Slashdot Mirror

And now that I search on that: http://www.medicalnewstoday.co...
"Majority of weight loss occurs 'via breathing' ... According to researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia, when weight is lost, the majority of it is breathed out as carbon dioxide. Their paper is published in the Christmas issue of The BMJ. Prof. Andrew Brown and Ruben Meerman reported widespread misconception regarding how weight is lost, finding physicians, dietitians and personal trainers all equally guilty of not knowing. ... The results suggest that the lungs are the main excretory organ for weight loss, with the H20 produced by oxidation departing the body in urine, feces, breath and other bodily fluids. On average, a person weighing 70 kg will exhale around 200 ml of CO2 in 12 breaths each minute. The authors calculate that each breath contains 33 mg of CO2, with 8.9 mg comprised of carbon. A total of 17,280 breaths during the day will get rid of at least 200 g of carbon, with roughly a third of this weight loss occurring during 8 hours of sleep. ..."

I've heard stuff now and then from Andrew Weil on breathing, and breathing well is at the core of Yoga, but your anecdote helps me make a better connection to all that. It may indeed apply very broadly. Thanks!

I've heard in general exercise is great for health (gets the lymph moving to boost the immune system, to begin with), but in general it does not affect weight loss much because people who exercise more tend to eat more after a workout as the body tries to compensate. However, I can wonder if changes in breathing patterns somehow work around that issue?

I would be curious if you had any good tips on what people can do to improve their breathing along the lines of what worked for you? Are they different than, for example, these exercises suggested by Dr. Andrew Weil?
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/AR...

BTW, one other thing missed in so much discussion here and elsewhere on weight is the psychological aspect. People can talk all they want about calories in and calories out, and even ignoring how the type of food and gut bacteria make a difference (as well as your point on breathing). However, as Dr. Joel Fuhrman talks about, we essentially have an "appistat" like a thermostat for hunger, and what seems to control when it shuts off is how full we feel (in terms of physical bulk of fiber and such in the stomach) and also the amount of phytonutrients and micronutrients in the food. If you are not getting either (and the Standard American Diet tends to be lacking in *both*) then it is a continual psychological battle where your body is constantly telling you that you are not finished eating because of the lack of fiber and lack of good nutrients. So you keep eating junk (like processed white bread or sugary drinks), always searching for nutrition. The calories make you fat, but your body still thinks (correctly) that it is missing something, so it goes on trying to make you eat. And studies show that 95%+ of people on diets that focus on calories restriction fail in just a few months for this psychological aspect. We only have so much self-discipline. It is generally only when we change the nature of what we eat that we change our weight. Then we are using our self-discipline for only a short time (a few weeks) to change our eating habits and related taste preferences. After that, low-nutrient junk food generally is not so appealing. See also:
"How to Escape the Pleasure Trap"
http://www.drfuhrman.com/libra...

Although, your point on breathing certainly is another angle on that. As is the general issue on gut bacteria, since both of those affect how much of our food's energy is burned (without really changing much else) or how much is collected or goes through the gut. So, I'm

There is no confusion regarding homeopathic treatment on my part, you are stuck on the historical description of homeopathy instead of looking at the current definition and use of the term. Current actually goes back to when I was a kid, which could easily be before you were born.

http://homeopathyusa.org/homeo...
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/AR...
http://abchomeopathy.com/r.php...
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.co...
And I even have a link to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

I won't argue the next points because instead of addressing my points you make a false dichotomy and a fairy tale about people not caring what milk they buy, which is absolutely detached from reality.

In fact, let me change that and address the portion about milk. People read the labels on milk all the time, and in fact if people started selling "Milk" without specifying whether it was from a Cow, Pig, Goat, or Cat people would have an absolute fit. If the grocery store is out of someone's brand of milk, you will see them read label after label until they are comfortable with what they are purchasing. Milk _is_ labelled for all kinds of information, as is just about everything else I can find in a store.

In fact we have seen companies intentionally over label in order to trick people into purchasing their products. People wanting to avoid HFCS have had to learn all of the various names used for HFCS just to avoid unwanted sugar in their diet. There are numerous ways for salt to be labelled, and MSGs are another tricky one. Yet with GMO, people are not given the information. Since Monsanto can spend a few billion dollars over a few years lobbying, this can't be an issue of just money. That should make you suspicious at a minimum.

I'm extremely skeptical that we are worse off, but I'm willing to hear more

Well you seem to be a skeptic about a lot of things that concern most people, but I'll bite. Are the super pests only after the GMO foods or do they attack the non-GMO foods as well? GMO foods produce more so are not impacted as much as their natural counterparts who can't survive super pests. Super pests are a byproduct of the GMO foods, not a natural occurrence. Similarly super viruses are a byproduct of overuse of antibiotics. Science backs both of those stances.

http://soylentnews.org/comment...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...
http://www.damninteresting.com...
"Furthermore, both radiotherapy and chemotherapy have an immune-suppressing side-effect. Since both treatments kill the rapidly dividing cells of the immune system along with the rapidly dividing cancer cells, both can be used together if care is taken. But immune-stimulating Coley's Toxins work entirely differently, and their effect would be cancelled out if used at the same time as high-dose immunosuppressant chemo- or radiotherapy. It became an either/or situation-- and in the end, the fashionable new treatments won out over Coleyâ(TM)s fiddly reworking of an ancient 'natural' remedy. "

Some other suggestions by me here (primarily nutritional, but also on fasting helping with chemotherapy):
http://slashdot.org/comments.p...

More on mushrooms and preventing cancer as also mentioned:
http://articles.mercola.com/si...

It is hard to know who to trust in the cancer industry to find, as you suggest, the best individualized treatment. It's certainly true that people selling alternative products and books (including Furhman, mentioned in my other post) have a conflict of interest. In general, the entire field of oncology is also sadly full of conflict of interest because oncologists make so much money by doing treatments.
https://www.burtongoldberg.com...
"Here is a shocking fact you most likely did not know: Unlike other kinds of doctors, cancer doctors (oncologists) are allowed to profit from the sale of chemotherapy drugs. In fact, most of the annual income oncologists earn comes from the profit that they make from selling these highly toxic drugs to their patients."

And:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/20...
"And that is where oncologic decision making gets really messy. Because in the United States, at least, many oncologists make a good deal of their income selling drugs to their patients. ... Many oncologists vehemently deny being influenced by this financial conflict of interest. But such denials defy both logic and data. Oncologists would have to be superhuman not to be influenced, at least unconsciously, by such strong incentives. After all, there is often no single "best" way to treat any given tumor, and there's often good reason to believe that expensive new therapies might be better than older, cheaper treatments. In the face of such uncertainty, how could oncologists avoid being influenced by the knowledge that those promising expensive new treatments also help generate so much income?"

Integrative alternatives:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/PA...

Regardless of the future, I wish you the best in making the most of each day like this celebrity with cancer:
http://www.reuters.com/article...
http://www.people.com/people/a...
"Resolved to face her last days with courage and humor, "I don't think of dying," says the actress, 73, who previously battled lung cancer in 2009. "I think of being here now.""

Good luck!

If you are affected, you can opt for polyurethane condoms, which protect against pregnancy just as well. Polyurethane is thin and strong and effectively conducts body heat and, according to some reports, is more compatible with sexual pleasure than latex.

I've never heard of polyurethane condoms either. Hell if I didn't find them at Walgreens! ( http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/trojan-supra-lubricated-premium-polyurethane-condoms/ID=prod2303823-product )

You're welcome. Yes, "for self-defined values of reasonable and interesting" is part of some deep deep question...

By the way, on DVT and nutrition and lifestyle from Dr. Fuhrman and Dr. Weil:
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/healthy-pregnancy-coumadin-vitamin-k-and-a-plantbased-diet.html
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03146/Phlebitis.html

See also my other posts on this article, like:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3862853&cid=44008655

I started using a treadmill workstation in part to try to reduce the risk of things like DVT and similar issues from working a lot with computers (and a treadmill is better than a standing desk in that sense).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2011216/How-sitting-desk-long-deadly-blood-clot.html

But once there are clots, dealing with them is more problematical.

Lots of health links collected by me: http://www.changemakers.com/discussions/discussion-493#comment-38823

Iain Banks should look into iodine, vitamin D, eating a lot more vegetables, medically supervised vegetable juice and/or water fasting, and a variety of other things (beyond what is in mainstream medicine might be helpful, too). While once you have cancer getting rid of it is iffy, some things can still help, including preventing it from coming back again if you do manage to get rid of it somehow. See especially:
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/article24.aspx

And see also these other links:
http://theiodineproject.webs.com/cancerandiodine.htm
http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/vitamin-d-helps-body-put-brakes-on-cancer/
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03060/Treating-Cancer-With-Integrative-Medicine.html

And:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2098363/Fasting-help-combat-cancer-boost-effectiveness-treatments.html
"In every case, combining fasting with chemotherapy made the cancer treatment more effective. Multiple cycles of fasting combined with chemotherapy cured 20 per cent of those with a highly aggressive form of cancer while 40 per cent with a limited spread of the same cancer were cured."

Mix that approach with a high-phyto-nutrient diet (including certain mushrooms), eliminating refined sugar and refined starch, eliminating food additives, supplementing with vitamin D and iodine, and some other related changes, and maybe there is some small chance of Iain Banks getting several more years of good health.

And so we can get at least one more fantastic Culture novel. :-)

I love his writing. I hope we can figure out a way to help him with all this post-scarcity technology like he wrote about and which we already have to some small degree (like the internet), whether he would choose to use that time to write another novel or not.

But the health advice above is generally good for anyone who wants to minimize cancer risk and maximize health. And I could only put all that together thanks to the internet and similar post-scarcity technology like Google and web servers and personal computers and all the advances in nutritional science made possible by less expensive testing and the accumulation of medical research knowledge and so on. Which is all the stuff implied in his books. Even if much of Earth may perhaps be oblivious to it all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_State_of_the_Art
"'Also while I'd been away, the ship had sent a request on a postcard to the BBC's World Service, asking for 'Mr David Bowie's "Space Oddity" for the good ship Arbitrary and all who sail in her.' (This from a machine that could have swamped Earth's entire electro-magnetic spectrum with whatever the hell it wanted from somewhere beyond Betelgeuse.) It didn't get the request played. The ship thought this was hilarious.'"

Quoting Marcia Angell:
http://www.pdfernhout.net/to-james-randi-on-skepticism-about-mainstream-science.html#Some_quotes_on_social_problems_in_science
"The problems I've discussed are not limited to psychiatry, although they reach their most florid form there. Similar conflicts of interest and biases exist in virtually every field of medicine, particularly those that rely heavily on drugs or devices. It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of The New England Journal of Medicine."

For example:
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110701/Bone-fusion-drug-comes-under-scrutiny-due-to-researcherse28099-vested-interests.aspx
"The Spine Journal has dedicated its June issue to a series of papers that carefully reject previous research supporting the use of Infuse, a controversial, but popular bone growth product commonly used in spinal fusion surgeries.
    Infuse is used in a quarter of the estimated 432,000 spinal fusions performed in the U.S. each year. In a new study in The Spine Journal experts assert that the data backing Infuse's widespread use were published by researchers who received large sums of money from its maker, Medtronic, and who exaggerated the product's benefits while concealing its risks. Fifteen of the surgeons got at least $62 million from the company over the past decade, the paper said, citing an analysis of Medtronic documents and disclosures on the company's website.
    The purported side effects, they said, include male sterility, infection, bone loss and unwanted bone growth. A stronger version of Infuse, called Amplify, was recently rejected for approval by the FDA because of concerns about possible cancer risks"

If you eat well, and you take the right amount of vitamin D (typically, from a pill), and you do some other good things, then your risk of most cancers drops way, way down. And you also reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and dementia. What is not to like?

From what I read, it seems a lot of the cancer treatments you can get at an onocologist don't really statistically promote survival all that much (although some are indeed better than others). The problem is, once you have cancer, stuff like vitamin D and vegetables is not going to work so well. So, you really want to prevent cancer as much as possible. If there was a drug that a doctor, based on research, could say take this drug every day and your risk of all cancers on average goes down by, say, 50% or more, what would you pay for it? Well, take your vitamin D and eat well (lots of vegetables as Dr. Fuhrman suggests) and that is what you will probably find (maybe not that exact percent, and it depends on the cancer). And at no extra charge, you will reverse heart disease and get other good benefits.

Instead, people seek for the magic bullets and kids grow up eating junk. Very sad. But we've built a sick care system where the profit is in palliation not prevention, in treatment but not cure. We need to build a true health care system someday that promotes wellness.

From:
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03076/A-Health-Care-Call-to-Action-by-Andrew-Weil-MD.html
"We currently have an expensive system that is not making people well. While there has been tremendous debate over access and payment, there has been less focus on the content of health care. Without a change in that content, we will never have a sustainable system; all attempts at reform will be taken down by unmanageable costs."

I applaud your caution, but I lost about 50 pounds following that sort of advice, and feel a lot better, and have kept it off easily. His book is probably the most scientifically based one out there... YMMV.
"Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss"
http://books.google.com/books?id=CX8huSU0n8AC

Getting a good blender and making green smoothies helped a lot too.
http://greensmoothierevolution.com/

Dr. Fuhrman's approach can cure most type 2 diabetes too, but I doubt you will believe that either: :-)
"Dr. Fuhrman Cures Diabetes - But Drug Companies Object "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_GInjBeQU

But that is more and more common knowledge, except among most doctors and CEOs of drug companies:
http://www.rawfor30days.com/index4.html

His approach can also reverse most heart disease... Although others can do that too, as well. Just Google on reverse heart disease.

Is Dr. Fuhrman's approach perfect? No, I think it could be improved in a couple of ways. For example, I think he is a bit low on Vitamin D and quite a bit low on iodine. Others on that:
http://www.grassrootshealth.net/recommendation
http://www.iodine4health.com/

Iodine especially is a potentially big issue because if you eliminate salt and dairy as he suggests, those are two major sources of iodine in the US diet, and you need to replace that with a multivitamin or eating seaweed or other things. If you were under his care, he would no doubt check for that, but for someone following his advice from a book (myself included) it is easy to mess up on iodine. I brought that to his attention through his forum but he was somewhat dismissive of it, sadly.

I also think Dr. Fuhrman could prioritize his approach a bit better, and also that there may be issues about metabolic types and individual biochemistry that may come into play. It's also not clear if salt is quite as bad as he says it is.

In general, I think he has done a great job, but no one knows everything about such a complex topic. And his active practice probably also limits his time for additional study. I also agree with you that financial conflicts (he sells branded food products, even though he gives some of the proceeds to nutritional research) muddy the water. But that is also a big issue in our society in general, and we need something like some mix of a gift economy or basic income or 3D printing and/or great central planning to move beyond it.

But overall, he's probably one of the best out there, after having read tons of stuff by different people in my own quest for health for myself and my family.

Dr. Andrew Weil has better holistic advice, but not quite so good nutrition advice. He is also more knowledgeable on herbal remedies:
http://www.drweil.com/

Dr. Mark Hyman probably has better overall advice about autism:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/autism-research-discovery_b_794967.html

We are in the midst of a revolution in nutritional knowledge and the connection to health, but sadly most people are in denial about it. And there are, as you say, so many vested interests and conflicts of interest that it is hard to know who to trust.

But as I quote here from Marcia Angell, the problem may be even worse in mainstream science:

First, check out: http://www.disciplined-minds.com/ "Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-battering System That Shapes Their Lives"
"""
Who are you going to be? That is the question.
    In this riveting book about the world of professional work, Jeff Schmidt demonstrates that the workplace is a battleground for the very identity of the individual, as is graduate school, where professionals are trained. He shows that professional work is inherently political, and that professionals are hired to subordinate their own vision and maintain strict "ideological discipline."
    The hidden root of much career dissatisfaction, argues Schmidt, is the professional's lack of control over the political component of his or her creative work. Many professionals set out to make a contribution to society and add meaning to their lives. Yet our system of professional education and employment abusively inculcates an acceptance of politically subordinate roles in which professionals typically do not make a significant difference, undermining the creative potential of individuals, organizations and even democracy.
    Schmidt details the battle one must fight to be an independent thinker and to pursue one's own social vision in today's corporate society. He shows how an honest reassessment of what it really means to be a professional employee can be remarkably liberating. After reading this brutally frank book, no one who works for a living will ever think the same way about his or her job.
"""

Some very interesting psychologists; maybe look up some of their students?
    http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_prescribes_a_healthy_take_on_time.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Seligman#Positive_psychology

By a practicing psychiatrists on how vitamin D is related to much mental illness:
    http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml

By others on the psychological aspect of our society, personal troubles in it, and its infrastructure:
    "Surviving America's Depression Epidemic: How to Find Morale, Energy, and Community in a World Gone Crazy" by Bruce E. Levine
        http://books.google.com/books?id=bCuC2H-6k_8C
    "Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way Through Life's Ordeals" by Thomas Moore
        http://books.google.com/books?id=RKZreNYKNHQC
    "About the AARP/Bluezones Vitality Project"
    http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about

On how improved nutrition will make people healthier and happier:
    http://www.drfuhrman.com/
And holistic aspects of health and diet too:
    http://www.drweil.com/

Here are some related ideas. Herbert Shelton advocated whole foods, fasting, and sunbathing, and was attacked by the medical community for it almost a century ago. His bio:
    http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020127shelton.III/020127.toc.htm
And writings:
    http://www.soilandhealth.org/02/0201hyglibcat/020127shelton.III/020127.toc.htm

More recent advocates of similar things:

Whole foods (and some fasting):
    http://www.drfuhrman.com/

Whole foods (but maybe too whole grain heavy):
    http://www.drweil.com/

Sunlight (as in curing vitamin D3 deficiency):
    http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml

An approach towards promoting moderate exercise and good eating by promoting physical infrastructure in our communities:
  http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about

Psychological health, to combat depression and promote healthy transformation:
    http://books.google.com/books?id=bCuC2H-6k_8C
    http://books.google.com/books?id=RKZreNYKNHQC

Economic health:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jobless_recovery#Four_long-term_heterodox_alternatives

The big problem is simply that real cures (or preventatives) are inexpensive (sunlight, fasting, whole foods) for most expensive diseases of industrialized countries like cancer, hearth disease, and diabetes. The big profits are just in life long treatments, so no one pushes everyone to eat right, exercise, build community infrastructure, etc. And the medical insurance system is not set up to pay for people to live in healthy places, eat well (perhaps with a personal chef buying organic foods), have a better economic system with less stress for most people, etc.

Related recent discussion I was involved in on Slashdot:
    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1691318&cid=32642764

There are solutions. The biggest problem is, as you imply, social, not technical.

With that said, modern medicine and better sanitation and infrastructure as we now enjoy can treat or prevent a lot of things that were big issues in the past (accidents, infectious diseases). So, there have been improvements. But going forward, we really need to go back to the basics again.

> Why do people smoke? "Most people" do not have the self-discipline
> to change their dietary habits after, say, the age of 30.

The book "The Pleasure Trap" talks about that. But the wonder of Joel Fuhrman's "Eat to Live" plan is that after several weeks to get accustomed to it, people may like the new healthier food they are eating better than what they used to. For example, a healthy fruit sorbet can taste as good or better than ice cream, but is generally good for you too. Joel Fuhrman suggests only 3% of people can keep weight off on a "calories counting" diet, but almost everyone can have a healthy weight on a whole foods eating plan as he suggests.

Dr. Andrew Weil also has an "anti-inflammatory" diet which is more whole grain heavy, but I think Joel Fuhrman's eating plan is better; see for Dr. Weil's approach
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet
"It is becoming increasingly clear that a host of illnesses - including heart disease, many cancers and Alzheimer's disease - are influenced in large part by chronic inflammation. This is a process in which the immune system becomes off balance, and persists unnecessarily in its efforts to repair the body and repel pathogens. The prolonged process results in damage to healthy tissue as well. Stress, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition and other lifestyle factors can all promote inflammation, but poor diet is perhaps the main contributor, and the ideal place to begin addressing inflammation. (Find more details on the mechanics of the inflammation process and the Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid.)
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/PAG00361/anti-inflammatory-food-pyramid.html
The Anti-Inflammatory Diet is not a diet in the popular sense - it is not intended as a weight-loss program (although people can and do lose weight on it), nor is it an eating plan to stay on for a limited period of time. Rather, it is way of selecting and preparing foods based on scientific knowledge of how they can help your body remain optimally healthy. Along with influencing inflammation, this diet will provide steady energy and ample vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and dietary fiber."

However, Dr. Weil's overall approach is a bit more holistic (like talking about breathing, Yoga, and music, etc.), and so is better in that sense. Dr. Fuhrman seems to tie his dietary recommendations more to the scientific literature though.

> (BTW, you forget moderate exercise as an important component of maintaining health).

Agreed. Joel Fuhrman was also a world-class figure skater, btw, and he says many athletes come to him for advice. And it works both ways -- wanting a better diet gives you more athletic ability (less weight, less join pain, more energy), and wanting more athletic ability may lead you to want a better diet.

> For many genetic diseases, for example, there would be no scientific explanation (other than the placebo effect) for diet to have a role

That may be true (ignoring how the body typically has multiple pathways for many processes), so it's best to qualify any statements as "most". The deadliest diseases of industrialized countries that affect most people in those cultures are things like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, (as well as increasingly chronic immune conditions whether lupus or asthma), and those are for most people generally addressable with dietary approaches (whole foods and fasting) and vitamin D treatments according to some doctors like Dr. Fuhrman or Dr. Cannell (even if not everyone might be helped). But sure, if you have some rare disease cause by a genetic issue with creating a defective enzyme, or if you have been exposed to an unusual environmental toxin or carcinogen, then you may need special treatments. However, for most people, if you have, say, high blood pressure from clogged

> Why do people smoke? "Most people" do not have the self-discipline
> to change their dietary habits after, say, the age of 30.

The book "The Pleasure Trap" talks about that. But the wonder of Joel Fuhrman's "Eat to Live" plan is that after several weeks to get accustomed to it, people may like the new healthier food they are eating better than what they used to. For example, a healthy fruit sorbet can taste as good or better than ice cream, but is generally good for you too. Joel Fuhrman suggests only 3% of people can keep weight off on a "calories counting" diet, but almost everyone can have a healthy weight on a whole foods eating plan as he suggests.

Dr. Andrew Weil also has an "anti-inflammatory" diet which is more whole grain heavy, but I think Joel Fuhrman's eating plan is better; see for Dr. Weil's approach
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet
"It is becoming increasingly clear that a host of illnesses - including heart disease, many cancers and Alzheimer's disease - are influenced in large part by chronic inflammation. This is a process in which the immune system becomes off balance, and persists unnecessarily in its efforts to repair the body and repel pathogens. The prolonged process results in damage to healthy tissue as well. Stress, lack of exercise, genetic predisposition and other lifestyle factors can all promote inflammation, but poor diet is perhaps the main contributor, and the ideal place to begin addressing inflammation. (Find more details on the mechanics of the inflammation process and the Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid.)
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/PAG00361/anti-inflammatory-food-pyramid.html
The Anti-Inflammatory Diet is not a diet in the popular sense - it is not intended as a weight-loss program (although people can and do lose weight on it), nor is it an eating plan to stay on for a limited period of time. Rather, it is way of selecting and preparing foods based on scientific knowledge of how they can help your body remain optimally healthy. Along with influencing inflammation, this diet will provide steady energy and ample vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and dietary fiber."

However, Dr. Weil's overall approach is a bit more holistic (like talking about breathing, Yoga, and music, etc.), and so is better in that sense. Dr. Fuhrman seems to tie his dietary recommendations more to the scientific literature though.

> (BTW, you forget moderate exercise as an important component of maintaining health).

Agreed. Joel Fuhrman was also a world-class figure skater, btw, and he says many athletes come to him for advice. And it works both ways -- wanting a better diet gives you more athletic ability (less weight, less join pain, more energy), and wanting more athletic ability may lead you to want a better diet.

> For many genetic diseases, for example, there would be no scientific explanation (other than the placebo effect) for diet to have a role

That may be true (ignoring how the body typically has multiple pathways for many processes), so it's best to qualify any statements as "most". The deadliest diseases of industrialized countries that affect most people in those cultures are things like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, (as well as increasingly chronic immune conditions whether lupus or asthma), and those are for most people generally addressable with dietary approaches (whole foods and fasting) and vitamin D treatments according to some doctors like Dr. Fuhrman or Dr. Cannell (even if not everyone might be helped). But sure, if you have some rare disease cause by a genetic issue with creating a defective enzyme, or if you have been exposed to an unusual environmental toxin or carcinogen, then you may need special treatments. However, for most people, if you have, say, high blood pressure from clogged

"The Food Pyramid of the Insane"
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/debunking-diet-myths-the-food-pyramid-of-the-insane.html

Not that these doctors all agree, but there is a lot of overlap and they cover the essentials (typically lots of organic veggies, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, maybe fish, vitamin D, and very little processed foods or factory farmed meats):
http://www.drfuhrman.com/
http://www.drmcdougall.com/
http://www.drweil.com/
http://www.mercola.com/
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml

Occasional fasting may help some conditions, too:
http://www.healthpromoting.com/Articles/articles/PleasureTrap.htm

This is a good video about the future of medicine based on nutrition, including teaching people how to shop at the grocery store, how to cook at home, and how to order in restaurants to stay healthy:
    http://www.drmcdougall.com/health_10_day_program_video.html

Another video on curing disease by better nutrition:
    "Eat For Health - Joel Fuhrman, M.D."
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPiR9VcuVWw

Someone (not a doctor) who puts a lot of these ideas together into cooking advice:
    http://www.andreabeaman.com/
"Read Andrea's inspiring story, The Whole Truth - How I Naturally Reclaimed My Health, and You Can Too! A story you can relate to as you make diet and lifestyle changes in your own life. Learn how to make health-promoting food taste absolutely scrumptious with the Eating and Recipe Guide. Infused with humor, in depth knowledge about food, and over 120 easy recipes, this is a wise tool to have in your kitchen."

A group helping communities be healthier by changing their public infrastructure:
    http://www.bluezones.com/makeover-about

Anyway, most disease in the USA could be prevented by better nutrition, moderate exercise, less stress (like through meditation), good sleep, adequate vitamin D from sunlight, more and better community interactions, more positive thinking, and a few other similar basic things.

I took one of those one-day/one-credit courses from Andrew Weil, http://www.drweil.com/ , before he metamorphed into the alternative health dude and was still known as the post-Tim Leary drug researcher.

He told us about the early research he participated in that showed people can learn to compensate for the effects of marijuana and show little statistical difference from controls in a driving simulator. Grant didn't get renewed to pursue that line further. He said that in itself was a lesson learned.

My electric shaver has a Nicad battery that is charged by AC power, but the motor itself runs off of power from the DC battery. I'm not an EE major, but isn't having a DC current next to your head a lot different than having a 60 hz AC current running next to your head?

I'm just curious, because I just bought a nice electric shaver and I'd like to keep using it. I never use my shaver while it's plugged into the wall. I only plug it in about once a week to recharge it.

There is an increasing number of western medical doctors that are starting to believe that having electric fields near your body aren't health for you. One of my favorite doctors, Dr. Weil, who has a great website, by the way, recommends that you should get rid of the clock radio by your nightstand as well as any electric blankets in your house. It has also been proven that women who spend 8 hours a day in front of a CRT monitor during pregnancy have a higher rate of birth defects. Exposure to electromagnetic fields can't be that good for you, so I try to stay away from them...

Of course, I'm typing this from my Powerbook sitting on my lap while I sit on the couch, with the AC adapter plugged in and charging away... Maybe I shouldn't try to have kids for the next little while... :-)

Here's some advice from Dr. Weil on how to beat caffeine. The Q&A Library has lots of other useful info too.

anything genetically modified should be enough to scare anyone.. and should make someone think twice before consuming it

btw.. if you want to eat healthy and live a productive life, i suggest reading any book written by Dr. Andrew Weil

I once lost 55 lbs in six weeks eating nothing but complex carbs and working out twice a day. Kept it off as long as I worked out, even after changing the diet to admit fats and protein. That was drastic but it can be done.

IMHO the best plan blends the approaches of Dr. Weil and Bill Phillips

Become friends with your Natural food store and mix up your work outs to stay entertained! I ride my bike for 45 minutes at lunch five days a week and after work and weekends practice yoga three days a week interspersed with lifting two and rock climbing one.

Make it a phased approach changing no more than one thing a week. If you find you cannot change a habit move on to the next and try that one again later (I had the hardest time giving up peanut butter).

Simply, eat Organic/Naturally, get your cardio work outs and lift.

My daughter is to teach me rollerblading next week and next year my goal is to get into kayaking.

I feel great!

Beal