a significant decrease in mental
capacity after a heart attack.
ONE OUT OF THREE PEOPLE WHO HAVE A HEART ATTACK DIE.
We’ve covered quite a bit of ground so far, so let’s just review what we know about
heart disease, animal products and their connection.
• People who eat the most animal based product (cheese, milk, chicken, pork,
beef or fish) have higher rates of cholesterol
• Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol, which builds up into plaque
• Plaque buildup is the cause of heart attacks
• Severe plaque buildup (clogged arteries) causes other risks such as angina (severe
chest pain) and breathing difficulty in particular
• There are medical procedures for “bypassing” sections of arteries and veins to
alleviate angina. These procedures, though helpful in alleviating the symptoms of
heart disease, do not change the factors contributing to their initial development
That’s why it shouldn't surprise us that 50% of patients who undergo heart bypass or
angioplasty still die of heart disease or experience severe chest pain again within 10
years of the procedure. Skilled surgeons are removing the symptom of heart disease;
they are not curing heart disease. When a person experiences angina to such a degree
that he cannot sleep lying down, the procedure may be justified if that's the only
solution. Fortunately, bypass and angioplasty are not the only solutions available to
people suffering from heart disease. Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Ornish have consistently
achieved a reversal of heart disease in patients who converted to strict low fat, plant
based diets. If you suffer from chest pain or are "at risk" for developing heart disease,

converting your diet from an industrialized, animal-based diet to a plant based diet will
work wonders for you, guaranteed.
The stupidly simple solution to our cholesterol problem, and our high
rates of heart disease, is to reduce or eliminate animal product
consumption.
What is a safe level of cholesterol?
Based on 50 years of clinical research and studies, maintaining a total cholesterol level
below 150 mg/dL will ensure that you will not die of heart disease.
Despite this, the American Heart Association states that 200 mg/dL is a “desirable level
that puts you at lower risk for coronary heart disease.” The US government also
recommends 200 mg/dL or below as a safe cholesterol level (200 mg/dL is the average
for Americans). The problem is that one third of heart disease patients in the
Framingham Heart Study had cholesterol levels between 150 and 200 mg/dL. Moreover,
35% of all heart attacks occur in patients with blood cholesterol levels between 150
and 200 mg/dL! Why merely lower your risk when you can eliminate your risk?
The point here is that blood cholesterol levels between 150 and 200 mg/dL still put you
at considerable risk for developing heart disease. Above 200 mg/dL puts you at HIGH
risk for heart disease. Below 150 mg/dL puts you at ZERO risk of dying from heart
disease and can be easily achieved by switching to a plant based, whole foods diet.
Cancer
Before we get into too much detail about the cancer preventive strategies in this book,
it's important to understand how cancer develops. There are three stages to cancer
development: initiation, promotion, and progression.
1. Initiation: the carcinogen is introduced to the body. The initiation period can be
very short, even just minutes or slower over the course of years. A carcinogen is a
chemical that causes the DNA in blood cells to mutate and subsequently develop into
cancer.
2. Promotion: A simple analogy for understanding this stage is to think of a seed

planted in soil (the initiation stage) and if given the right conditions the seed may grow
and flourish. If not provided those conditions, the seed simply lies dormant and will not
cause cancer to fully develop. Promotion is the development stage for what may lead to
cancer. It is all about the conditions you create that ultimately control whether cancer
develops or not.

3. Progression: The final stage of cancer development, progression, is when the
damage from DNA mutated genes is no longer isolated. The cancer cells begin to
"wander" away from the initial site and invade neighboring or even distant body
tissues. Cancer at this stage is said to be malignant. It's because cancers don't
immediately begin invading other tissue groups that cancer is generally classified
according to the tissue from which the cancerous cells originate, the primary tumor, as
well as the cell type they most resemble such as lung or skin cancer. Late in the
progression stage cancer is referred to as metastasizing when it actually breaks away
from its initial home and starts mutating in new parts of the body. This stage of cancer
results in death.
Causing or Stopping Promotion: The dietary factors determining the promotion

conditions are called promoters, which feed cancer growth, and anti-promoters, which
slow cancer growth. Cancer growth flourishes when there are more promoters than
anti-promoters.
The initiation stage consists of the carcinogen interacting with the DNA of a cell, at
which point it slightly mutates the DNA. The body's cells are constantly in flux, copying
and splitting. So when a damaged or mutated cell splits, the altered DNA structure splits
into two copies, making two mutated cells rather than only one.
From the last paragraph, one might conclude that there's not much we can do about
cancer and that the cells are going to mutate and split regardless of what’s done.
Fortunately, DNA damage is repairable and is also a relatively fast process. Also, and
more importantly, if we have more anti-promoters than promoters, the promotion stage
can be completely halted. Let's think of our anti-promoters like a "negative Nancy"
always bringing the carcinogen party down; too many negative Nancys on the invite list
and the carcinogen DNA-mutation party will be a complete dud – which is good for us.
Anti-promoters are extremely abundant in many foods worldwide. (One of them is not
the steak, sorry). In fact, anti-promoters in high enough concentration are strong
enough to not only slow the promotion stage but to STOP it. Dr. Campbell explains,
"promotion is reversible, depending on whether the early cancer growth is given the
right conditions in which to grow." Do we have your attention? Cancer is not
inevitable; you're not doomed because of your genes. It’s our diet and lifestyle which is
100% within our control. We confidently make this statement based on research
conclusions which happen to coincide well with our society’s deepening understanding
of genetics. A plant based whole foods diet will significantly reduce your risk of
developing cancers of all types.
The industrial diet is rather young, only 100 years old; meanwhile, heart disease, cancer,
and all the other diseases of affluence have been growing epidemics for the last 100
years. The human reaction to these changes is near-textbook for describing a change in

“punctuated equilibrium.” This simply means that the conditions (our diets and
lifestyles) have changed to such a degree that the species is forced to ‘change or expire.’
As shown in the long list of statistics covering health in chapter one, humans are dying,
not adapting to the industrial diet.
Over our lifetime, we absorb carcinogens left and right from chemicals in the air, water,
and other things we come into contact with every day (thanks largely to industrial
activity). We not only mutate a bunch of our DNA, in say... our renal system, we're also
ingesting a bunch of promoters (cancer-cheerleaders) without inviting any of the anti-
promoters (negative Nancys). Slowly, the mutated DNA-cells outnumber the non-
mutated cells, and a tumor develops. The current lifestyle and diet of highly processed,
high-fat, high-animal, highly sweetened food products will not alleviate this problem—
especially if we keep looking for chemical substitutes to counteract the poisonous-
chemicals we ingest.
Cancer represents about 25 percent of all deaths in America! Below is a breakdown of

the different cancers that are plaguing the United States—and largely all industrialized
nations – and likely to affect you.
Male Female
Most common Most common Most common Most common
(by occurrence) (by mortality) (by occurrence) (by mortality)
Prostate cancer Lung cancer Breast cancer (32%) Lung cancer
(33%) (31%) (27%)
Lung cancer (13%) Prostate cancer Lung cancer (12%) Breast cancer
(10%) (15%)
Colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer
(10%) (10%) (11%) (10%)
Bladder cancer (7%) Pancreatic cancer Endometrial cancer Ovarian cancer
(5%) (6%) (6%)
Cutaneous Leukemia (4%) Non-Hodgkin Pancreatic cancer

melanoma (5%) lymphoma (4%) (6%)
Table 1 (adapted from T Colin Campbell ‘s The China Study)
As you can see, cancer development rates are fairly consistent between the genders—
where prostate cancer is in males, we have breast cancer in females. This is a clear sign
that both genders are not adapted to the conditions we subject ourselves to day after
day. We can’t even claim that our society is making much headway in our most
common cancers (prostate and breast) as the lower mortality rate isn’t a result of
scientific breakthrough. Though early prognosis helps the odds of survival, there is no

guarantee early prognosis will save your life.
We’ve covered the basics of the three stages of cancer, shown some scary statistics on
developing cancer (32 percent of women are at risk of developing breast cancer—there’s
no mystery why we dedicate an entire month to recognizing this problem). We can
move on to looking at the links between diet and promotion—because that's the stage
we can most easily control with diet alone.
A well documented carcinogen, and an extremely potent one at that, is aflatoxin. It's
most commonly produced as a byproduct of a mold that grows on peanuts or corn.
We're going to look at how the consumption of animal protein interacts with aflatoxin
to cause cancer in humans.
Two important studies (among many similar studies) found that animal protein digested
in normal ranges was a significant contributor to the development of cancer foci after
exposure to aflatoxin (cancer foci are points of cancer-cell development). Because
peanuts are an excellent source of protein, essential fats and micronutrients, peanuts
were considered as the Holy Grail for ending world hunger during the 1960s. However,
because mold developed on the peanuts, creating aflatoxin, many of the people
intended to gain nourishment from the peanuts were in fact digesting one of the more
deadly carcinogens known to man.
But only some of the people died of cancers. Studies later showed that higher doses of
animal-based protein acted as a promoter for the aflatoxin-DNA mutations. Remember,
if promoters outnumber anti-promoters, the mutated DNA has a higher likelihood of
developing into cancer. What else did the data indicate? As protein consumption goes
up, cancer rates increase in individuals exposed to carcinogens.

100 Carcinogen Dose vs Protein Intake
90
80
Caner Foci Development

70 High AF exposure, low
protein
60
Low AF exposure, high
50 protein
40
30
20
10
0
Protein Intake and Aflatoxin Exposure
Figure 5 Carcinogen Dose vs Protein Intake (adapted from T. Colin Campbell’s The China
Study)
There are two conclusions within these studies: (1) not only does a higher rate of
animal based calories increase the risk factors of developing aflatoxin-related cancers
but (2) consuming a diet high in plant based calories acts as a preventative.
"Foci development was almost entirely dependent on how much protein

was consumed, regardless of how much aflatoxin was consumed" (T.
Colin Campbell)
Looking at the Figure 5, we see that even the subjects receiving low doses of aflatoxin
exposure yet still consuming high protein diets had a dramatic increase in cancer foci
development whereas the high-dose, low-protein subjects had a 10-fold reduction in
foci development. Meaning, even at low exposure levels, your diet has a greater affect
on your rate of cancer-foci development than exposure to carcinogens. To quote Dr.
Campbell and his team, "Foci did not develop with up to about 10% dietary protein.
Beyond 10%, foci development increased dramatically with increases in dietary
protein."

Cancer Foci Promotion by Dietary
Protein
90
80
Foci Development
70 4
60 6
50 Adequate
40 Protein 8
30 For Body
10
20 Growth
10 12
0 14
4 6 8 10 12 14 20
20
% Dietary Protein
Figure 6 (adapted from Campbell ‘s The China Study) Figure 6 resembles an exponential
graph, with a low-slope in the beginning, moving rapidly into a “fertile environment”
for cancer foci development after crossing 10 percent of calorie consumption derived
from protein.
What should Americans keep in mind about animal protein and cancer?
About 9% of calories (about 50 grams of protein) need to originate from protein in order
to maintain healthy human operations. After that daily need is exceeded, cancer foci
have a significant increase in development rates.
If we only need about 9% of our calories to come from protein, we can immediately see
that the 15-16% of calories originating from animal protein that most Americans
consume daily puts them at significant risk of increased cancer foci development.
Meaning, we develop cancer precursors at a faster rate because our protein

consumption exceeds 10% of daily calories.
How bad is it really? Let's do some math:
According to standard labeling in the US, there about 173 calories, 23.1 grams of protein
and 8.2 grams of fat in a three-ounce porterhouse. Getting the 10 ounce steak comes
out to just under 77 grams of protein; 150% more than the daily need. That’s just the
protein. There’s also 27.33 grams of fat, of which about 50% is saturated fat. The total
calories in the steak is over 575 and that doesn’t count the potato with butter and sour
cream; even worse is that's just one meal! Hopefully you can see with this simple

illustration exactly how easily and quickly our animal-based protein consumption levels
could shoot through the roof, along with an unhealthy promoter/anti-promoter ratio.
Dr. Campbell concludes simply that "lower protein intake dramatically decreased
tumor initiation."
So what’s the stupidly simple catch? Not all proteins are created equal. Dr. Campbell
and his team also found that "plant protein did not promote cancer growth, even at
the higher levels of intake...Gluten, the protein of wheat, did not produce the same
result as casein, even when fed at the same 20% (of total dietary calories) level."
(Campbell, The China Study)
To summarize, animal protein consumed at levels higher than 10% of total daily calories
is linked to higher cancer rates. Plant protein, no matter how much is consumed, does
not have this same correlation.
Before moving onto the specifics of how we can prevent diseases of affluence with diet
alone, let's first look at one last major chronic disease crippling our society.
Diabetes
Diabetes is an auto immune disease. An auto immune disease causes the auto immune
system to attack itself, causing breakdowns in proper body functions. There are two
main types of diabetes: type 1 which was at one time called "Juvenile Onset Diabetes"
and type 2 diabetes, formally called "Adult Onset Diabetes." These terms have fallen
out of favor as children have begun developing type 2 diabetes at increasing rates.
Both diseases begin with a dysfunction with the metabolism of blood-sugars (glucose).
Let's first make sure we understand normal digestion before we look at a
"dysfunctional" diabetic.
The normal digestion process:
1. Food is eaten
2. Food is digested, broken down into simple sugars (glucose)
3. Glucose enters the blood, triggering insulin production by the pancreas to distribute
glucose throughout the body
4. Insulin, through complex systems of hormonal triggers, acts as a guide for the
glucose, ushering it to different types of cells in the body

The digestion process for a diabetic (type 1):
1. Food is eaten
3. Glucose enters the blood, BUT no insulin is produced to distribute the energy
throughout the body
• In the type 1 diabetic, the pancreas is actually partially destroyed by the auto
immune system--so there simply isn't any insulin to transport the glucose
throughout the body
The digestion process for a diabetic (type 2):
1. Food is eaten
3. Glucose enters the blood, insulin is produced
• In this instance, the body ignores the insulin that's produced. That's why type 2
diabetes is also often referred to 'insulin resistant diabetes'
8% of American adults are diabetic (21,600,000 people)

Diabetes catapulted by 33% from 1990 to 1998
Those are some scary numbers, especially when we keep in mind that adults with
diabetes typically suffer from other diseases of affluence, too.
Effects of Diabetes:
1. 2-4 times more likely of dying from heart disease

2. 2-4 times more likely of experiencing a stroke
3. 70% of people with diabetes have high blood pressure
4. Diabetes is the leading cause for blindness in adults
5. Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease
6. Over 100,000 diabetic patients had either dialysis or a kidney transplant in 1999
7. Between 60-70% of diabetics experience severe nervous system damage
8. Over 60% of all lower limb amputations are connected to diabetes complications
9. More likely to experience pregnancy complications
10. The economic bill caused by diabetes in the U.S. is over $130 billion per year.

What Causes Diabetes?
There is overwhelming statistical evidence that suggests high blood cholesterol levels,
excess body fat, and high animal-product consumption lead to a much higher incidence
of type 2 diabetes. Sound familiar? There is new evidence also indicating that cow's
milk leads to an increase of type 1 diabetes in children. In 1925, the Japanese derived
close to 90% of their energy directly from rice consumption. At that time, Americans
derived 50% of calories from carbohydrates and 40% from fat, and had 7.5 times (750%)
more diabetics than Japan.
Because consuming a diet high in refined carbohydrates causes insulin spikes in the
blood, many researchers conclude that the constant exposure to high levels of insulin
leads to insulin resistance (Type 2 diabetes). Dr. Neal Barnard points out a little known
fact that meat consumption causes insulin spikes even higher than those caused by
consuming carbohydrates, "Protein is a powerful stimulus for insulin release, just as
sugar is.... Beef and cheese cause a bigger insulin release than pasta."
A lack of fiber is also a problem. Diets high in refined foods and animal products are by
definition low in fiber (since fiber only comes from plants). Fiber helps keep insulin
levels normal by slowing the release of sugars from the food.
Several breakthrough studies show that a whole foods, plant based diet will not only
reduce your chances of developing diabetes but also improve, alleviate and potentially
eliminate the debilitating effects of diabetes. Typically seen as less treatable than type
2 diabetes because of the extensive damage caused to the pancreas, one study found
that the type 1 diabetics reduced their insulin shots by 40% after just three weeks on a
whole foods, plant based diet. Three weeks! As for the type 2 diabetics, the more
"treatable" bunch? 24 of 25 of the participants completely discontinued insulin shots.
This is just in a matter of weeks! There is hope for a life free of insulin monitors and
shots, doctor’s visit, blood tests and the threat of an early, painful demise.
A whole foods, plant based diet helps to eliminate the most damaging symptoms of
being a diabetic: high blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels--the two leading
indicators of heart disease and stroke. Dr. James Anderson, an extremely prominent
diabetes researcher, found that diet alone could reduce total cholesterol levels by 32%
in a little over two weeks!
What we want you to clearly understand after the sections on food and disease is that
diet is the main factor of your likelihood of developing a disease of affluence. Chronic
diseases that plague the US and other developed countries (cancer, heart disease,
diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, etc.) will be nearly eliminated by eating
a low-fat, plant based diet.

High consumption of animal protein, animal fat, and refined foods is the
main cause of ALL diseases of affluence
Nutrient Plant based Foods* Animal-Based

Foods**
Cholesterol (mg) NA 137
Fat (g) 4 36
Protein (g) 33 34
Beta-carotene (mcg) 29,919 17
Dietary Fiber (g) 31 NA
Vitamin C (mg) 293 4
Folate (mcg) 1168 19
Vitamin E (mg_ATE) 11 .5
Iron (mg) 20 2
Magnesium (mg) 548 51
Calcium (mg) 545 252

Table 2 (adapted from T. Colin Campbell) Nutrient Composition of plant and animal-
based foods (per 500 calories)
*Equal parts tomatoes, spinach, lima beans, peas, potatoes
** Equal parts beef, pork, chicken, whole milk
Just looking at Table 2, it is obvious there’s a huge distinction between the nutrient
levels of plant foods and those derived from animals. It’s almost laughable to compare
the charts because of the overwhelming superiority of plants to animals. There is no
justification we can see for claiming animal-based products to be better than plants,
especially on the grounds of “needing protein” since there is almost no difference per
500 calories.

Chapter Exercise #6
Walk or ride a bike to the grocery store. It can be for just something small but
we recommend doing a week's worth of shopping. Bring someone with you if
you can't carry it all yourself; it's more fun that way anyway. We also
recommend bringing a backpack or two to carry your food. It's significantly
easier than carrying bags by hand.
When you get home and have everything unpacked, sit down and write down
your experience. Was it hard? If so, what was difficult about it? Be honest
with yourself.
This exercise, practiced consistently (week after week) over a few months, will
give you a new understanding of the perspective of walkers. One thing we
have noticed over the years is that people tend to be fairly reckless in areas
where walkers are because they don't ever walk. Drivers really don't know how
absolutely ridiculous they look when they drive really fast toward a red light or
stop sign. What all day-in-day-out drivers also don't realize is how much longer
many of the 'short drives' take compared to walking or riding a bike. They don't
seem to count "traffic" or "parking" as part of the process. This exercise is
meant to help reframe the paradigm you have about 'daily tasks.'
Also, keep in mind that most of the humans on this planet today do not have
cars available to get supplies and often travel significantly further than a few
miles one way to fulfill their life needs.
So, get your pen and paper out, write down your grocery list and walk
on over to the grocery store.

Ch 5. Nutrition - Stupidly Simple Key #1 To Good Health
By now we hope you're convinced that there is a strong correlation between diet and
health. It's true, you can lose weight, prevent and even reverse diseases by making a
drastic and permanent change in your diet and lifestyle. As we've mentioned from the
beginning, leading a healthy lifestyle is stupidly simple...if
simple you are willing to make a
change.
As we mentioned in the end of chapter one, most Americans consume what we call the
industrial diet. How did we move so far away from a healthy diet in America
Ameri in the first
place?
The Industrial Diet
Before industrialization, most people lived in rural communities and ate food directly
from the farm (or personal garden). The advent of the Industrial Revolution brought
more and moreore people away from farms and into the cities to work in factories. People
in factories began to get less exercise and lead more sedentary lifestyles. Those who
stayed in rural areas were then set to the task of growing food not only for themselves,
but for the growing city populations. As a result, farms needed to grow more food
efficiently and transport that food to faraway places without it
spoiling.
One method of protecting food from spoiling was to refine

grains. Milling out the bran and the germ from grains (the parts
that contain fiber, fat, and vitamins) makes the flour un-enticing
un
to rodents, insects, and bacteria. Refined flour also has a
sweeter, lighter taste and texture, making it more appealing to
human taste buds. Unfortunately, refined
refine flour is stripped of
most of its nutritional content. In our grocery stores, refined
grain products are cheaper and more widely available than their
whole grain counterparts, placing consumers at risk of selecting
price over health.
The refinement processcess resulted in a drastic change in American

sugar consumption since 1909, when the USDA first began
tracking. Currently, 40-60%
60% of the American diet is composed of
carbohydrates, of which 90% are refined. The result is a diet that
is at least half sugars--calories
calories providing energy that the body
cannot use fast enough and is subsequently converted into fat.
Unused energy, regardless of its source, causes body fat. Refined sugars in particular
overwhelm the body with energy it cannot use fast enough. Nutrients that are “easily

accessed” by the body during digestion are classified as “efficient.” As a consequence of
our prosperity (cheap, abundant food) Americans do not need to be efficient when it
comes to eating. We need to be “inefficient” eaters, consuming naturally present fiber
that slows the digestion process, providing an even supply of energy (that won’t go
straight to our butt, stomach or heart).
Nutrition Whole Wheat Flour (1 cup) All Purpose Bleached White

Flour (1 cup)
Calories 407 455
Protein 16.44 g 12.9 g
Carbohydrate 87 g 95.4 g
Fiber 14.6 g 3.4 g
Fat 2.24 g 1.2 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0 mg
Table 3 Nutrition Facts of Flours (USDA standards)
The process of industrialization (as well as research done during WWI and WWII)
brought the technology of fertilizer and pesticide use to increase crop yields and
prevent crop loss due to insects. While these technologies have indeed enabled us to
produce more than enough food, the negative health effects of commercial fertilizers
and pesticides on the land, animals as well as humans is well documented. Currently,
the industrial agricultural cycle is so efficient that the number of full-time farmers in the
US account for only 0.7% of the population or about 161,000 people (out of over 300
million). In many respects, this is an amazing accomplishment and we aren’t suggesting
we throw the entire system out. We simply need to collectively understand what our
bodies need. Refined grains and processed foods lead directly to the diseases of
affluence.
Corn, one of the most efficient crops, is another problem of increased efficiency that has
wide reaching effects on the American diet today. In the 1920s the average corn yield
was 20 bushels per acre per year. Currently, the yields are approximately 180 bushels
per acre per year. Not only did production levels increase but the labor involved in
producing the corn was reduced.
The flood of corn led to severe price decreases. To help offset the risk of major farm
foreclosures, the US government currently subsidizes production. Regardless of what
the price of corn is, the US government will subsidize $0.23 per bushel of corn. In
addition to that guaranteed subsidy, there's an average price set for corn in an area.

Green County, Iowa for example had a target price of $1.87 per bushel (circa 2005), and
when the price fell to $1.45 per bushel, the government paid out an additional $0.28 to
make the difference, giving a farmer in Green County a total of $1.96 per bushel. So
what's the problem?
A 2005 study concluded that it costs approximately $2.50 per bushel for the farmer to
produce. Meaning, year after year farmers are losing money but are trapped in a cycle
of debt that can only be “solved” by growing even more corn! Meanwhile,
corporations and their shareholders benefit from lower and lower costs for their main
ingredients: corn, soy and wheat. The American tax payer is essentially paying
companies to make huge profits while destroying our national health in the process.
A grain is a grain is a grain?

Refined grains, in contrast to whole grains, refer to grain products that have
been significantly modified from their natural composition. The modification
process generally involves the mechanical removal of bran and germ. Further
refining includes mixing, bleaching, and brominating. Even though some refined
grains are “enriched” with nutrients to make up for those lost, refined grains are
nutritionally inferior to whole grains.
The bran is an hard outer layer of the grain containing dietary fiber and omega
fatty acids in addition to significant quantities of protein and micronutrients.
The germ is the "heart" of any grain constituting the "embryo" for
reproduction. The germ is highly concentrated with protein and complex
carbohydrates.
The endosperm is an outer tissue surrounding the germ, the largest portion of
the grain and contains the highest concentration of protein and carbohydrates.
The first step in the refinement process is milling. Milling is a form of "grinding"
that crushes the entire grain (bran, germ and endosperm) into flour. There are a
number of different methods from stone to hammer to steel rolled. Because
everything in the grain is just crushed all together, few of the nutrients are actually
lost in this process.
For most flours in the US, milling is merely one step in the process. After
milling, the flours are further separated to remove the bran and germ from the
flour mixture. In addition to that, most flours are also bleached in order create a
more enticing appearance of the end product.
So, if you thought that flour was just sometimes "white" and sometimes
"brown" you now know that the 'white bread' is merely bleached flour with only a
fraction of the nutritional values of normal whole wheat flour.

But what happens to all this corn? The current annual yield of corn in the US is over 13
billion bushels (approximately 1.3 trillion pounds). A large portion of our corn
consumption occurs in just a few places: sodas, processed foods and meat (via animals
fed corn). Dr. Ted Dawson of UC Berkeley did an analysis of a few McDonald's foods,
looking for carbon residues which could be traced directly back to corn. (The corn grown
in the US has a specific “carbon structure” that persists throughout the refinement and
digestion processes).
Here's a list of those findings:
1. Soda: 100% corn

2. Milkshake: 78% corn
3. Salad dressing: 65% corn
4. Chicken nuggets: 56% corn
5. French fries: 23% corn
The main ingredient in soda is high-fructose corn syrup, a refined corn product that is
cheaper and sweeter than sugar. A 32-oz soda has about 86 grams of high-fructose corn
syrup, derived from 1/3 lb of corn and 344 empty calories. An “empty calorie” is pure
energy and provides no nutrients to the body – these are the calories that make you fat.
High-fructose corn syrup is also the main sweetener used in most packaged and
processed foods. So, if consumers drink more soda and buy more processed food, that
is a very efficient and profitable outlet for the corn surplus. Any surprise why so much
money is pumped into advertising candy, snacks, and soda?
Using the equation of “1/3 lb of corn for a 32-oz soda”, let’s look at how much profit a
company can expect from processing corn into a soda (or any other product). There are
56 lbs per bushel of corn (USDA standardized). If one bushel costs about $1.45 on the
open market (the unsubsidized price since the US tax payer foots the difference) and
there are 56 pounds in a bushel, we know that we can make 168, 32-oz sodas. If each
bottle of soda is sold for about 30 cents (the price a wholesaler might give a corner
store), we get a total of about $50 for the 168 sodas. That’s 50x the cost of the
material. Sure, there’s marketing and refinement costs, etc. The point is that this is an
extremely effective way to increase corn consumption while providing a cheap “raw
material” for corporations to make products. (We all know people who drink soda after
soda, making this “absorption” of corn relatively easy).
Another lynchpin of the industrial diet was the discovery of how to hydrogenate
vegetable oil in the 1930s. Vegetable oil is cheaper than animal fat and the
hydrogenation process makes the oil virtually indestructible, allowing the food industry
to produce products with ridiculously long shelf lives. Cheap, storable food was good for
consumers and the food industry...that is until we learned about the negative health
effects of hydrogenated vegetable oil (trans fat). We now know that trans fat is
extremely dangerous and tremendously magnifies the risk of heart disease and other

health problems. Despite this knowledge, hydrogenated vegetable oil continues to be a
main ingredient in many processed foods.
The last cornerstone of the industrial diet is high meat consumption. Throughout
human history, meat has never been as affordable and available as it is now, and as a
result people in the developed world eat more meat than any humans ever before. On
a traditional, diverse subsistence farm, livestock is only slaughtered once a year. The
animals are allowed to breed, feed and grow naturally. Furthermore, since animals
require more land and feed to produce, livestock make up a smaller portion of a farm’s
total food production than fruit and vegetable crops. Under these conditions, meat is
not always available for daily consumption. In the industrial food system, livestock is
produced just as an ear of corn: stuffed into as small a space as possible, fed food it is
not naturally meant to eat, and injected with chemicals to ‘stabilize’ the precarious
conditions under which the livestock are forced to live. The result is cheap, low quality
meat for everyone to consume daily – to the detriment of our health.
So if the industrial diet is the problem, then what is the solution?
Alternative to the Industrial Diet
The life expectancy in the US and the rest of the developed world is in the late 70s to
early 80s. There are a few areas in the world that have an unusually large percentage of
centenarians (people 100 years or older). These people are not “vegetables” hooked up
to breathing tubes either; they are active, healthy people free of the diseases, poor
vision, and memory loss that plague the elderly in developed nations.
Dr. Alexander Leaf was commissioned by National Geographic in the early 1970s to
study three regions each rumored to be the longevity capitals of the world. The
following are some of his findings, along with observations of subsequent researchers
and doctors studying the elderly people of these regions.
Abkhazia is an autonomous republic in Georgia. It lies in between the Black Sea and the
Caucasus mountain range. The region is extremely mountainous, and daily life
traversing steep terrain keeps the rural Abkhazians active and fit. 80% of Abkhazians
over age ninety are in sound mental health and 96% have perfect eyesight.
Comparatively, 21.7% of Americans aged 75 years and over have some vision loss—
that’s a 15-year difference and over 17% more in the US.
For breakfast, Abkhazians usually eat a salad of fresh garden vegetables. Most
vegetables are eaten raw, or lightly steamed. Because of the mild climate and fertile
soil, fresh fruit is also available much of the year. They do not eat sugar and rarely eat
butter.

Vilcabamba is a fertile, subtropical valley in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador.
Researchers studied 338 elderly Vilcabambans and found all of them free of heart
disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s. “People in their 80s and 90s
appear almost common. And the Ancient Ones, as they are called, maintain their health
and vitality right to the end.” (John Robbins, Healthy at 100)
Nutrition Characteristic Abkhazia Vilcabamba Hunza United

States
Percent of calories from 65 74 73 50

carbohydrates
Percent of calories from fat 20 15 17 35
Percent of calories from 15 11 10 15

protein
Overall daily calories (adult 1900 1800 1900 2200

male)
Percentage of diet from plant 90 99 99 Roughly

foods 70
Percentage of diet from 10 1 1 Roughly

animal foods 30
Salt consumption Low Low Low high
Sugar consumption 0 0 0 20
tsp/day
Processed food consumption 0 0 0 high
Incidence of obesity 0 0 0 127

million
Table 4 (adapted from John Robbins’s, Healthy at 100 and other sources)
Vilcabambans walk everywhere across the hilly terrain; there are no cars, horses, or
bikes. Elderly people rarely fall, limp, or break bones. The Vilcabamban diet is mostly
vegetarian, and no butter is eaten. They eat whole grains including corn, quinoa, and
wheat. The lush climate provides an abundant variety of fresh fruits and vegetables,
picked and eaten fresh from the trees.
Hunza is an isolated region in northern Pakistan, a fertile valley among the Himalayan
Mountains averaging 20,000 feet in altitude. The people of Hunza are free of disease

and exhibit extraordinary health and vitality into old age. Researchers studied a group
of elderly Hunzans ranging 90-110 years old, and found them completely free of heart
disease and cancer, with 20-20 vision and perfect teeth. It is common for Hunzans to
walk 20 miles a day over incredibly steep terrain.
The Hunzan diet consists of whole grains like wheat, barley, millet and buckwheat. They
also eat beans, fresh vegetables, fruit and greens. 80% of their diet is consumed raw
and freshly picked. Freshly ground flax is eaten with almost every meal. Meat and dairy
makes up only one percent of the Hunzan diet.
As you can see, expensive health care, technology, and wealth (not to mention the
industrial diet) do not make us healthy. The traditional lifestyles of the people of these
regions paint a pretty clear picture that it’s all about diet and exercise!
The industrial diet has led Americans to consume a range of foods vastly different from
the long living peoples of Abkhazia, Vilcabamba and Hunza (as shown in Tables 3 and 4).
Food Percentage of total energy consumed (by

Americans in the study)
Sweets, desserts, soft drinks 19.4
Meat + dairy 23.1
Bread, rolls, crackers* 8.7
Mixed dishes 8.2
Vegetables 6.5
Fruit, juice 3.9
Alcohol 4.4
Table 5 (based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2000)
*30% of Americans NEVER eat whole grains, and the average American eats less than
one serving daily of whole grains (1 slice whole wheat bread)
As you can see from the chart above, many Americans consume the vast majority of
their daily calories in the form of sweets, sodas, animal products and refined grain
products. Not good!
Eat a whole foods, plant based diet, while minimizing the consumption of refined foods
and added fats.

Now that you know how much difference diet can make, let’s look a bit closer at how a
whole foods, plant based diet is defined.
Whole foods diet defined:
Whole foods: no refined foods such as white bread or pastas, vitamin supplements or
pills, candy, chips or soda; those are highly refined food stuffs.
Plant based: it doesn't come from an animal. Period. No meat of any kind, no fish, no
eggs, no milk, no yogurt, no ice cream, no butter, no cheese.
Minimize fats: Use oils (and fats from any source) VERY sparingly. Remember, oil is
100% fat. You'd be surprised how much you can decrease added fat in the foods you
prepare without any compromise in taste.
A low-fat, whole-foods, mostly plant based diet, combined with frequent exercise has
been found to:
• Reduce weight by 2 to 5 pounds after 12 days (without any exercise)

• Approximately 10 lbs in three weeks (without exercise)
• 16 lbs in twelve weeks and 24 lbs in one year (again, without exercise)
• In a study of 4,500 patients, the Pritikin Center found that a plant- based diet and
exercise resulted in an average loss of 5.5% of body weight (a 250 pound person
would lose approximately 14 pounds)
• Dramatically decrease colorectal cancer rates
• Prevent osteoporosis
• Prevent kidney stones
• Prevent blindness in old age
• Prevent memory loss and Alzheimer's disease
• Reduce risk of heart disease
• Reduce risk of cancer
• Reduce and frequently eliminate the need for insulin shots

3 Principles of Good Health
1. Eat the WHOLE Food
• Nutrition represents the combined interactions of countless food substances. The

whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and no amount of gimmicky marketing or
well-funded research can supplement the naturally occurring bounty of the whole
food
• It isn’t the fiber or any individual nutrients that protect you from disease, it is the
synergy effect of all components together when consumed as a WHOLE FOOD
• Avoid supplements, they are unnecessary, expensive, and have dubious benefits
• Juices, extracts, and processed foods will NEVER have the same benefits of their
WHOLE counter parts – eat the whole food
2. Good nutrition creates overall body health
• Nutrition that is truly beneficial for one chronic disease will support overall health.
No need to over-complicate things!
• Good nutrition will prevent disease in its early stages as well as halt or reverse
disease in its later stages
• Good nutrition substantially controls the adverse effects of toxic chemicals we come
into contact with
3. Diet AND Exercise
• This next one is going to have many American athletes writing us nasty letters but it’s
simply a FACT: exercise cannot erase bad diet habits, (you cannot run a marathon or
train for a century ride simply so you can eat more cookies and steaks). It’s self-
defeating and only marginally affects the overall risks of disease.
• Good nutrition does not eliminate the need to exercise
• In order of importance: DIET, SLEEP, EXERCISE
• Good nutrition gives you the health and energy needed to exercise

Organic: What's the big deal?
By focusing our agriculture systems on two main crops (corn and soy), we've
pushed the soil to its limits through abusive practices that limit the nutritional
value of our foods and deplete the soil necessary to grow these foods. Historical
studies have shown that societies that deplete their fertile soils (as we are doing at
an alarming rate), eventually collapse.
In order to offset the decrease in naturally present nutrients, Nitrogen in
particular, we use an artificial fertilizer derived from petroleum. Because the
artificial fertilizer is all at the top layer of the soil, the roots bunch heavily near the
surface. Failure to reach deeply within the earth is one major cause of low
nutrient levels.
It's true, the produce may cost relatively more than "conventionally grown
crops," however, keep in mind that "you now have to eat three apples to get the
same amount of iron as you would have gotten from a single 1940 apple,"
calculates Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food. One simple equation is
then, "is the organic option 3 times as expensive?"
Our preferred method of obtaining fresh, organic produce has been
participation in CSAs--Community Supported Agriculture. By “subscribing” to a
participating farm in your area, you can get a portion of the farm’s crops delivered
to a pickup station near your house for an affordable monthly fee.
The first CSAs started in the 1960s in Germany, Switzerland and Japan. The
main driving force behind a CSA is the concept of "shared risk and reward." This
means that the community accepts that there is risk involved with farming—
anything from droughts to floods to pests.
Reducing the distance that our food travels from farm to table is a simple,
peaceful way of reducing reliance on imported oil. It's also the best way to get
organically grown produce and cut the middle man out so both consumers and
farmers are ultimately better off.
One last note: keep in mind that when we say "conventional" we only
refer to "marketing-lingo" because a practice that is less than 100 years old is
hardly conventional. In fact, most modern, organic agriculture techniques are
merely revisits to the real conventional farming techniques of our past.

Diet and Metabolism
What is Metabolism?
The body's metabolism is a network of hormones and enzymes that convert food into
energy and affect how efficiently the energy is burned. In other words, metabolism is
the rate at which we burn calories—which ultimately affects how easy it is to lose or
gain weight. The faster the body's metabolism, the faster calories are burned, and the
more calories we can eat and not gain weight. Therefore, the slower your metabolism,
the less you can eat if you don't want to quickly start packing on pounds.
The rate at which you burn calories (metabolic rate) is influenced by your age, sex, and
genes, which are factors obviously beyond your control. However, there are a couple
things you can do to increase your metabolism and maximize your weight loss or
maintain a healthy weight, regardless of your starting age or physical condition.
1. Eat more often
The trick is to supply your body with a constant and even supply of energy it can use.
Remember what we learned about carbohydrates: Flooding your body with energy it
cannot use will result in that energy turning into fat. Similarly, when you eat a large
meal and don't eat again for 6 hours, your metabolism will slow down (burn calories at a
slower rate) in order to conserve energy during the time you are not eating. Since you
have essentially tricked your body into thinking it is starving, these extra calories will
also turn into fat to “store for winter”.
Eating small, frequent meals keeps your metabolism in high gear so that you will burn
more calories throughout the day. Eating snacks between meals will also prevent you
from over-eating at meals and keeps your cravings in check because you will never feel
overly ravenous.
We recommend following this eating schedule to boost your metabolism for maximum
weight loss:
1. Breakfast within 30 min of waking up

2. Mid-morning snack 2 hours before you plan to eat lunch
3. Lunch
4. Afternoon snack 2 hours before you plan to eat dinner
5. Dinner
6. Evening snack 2 hours after dinner (never go to bed hungry!)
2. Weight Training
Every pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day just to maintain itself. The more lean
muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn every day, even when you are
not exercising. This is why many trainers recommend strength training as an effective
weight loss strategy when their clients are not getting results from aerobic exercise
alone. While you might burn 100 calories during rigorous aerobic exercise, you will burn
that same amount of calories every day (on top of any calories you burn during exercise)
by gaining 2 pounds of muscle. The slight gain in muscle weight will be more than offset
by the loss of body fat weight. Don’t worry, you won’t bulk up!
Diet Misconceptions, Myths, and Objections
If this is the healthiest diet, then why are some vegetarians still fat?
• Consumption of refined carbohydrates will still result in higher than average weights
• Vegetarians who replace meat with either more dairy-based products or refined
carbohydrates will not lose weight or experience a healthier life
• Vegetarians that do not exercise or lead a sedentary life-style will also not lose
weight
How is it possible to eat more and still weigh less?

You don't need to count calories or watch how much you eat if you eat a whole foods,
low fat, plant based diet. Studies show that those who consume this diet typically
consume MORE calories than the typical "industrial diet" eater and are still thinner and
healthier! Many of the Chinese citizens studied by Dr. Campbell ate about 700 more
calories per day than the average American, and still weighed less. How’s that possible?
Nutrient China United States
Calories (kcal/day) 2641 1989
Total fat (% of calories) 14.5 34-38
Dietary fiber (g/day) 33 12
Total protein (g/day) 64 91
Animal protein (g/day) 0.8 10-11
Total iron (mg/day) 34 18

Table 6 (adapted from T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study)
Raising your body's metabolism while at rest by eating healthy and exercising allows
your body to burn calories as body heat in addition to repairing the muscle tissues,

rather than storing everything as fat. A small increase in metabolic rate results in a large
number of calories burned throughout the day.
How come some people eat whatever they want and never gain
weight?
Everyone knows somebody who seems to live on bacon and ice cream and is still thin as
a rail. They probably say it’s because they exercise so much or because they have a high
metabolism. Instead of feeling envious of this person’s fast metabolism (some people
have naturally high metabolisms that make it difficult to gain weight), you should be
mindful that outward appearance is not the only gauge of fitness and health.
There are countless examples of thin, toned, “super fit” people that die of heart attacks
or cancer every year. A tragic example is Jim Fixx, the “God Father” of the running
revolution in the 1970s. He was an avid long distance runner and author of the
bestselling book, The Complete Book of Running. He didn’t start exercising until age 35
and was previously an obese pack-a-day smoker. Although running made him appear
physically “in shape,” he did not give up his unhealthy eating habits. Fixx died of a heart
attack while running at age 52. The point is that exercise alone, or being naturally
skinny, does not protect you from diseases of affluence. Diet is important.
In fact, vigorous exercise does not strengthen the heart or lungs. Exercise merely affects
the body’s ability to process oxygen. This is important to understand, as it is the main
reason that exercise cannot erase poor diet. Doctor Paul Thompson, chief cardiologist at
the Hartford Hospital, claims that when people over age 35 die while running (e.g. Jim
Fixx), the cause is almost always congestive artery disease—that is, cholesterol deposits
that rupture, resulting in a heart attack.
So don’t get discouraged if losing weight is harder for you than for others. Just maintain
the confidence that if you eat right and exercise, you will be healthy.
Don't you have to eat meat to build muscle?
No. Rigorous exercise with proper rest periods and steadily increasing intensity will
result in muscle growth as long as you are meeting your body's protein requirements.
On a per calorie basis, plant food sources deliver the same amount of protein as animal
food sources. This is important to understand because it essentially means there’s no
tangible advantage to meat consumption.
No matter what kind of body you want to have or what kind of activities you want to do,
you can achieve it with plant based nutrition. NFL defensive end Art Still maintained a
muscular 270 pound physique while on a plant based diet. Carl Lewis, a track and field

star with multiple world championships and Olympic victories, achieved acclaim (and
new world records) while on a plant based diet.
Don’t believe anyone who tells you that you need to eat meat to get enough energy,
protein, or to build muscle. It is simply not true.
Changing Your Diet:
Avoiding diseases and maintaining a healthy weight will involve a serious lifestyle
change for many Americans. Fad and crash diets will NEVER give you permanent results,
so stop wasting your time with them. The ONE diet that has been scientifically proven
over and over again to prevent disease and weight gain is a plant based, whole foods
diet. Eliminating animal products and processed/refined foods from your diet will be
hard at first, but it is the only sure fire way to permanently maintain good health.
You can trust that this diet will work wonders for you, so you should do it, no matter
how difficult or unappealing it seems at first. The stupidly simple truth is that if you are
seriously overweight or suffering from a disease of affluence, this diet is the best thing
you could possibly do for yourself and your loved ones. No other solution will work as
well and be as affordable or free of side effects.
“While a single study might be found to support almost any idea under the sun, what
are the chances that hundreds, even thousands, of different studies show a protective
benefit of plant based foods and/or harmful effects of animal-based foods for so
many different diseases? We can't say it's due to coincidence, bad data, biased
research, misinterpreted statistics or ‘playing with numbers’" (T. Colin Campbell).
Subtle Addictions
You are in control, but you have a lot of work to do to overcome bad eating habits.
Sugar, cheese, and meat contain highly addictive chemicals that actually cause a
reaction in your brain similar to opiate drugs. Really, it’s true! So, not surprisingly, it will
be somewhat like recovering from drug addiction to change your diet.
The good news is, it will only take a few weeks to get over the addiction, and then your
body will no longer crave these foods so intensely. After 12 weeks off meat, dairy, and
added oils, your body will lose its craving for fat completely. Your body will also lose its
craving for sugar after just a few weeks. Once your body adjusts to eating different
kinds of foods, you can eat as much as you want, all time, and never have to worry
about “dieting” again.

You have nothing to lose except your health, and possibly your life. Your health is in
your hands: you have the means, the power, and the ability to improve your lifestyle
permanently, if you are willing to make a permanent change in your diet.
Within the first month of changing your diet you will:
• Discover great new foods

• Experience a change in your taste buds
• Lose Weight (a lot of it)
• Feel better and have more energy
• Realize it was easier than you thought
• Experience an amazing feeling of success
Some bumps you may experience along the way (but you can overcome them!)
• You may have some stomach discomfort during the first week as you adjust to new
foods (individuals who previously had low fiber diets will likely experience this, but
the sensation is your guts being cleaned out)
• It will take some time to adjust to new shopping and meal routines
• You may have to give up some of your favorite dishes and restaurants
• Your friends and family may not be supportive at first (because they’ll throw out
every objection under the sun at you), but these people should probably be
participating in the lifestyle change too!
Don't be afraid. You can do it! All your fears, doubts, and
apprehensiveness will melt away when you see and feel the results.
How To Eat
Eating was not meant to be complicated. Eating is a natural thing your body knows how
to do (as long as it has access to the right foods). It’s as natural as breathing. You should
not have to count calories, weigh food, take supplements, or starve yourself in order to
be healthy and physically fit. As long as you avoid animal products, refined grains, and
excessive sugar, you will lose fat and minimize risk of disease. Again, studies show that
whole foods, low-fat, plant based eaters typically consume more calories than the
typical "industrial diet" eater, and are still thinner and healthier!
Don't worry if you don't think vegetables are as exciting as chocolate cake and finger
lickin' ribs. Your taste buds are accustomed to a high fat, high salt, high sugar diet after
years of eating highly addictive foods. Fortunately, your taste buds will become
reprogrammed after only a couple weeks of eating real food. Fresh fruit will taste better
to you than candy and cookies, and a savory vegetable dish will offer more excitement
to your taste buds than a pile of salty French fries. We promise!
In a nutshell: Eat when you are hungry, eat until you are full, and eat
lots of variety.
Most diets focus on restricting calorie intake as the main strategy for weight loss. When
restricting calorie intake, the first way the body reacts is to let muscle tissue waste away
because muscle tissue requires the most energy to sustain. So on a low-calorie diet,
your body burns away muscle and will actively seek to convert higher ratios of energy
directly to fat. If you go off your diet, you'll start to put weight back on...as fat. It has
also been repeatedly shown that dieters are unable to forcibly reduce food intake over
extended periods.
Restricting how much you eat will lead to:
• Loss of energy - you will be too tired to exercise!

• Irritability - hunger and low blood sugar leads to irritability
• Cravings - you will feel hungry!
• Binges - you will be susceptible to excessive over eating
• Lower metabolism - your body will not burn as many calories at rest
• Loss of muscle - results in a further lowering of metabolic rate resulting to an
increased susceptibility to binging!!
• Depression and thoughts of failure or “trapped” by lack of sustained progress
Restricting calorie intake is not a good strategy for losing weight and keeping it off. It is
much easier and more effective to control what you eat instead of how much you eat.
As long as you eat a variety of the right foods, avoid the bad foods most of the time, and
eat often (6 times a day is ideal), you will be healthy. By sticking to a plant based,
WHOLE foods diet, your body will naturally burn excess calories away as heat, you will
never feel hungry, and you will have more energy to exercise.
This brings us to a new way for you to think about nutrition and your health: You are
what you eat MOST of the time. Don't worry if you are put in a situation every once in
a while where you have to eat animal products, refined grains, or sweets. Enjoy the
holidays (within reason), vacations, or special occasions. Respect your family and
friends if they offer you food you wouldn't normally eat. As long as eating these types
of foods does not become part of your daily (or even weekly) routine, you will be

healthy. If your job requires excessive travel or dining out, bring healthy snacks to eat
alone and be more selective and experimental with your restaurant choices.
But holiday bingers beware: Dr. Neal Barnard found that Americans gain their weight
during the holiday months and then spend the rest of the year trying to lose that weight.
Each year, more weight is gained than lost, eventually leading to obesity. So maybe
“just one more piece of pie” isn’t a good idea.
Points to remember:
EAT ENOUGH Whatever you do, don't go hungry (we're very serious about this one!).
When you first make the switch, you will notice that you have to eat a lot more food
than you used to. Enjoy it!
EAT WELL Try ethnic restaurants like Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern or
Ethiopian to find tasty and interesting vegetarian, non-dairy dishes. Be experimental at
the store and while cooking until you can make things you love to eat.
EAT A VARIETY Eat all the colors of the rainbow for maximum nutrients! Not only does
it taste great but it will look beautiful and you won’t get bored of your food.
Habit Percentage Change in

Obesity Risk
Eating at least one midday snack -39%
Eating dinner as your biggest meal of the day +6%
Waiting more than 3 hours after waking up to eat +43%

breakfast
Eating more than a third of your meals in +69%

restaurants
Going to bed hungry +101%
Eating breakfast away from home +137%
Not eating breakfast +450%

Table 6 (Adapted from Zinczenko’s The Abs Diet) Table 6 shows illustrates how daily
eating habits significantly impact your risk of obesity, which correlates strongly with
Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, MS—and many others.

Chapter Exercise #7
Implement the diet recommendations in this book for two weeks (14 days). Done
correctly, you should notice an immediate change in your body.
During the last three days of the diet, write down everything you eat. Be
relentless about it.
Finish this exercise on day 14 by comparing the last three days of this diet versus
the three days of meals you wrote down previously.
Did you have a weight change? Did you have more control over cravings? If you
are diabetic, did you have an improvement in your blood sugar levels?
Take a moment to reflect on anything that might be different.

Ch 6. Exercise – Stupidly Simple Key #2 To Good Health
Benefits of a strong, healthy body:
• Thinner waistlines lead to longer life spans

• Prevent back pain and other pains
• Less risk of injury
• Increased balance
• Get sick less often
• Better sex life
• Burn more calories at rest
• Reduce depression and anxiety
• Sleep better
• Have more energy
Exercise – A Long Life Habit
We’re sure you've heard many times before how important it is to exercise often.
We’re sure you probably also know how easy it is to make excuses not to exercise and
to sit on the couch instead. The human body naturally tries to conserve energy and rest
whenever possible in order to be ready to search for food, fight wild animals, carry
heavy loads, etc. On the flip side, the human body is also designed to be constantly in
motion—walking, climbing, bending down, lifting and carrying. That's why it feels so
great to exercise.
No matter how lazy or tired you feel, no matter how many excuses you can come up
with, once you get off your butt and do it, you will NEVER, EVER say "I wish I didn't just
exercise. I wish I had sat on the couch instead." If you force yourself to exercise, you
will feel energized, exhilarated, refreshed, and happy with yourself every time. Getting
up and doing something is NEVER a mistake.
That being said, exercise must be a lifelong habit, something that is part of your daily
life. There is simply no way around it. Your body must exercise or your muscles will
waste away, body fat will increase, energy levels and metabolism will decrease, and
your health will go into decline. As you age, failure to properly maintain your physical
fitness level will result in trouble walking, balancing, getting out of bed, opening jars,
and doing all the things you used to do with ease. You will feel old. Then it will be even
harder to exercise. You will say "I'm too old to start now." You will justify not exercising
because of your old age, and you will just sit on the couch and clip newspaper coupons

getting older and more decrepit every day. How depressing! But, THAT’S NOT HOW IT
HAS TO BE and it’s never too late!
It's time for you to wake up! You aren't dead yet! It is not too late for you, no matter
how old or overweight you may be. Your age does not have to control your life. You
should feel great every day until the day you die. The long, steady decline in health as
you age is not inevitable, and does not need to happen to you.
If you haven't exercised in years, we have some “warm up” exercises that you can do for
a few weeks to get your body in the swing of things before picking it up to a more
intense routine. Keep in mind that you need to be continually challenging your body in
new ways. Some exercises will be difficult; you’ll feel out of breath, tired, and unable to
go on. Just don’t give up. If you are seriously obese, over 65, or have a history of
disease or injury, you may want to start with a personal trainer who can assess your
fitness level and start you out slow. The workout section of this book contains a few
simple exercises that anyone can complete.
But I'm too busy to work out
This is a huge excuse for career people and parents. Your day is jam packed from the
second you wake up until the second your head hits the pillow. We can sympathize with
that, but we cannot accept it.
The simple fact is your body is the most important commitment in your life. If you are
not healthy, you cannot make money, you cannot take care of your kids, and you will
not live as long to enjoy the dreams you’ve worked for over your lifetime (such as
retirement!). Honestly, what is the point of spending your life slaving away to provide a
good life for your family if you die from heart disease at age 45? Your spouse and kids
don't care about money or security as much as they care about you.
Your career may seem like the most important thing to you. Fair enough. But if you take
the time to exercise, you will sleep better, have more energy, and get sick less often,
resulting ultimately in higher productivity at work – which will lead to greater success!
Besides work and family responsibilities, take a serious look at what you are doing with
your free time. Americans spend nine times more time watching TV than they do on
physical activity, according to a National Human Activity Pattern Survey of 7515
American men and women.
There are only benefits in taking the time to exercise. It is simply a question of
priorities. The good news is it really only takes a few minutes (15 – 30) of high intensity
exercise most days to get enormous health benefits. We’ll go over the workouts in
more detail in the next section.

Exercise - What's Right For Me?
One main problem with exercise in America is the sheer volume of information out
there about various types of exercise and exercise programs. How do you know what is
right for you? We’re going to layout some fairly specific methods of gaining the
healthiest body possible (as well as the sexiest); however, if you tend to be head-strong
and want to do “what you want to do,” just know that any exercise is better than no
exercise (but not all exercises are created equal). Moving your body in any kind of way
is a step forward, especially if you are sedentary or severely overweight. Cleaning out
your attic or garage is a good start. What about gardening? Walking around your
neighborhood? Whatever it is, get started today!
What is the best type of exercise?
There really is no "best" type of exercise. As long as the exercise is high intensity, it will
succeed in burning fat and keeping you lean. If you are not ready for high intensity
exercise, work up to it gradually. It should be your goal. Slow walks or lifting light dumb-
bells forever will not give you results. Continually setting higher and higher exercise
goals for yourself will set you on the path for long lasting health.
Why does intensity matter?
Our bodies are designed to perform physical activity in bursts of exertion followed by
recovery, or stop-and-go movement instead of steady state movement. High intensity
interval training (known as HIIT) is designed to mimic this type of movement,
conditioning the body in the process. A basic example of a HIIT workout would be to jog
for 5 minutes to warm up and then perform 6 sets of alternating intervals of sprinting
for 60 seconds and jogging for 60 seconds. After a nice 5 minute cool down, you
completed a very intense workout in only 22 minutes! Some interval programs can give
you extremely rigorous workout in as little as 10 minutes. There is even a four minute
workout that researchers in Japan found elevates metabolism for up to 36 hours. What
a deal!
Exercising for long periods at low intensity is harder on your joints and can cause muscle
wasting. High intensity intervals boost your metabolic rate much higher than low
intensity, allowing you to burn more energy after the exercise is finished. This type of
exercise also conditions your heart to respond to rapid changes in heart rate from high
to low, instead of just one steady pace.
When you workout at the same pace the whole time, your body adjusts itself to the
speed you are going and tries hard to conserve energy (i.e. burn less calories). You can
think of this as adapting to the “expected” or even as your body finding ways to “cheat”

by conserving energy for later—there are a lot of bodily systems in place for
accomplishing this. The constant change in intensity during an interval workout enables
you to avoid this and burn more calories both during and after exercising.
Many sports are naturally composed of high intensity intervals such as soccer,
basketball, racquetball, tennis, badminton and ultimate Frisbee, to name a few. You can
make most forms of exercise into a high intensity interval workout.
High intensity interval workouts provide the following benefits:
• Burn more calories for 36 to 48 hours after exercising

• Improve the cardiovascular and respiratory systems
• Improve stamina and endurance
• Burn fat
• Reduce muscle loss
What are ‘Cardio’ and Aerobic Exercise?
Cardio stands for cardiovascular exercise, which is any movement that increases your
heart rate and pumps blood throughout your body. All exercise actually utilizes the
cardiovascular systems, although people commonly associate the word ‘cardio’ with
jogging, treadmills, and elliptical machines.
Before the word cardio became popular, it was more common to hear the word
"aerobic" exercise. Aerobic exercise is any activity that uses oxygen as the primary
catalyst in metabolizing glucose. A typical aerobic exercise consists of a short warm up
period, a continuous exercise for at least 20 minutes at moderate pace, followed by a
short cool down period. Walking, jogging, swimming, aerobic dance/step and biking are
common forms of aerobic exercise because they are performed at a moderate level of
intensity over an extended period of time.
Aerobic exercise does not build muscle, nor does it significantly increase your basal
metabolism. There are numerous benefits of aerobic exercise though:
• Improves the body’s ability to process oxygen

• Improves circulatory system efficiency
• Increases overall endurance and stamina
• Reduces heart rate at rest
• Improves blood circulation and lowers blood pressure

Contrary to popular belief, aerobic exercise alone is NOT the best strategy for weight
loss. Aerobic activities are a great way to stay active and maintain a healthy heart and
respiratory system, but a sound exercise program should also incorporate anaerobic
exercise for fat loss and strength building. As we mentioned earlier, your exercise habits
cannot, and will not, erase your bad eating habits.
There is often a focus on the benefits of exercise as a method for controlling health
threats. Steven Blair, for example, is an exercise epidemiologist who has been running
daily for over 30 years, including regular participation in marathons. He’s not the
“ideal” image of a runner: at 5’5’’ and 195lbs, Blair describes himself as “short, fat and
bald.” Blair is overweight and has undergone angioplasty and heart-bypass surgery.
This means that despite his decades of aerobic exercise experience, he is at high risk of
premature death. Runner’s World quotes him saying, “I do what I can. If it weren’t for
my fitness, I might have needed the surgery 10 years earlier.” We say, if it weren’t for
your diet, you would never have needed the surgeries. The American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition in 2004 showed that even the “most fit” individuals only reduce their chances
of dying from a heart attack by 50%. This is a significant amount but it is certainly not an
end-all.
What are Strength Training and Anaerobic Exercise?
Anaerobic means “without oxygen” and refers to the fact that anaerobic exercise is not
fueled by oxygen intake like aerobic exercise but rather by stored energy (glycogen) in
your muscles (aerobic exercise also slowly depletes the glycogen levels in the muscles
but at a significantly slower rate).
Weight lifting is the classic example of anaerobic exercise. Other forms of anaerobic
exercise include sprinting, tennis, basketball, and badminton.
For maximum fat loss, you should include both aerobic and anaerobic exercise in your
workout program.
Many people are intimidated by the thought of lifting barbells and dumbbells. That type
of exercise if just for oiled up beef cakes, right? Wrong!!! Weight training is a highly
beneficial form of exercise for people of any fitness level.
One of the greatest benefits of weight lifting is that as you build more muscle, you'll
burn more calories throughout the entire day. This means losing weight becomes easier
and faster as you get stronger. What’s even better is that as you get stronger, you do
acquire muscle that will make you faster, more agile, and better in bed!
The more lean muscle you build, the easier it becomes to keep fat off and maintain a
healthy weight.

A common misconception about exercise in general is that it is the calories we burn
during exercise that allow us to lose weight. Isn’t it depressing to think that after that
long arduous workout you just “gained back” all the calories you lost by eating a small
snack? The fact is you don’t really burn that many more calories during exercise than
you do when you are just “living.” It takes a lot of calories just to keep you standing up,
breathing and thinking (90% of energy is used to maintain the brain).
This means, it is much more important for weight loss to increase your overall metabolic
rate, not just more exercise. Weight training and other high intensity forms of exercise
increase your metabolism for many hours after you exercise, so that you really lose
weight.
Benefits of Anaerobic Exercise
• Boosts metabolism
• Builds lean muscle mass
• Strengthens bones, preventing osteoporosis
• Strengthens joints, preventing injury
• Increased energy (bigger muscles can store more energy in your body)
• Builds muscle (the body loses 6 pounds of muscle every 10 years!)
• Prevents dietary sugars from being stored as fat
• Lowers blood sugar
What is Isometric Exercise?
Isometric exercise has been practiced for thousands of years and is the precursor to
modern body building. Charles Atlas, one of the most famous body builders of all time,
named "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man” in 1922, practiced isometrics to
build his body.
Isometrics involves training the muscles by holding a stationary, flexed position. You
may remember “wall sits” from gym class, a classic example of an isometric exercise.
Some other simple isometric movements include pressing your palms together, pressing
your hands or feet against a door frame, and calf raises.
Isometric exercise is different than other forms of exercise because it doesn’t require
much movement at all, even though the muscles are being worked intensely. This type
of exercise does not impact the body or strain the joints, making a great alternative for
people recovering from injury or just getting back into exercising.

The benefits of isometric exercise include:
• Intense workout in a short amount of time

• Build muscle and power
• 32% better than dynamic exercises at increasing muscle power
• Strengthens joints (and is non-impact)
A caveat of isometric training is that it only strengthens the muscle at one angle, rather
than the full range of motion when performing a dynamic exercise. It is therefore best
to combine isometric training with dynamic (movement-based) exercises. Another thing
to be careful of if you have high blood pressure is it is best to avoid isometric exercise
until you have lowered your blood pressure to a safe level. The reason being, blood
pressure is significantly raised during the flexing portion of an isometric exercise.
How often should I exercise?
It is possible to exercise too much, but easily avoidable as long as you have a lot of
variety in exercise and allow for rest days in between high intensity workouts.
30-45 minutes of weight training 2 or 3 days a week combined with 20-40 minutes of
high intensity aerobic exercise 2 or 3 days a week (for a total of 4-5 days a week) is
plenty of exercise to lose fat and maintain a strong, healthy body.
Alternatively, you could alternate a HIIT with an isometric workout for intense but short
sessions of 20 minutes or less (3-4 days a week). Throw in a longer jog, bike, or brisk
walk once a week and you can stay in great shape and only spend 2 hours a week
exercising!
NOTE: if you currently have any medical condition such as high blood pressure, angina,
or diabetes that prevents you from exercising, just concentrate 100% on your diet for
four weeks. After this period, you will most likely be ready to ease into exercising.
Consult a doctor before starting to exercise if you are in precarious health. This does
not mean you are off the hook though!
Exercise Misconceptions, Myths, and Objections
I don't want to "bulk up"
Maybe your goal is to give Arnold Schwarzenegger a run for his money. If so, then you
have a long road ahead of you. Building muscle mass is extremely difficult, and involves
increasingly intense, heavy weight lifting combined with increased calorie intake. The
reality is, if you are just interested in losing body fat and maintaining a strong, healthy
body, you do not have to worry about “bulking up.” Whether you are a man or a
woman, weight training workouts will not turn you into the Hulk, but they will improve
your overall fitness level and allow you to lose lots of fat.
Body builders and misguided weight lifters perform isolated muscle exercises such as
bicep curls, shoulder shrugs, and sit ups to “sculpt” specific parts of their bodies. This is
time consuming and mostly ineffective for the average person (meaning, it is very
niche). For the average person looking to get in shape, it is most effective to work large
muscle groups. Remember, building muscle will enable you to burn more fat. Our
workouts focus on strength training exercises that work combinations of your largest
muscle groups and mimic movements that your body is actually designed to do. This
type of strength training will allow for maximum fat loss, development of balance, and
lean muscle mass while also reducing risk of injury.
Exercise doesn't work for me
Be honest with yourself. You have to combine exercise with good nutrition. You cannot
eat whatever you want and expect to “work it off” through exercise. You also cannot
exercise every once in a while, or start a rigorous program just to quit after two weeks
and expect results.
That being said, everybody is different. People respond differently to different exercise
programs. Try different types of exercise until you find what works for you. The key is
to never give up and to be consistent. Being consistent doesn’t mean doing the same
thing every day; it just means doing some form of exercise most days, for the rest of
your life.
Remember, to really see results you have to challenge yourself. Work up to faster
sprints, heavier weights, more reps, higher levels on the stair stepper, longer intervals
etc. Adding variety and continually increasing the challenges in your workouts will end
in great results.
I thought cardio was the best way to lose weight
It is common for people to associate cardio (jogging on the treadmill or elliptical for
hours on end) as the only way to lose weight. This mentality comes from the
misconception we mentioned earlier – that is, it is the calories burned during exercise
that matter. Understandably so, while going nowhere on the treadmill there isn’t much
to think about besides the “calories burned” slowly accumulating on the LCD screen.
Now you know better. Adding a variety of shorter but higher intensity workouts to your
exercise program, including weight training, will really kick-start your weight loss more
than low intensity cardio.
I'm too weak to lift weights
The thought of exercising in any way can be incredibly daunting after being sedentary
for so long. That’s ok. It’s ok to start slow, as long as you start now. You will be
surprised at how incredibly quickly you will build strength if you just start doing
something.
You can build up to lifting weights by performing isometric exercises and dynamic body
weight exercises (similar movements to weight lifting, but using your body only). Even
regular body weight exercises can be modified to the point where ANYONE can do
them.
Consider the pushup. The pushup is one of the most challenging and effective exercises,
and it involves absolutely no equipment. You can modify the pushup by using your
knees, or even by performing it leaning against a wall. After enough days of modified
pushups, you will be able to do one real pushup. After you do one, you can do two,
three, etc. Eventually, you will able to do more difficult pushups such as t-pushups,
explosive pushups, or decline pushups. Start slow and the sky is the limit! No matter
how weak you are now, you CAN lift weights.
I’m scared to go to the gym
Many people—even "average weight" people—are too shy to jump into workout
clothing and head down to the gym. We ourselves were hesitant at first about working
out in the gym. It's intimidating. It's where the "fit people" are.
To avoid this discomfort (and excuse), we highly recommend investing in a home gym.
The equipment needed is minimal and it is a one-time cost since the equipment will last
forever.
Here is a check-list of the basic equipment you'll need:
Dumbbells
2x 5lbs
2x 8lbs
2x 10lbs
2x 15lbs

We highly recommend sticking with dumbbells rather than barbells. They are more
affordable, can easily be stacked out of the way and don't require any "additional
contraptions" for use.
The dumbbells will be the highest per-item cost. They are worth every penny. Don't
bother with the 2 or 3 pound weights. They don't do anything and are a waste of
money. Some women might be thinking "Uh, I'll stick with the 3lb weights, thanks."
Seriously, you won't bulk up, so DON'T get 3lb weights. The caveat to this would be if
you are a senior citizen with serious muscle atrophy. In this case, buy lighter weights if
necessary. If you are concerned about cost, you can work up to heavier weights and buy
them as needed.
Floor mat (optional; you can just use a blanket)
Pull-up bar (the kind that go in the doorway; it's unobtrusive, just make sure you put it
high enough in the doorway that you're not ducking every time you go in or out of the
room)
Yoga ball (use the sizing charts provided by the manufactures so you get the right sized
ball for your height)
Other equipment you may look at investing in:
Step (Like they use in aerobics classes)
Medicine Ball
Heavier Dumbbells (20, 25, 30, 35lbs, etc)
I'm not good at sports
Another common excuse for avoiding exercise is you feel uncoordinated, you always
hated gym class, and you just don’t see yourself as an athlete. You are more of the
“couch jockey” type. Regardless of the myths circulating within your head-space, your
body is designed to move.
The human body can move in incredible ways, as demonstrated by the hundreds of
sports, dances, circus tricks, and martial arts we perform. Our muscles can be trained to
perform difficult and complex movements to the point where they become second
nature to us. Some people are more suited to different types of exercise and movement
than others. However, every person has the natural ability to learn and perform sports.

There are so many things to try, just get out there and get involved. Don’t be afraid
about what others think of you, just try something new. You might be pleasantly
surprised at yourself. Exercising is about you, and the pleasure and pride you will feel by
getting better every day is YOURS to enjoy.
Exercising alone at home or in the gym is all you really need to stay fit. You can perform
simple bodyweight workouts combined with sprinting or swimming and continually
challenge yourself physically, without the need to learn any special skills. HOWEVER,
don’t be so quick to discount the additional value that can be had from group exercise
and the challenge of sports.
Getting involved in some sort of group exercise or sport will enable you to meet other
active people who can help keep you motivated. You will also get excited about the
new skills you learn and the excitement of a game. It also gives a wonderful sense of
community and comradary to play team sports. Get out there and play!
By now we hope it’s crystal clear that the stupidly simple rules to lifelong health are:
Eat a low fat diet of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Exercise with high intensity, at least 3 days a week, focusing on the

major muscle groups and natural body movements.
Make these rules your daily, lifelong habits.
But we aren’t going to let you loose quite yet. We want to make sure you have the
confidence and resolve to make this momentous lifestyle change.

Chapter Exercise #8
Workout for 5 weeks consistently (3x per week). That's only 15 times. You can
keep a tally.
Since it is only 15 times, take out your calendar or whatever you use to keep
yourself organized, and write down the days you'll be working out. Plan ahead.
If you don't have a calendar, then write down and repeat aloud with conviction,
"I commit myself to workout 3x per week, on Day A, B, and C for the next 5
weeks."
Now you're committed.
Select one of the workout cycles from the workout section to complete,
choosing accordingly for your fitness level. If you're elderly and just getting
started, start with the exercises designed for you. Feel free to change the
workout routine after 3 weeks if you’re ready for a change or new challenge.
You still have to do 5 weeks though.
After your 15th workout session, write down the workout you just completed
from our book and why you did it.
Answer these questions: did you do any long, slow cardio? Did you do much
"isolation" work (like bicep curls or "butt" exercises)? Did you do really light
weights and lots of reps? Did the workout "kick your ass"? Again, looking over
your list of what you did at the gym last week and the reason for doing it, make
sure you didn't forget anything that stands out.
Write down one of these statements in big letters as best fits your sentiment
right now about what you did at the gym: "This works!" or "This doesn't
work!"
It's only one or the other; we'll let you decide. Again, like all the exercises in
this book, you have to be completely honest with yourself.
Take out the page you completed in chapter exercise #4 and compare the lists
If you like to be punk-rock about things like James, then make copies of your
exercises and post them up where you can see them. Bathroom, next to the
computer, the office refrigerator, etc. (Why the office refrigerator? Because
like you 5 weeks ago, all your coworkers are working out like you used to,
simply wasting their time. Sharing is caring).

Ch. 7 Goals – The First Step To Success
Now that you have the tools you need to get healthy once and for all, before you start
making serious life changes it’s important that you start out right. Clear, written goals
are the single most important thing you can do to make sure you succeed.
Have you ever written down your weight and body goals? Have you ever written down
your eating goals? Last question: Have you ever written down what you eat and what
you do?
Let's start with the last question. If you don't actually write down what you eat for a
few days—without lying—you'll never know what you really eat. This is important
because if you don't actually know what you're doing, you can't identify the areas that
need improvement. So whereas the actual diet you follow will have the largest impact
on your general health and well-being, this won't be possible without one other crucial
ingredient: a goal.
Bestselling author Steven Covey has an exercise that we find particularly powerful.
It's a mental exercise in which you imagine for a moment that you are attending your
own funeral. Now, extend the scene to include what the eulogists will say about you.
Will they say that "it was a tragedy that he was taken from us so suddenly"? Or that
"the lifelong pursuit of health paid off. At age 100, he died peacefully, and not for a
moment was he dependent on others or drug prescriptions"? Steven Covey's point is
simple: "Begin with the end in mind." Failure to know what you want is certainly a
combination for disaster.
But how will you reach your goals? To answer this question, we turn to Brian Tracy, a
renowned productivity and business coach. "Think on paper," says Brian Tracy, "when
you write down your goal, you crystallize it...on the other hand, a goal or objective that's
not written down is merely a wish or a fantasy. It has no energy behind it. Unwritten
goals lead to confusion, vagueness, misdirection and numerous mistakes."
We can attest to the power of written goals. We've both struggled with obtaining goals
in the past and in the end the problem was as simple as "misdirected actions." We
knew where we wanted to get – sorta – but we had no idea how to get there. Not only
does writing the goal out help define more clearly what your goal is; it helps you identify
what steps are needed to get there. This is where knowing what you really do will
benefit you. If you've taken the time to honestly evaluate your life based on food and
exercise, when you begin "thinking on paper" you will immediately see what has to
change and what steps are needed to get there.
One common mistake is that we write down our goals once—maybe twice. While
writing your goals down once is better than not at all, the true benefits to goal setting

come through repetition and daily evaluation. Why is that? Simply said, our lives are
never the same two days in a row. Situations change rapidly in this world—from injury
to new projects at work—and so evaluating where we are in the over arching process of
obtaining our goals helps us make sure we're doing the right thing every day. The secret
is simple: have a long term goal, write it down, and then write down everything needed
to reach that goal. And of course, get started immediately.
Napoleon Hill, author of the internationally bestselling book, Think and Grow Rich, lays
out six simple steps you can do to obtain your goals. Although he focuses on wealth
creation, the process of building wealth is exactly the same as building a healthier
lifestyle.
• "First fix in your mind the [exact goal] you desire." Since we're talking about weight,
be specific. "I want to lose a lot of weight" or "I want to get in better shape" is not
good enough.
• "Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for [obtaining your goal.]" This
may mean giving up meat (well, our suggestion is to absolutely give up meat, dairy,
and added fats). But in the end, it's worth the exchange. You have to believe that
the sacrifice is worth the end result. If you're worried about weight, heart disease,
cancer, etc, then the 'end result' is a longer life. And that's absolutely worth more
than a hamburger!
• "Establish a definite date" when you'll reach your goal. Losing 72 lbs in 12 weeks may
seem impossible but as Bronson Black, the winner of the TV Show "Student Body"
will attest--it is possible. His goal? He made a deal with his mother that if he lost the
weight, she'd quit smoking. He sacrificed and strived over and over for his goal every
day –and he obtained it.
• "Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you
are ready or not, to put this plan into action." What are you waiting for? Get started
already!
• "Write out a clear, concise statement" of what you look to obtain, the time limit,
what you will give in return and "describe clearly the plan through which you intend
to" accomplish it.
• "Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night,
and once after arising in the morning. As you read--see and feel and believe yourself
already in possession of" your goal. Like a professional athlete training for an
important event, you need to project the sense of accomplishment onto your mind.
The last point on the list is extremely important. There will be adversity. There will be a
challenge to your goals and you need to project a sense of confidence and inner-belief
that you can reach your goals. You can do it!

Ch. 8 Conclusion
Now that you are ready to embark on your journey to lifelong health, we want you
know why we felt compelled to share the information we’ve gained through our studies.
We are not scientists conducting major research paving the way for a better, healthier
America. We’re just two concerned citizens who want everyone to know that lifelong
health is obtainable for everyone.
We want everyone to understand that it is our lifestyles that are slowly eating away at
our true national treasure: the people.
How long can our society go on skirting the issue of national health? We Americans
continually look for the “quick fix” and often rely on technology for that fix. We are
wasting our intellectual potential and resources on drugs and procedures for diseases
caused by bad eating and exercise habits. These expensive “solutions” to major
diseases of affluence are the main cause of rising health care costs. In turn, rising health
care costs are a major cause of jobs going overseas and financial hardship and insecurity
in America (Medicare, Social Security, Pension funds, etc).
How many times are we going to keep making this mistake? When will we learn that
technology always “improves” our lives for a cost? When will we finally understand that
each and every one of us has the power to improve our lives and the lives of others?
Case in point: industrial agriculture
Because industrial farmers continually dump fertilizers on their crops and the vast
majority of famers are growing only two crops, corn and soy, the natural cycle of growth
and decay that created our bread basket in the Midwest is rapidly deteriorating.
Breeding for size, growing too close together, and heavy use of pesticides exacerbates
the problem. USDA surveys and other agriculture studies indicate that the nutrient
levels in foods produced with artificial fertilizers have decreased by up to 50%
(depending on the specific nutrient).
Technology has given us more food, but it has less nutritional value. Each calorie of food
contains fewer nutrients than in the past. So was there a gain?
Organic farming with high diversity of crops is healthier for the land and its people.
Farmers have the knowledge to produce more than enough food without the use of
harmful chemicals and detrimental farming techniques. Organic produce is higher in
nutrients and organic farming also improves the health of the soil rather than deplete it.

Case in point: pharmaceutical drugs
Earlier in this book we mentioned that medical error is the third leading cause of death
in the US. Very often, doctors prescribe drugs to treat various ailments. In some cases
the dose may be too high, resulting in harmful side effects. In other cases, a patient is
prescribed a drug to treat one condition then requires another drug to treat the side
effects of the first drug (you see where this is going). It is extremely difficult to
anticipate the various interactions between different drugs due to the inherent
complexity of the chemicals and that of the human body. The result is that Americans
are frequently treated like guinea pigs for pharmaceutical companies.
Drug manufacturers do their best to cover up the harmful results of their drugs too.
Vioxx and the cover up by Merck is a clear example that when we start playing with
chemicals to fix health problems caused by lifestyle, we are indeed opening Pandora’s
Box.
Merck and the US Food and Drug Administration contributed to nearly 30,000 cases of
heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths that resulted from the use of Vioxx between
1999 and 2003. Merck sought to cover up the danger of its own drug, aided by the US
government, which approved sale of the drug without conducting any serious
investigation into potential harmful consequences of its use. This may sound like an
extreme example but incidents like this are not that unusual.
Nobody, not a single person on this planet, fully understands all the
chemical and hormonal interactions occurring in the body at any given
time. If that’s the case, why do we Americans so blindly take the advice
of our doctors when it includes expensive drugs and procedures?
We certainly do not want to discount the work doctors do. Modern medicine saves and
improves lives when it comes to emergency care and treating many illnesses. But when
it comes to preventative care for diseases of affluence, we do not need doctors.
Diseases of affluence can be prevented by our own lifestyle choices. Healthy daily
habits, backed by statistical and scientific research, are all we need to overcome
America’s current health epidemics.
We authors both have family members and friends who are constantly challenged by
their weight and health. We imagine you do too. Our hope is that by taking baby steps
to educate those around us, we as a nation will return to healthy lifestyles that will keep
us smiling and active long into our 80s, and 90s, and beyond.

Chapter Exercise #9
Take out the list you completed in chapter exercise #2. Looking at each name and
visualizing the person say, "I promise that I will speak with you and share what I
know."

Glossary-Index
Acid loads (35-36) - Refers to the general acidity within the blood. A higher acid load is
associated with weakened bones later in life due to calcium excretion from the bones to
offset the acidity.
Aflatoxin (57 - 58) - A naturally occurring mycotoxin (literally, carcinogen produced from
fungus), one of the more toxic substances known. The fungus can be found on corn and
peanuts.
Alzheimer’s Disease (52, 62, 70, 72, 81) - The most common form of dementia originally
"described" by Alois Alzheimer in 1901. There are an estimated 26.6 million people
worldwide afflicted by Alzheimer's.
American Heart Association (22, 54) - A non-profit in the US organized to reduce the
disabilities and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke.
American Obesity Association (24) - A non-profit organization in the US founded in

1995 with the goal of educating and researching obesity as a disease as well as change
public policy to reduce the affects of the epidemic.
Amino acid string//Amino Acids (32-33, 42) - A molecule (or string of molecules) found
in all forms of life. These are the basic building blocks of all proteins. Amino acids not
produced by the body (humans in this instance) are classified as "essential" amino acids;
there are eight (8) essential amino acids for humans.
Auto immune diseases (34-35, 60-61) - Refers to a failure in an organism to recognize its
own constituent parts, eliciting an immune response against those cells and tissues.
Anaerobic Exercise (87-88) - An exercise intense enough to trigger an "anaerobic

metabolism;" these forms of exercise are used for non-endurance purposes, building
power and muscle mass in particular. The muscles develop differently and are focused
on increased performance for short-duration, high-intensity activities lasting up to 2
min.
Antioxidants (25) - Plants' internal mechanism for combating free-radicals (the

oxidization of molecules). Plants have an increased need for antioxidants because the
photosynthesis process creates an abundance of opportunity for free-radical production
which threaten cellular integrity. Antioxidants provide the color and pigmentation of
plants, and are produced during the photosynthesis process. Antioxidants are usually
colored because the same chemicals that "sponge" up free-radicals also produce color.
Humans are completely unable to produce antioxidants (because we do not conduct

photosynthesis). Antioxidants within plant based foods are accessible to humans during
the digestive process. Animals do not produce antioxidants.

Blood cholesterol (20, 22, 31, 42-43, 52-54, 62) - The cholesterol measurable by a blood
test. Refers to cholesterol that has been reprocessed from its original "fat" form into a
form usable by the body.
Cancer (3, 4, 12, 17-18, 20-21, 23-24, 34, 36-39, 44, 48, 54-60, 70-72, 77, 81 ) - Refers to
a class of diseases in which a group of cells divide beyond normal limits, invade adjacent
tissues and sometimes spread to new locations in the body.
Cardiovascular exercise// Aerobic (86-87) - Exercise type that requires oxygen

consumption by the body. Aerobic means "with oxygen".
Carcinogen (34, 54-58) - Term refers to any substance that is directly involved in the
promotion of cancer or the facilitation of its propagation.
Colorectal cancer (20, 39, 56, 72) - This is a type of cancer with origination in the colon,
rectum and appendix. It is the third most common form of cancer and the second
leading cause of cancer-related death in developed nations.
Calcium (35-37, 63) - A chemical element [Ca]. Calcium is primarily located in the bones
and provides strength/sturdiness. Calcium is secreted from the bones to offset
increased acidity loads with measurable differences in the urine between animal- and
plant based dieters.
China Study (9, 24, 27, 56-59, 76) - A book by T. Colin Campbell, Cornell University. Also
refers to the "China Project" a more specific survey of 65 Chinese Counties, 130 villages
and 6500 adults, amounting in over 8000 different statistical associations.
Coevolution (47) - A theory illustrating how a change in one species' characteristics or

behaviors (such as eating habits) affects the evolutionary trajectory of another species'
characteristics or behaviors (better camouflage, for example).
Colon Cancer - see Colorectal Cancer
Complex Carbohydrates (14, 39-41) – unrefined form of foods; they are the whole
food. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are the healthiest foods to consume and they
are primarily made of carbohydrates.
Diabetes (3, 4, 12, 16-17, 21, 23-24, 29, 34, 40-41, 38, 52, 60-62, 70, 81, 89) - An auto
immune disease characterized by a disordered pancreas which either results in
malfunctioning insulin or a failure to produce insulin.
Dietary cholesterol (52) - this is a pre-digested form of cholesterol found in food

products
Disease of Affluence (3, 8, 12, 17, 18, 21-22, 24, 42, 46, 48, 51-52, 55, 60-63, 66, 77-78,
97-98) - Diseases which statistically appear more frequently as a "result" of increased

general wealth in a society. Contrasted with Disease of Poverty
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) (34, 54-57) - A "nucleic acid" that contains the genetic
information used by the body in the development and maintenance of all living
organisms as well as some viruses.
Dr. Neal Barnard (29-30, 62, 81) - An American physician, author and researcher.
Advocates a low-fat, plant based diet.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell (27, 55-56, 58-59, 60, 63, 76) - Author of The China Study,
nutritional biochemist with Cornell University, co-director of the China Project. Lifetime
findings indicate a plant based diet is the key to [easily] avoiding a slew of diseases
caused by affluent living.
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (22, 28-29, 42, 44-45, 53) - Prominent cardiologist, headed the
"Cleveland Institute" as well as Olympic gold-medalist in rowing (1956)
Dr. John McDougall (29) - Physician, author and nutrition expert who advocates better
health through diet.
Dr. Dean Ornish (22-23, 27-28, 44, 53) - Physician well known for preventing and
reversing heart disease through The Ornish Diet.
Essential fatty acids (42 ) - Fatty acids that cannot be constructed by an organism
without other components consumed as food. For humans, there are two essential
fatty acids, Omega-3 and Omega-6.
Fiber (25, 27, 39-41, 62-63, 65-67, 73, 76, 79) - Fiber is found only in whole plant based
foods (not juice). Although it is not actually digested by the body, it is important for the
body's overall health.
Foci (56-59) - The number and location of DNA- adducts mutated by a carcinogen (see
adducts)
Glucose (31, 39, 60-61, 86) - A monosaccharide, or simple sugar. Glucose is an

important carbohydrate in biology since all living cells use it as a source of energy.
HDL Cholesterol/High-density lipoprotein (31, 52) - Responsible for enabling lipids like
cholesterol and triglycerides to move within the water based solution of the
bloodstream. It is often referred to as "good cholesterol" because HDL appears to
remove cholesterol from the arteries and transport it back to the liver for reprocessing.
Heart Disease (3, 4, 12, 17, 18, 20-22, 25, 27-29, 34, 37-38, 40, 42-44, 48, 51-55, 61, 62,
68, 70-72, 81, 84, 96) - An umbrella term for a variety of different diseases affecting the
heart. It is the leading cause of death in the US, England, Canada, and Wales. One
person dies from heart disease every 34 seconds in the US alone.

High blood pressure/Hypertension (3, 16, 20, 61062, 89) - A medical condition in which
the blood pressure of an individual is chronically (always) elevated.
High quality protein (32-33) - A term used by biochemists to classify protein qualities. A
higher quality rating is associated with a faster utilization of the protein-string by the
body for its growth and maintenance needs. It can be misleading since the linguistic
implications are that ‘low quality’ protein is undesirable when it only implies a relation
of “completeness” for human use and makes no mention of suitability.
High cholesterol/Hypercholesterolemia (20, 51) - The presence of high levels of blood

cholesterol. It is not a disease but a metabolic derangement that is secondary (i.e. not
the primary cause) to other diseases, most notably cardiovascular disease.
High intensity interval workout/ HIIT (85-86) - All exercises are performed with a high
level of effort/intensity where it stimulates the body to produce an increase in muscular
strength and size.
Industrial diet (12, 25, 55-56, 65, 68, 69, 71, 76, 79) - A diet composed of highly
processed foods as well as high in animal-product and fat intake.
Industrial food (21, 25, 42-43, 46, 69) - Term referring to a highly processed food-like-
substance containing essential nutritional substances (such as protein, carbohydrates
and fat) but completely reprocessed from its original form such that the constituent
parts of the food-substance are no longer recognizable/identifiable OR a term referring
to food products that have been industrially scaled to such an extent that the cost-per-
foodstuff has dropped so significantly that consumption rates have dramatically
increased.
Initiation (54-55, 60) - The first stage of cancer development characterized by an initial
exposure of DNA to a carcinogen, in which the mutated adducts remain in the DNA until
removed by repair mechanisms (if that occurs at all).
Insulin (23, 40-41, 60-62, 72) - A hormone-enzyme, comprised of amino acids,

responsible for signaling cells to absorb glucose as well as signal a number of other
metabolic processes. Insulin is also a manufactured substance used by diabetics to treat
diabetes (invented circa 1923).
Isometric Exercise (88-89, 91) - Strength exercise done in static positions, rather than
dynamic (movement through a range of motion).
Karl Vogt (16) - German physiologist and dietitian (lived 10.31.1831 - 01.31.1908).
Often considered the "father" of modern dietetics, calculating the "protein turn over" by
measuring the nitrogen levels excreted in urea (a by-product of metabolism located in
urine).
Kidney Stone (36, 72) - Also known as renal calculi, are solid concentrations of dissolved

minerals, including calcium, phosphate, oxalic acid and uric acids.
Macronutrients (32, 38, 41) - carbohydrates, protein, fat. All foods are made up of a
combination of these macronutrients.
Max Rubner (33) - (1835-1917) A German physiologist studying under Carl von Voit
made famous from his research into metabolism, energy physiology, and hygiene. He
also made an important connection between metabolic rates and the "surface area" of
mammals
Michael Pollan (7, 12, 25, 45, 74) - American professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley
where he is director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism. He
is author of a number of books critical of agribusiness in America.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (34-35, 62)- Also called disseminated sclerosis or

encephalomyelitis disseminata is an autoimmune condition focused within the central
nervous system.
LDL Cholesterol (43, 52) - A lipoprotein responsible for transporting cholesterol and
triglycerides from the liver to the peripheral tissues. In most cases, an elevated LDL
level (in blood tests) is an indication of cardiovascular disease--hence being called "bad"
cholesterol.
Low quality protein (32) - Research term used to refer to protein strings that lack one or
more essential amino acids necessary for the human body to completely use during
metabolic processes. Two low quality proteins from different sources typically combine
to make a high quality protein.
Metabolic Rate: (75, 77, 80, 85, 87) - (or Basal metabolic rate, BMR) The total amount
of energy expended while at rest in a neutrally temperate environment. This is typically
measured in the "post-absorptive state" (meaning the digestive system is inactive,
which requires about 12 hours of fasting in humans). Increased muscle mass increases
the BMR and will decreases with age and the loss of lean body mass.
Metabolism (6, 60, 75-77, 80, 83, 85-86, 88) - Refers to the chemical reactions that
occur in living organisms in order to maintain life, including growth and reproduction,
responding to environmental changes as well as food digestion.
Nurses' Health Study (44) - A long-term, epidemiological study established in 1976 by

Dr. Frank Speizer, tracking 121,700 female registered nurses to asses risk factors for
cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Omega-3 (42) - One of two essential fatty acids (for humans), found in the "family" of
unsaturated fatty acids. "-3" refers to the position of the chemical bond within the fatty
acid. Omega-3 plays an anti-inflammatory role in the body as well as stimulates blood
flow and provides some of the components necessary for normal growth and

developments.
Omega-6 (42) - One of two essential fatty acids (for humans), found in the "family" of
unsaturated fatty acids. "-6" refers to the position of the chemical bond within the fatty
acid.
Osteoporosis (35-36, 70, 72, 88 ) - A bone disease leading to an increased risk of bone
fracture, characterized by a reduction in bone mineral density, disruption of the micro-
architecture of the bones. Osteoporosis is most common in post-menopausal women.
Progression (pg )- A stage in the development of cancer tumors in which the tumors
grow locally (at the point of origin). These localized tumors are often considered to
have "metastatic potential" and so localized surgery is often suggested.
Promotion (34, 54-55, 57) - Second stage in cancer development typified by conditions
which either allow the DNA-adducts (mutated DNA-cells) to either further develop
(spread) or be repaired.
Protein (21, 25-26, 32-38, 41, 44-45, 52, 57-60, 62-63, 66, 70, 76-78) - Large organic
compounds made of amino acids which act in most cases as enzymes that catalyze
(initiate and guide) biochemical processes and reactions. Proteins are a macronutrient
necessary for human development. Proteins play an important role in metabolism,
participating in every process within cells.
Punctuated Equilibrium (56) - A theoretical model in evolutionary biology consisting of

long periods of stability within a species' genetic makeup as well as the reproductive
and dietary habits. The framework allows for "moments" of change where a species is
forced to change due to a rapid change in ecological conditions. Niles Eldredge and
Stephen Jay Gould proposed this model (versus the "gentle, consistent change model"
proposed by Darwin) based on evidence within the fossil record.
RDA (recommended daily allowance) (33, 44) - Developed during WWII by the United
States National Academy of Sciences in order to investigate issues of nutrition that
might affect national defense. The recommendations would be used by the armed
forces, civilians as well as for overseas populations in need of food relief.
Refined Carbohydrates (40-41, 76) - A source of carbohydrate that has been broken
down by industrial processes. Fiber and nutritional content is low, and energy is high
and easily digested.
Refined Food (62-63, 71-72, 78) - A food product that has been made by industrial
processes. It may contain added sugar, fat, sodium (salt), chemicals, preservatives, and
flavors.
Saturated fat (35, 42-43, 45, 52-53, 59) - A fat consisting of triglycerides containing only
saturated fatty acids--fatty acid bonds that contain hydrogen atoms in the chemical

bond.
Selective Pressure (46-48) - A cornerstone of evolutionary theory showing that the

conditions in which a species exist are under pressures from the biosphere (predators,
ecological change, food scarcity, etc). These pressures cause some individuals to perish
where others survive. The selective pressure includes the reproductive potential: dying
individuals within a species do not reproduce whereas the surviving individuals do.
Simple Carbohydrates (39-41) - Sugar, refined grains and sweets, juice
Trans fat (43, 48, 52, 68) - May be either a monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat; in
either case the fatty acid is industrially produced--aside from a class of trans fats,
vaccenic acid, occurring naturally in trace amounts within meat and dairy products from
ruminants. The fatty acid is partially- or wholly-hydrogenated. This is what makes the
fatty acid artificial as unsaturated fats do not contain hydrogen atoms naturally.
Triglycerides (40, 52) - Or Triacylglcerol is a chemical-compound composed of three

fatty acids and is the main constituent of vegetable oil and animal fats. These fatty acid
chains play an important role in the metabolic processes of animals (including humans)
being transporters for dietary fat and containing twice as much energy as carbohydrates
and proteins.
Unsaturated fat (42-43) - A fat or fatty acid that is either monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated. These fatty acid compounds are called "unsaturated" because in the
chemical bonding process the "hydrogen atoms" are eliminated--thus saturated fats are
merely fatty acids with hydrogen atoms bonded to the chemical compound.
Vitamin D (36) - Produced by the body, helps prevent cancers as well as bolster the
immune system. Consumption of animal proteins prevents the body's production of
vitamin D. This is also true of people with increased calcium levels.
Whole grains (24, 34, 39, 41, 65, 70-71, 93)- Cereal grains that retain the bran, germ and
the endosperm--contrasted with refined grains which only retain the endosperm.
W.O Atwater (33) - (05.1844 to 11.1907) An American chemist known for his research
into human nutrition and metabolism; he was the first professor of chemistry at
Wesleyan University.

Partial Bibliography
American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2008. Atlanta: American
Cancer Society; 2008.
American Diabetes Association. "Economic consequences of diabetes mellitus in the
U.S. in 1997." Diabetes Care 21 (1998): 296-309.
American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org. 2008.
Barnard, Neal. Breaking the Food Seduction. 2003.
Campbell, T. Colin, Campbell, Thomas M. The China Study. 2006.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "National Diabetes Fact Sheet: National
Estimates and General Information on Diabetes in the United States, Revised
Edition." Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1998.
Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. 1989.
Dalavier, Frederic. Strength Training Anatomy. 2006.
Dairy Management, Inc. Annual Report. www.dairycheckoff.com. 2001.
Dunaif GE, and Campbell TC. "Dietary protein level and aflatoxin B1-induced
preneoplastic hepatic lesions in the rat." Journal of Nutrition. 117 (1987):
1298-1302.
Ehrlich, Anne H. Ehrlich, Paul R. The Dominant Animal. 2008.
Esselstyn, Caldwell B. Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. 2008.
Geary, Mike. The Truth About Six-Pack Abs. 2004.
Health Insurance Association of America. Source book of Health Insurance Data: 1999-
2000. Washington, DC, 1999.
Hill, Napoleon. Think and Grow Rich. 1960.
Isometric Exercises & Static Strength Training. Sporting Excellence Ltd.
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/isometric-exercises.html. 2008.
Mokdad AH, Ford ES, Bowman BA, et al. "Diabetes trends in the U.S.: 1990-1998."
Diabetes Care 23 (2000): 1278-1283.
Percent of GDP spent on Healthcare: National Center for Health Statistics. Health,
United States, 2000 with Adolescent Health Chartbook. Hyattsville, MD: National
Center for Health Statistics, 2000.
Pfitzinger, Pete. Douglas, Scott. Advanced Marathoning. 2001.
Pollan, Micheal. The Omnivore's Dilemma. 2006.
Pollan, Micheal. In Defense of Food. 2008.
Robbins, John. Healthy at 100. 2007.

Schuler, Lou. Cosgrove, Alwyn. The New Rules of Lifting. 2006.
Total Body Strength for Seniors. About.com:Exercise.
http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/blseniorwkout.htm. 2008.
Tracy, Brian. Eat That Frog! 2002.
Willett, Walter C., Skerrett, Patrick J. Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. 2001.
Youngman LD and Campbell TC. "Inhibition of alfatoxin B-induced gamma-glutaml
transpeptidase positive (GGT+) hepatic preneoplastic foci and tumors by low
protein diets: evidence that altered GGT+ foci indicate nepolatic potential."
Carcinogenesis 13 (1992): 1607-1613.
Youngman LD. The growth and development of aflatoxin B1-induced preneoplastic

lesions, tumors, metastasis, spontaneous tumors as they are influenced by dietary
protein level, type and intervention. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, Ph. D Thesis,
1990.
Zinczenko, David. The Abs Diet. 2004.

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STUPIDLY SIMPLE

RULES FOR LIFELONG HEALTH

By Adria Mooney and James DiPadua

1 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

2. What Do The Experts Say? 27

3. Food Basics - Macronutrients 32

4. Diseases of Affluence – A Closer Look 51

5. Nutrition - Stupidly Simple Key #1 To Good Health 65

6. Exercise – Stupidly Simple Key #2 To Good Health 83

7. Goals – The First Step to Success 95

2 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

"The entire system--government, science, medicine, industry and media--promotes

Who is this book for?

3 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

4 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

What is this book about?

How will it help me?

The recommendations in this book have been shown to:

5 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

6 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

7 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

8 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Physicians are taught early on to cooperate with drug interests:

9 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

10 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

11 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

12 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

It is no coincidence that the American government allows up to 25% of your daily

14 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Eat Right and Exercise Regularly

15 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

16 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Figure 2 Obesity in America (Center of Disease Control)

17 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

18 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Figure 3 Uninsured Americans (National Health Interview Survey, 2006)

• In 1996 approximately 42% of Americans ate cakes, cookies, pastries or pies on

19 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

• Close to half the US population is perpetually sedentary

• Americans have over a 1 in 3 chance of getting cancer

20 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

• 15 million Americans have diabetes - that's 5% of the total population

It is that stupidly simple. The countries with the highest intakes of

21 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Heart disease is big business for the healthcare/pharmaceutical industries, but

• 1 out of 750 Americans received a voluntary heart bypass operation in 1990

The largest components of medical expenditures attributed to diabetes are hospital

According to Cancer Facts & Figures 2008:

23 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Percent Obese Population

Figure 4 Percent Obese Population (adapted

24 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

25 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

26 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

Some of the findings of the China Study include:

27 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

29 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

30 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

31 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

What is high quality vs. low quality protein?

32 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua

How much protein do you need?

How does eating animal protein cause disease?

34 ©2008 Adria Mooney and James Dipadua