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 With the recent surge in sudden cardiac death in young women as a result of more high protein dieting and with the high protein diet craze flooding the internet, the media and the stores, it is more important than ever for women to be informed that popularity and media excitement is not a criteria for value. Sudden cardiac death, secondary to an irregular heart beat (cardiac arrhythmia), has been skyrocketing in recent years as women are eating less fruits and vegetables and more foods of animal origin.
Between 1989 and 1998, there was a 21% increase in estimated sudden cardiac death among US women ages 35 to 44 years. The problem has increased even more since then.
High protein diets can generate ketosis, which predisposes one to electrolyte imbalances and cardiac arrhythmias. Women must be warned. We already have medical studies carefully discussing the mechanism via which the popular high protein diets can lead to sudden death. One such report was written and the physiology described in the medical literature after a 16 year old girl died after following the Atkins’ diet for two weeks.
The deaths from heart attacks continue unabated, in spite of an overwhelming amount of evidence and in spite of a clear message from all respected health authorities to eat more fruits, vegetables and beans and less saturated fat, especially cheese, butter and red meat. My message is not different, but it gives people the specifics of what they need to reduce the heart disease risk to zero and to effectively reverse atherosclerosis. It is for those who are not satisfied with mediocrity and want clear-cut protection, not political correctness.
Many people are not aware that heart disease can be more deadly for women. 39% of women who have heart attacks die within a year, compared to 31% of men. During the first four years after a heart attack, the rate for a second heart attack is 20% for women and 15% for men. Heart disease actually kills more women than men. Clearly, physicians are not doing enough to intervene in this disease process and are not giving heart patients the information needed to protect themselves. Once significant heart disease exists, we know that the likelihood of those patients having future cardiac problems is great.
The Bad News
- Obesity rates are climbing.
- Most women have given up on the hope of ever reaching their ideal weight.
- Half of all women die of heart disease and strokes.
- We have an epidemic of diabetes in women never experienced in human history.
- Breast cancer deaths have remained stable for 30 years and mammograms have not helped much.
- More women suffer with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia than ever before.
The Good News
 1. My experience with women who have learned about and applied my Eat To Live program have demonstrated that most women can reach their ideal weight even if they have more than 100 pounds to lose. A recent study performed by the University of Southern California, Department of Family Practice, followed 100 of my patients for 2 years documenting an average 49 pound weight loss. That was more permanent weight loss than any other medical investigation in history. Eat To Live works.
2. Diets that are high in vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts and low in animal products have been demonstrated in 15,000 studies to dramatically lower cancer rates. The effect on reducing the incidence of breast cancer is substantial. Women who ate 4 to 5 servings of vegetables per day had a 46% lower risk of breast cancer than those eating only 1 to 2 servings per day. Women who ate six fruits per day had a 35% lower risk of breast cancer than those eating fewer than two daily. My book, Eat To Live, is more than the most effective, most healthful weight loss plan. It will dramatically reduce your risk of breast cancer. A vegetable based diet, as opposed to the popular meat based diets (Atkins and South Beach) is not only more effective at sustained weight loss, but it effectively protects you against cancer.
3. Women do not need to die of heart disease and strokes. We have scientific knowledge that has revealed the nutritional causes of these diseases. I have reviewed over 60,000 scientific studies in the medical literature, and the evidence is overwhelming. Heart disease is totally avoidable. I have cited over 1,500 medical references in Eat To Live to demonstrate that there is no controversy in science. A vegetable based diet, not a meat based diet, is more effective for weight reduction, and it can preclude the possibility of heart attacks from occurring—ever. When you normalize risk factors (cholesterol, body weight, blood pressure, and nutrient deficiencies) with nutritional intervention, rather than drugs, you accomplish significantly greater risk reduction. There are other favorable bio-chemical changes that take place, as well with a high nutrient diet style. As the weight drops, the blood sugar, triglycerides, blood pressure and cholesterol all drop dramatically. The body is flooded with protective nutrients that protect the blood vessels from disease and rupture. Luckily, even those people who have advanced heart disease can avoid future heart attacks and reverse and remove atherosclerosis. It is never too late to make the delicious and lifesaving change to Eat To Live. Make a choice to protect yourself right now. You must choose. Either live at risk of a premature death or simply remove the risk.
If you are concerned with or have heart disease or high cholesterol, read my book, Cholesterol Protection For Life. It will advise you on the nutritional modification that most dramatically will lower your cholesterol and the nutritional supplements to add to reach the most favorable cholesterol profile without requiring drugs. Both of these books contain a variety of delicious recipes and menu plans.
4. Many women suffer chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Chronic disability, fatigue and painful bodily symptoms affect over 5 million American women. Tender spots most commonly occur in the neck, spine, shoulders and hips. Headaches, widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue are epidemic. These complaints have a combination of causes, but they are primarily caused by decreased oxygenation of tissue, excess deposits of waste products in the tissues with resultant inflammation and nutritional deficiencies. The Eat To Live program of nutritional excellence is an effective remedy for these common complaints. I have treated hundreds of patients with chronic migraine headaches, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome and have seen rewarding and predictable results. It is the rare exception that a complete recovery cannot be achieved.
Health is the product of healthful living. You do not have to be sick and suffer with pain, weakness, fatigue, disability and disease the rest of your life. The miraculous self-healing body that we have can restore you to normalcy. If the optimal environment for healing is established, then the body does the fixing. It may take some time. You may feel ill adjusting to high-nutrient eating, but in time spectacular recoveries are the norm.
References
Zheng ZJ, Croft JB, Giles WH, et al. Sudden cardiac death in the United States, 1989 to 1998. Circulation (United States), Oct 30 2001, 104(18) p2158-63
Stevens A, Robinson DP, Turpin J, et al. Sudden cardiac death of an adolescent during dieting. South Med J (United States), Sep 2002, 95(9) p1047-9.
Trichopoulou A, Katsouyanni K, Stuver S, et al. Consumption of olive oil and specific food groups in relation to breast cancer risk in Greece. J Natl Cancer Inst 1995;;87(2):110-116.
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