Last week we looked at the foundation for The Culprit & The Cure. We learned the goal for the book – helping us all live healthier for longer – and some of the challenges we face in trying to live healthier.
This week, we start our discussion by looking at where we are and Chapter 4 is appropriately titled Where Are You? The chapter begins by reminding us that our health is directly tied to behaviors – as an example, large cohort studies show that 82% of coronary deaths in women are related to individual health behaviors. That’s an astonishing number, I think. Pages 53-55 have a short health quiz to evaluate health risks – I highly recommend this quiz as it digests a lot of information into a few questions. Most health risks (obesity and blood pressure, for example) are directly tied to the probability of early death and disease – and the curve becomes steeper as the level of risk increases. On a lighter note, Aldana shares the effects of exercise, wherein studies have found that a small amount of exercise has a huge effect on health, but piling on more and more exercise doesn’t have the same effect. In other words, just adding new exercise to a routine has huge health benefits.
Chapter 5 (Food in its Original Form) focuses mainly on whole grains. A whole grain contains the fibrous bran, the germ and the starch. White flour is made from milling whole wheat flour to remove the bran and germ. However, these parts of the grain contain the greatest health benefits, including the heart, cancer, diabetes and stroke. And for every 10 grams of fiber we average per day, our risk of heart attack goes down 14% and risk of heart disease death goes down 27%. The benefits of whole grains are due to phytochemicals, which along with vitamins, fiber, minerals and protein, work to protect the body from disease.
The last chapter covered this week (Chapter 6 – Thinking about Fruits and Vegetables in a Very Different Way) also extols the benefits of food in its original form – in this case, fruits and vegetables. Probably the most compelling argument is that there are at least 5,000 phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables that have been identified (thousands more exist) and that they work together in each fruit or vegetable to provide protective effects on the body. If you are eating the whole fruit, he reminds us to eat the skin. Dr. Aldana explains how the best effect of these phytochemicals is stopping the process of oxidation, a process that “neutralizes free radicals”, thereby preventing disease such as cancer and artery blockage. Finally, as with many physicians, Dr. Aldana believes that a one-a-day vitamin is OK, but that is should be consumed as an addition to a diet rich in whole fruits and vegetables (at least 5 servings a day).
This Thursday, Dr. Tony will discuss Chapters 4, 5 and 6 in more detail. And join us next Tuesday when we discuss Chapters 7 and 8. As usual, feel free to post a comment to this blog!
Kerry
