Warning: The Standard American Diet (SAD) will kill you!

I used to be pretty nonchalant about my diet.  I loved meat, dairy products and processed foods.  I was addicted and sick!  Unfortunately, this apathetic lifestyle has caught up with me. For that, I am so thankful!  In fact, it catches up with everybody! However, unfortunately for some, without warning with grave consequences.  Some things you can run from (denial); but you can't hide from ultimately (reality).

The Standard American Diet seems pretty good to most of us.  In fact, I have discovered that many people think they eat pretty healthfully.   And I guess compared to "old so and so" next door, perhaps you do eat quite a bit more healthfully than most.  However, when you begin to examine your diet from the perspective of a percentage of total calories consumed, things might look a little different.

If you're able to study the attached pie chart, you will begin to understand many things about the American Obesity and Disease epidemic.

Remember Heart Disease is the #1 killer of both men and women in America.  Followed by Cancer and the other "diseases of affluence."

You might be interested to know that not just overweight people suffer from Heart Disease.  I know people who have taken steps to find out the condition of their heart and arteries, even though they were "normal weight," only to discover that the ravages of their diet over time has produced a diseased heart and associated arterial trunk.  In plain English, they were suffering from heart disease - the #1 American silent killer!

So what should a "healthy diet" look like?
If your diet looks like the pie chart above, so that you're only consuming in the range of about 10% plant based foods, you might not like what I'm about to say, but you are sowing the seeds in your life for all the American Diseases to express themselves in you.  Consider the Plant-Based Pyramid below:

 
This "Pyramid" isn't perfect, but it is light years ahead of what we have been "sold" through the misinformation campaigns of the USDA and the NIH.

Truth really can set you free!

Tired of dieting?  Tired of measuring?  Tired of being hungry all the time and losing very little weight?  Fad diets don't work in the long run; they are totally unsustainable!  Only a lifestyle change works in the long run.  Making you disease proof, and heart attack proof!  You don't hear much about those terms do you?

I am so grateful that I have been given the chance to change my lifestyle and Eat to Live!
Join the revolution!  Whole Foods, Plant Based, (and if you have CAD), No Oil.  Choose Life!
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Food diary on instagram@stevemattis
FB: Steven Jay Mattis

Why Protein Deficiency is virtually Impossible!

People always ask me, "since you eat only a vegan diet, where do you get your protein?"  We have been absolutely brainwashed into thinking that all protein comes only from Milk and Animal Muscle.  The Meat and Dairy industry have certainly done their job in marketing their products to the American public.  The results are also clear and stunning:  Coronary Artery Disease is the #1 killer of both men and women in America!  Followed by Cancer, Stoke, Hypertension and Diabetes.  These Diseases of Affluence are the direct result of eating our Standard American Diet; made up of processed foods (filled with sugar, fat and salt) and animal foods (Meat and Dairy products.)  So then, the question still remains, if one stops eating our Standard American Diet, where do we get our protein to sustain life?

THE SHORT ANSWER
Experimental studies carried out in the 1940's and '50's showed that people require about 2.5 percent of their total calories from protein.  In order to provide a definitely safe level - to cover situations such as chronic infections and injuries - the World Health Organization (WHO) DOUBLED these figures.

Since 1974, the WHO has recommended that men, women, and children consume about 5% of their calories from protein.  Pregnant women should consume about 6.5% of their calories from protein, and lactating women 7% of their calories from protein.

Nature designed her foods to be complete long before they arrived on the dinner table.  Think about it!
There is sufficient protein in plants to grow elephants, horses, and hippos, so there ought to be enough to grow human beings. The most rapid time of growth in a person's life is during infancy.  We double in size in the first two years of life.  No one would contest that the ideal food for a baby is human breast milk, which is only 5% protein.  Commonly consumed starches and vegetables contain from 6 to 45 percent of their calories as protein and therefore are more than sufficient to supply the protein needs of children and adults, who grow at a much slower rate than babies.

FINALLY CONSIDER - PROTEIN IS PLENTIFUL

RICE-----------------------------------@8%PROTEIN
POTATOES--------------------------@11% PROTEIN
CORN----------------------------------@12% PROTEIN
SPAGHETTI-------------------------@14% PROTEIN
WHOLE GRAIN BREADS------@16% PROTEIN
BEANS--------------------------------@26% PROTEIN
PEAS-----------------------------------@28% PROTEIN

The starchy foods above are part of a Whole Foods, Plant Based Diet.  Eat lots of Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains, Beans and Legumes, some nuts and seeds (unless you suffer from CAD) then eliminate most of the nuts and seeds.

A protein deficient diet is virtually impossible!  However, too high amounts of animal protein from meat and dairy, has specifically be shown to generate the Diseases of Affluence that are killing us!
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Comment adapted from Dr. John and Mary McDougall.
Food Diary at instagram@stevemattis

Heart Disease: Good News, Bad News.

Atherosclerosis is the disease that destroys the arteries of millions of Americans every year.  In fact, it is the number one killer of men and women.  Atherosclerosis leads to heart attacks, strokes, hearing loss, kidney failure, impotence, disability, immobility and leg and back pain.

How does atherosclerosis get started?
The disease process begins when the inside linings of the arteries are injured by oxidized cholesterol, a by-product of antibody reactions started by eating meat and dairy products.  Slivers of cholesterol and globs of fat leak under the inside lining of the arteries (The Endothelium).  These slivers of cholesterol and fat cause festering sores known as atherosclerotic plaques.  Unfortunately, our arteries do not contain nerve endings so we don't know to take action until a tragedy strikes such as a heart attack or stroke!  The tragedy of complete artery closure begins with the rupture of a tiny overstuffed plaque bulge.  When this happens, the content of the plaque (a fatty liquid) drains into the bloodstream and immediately a clot is formed, causing the artery to close off.  The blood clot is called a thrombus and a heart attack has just occurred, called a coronary thrombosis.  Obviously, this is very bad news to the one having the heart attack or stroke and to their loved ones.

How do you treat the cause of Atherosclerosis?
There is good news for those suffering from atherosclerosis (Coronary Artery Disease or CAD).  It has been discovered and proven that CAD is not only preventable but also can be halted and even reversed!

The rather simple solution to Atherosclerosis is to begin a life-style change including a dietary make over.  The disease is defeated by following a Whole Foods, Plant Based Diet.  The attached photo is  an actual angiogram of a Left Anterior Descending Artery. Courtesy of Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic.

On the far left, the lack of blood flow is clearly visible due to blockage.  After treatment with nutrition alone, the artery on the right, is clear and has normal blood flow restored.

So what causes Heart Disease: Eating the Standard American Diet! (Meat, Dairy, Processed Foods and Oil).  The choice is clear.  The solution is actually doable; eating a wonderful diet of quantities of VEGETABLES, FRUITS, WHOLE GRAINS, BEAN AND LEGUMES.

Compare the arteries and chose life!


Comments adapted from Dr. John A. McDouball, M.D.
Food Diary/Instagram@stevemattis