Diet & Life Style Info

One of the reasons we decided to talk about asthma on a diet web site is that people who suffer from asthma also have a hard time maintaining their weight. Being overweight also contributes to asthma as well so it is a vicious circle that is difficult to get out of. This post is exploring the relationship between asthma and colds from a personal perspective. I have had two severe attacks of asthma in the past two years and both of them were related to a cold that I started off with. Actually I am not sure if it is asthma or bronchitis, however it does not really matter because both are equally bad  and uncomfortable for me.

Catching a Cold

I caught a cold from a family member and really did not think much of it other than it was an aggravation. After all who wants a cold, right? It began the way all colds do, a sore throat, runny nose and headache. Next thing I know I am coughing like crazy and finding it difficult to get my breath. The first time it occurred I did not have a puffer or Ventolin treatments to take and so it got quite bad requiring several visits to the hospital.

The second time, I was prepared and took my medications. I still had an attack, but this time it was not nearly as severe. It took almost two weeks for the effects of the cold and the coughing triggered by the asthma to subside, but at least there were no visits to the hospital.

Asthma and Colds

It turns out that colds will trigger asthma attacks in people who have asthma and it is extremely important that these folks avoid catching a cold at any time.  Reading some material available it turns out that asthmatics lack some material that protects the lungs and makes them more susceptible to the impacts of colds.  The lungs and bronchial tubes are irritated and produce mucus to protect themselves. Unfortunately this mucus triggers a great deal of coughing and also blocks the airways. Imagine an airway that is already swollen due to the irritation now plugged with mucus and you are wondering why you cannot breathe!

My personal recommendation is too not ignore a cold. if you are supposed to take a regular puffer to deal with asthma or bronchitis, then make sure that you do take your medication all of the time as a preventative measure. Follow your doctors orders and do not deviate when you are exposed to people with colds. This is the best way to protect your lungs and ensure that they are as strong as possible when it comes to fighting a cold.

Asthma, Colds and Coughing

Whatever you do , do not stop coughing. This cough reflex helps to clear the lungs of mucus as well as the bronchial tubes. You really need to get this stuff out and coughing is the only natural way to do it.  Many people want to stop the coughing, after all they cannot sleep and no one around them can sleep.  It turns out that using cough suppressants is the worst thing you can do. What ever you do , do not take cough syrup or lozenges that prevent the cough urge, since this is the best way to get the mucus in your lungs out.

So What Does Asthma and Colds Have to do with Diets?

If you are busy fighting a cold and worse asthma, a diet will be the last thing on your mind. In addition, you may also find that you do not have the energy you need to be active due to lack of oxygen, hence you will not burn calories as effectively.

If you are trying to diet and lose weight you will have to work that much harder and be diligent about controlling the food you eat and exercise.  It is a tough life but you need to make the best of it.

That’s it for this post. If you want to make a comment or add to what we have posted here , please do so. valid and helpful comments are welcome and will be approved if they are helpful to our readers.

People suffering from asthma must develop an action plan that leads to controlling your exposure to whatever is causing your asthma to flair up. This is the only way you can lead a normal active life. The best way to do this is to first of all see your doctor and then possibly a specialist to be assessed for the best treatment and ongoing maintenance treatment you require.  Developing an asthma action plan is not that hard, provided that you have good input from your doctor as well as your pharmacist and yourself.  Ultimately it is up to you to manage your asthma. Staying away from those things that trigger an attack, taking your medication as prescribed and paying attention to your body. all of these things will help you to lead a regular life and manage your asthma.

What is an Asthma Action Plan

The short version is that it is a series of steps that can help you manage your asthma when your symptoms get worse. The objective is to get it under control and keep it there so that you can avoid sudden flairs ups that ruin your life and cause unneeded concern for your family and friends. Even your friends and family should know what to look for to assess when you are in distress and then what to do about it.

the following are a series of steps that you can consider that will lead to a personalized action plan for you:

• Visit your doctor for an assessment
• Discuss your medication with your pharmacist
• Take advantage of web sites like these and other asthma education centers
• Make a note of the possible triggers for your asthma attack
• Based on all of the input, formulate a plan that is tailored to your personal situation
• Review your plan often and customize it as you become familiar with all medications
• Once you reach your maintenance plan, leave a copy pinned to the fridge so that family can remind you of the treatment you need to take.

An example of an asthma treatment plan for an asthma sufferer, based on recommendations from Symbicort is as follows:

• Take Symbicort every day, __ inhalations in the morning and __ in the evening
• Take and extra inhalation if necessary for relief
• Take no more than 6 inhalations on any single occasion and take no more than 8 per day
• Always carry your Symbicort with you for relief
• Contact your health care provider if your asthma is getting worse, even after taking your inhalations.
• If you are unable to obtain relief from inhalations, find it hard to speak or are breathless, or have a sudden unexplained severe attack of asthma go to your local emergency room immediately.

Whether you use Symbicort or some other drug, this is a good plan, however always review this plan with your doctor and pharmacist to ensure that it is customized for your personal situation and condition. We all have different triggers and we all react differently to various drugs so it is vitally important to develop a treatment plan, adhere to the plan and notify the doctor if something significant changes. Your doctor should of course approve the plan in the first place to make sure that it is tailored to you situation.

Note: we are not recommending Symbicort in this post, instead we are using it is an example only . Talk to your doctor to ensure that you are prescribed the correct treatment plan.

Comments are welcome and we will even approve your link to if you provide a constructive comment that is useful to our readers.

Managing asthma is a huge issue for many people. We have decided to do a few posts on this subject with the hope that we will help those people who have asthma as well as help people around asthma sufferers to understand their issues better.

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a chronic disease that effects many millions of Canadians and Americans as well as other people all around the world. Asthma affects your airways and when it does, symptoms usually include shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightening  and often a lot of coughing. the night time and early mornings are usually the worst for most people.

What causes Asthma to Get Worse?

A variety of outside as well as internal things will trigger an asthma attack. Everyone has a slightly different reaction to various stimulants and it is important for each person to become familiar with what ever triggers an asthma attack.

For many it can be allergens in the air, pollutants from industry as well as various smells in  your home. It can also be triggered from someone smoking around you or even the stale smoke smell on a person’s clothes. Even your diet can have an effect on you. Many people will also sometimes trigger an attack from vigorous exercise. These triggers and symptoms can all be controlled with treatment. Athletes can run races and have tennis matches with no problem what so ever provided they take the proper precautions and manage their asthma with the appropriate medicine.

What Actually occurs when You have an Asthma Attack?

First of all your airways become red and swollen and will fill up with mucus leaving less space for the air to get in and out of your lungs. In severe cases these airways can close up completely. Secondly the muscles around your airways will squeeze and tighten making an already difficult situation worse. With little air able to get in and out, many people find it very uncomfortable. They will have little energy and will not be able to go about everyday activities without some sort of intervention.

Treatment Plan for Asthma

There are a variety of drugs and inhalants on the market that work wonders for people with asthma. They all should be prescribed by a doctor and it is very important to be under a doctors care before you take any on these drugs or change your dosage in any way.

These drugs work in various ways, however they tend to focus on relaxing the muscles around your airways as well as reducing the inflammation of your airways. Some treatment plans are based on reacting to an emergency, while others are to be taken at regular intervals every day. Your doctor will be the best judge of how often and when you should be taking these medications.

Always carry your puffer with you so that you can deal with any asthma attack anytime you begin to experience symptoms. Regular treatment is usually first thing in the morning and again in the evening, however emergency puffers can also be used to react to symptoms as needed.

Whatever you do, do not let it linger. Seek a doctors assessment and treatment. Take the treatment when and how your doctor recommends.  there is no sense in allowing your life to be ruined because you did not take an inhaler when needed. Your life is just too important.

Comments are welcome. In fact if your leave a genuine comment that is helpful to our readers, we are more than happy to approve a link as well and we also accept links from other sites as well that focus on a similar subject.

Joining the Goodlife GYM

Well I have been preaching on this web site about exercising and getting into a habit were you should watch your diet and exercise every day. I gained a little weight over the past few months and I thought it was time to practice what I preached. In our area, there are a number of Gym’s that we can join, however Goodlife is close to us and really has an awesome gym with all of the equipment, spinning classes and programs that anyone would need regardless of what shape they are in.

My wife also goes to this gym so it is much easier to go with a partner as well rather than go to a separate gym somewhere else. They make it really easy to join and once you have signed up, they give you a brand new gym bag that says GoodLife on it of course and they also give you a one hour consultation with an instructor as well. We will talk more about this a bit later, but I want to emphasize that this is something you should take advantage of and really listen to what they have to say. Following their advice can mean the difference between an effective workout vs. working out and not getting much for the effort you put in.

Why I joined the Gym

I mentioned earlier that I gained a few pounds. This is true and since it is winter here were we really do not do a lot of outside activity, it is pretty easy to be a couch potato and put the pounds on.  The other reason was that I was sitting in my office trying thinking about topics for this blog and I thought why not talk about my own life and why I needed to join the gym. Practice what you preach and all of that.

It is so easy to do nothing. I am also the type that unless I motivated in some way, I probably will not work out. In my case once I joined the gym and I am paying money every two weeks for the membership, I feel I should get my monies worth out of it. Aside from wanting to lose a few pounds, I will go because I paid for it and do not want to pay for something that I do not lose.

My plans for Exercise

I mentioned earlier about taking advantage of the training session that comes with a new membership. This is something that I strongly recommend that you do. They are going to try to sell you more training sessions, however my advice there is to avoid this unless you really think you would benefit from this type of one on one kind of session. You can get the basics from initial free first session.

In my case, the plan is the following:

• 40 min’s of cardio on the treadmill and the stair master machine each time.
• On alternating days work the arms and the shoulders, then work the legs and the torso
• Arms – Pushups, chin ups and weight lifting
• Legs – Squats, lunges and situps along with some weights for the legs
• While lifting weights, you should do 8 rep’s with the last rep really challenging you to complete. In other words use the right amount of weight that allows you to just complete 8 reps. Rest, then complete it 2 more times

Going with a Partner

We have talked about this suggestion in other posts, however this is really important. If you need help to get motivated to go the gym, then going with a partner is going to help you become more consistent in your workouts. We all have  our down time when we just do not feel like going to the gym. If a partner is also motivated to go, then they are going to encourage you to go and vice versa when they do not feel like it.

This is so important, because most of us just lose touch with our plans from time to time and besides it is more fun to go with someone you know than going by yourself all of the time. Be positive and take turns driving or calling each other. If husband and wife are going together this can also work out really well too.

Well in subsequent posts, we will let you know how we do, both with going to the gym and also how much weight we are losing. My objective is to lose 20 pounds!

Our last post discussed baby boomers and exercise. Our theme was get moving, regardless of what kind of exercise it was, just get moving. This post is about exercising the brain, which needs to be challenged and exercised as well. Admittedly, doing physical exercise will help your brain and give it lots of oxygen. This is a good thing for everyone and we strongly encourage the whole “get moving” notion.

But you also need to focus on the brain to keep it alert and capable of getting your through the day, recalling events and names and avoiding the onset of short term memory loss.  Physical exercise is great , but it is not enough.  You need to do things that are going to make you think, make you remember things and to help you solve problems. We all slow down as the years drag on and so we must do something to stay alert.

What Kinds of Things Can we Do to Exercise the Brain

There many things that people can do to help them stay alert. The worst thing you can do is to allow yourself to vegetate.  Here is a short sample list of  possible suggestions. If you have ideas why not also leave us comments to provide additional assistance to some of our readers.

• Continue working – also helps with your budget
• Volunteer
• Take the lead at work or volunteering – solve problems
• Do Crosswords
• Take on large complex projects
• Read, Write and build blogs on the internet
• Go back to school

These items admittedly are a bit general and obvious, so we know there are lots more. The point is you have to work at it and you have to challenge yourself too. Don’t go easy on yourself, in fact push yourself mentally beyond the limits.

Be Careful of Stress

You can over due the challenge part of this activity.  For example, if you take on a job and it is giving you everything you were looking for in terms of challenge, learning, social , extra money but the stress level is too much, it may be time to move onto something else or reduce your workload. Stress can also cause damage to your body and shorten your life.

Even volunteering can be stressful. Many times I have heard that volunteers start out with a couple of hours a week and gradually it increases to almost a full time job, without pay and many times without a lot of thanks. In fact many volunteers find that they have lots of people to tell them what to do and how to do it and not enough actual workers.

Either don’t let yourself fall into this kind of situation or if you find that it has happened and causing a lot of stress, back out. Sure you will get complaints, but push back and ask why these same people are not offering more. You are retired and looking for a full and satisfying long term life, not another stress filled job. Thats why you retired in the first place.

Well that’s all we have to say on this subject, comments are welcome.

Sounds cliche, but the message everyone should be getting is that they need to get moving and it really does not matter what you do as long as you are moving and getting the heart rate up a bit.  When we were young we did not need to worry about exercise too much, we were always doing something. Now baby boomers and increasingly younger people need exercise. We are all just consuming way too much food.

This post will focus on the baby boomers who are retiring in huge numbers and looking forward to easy relaxing days, were life is good and you can pursue your dreams.

This is clearly the wrong message and baby boomers really  need to give some serious thought about how they are going to live their lives after they finish work and even before they retire. We believe that you need to not only exercise the body, you also need to continually exercise the brain as well to keep everything in good shape to help you enjoy your retirement. We will discuss exercising the brain in our next post. Watch for it , Baby Boomers need to Exercise the Brain.

The main focus is on keeping moving so that you get exercise. Why is this so important?

An analogy will help to explain.

Think of your arteries as a small stream that flows through your neighborhood. We all have seen them at one time or another. In dry weather when there is little rain, these streams dry up to a trickle and they get clogged with debris that somehow finds its way into the stream bed and plants grow to clog the water flow.  This is your artery while you are sitting on the couch and your heart is not pumping much blood through your arteries. They is not much blood flow and the arteries become clogged with debris called plaque. Your muscles also shrink and become weak as well.

Now when a storm comes along, there is a lot more water and the stream expands to clean out the debris and wash it away. Again this is an example of what your arteries go through when you exercise. Your heart pumps more and stronger forcing blood through the arteries and delivering blood and oxygen to the surrounding muscles.  What a difference between the two scenarios?

This is why we all have to keep moving doing some kind of exercise at least once a day. Go for a walk, bicycle, go to the gym. Do something for at least 20 minutes a day and build up from there. You will feel stronger in no time and feel much better as a result.

We have included a list of things you can do to get started. If you are just beginning, start small and build up as your strength and stamina improve. Find something you enjoy and stay with it. Pretty soon it will become a habit and if you do not go and exercise your body and mind will tell you that you are missing something. We all want to live to a hundred and be healthy too. Keep moving and you will vastly improve your chances of getting there.

Here is our list

• Walk around the block
• Walk in the park
• Walk up 10 flights of stairs
• Go hiking on trails
• Go to the gym every day
• Do 20 minutes of exercise of some kind every day
• Mix it up so you do not get bored
• Play tennis, squash, hand ball, or racquet ball
• Go biking – any kind of bike – mountain, road bike or high speed bikes
• Play sports
• Do your own work around the home – rake leaves, cut the lawn etc
• Park your car a long way from the mall door
• Walk instead of taking the car

There are probably hundreds of other ways to get some exercise. Just remember the main thing is to keep moving and get your heart rate up for at least 20 minutes a day. And if you really want to improve your chances of living longer cut down on your weight by eating less and eating low calorie foods.

ere are nine diet tips that are a combination of common sense and also supported by various diet professionals. Some involve different ways to eat, or adding certain foods to your diet. Others involve learning new behaviors or strategies to help you stay on track. Either way it involves changes to your daily routine and perseverance in sticking to your diet plan, but they are relatively easier to follow.

• Variety Is Overrated
• Have Barley for Breakfast
• Beef Up Your Lunch Salad
• Stock Up on Frozen Vegetables
• Make Yourself a Party Tray
• Turn Down the Thermostat
• Downsize Your Dinnerware
• Go Out for Treats
• Try on Your Skinny Jeans Every Friday

Variety Is Overrated

Who hasn’t heard the advice to “just take a bite of everything” if you’re at a buffet?

I have done this myself. The problem is when there are over 100 items on a buffet, by the time you take one spoonful of everything, your plate will be overflowing! Also if your favorite foods are on the buffet, you probably will take more and increase your intake.

Be selective and focus on low calorie food just as if you were at home. Don’t let a buffet boot you off your diet plan!

Have Barley for Breakfast

Barley got its hunger-fighting reputation after Swedish researchers found that eating barley or rye kernels for breakfast kept blood sugar on an even keel. That’s because the carbs in barley and rye kernels are “low glycemic index,” meaning they raise blood sugar more slowly than some other carbohydrate foods. This helps you avoid a spike, and then a drop, in blood sugar, which can leave you feeling famished.

Buy hulled barely, not pearl barley. The Swedish researchers used minimally processed hull barley, and they can’t vouch for the same effects for more processed forms, such as pearl barley.

Beef Up Your Lunch Salad

One of the most common mistakes dieters make is to eat a vegetable salad with little or no dressing for lunch and then they are starving by mid-afternoon. A salad is a great choice,  if you add some protein and a little fat to help keep you feeling full longer.

Add 3 oz piece of chicken breast, and you’ve added about 26 grams of protein but just 140 calories. Add about two tablespoons of light salad dressing, and your salad may be filling enough to get you through the 3 p.m. hunger slump without hitting the vending machine.

Stock Up on Frozen Vegetables

Sure, fresh vegetables are delicious and nutritious. Preparation of the vegetables is a pain and most consider not worth the time, so they reach for chips  instead. Why not buy frozen vegetables that are already chopped and ready to be served. Just heat in the microwave and they are ready!

Make Yourself a Party Tray

A big vegetable platter, maybe with some low-fat dip on the side! Now that is good for you, good to eat and will help you lose weight at the same time. If you have it in the fridge and it is the first thing you see when you open the door, there is a good chance you and your family are going to reach for this party tray first before reaching for anything else.

Turn Down the Thermostat

Spending time in a chilly house — about 61 degrees Fahrenheit — may boost the fat-burning power of the “brown fat” in your body. Brown fat is considered “good” fat, as opposed to regular or white fat, which stores calories and tends to accumulate.  Scandinavian researchers found that exposure to these chilly temperatures boosted the metabolic rate of brown fat 15-fold, helping burn more calories.

Downsize Your Dinnerware

The larger your plate, the more you’re likely to put on it. So serving your meals on smaller plates can help you eat less. Even if you still go back for seconds, there is a strong likelihood that you will eat less overall. You can still use the dinner plates for salads instead.

Go Out for Treats

If you must have a sweet, try not to keep them in the house. Go out instead. Just the mere energy needed to go out is going to dissuade you from heading out to the doughnut shop or the grocery store to buy that special treat. The trip to the fridge or the pantry is much shorter and too hard to resist.

Try on Your Skinny Jeans Every Friday or before you go out for Dinner

Weekends are always  a tougher time to stay on diet and Friday mornings try-on will motivate you to watch your eating during the weekend. If you wear them out to dinner, you will be even more motivated, since they are snug and not many people can eat a lot when they are wearing tight clothes.

In the U.S., and around the world people are living longer than ever before. There are now  about 80,000 centenarians in the US alone, which makes it one of the fastest growing segments of the population. This means about 1 in 6,000 people are over 100 years old.

There must be something that we can  learn from those who have survived a century or more? Many people are trying to figure this out and studying these people who have made it to 100. It is important to remember too that not only do you want to live long, you also want to have an enjoyable lifestyle at 100 as well. So what have the experts learned so far?

The New England Centenarian study published some information, not too long ago which we have summarized in the following. Note that as more information is learned, the ideas expressed here may change and be updated.

1. Genes play a critical and complex role in conferring exceptional longevity.

Lifestyle and our attitudes towards our bodies can help our genes or hurt them when it comes to living well into our 80′s, 90′s and even to 100!

• Almost no centenarians are obese. Obesity contributes to the biggest diseases in our country, like diabetes and heart disease.
• Smoking history is rare.
• Centenarians are better able to handle stress than the majority of people.
• 85% of centenarians are women and 15% are men.
• At least 50% of centenarians have first-degree relatives and/or grandparents who also achieve very old age. Again those Genes!

2. Keep on moving

Scientists in California found that people over 50 that exercised over 5 hours per week lived longer and functioned better physically and cognitively. They tracked participants who ran as aerobic activity over 20 years to find that they all had “less heart disease, cancer, neurological diseases, and infections.” In other words, “Aerobic exercise keeps the immune system young.” So, if you aren’t moving you are decreasing your lifespan.

3. Make every calorie count

The standard American diet is very high in calories, typically 2,000 to 3,000 calories. Additionally, the high calories aren’t packed with vital nutrients, but instead sugar and fat.

• Eating a healthy diet doesn’t only mean decreasing your calories, but getting the most nutrition per calorie. The most nutritious foods include vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
• Anti-oxidants: very simply put, an antioxidant is something that prevents or slows down oxidization. In much the same way as oxidation creates rust, causing a breakdown on the surface of an old car, oxidation inside the body causes a breakdown of cells. For instance, cholesterol in our bodies is not necessarily harmful until it becomes oxidized, which then causes it to start clinging to our blood vessels, which can then lead to clogging of our arteries. Antioxidants can help to prevent this. They can also provide other benefits to your skin and hair. Antioxidant vitamins include vitamins A, C and E. The most inexpensive way to get lots of anti-oxidants is to eat grapes or berries.
• Fish Oil: contains Omega 3s. The typical American diet is missing the great benefits of Omega 3s which are found in high concentrations in fish. Omega-3 fatty acids slow the rate of damage to your genes. And, fish oils have many other protective anti-aging benefits such as decreasing bad cholesterol.
• Vitamin D: The lack of vitamin D can cause inadequate absorption of calcium, resulting in broken or brittle bones. As we age, deficiency in Vitamin D is common. The reason for this is because we make most of our Vitamin D from the sun. Most older individuals aren’t getting outside for long enough periods on a daily basis to make an adequate amount. Also, our skin (where the Vitamin D is synthesized), gets less efficient at making Vitamin D altogether as we get older.

4. Aging is about attitude

If you respect your body, and have a positive optimistic outlook on life, you will tend to look after yourself more, eat the right foods, exercise and your years lived will be extended.

5. It is never to late to make changes to lifestyle.

As we grow older, it really is about quality of life. We want to be able to do many of the things we have always done and enjoy our families and grand children. We do not want to be constrained because we are over weight, or have heart problems or lung problems. Our bodies are really quite fantastic and can recover from many things, so why not give it some help now and focus on improving your life style now!

Ok, Christmas and new Years are just around the corner and first we celebrate Christmas with lots of gifts, getting to gether with family and enjoying that traditional Christmas dinner with all of the special foods we all love and enjoy. We don’t take a second to think about the calories we may be eating or drinking. In fact this is the one meal next to thanksgiving that we actually indulge way over our calorie limits and not give it a seconds thought!.

After that it is New Years and it is another party time, with lots to drink for some and more fabulous meals.  There are lots of calories in those drinks and we only start thinking about New years resolutions on the day of New Years, knowing full well that we will blow it that evening, and then start the year adhering to all of the rules we put in place for ourselves.  Really as if that is going to happen. The vast majority of us make these resolutions in good faith, however within a week or less, they are forgotten and have fallen by the wayside. We are quickly back to our old habits. So what can we do to make sure we stick to our resolutions, especially if it involves losing weight?

• Make your resolutions public
• Make them with someone so that you have a team mate
• Use each other to help you stick to the plan
• Make realistic resolutions, those that you have a reasonable chance of keeping
• If you need to lose a large amount of weight, set goals for each month that re achievable
• Remove the enablers of weight gain
• Place things or people around you that will help you
• Write your resolutions and goals down
• Stick them on a wall were you see then everyday
• Read them everyday
• Make a conscious effort to work at them every day
• Focus on a few rather than a lot. Too many and you are overwhelmed

These are easy words to write, but the real struggle is in making them happen. Find out what works for you and do you very best!

More than half of Canadians (58 per cent) say resolution success or failure depends on what the resolution is and many are easier to keep than others.People  who resolved to travel someplace special, save money and spend more time with loved ones in 2011 will have the most success keeping resolutions. People who’ve resolved to drink less and quit smoking are the least likely to  succeed. Don’t be discouraged by these statements, but do be realistic in setting your objectives so that you can achieve them early in the year.

Good luck and Happy New Years!

We watched a special put on by CNN’s Dr Sanjay Gupta about how following a specific diet pretty much ensured that you would avoid having a heart attack.  The message in the interview with a variety of people who are following this particular diet is

• Eat vegetables
• Avoid oils
• Avoid Dairy
• Avoid meat

The people in  Papua New Guinea highlanders, rural Chinese, central Africans and the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico all follow this diet and heart attacks are virtually unknown in these cultures. There has to be something to this diet, however it is very difficult to change historical eating habits of North America were everyone eats some kind of meat and dairy everyday!

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. who is and was a surgeon is trying to get the message out that if we reduce or eliminate dairy and meat based products, we will suffer many less heart attacks and be able to lead a more healthy lifestyle well into our old age.

One study of 17 people who had had 40 cardiac events before going on the diet, had no events at all after being on the diet over a 12 year period. Pretty impressive. Is this for real, who knows, but it is worth checking out. Also from a common sense perspective, just consider that the oil and fat that you drain off even lean meat is going into your body and in small amounts and apparently it ends up in your arteries as plac that builds up and prevents the blood flow.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr. has written a book on the subject and sure this sounds like a money grab, however if CNN is promoting it, surely it cannot be all bad. If you have purchased the book or downloaded the CD , we would be really interest in your comments on the diet and whether it is for real or not?