CHAPTER 5
LET’S STOP THE PREMATURE DYING

What do you want out of life? To climb the ladder of success? To run your own company? Or perhaps you wish to free up your time so you can travel more? Or you want to be a fantastic parent or grandparent? Or you want to go to university to study? Or become a musician or movie star and globe‐trot all over the world making your fortune. It doesn’t really matter what you want to do, or how you want to live your life. The bottom line is that having good health enables you to do more of the things that you want without worry or concern. Health challenges may cause setbacks for you, so why not get on the right path in order to achieve vibrant health right now?

We live in an age where millions of pounds and dollars are spent on medical research each year. There have been huge medical advances in understanding disease, but what about curing it? More and more people in the world are getting sick. Our life expectancy is higher, and people are living with disease, but what about curing, or stopping the disease from manifesting in the first place? Research into whole living foods suggests that pretty much every organ in the body can be healed over time. The stomach lining, for example, when given the correct foods, smoothies, juices, superfoods, and herbs, can repair itself in as little as five days. The intestinal lining takes as little as seven days. Isn’t that insane when you think of the number of people you and I know that have stomach issues? Colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammation of the gut, polyps, leaky gut, acid reflux, ulcers, not to mention digestive cancers. The list is endless, and the amount of medication that is used to try and control these diseases is vast.

Some cancers have a genetic component, but often it’s the lifestyle choices that pull the trigger. Digestive‐related cancers are more likely to be the result of poor lifestyle choices, and that is something you can help to prevent. Disease does not just pop up overnight. It may take years for things to manifest, cells to change, so don’t ignore symptoms, do something about them. Food is our greatest exposure to the outside environment, and if you think that the food you eat has nothing to do with the way you feel every day then think again.

Your intestines, if taken out of your body, could cover the surface of a tennis court. If you think shoving processed fast food down your gullet a good idea, then think again. The ‘beige’ food, as I call it, can get stuck, be horrendously acidic, high in fats and sugar, and do absolutely nothing for you nutritionally whatsoever. It’s a traffic jam waiting to happen, and it keeps getting piled in day after day. Then you get blobs of cellulite and wonder where it has suddenly come from. A little belly grows and grows until one day you are three clothes sizes bigger and you have no idea how that happened. Excessive weight can potentially increase the chance of cancer growth, diabetes, heart disease, and tumours. A life of processed foods, stimulants, dark cold climates, and disharmonious relationships are the gateway to disease and death! Be real with yourself. It’s no crime to get caught up in this way of living. Lots of people comfort eat, right? And in my opinion that is the very reason people are dying young, suffering more from depression, are more mentally exhausted than ever, angrier and more frustrated, in constant pain, and feeling generally and utterly yuck.

Colon and rectal cancers are amongst the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the Western world. But they are rare in other parts of the world such as India. Why is this? Is it their food intake? Could it be that as a country they eat very little meat compared to us? They consume legumes, beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils on a daily basis and a shedload of dark green leafy vegetables which are packed with phytates (an incredible powerful anti‐cancer fighting compound). Also think about the amount of spices and herbs that they use in their cooking. Turmeric is a key ingredient for them, and this is an anti‐inflammatory spice we could all benefit from on a daily basis, with life‐saving cancer‐fighting properties. They are also one of the largest producers of fruits and vegetables, so they have access to fresh produce every day.

Take pancreatic cancer as another example. On average, only 6% of patients survive more than five years after diagnosis. There have been connections made between this disease and the consumption of fat from animal sources for many years now.

So surely prevention must be far better than cure? If you understood that every single substance that passes through your lips has a profound effect on your body in one way or another, wouldn’t this encourage you to make different choices? No such link has ever been found when consuming the majority of plant‐based foods. And don’t think this just means red meats either. I often meet people who say they don’t eat meat, and what they actually mean is they don’t eat red meat, but they do consume chicken, duck, pork, etc. An study investigating links between cancer and nutrition (the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)), which followed 477,000 people over a 10‐year period, found a 72% increased risk of pancreatic cancer for every 50 grams of poultry consumed daily. We need a plant‐based diet in order to avoid this.

Heart Disease

Up there with the number one killers in the world is heart disease. It kills an estimated 17.9 million people worldwide and dietary choices can mean the difference between life or death. Heart disease is responsible for one in three deaths for both males and females over the age of 50. If you have ever read Dr Campbell’s best‐selling book The China Study, then you may just think twice about the amount of meat you consume. If at all … ever again! He examined the dietary habits and mortality rates of several hundreds of thousands of people in rural China. Their diets were much more plant‐based, and the study concluded that they suffered a hundred times fewer heart attacks compared to the average American of the same age. It was even suggested that heart disease may start in the womb if your mother had high cholesterol. Eating a standard Western diet can mean that the plaque build‐up is there without any symptoms. But if it was spotted in time, and the person was put on a plant‐based diet, and a few other healthy lifestyle changes were made, they could in fact reverse their disease and avoid surgery or further symptoms such as pain and shortness of breath.

Strokes

During a stroke the blood flow to the brain is cut off, depriving it of oxygen, causing brain cells to die, making it a medical emergency. It can be caused by narrowing or blockages of the arteries. These blockages are often caused by blood clots, which can have serious consequences. Depending on which area of the brain is damaged, it can have a massive impact on the severity of the condition and recovery from it. A major stroke can mean paralysis, losing the ability to speak, coma, or death. Mild strokes can mean weakness in a limb, vision problems in one or both eyes, dizziness and loss of balance, or slurring words and confusion. Again, a plant‐based diet and regular exercise may help to reduce your odds of having a stroke. If you knew the simple things you could do daily that would help prevent such potentially life‐changing events it could be so easy to achieve. Just 7 grams per day of fibre, (only found in fruits or vegetables), such as one cup of raspberries, is associated with a 7% risk reduction. Or increasing your potassium intake with half a cup of green beans, you can reduce your risk by 21%. So simple, yet so effective.

Diabetes

This disease has been referred to as the ‘Black Death’ of the twenty‐first century. It’s not just the disease itself that can be life‐restricting and difficult to cope with, but all the issues that go with it. Diabetes can cause loss of vision, kidney failure, lower extremity amputations, heart attacks, and strokes, and it is responsible for an estimated 1.5 million deaths each year worldwide. There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Both types are chronic diseases that affect the way your body regulates blood sugar and glucose. Glucose is the fuel that is needed to feed your cells, but to gain entrance to your cells it needs a key. That key is called insulin. If you have type 1 diabetes you don’t produce insulin because your pancreas no longer makes it, so you have to inject it to control your blood glucose levels. People with type 2 diabetes don’t respond to insulin as well as they should and later in the course of the disease often don’t make enough insulin. Blood sugar control is the most important element in keeping this disease under control. Prescription medication in the form of pills is prescribed for this condition and the right lifestyle choices are essential.

Insulin is a vital hormone that shuttles glucose (blood sugar) into our cells, preventing dangerous levels from accumulating in the blood. Insulin resistance is primarily caused by fatty build‐up inside our muscle cells. This can come from too much fat in our bodies, or excess fat from our food. Either way around 90% of people who develop diabetes are overweight. Eating a plant‐based diet can help you not only to shed the pounds but restore the body’s ability to heal. In many studies in the USA and Canada people who reduced, or cut out completely, fish, dairy, eggs, and meat appear to have a 78% reduced risk of diabetes. Adding beans to your diet has been found to improve blood sugar markers and help with weight loss as much as calorie cutting and portion control. There is a slight warning here: because your body is so remarkable, if you start to heal too quickly and are on prescription medication for your condition, you may need some medical supervision as your blood pressure and blood sugars can drop too low too quickly.

Liver Disease

This is often associated with high alcohol consumption or drug use, but, alarmingly, fatty liver disease from certain food choices is quietly creeping in as the most common form of chronic liver disease. In other words, all the fats and sugars in the foods that we are eating are clogging up that precious organ we rely on so heavily to keep us well. Liver disease accounts for approximately 2 million deaths worldwide, 1 million due to complications of cirrhosis and 1 million due to hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinomas (the most common type of liver cancer). Alcoholic fatty liver disease begins with the build‐up of fats in the liver. This leads to inflammation and scarring and cirrhosis. And it is said that drinking even one can of fizzy drink daily can raise your odds of fatty liver disease substantially. I know families that consume large amounts of fizzy drinks at every mealtime. Think of the damage they are doing, when you could just have a glass of health‐enhancing hydration called H2O! A plant‐based diet can help cleanse the liver and give your body the nutrients it needs and also eating oatmeal has been found to significantly improve liver function amongst both men and women and to help with weight loss too. People that also consume whole wheat, brown rice, and more fruits and vegetables can help avoid developing such disease.

Kidneys

Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing waste and extra water to make urine. If your kidneys are not working properly it can lead to serious issues such as shortness of breath, abnormal heart rhythms, weakness, and confusion due to the metabolic waste products that accumulate in the blood and will essentially poison you to death. In certain people that are already extremely stressed, with their poor adrenal glands at bursting point, drinking too much caffeine can have a detrimental effect. Caffeine causes a short but sudden increase in blood pressure, which can also increase the rate of decline in the way the kidneys function. Not to mention the many hidden chemicals that may be added to your favourite fizzy drink too. This all contributes to extra toxicity for the body to deal with and your beautiful little kidney beans that are desperately trying to extract waste from your blood, balance your body fluids, form urine, and produce hormones that help regulate blood pressure and control calcium metabolism, struggle to cope. An estimated 7.1 million people worldwide die of kidney disease and it is said that animal protein can trigger inflammatory reactions to your kidneys, causing them to be less efficient as you age. A plant‐based diet with plenty of hydration and exercise is said to help preserve and nurture these organs that we take for granted. Once your kidneys reach a certain level of damage a transplant is needed, and the risks associated with this are high. Taking care of your kidneys is essential.

Lungs

Lung cancer is the leading type of cancer in both men and women worldwide and is responsible for 29% of cancer deaths, more than cancer of the breast, colon, and prostate combined. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma collectively kill 296,000 Americans every year. A plant‐based diet is said to significantly reduce all three. Asthma can be helped simply by adding a few more servings of fruit and vegetables into your diet and research done on this topic indicates that this can cut asthmatic conditions significantly. Never think that eating better is not going to help. Obviously preventing lung cancer by giving up smoking is advisable, but that is not always the cause. Did you know that a single stalk of broccoli per day can boost activity of detoxifying enzymes in the liver, helping to prevent lung cancer due to the effect on the DNA damage at a cellular level? Emphysema is another condition that makes it hard to breathe, and the disease gradually worsens over time. Increasing your daily servings of fruit and vegetables can lower the risks by over 24%.

Blood Cancers

People that consume a more plant‐based diet are less likely to develop all forms of cancer, but this has the most effect on blood cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. These can be referred to as the liquid tumours since the cancer cells often circulate throughout the body rather than being concentrated in a solid mass. The Mayo Clinic has conducted many studies and suggest that eating broccoli or other cruciferous vegetables can be associated with a lower risk of non‐Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Plus, people that ate three or more servings of green leafy vegetables per week appeared to have only half the risk of developing blood cancers. This protection must surely be due to the amount of antioxidants found in plant‐based foods. Do not confuse this with supplements. As I have said many times it’s much better to eat as nature intended.

Breast Cancer

In relation to this cancer, the food we eat is especially important. Postmenopausal women who eat grilled, barbecued, or smoked meats over their lifetime are at as much as a 47% higher risk of getting this disease. Eating in the same way as you do to help prevent heart disease is just as beneficial for you in the prevention of breast cancer, since this keeps your cholesterol levels under control. A high fibre diet is also associated with lowering your risks. Alcohol has also been associated with increasing your risk because of how much it interferes with oestrogen levels.

To help prevent breast cancer in both men and women, it’s important to recognize the link between elevated hormones and ill health. Only 5% of breast cancers are directly related to genetics, but lifestyle choices can trigger them. So, an easy tip would be to stack up the seeds, such as flax, pumpkin, sunflower and sesame. They all help balance hormones. Eat plenty of vegetables every day. That’s why I love smoothies as they allow you to get a larger quantity of vegetables and superfoods in one go! Add kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and even start sprouting the seeds of your favourite life‐enhancing vegetables (see more about this in Chapter 13).

Add olive oil into your diet and take B vitamins that contain folate rather than folic acid (which is synthetic). Do not buy foods that are fortified with vitamins, such as breakfast cereals and bread. I know this is confusing because folate is vital to our overall health, but women taking more than 400mcg a day are at higher risk of breast cancers. Take the nutrients you need from your foods and superfoods, not man‐made substances. Put a rainbow of colours on your plate every day. Tomatoes, for example, have positive impacts on the body as they help regulate hormones and fat and sugar metabolism. Looking after your liver will also help with hormone‐related cancers. Minimize your intake of alcohol, sugars, and processed trans fats as they put a burden on the liver and upset your digestion. This could increase candida in your gut (an overgrowth of yeast that thrives on sugar) which can add stress to your immune system and which will certainly not help you to fight against cancer cells.

Prostate Cancer

One in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer so it is more common than you think. The prostate is usually the size and shape of a walnut and grows bigger as you get older. It sits underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra, which is the tube men urinate and ejaculate from. Its main job is to make semen, the fluid that carries sperm. High animal consumption and bad dietary choices can contribute to the manifestation of this disease, dairy being the most consistently associated with risk. What you need to do to prevent – or help if you already have this disease – is to stop the progression by simply adding more plant‐based fruits and vegetables, such as carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, pomegranates, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, lemons, limes, avocados, peppers, apples, berries, whole grains, and beans into your daily regime. Green tea has been particularly associated with both reduction and prevention due to the polyphenols and flavonoids it contains, both of which are very strong antioxidants. Tea is also the best source of catechins which are being studied for their anti‐cancer properties.

Parkinson’s Disease

This is caused by loss of nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which means that the part of the brain controlling movement can’t work as well as normal, causing movements to be slow. The loss of nerve cells is a slow process and it is still not completely certain what causes this disease although there are many different schools of thought. One is that head injuries can cause inflammation in the brain, leading to cell change which could result in structural changes contributing to the onset of Parkinson’s.

In a patient with this disease the brain cells that produce a chemical called dopamine begin to die off. Dopamine is important for the control of muscle movement and that is why patients have tremors, slowed movement, and stiffness. However, there is also a theory that brain damage can be caused by exposure to pollutants and toxic heavy metals that build up in the food supply. For example, the number one source of mercury is seafood, including tuna. Arsenic has been found in poultry and tuna, and lead is found in dairy products. Basically, the highest contamination of toxic chemicals has been found in fish, fish oils, eggs, dairy, and meats. The lowest combination was found at the bottom of the food chain, in plants. Those who base their diets around plants and wholefoods have significant lower levels of toxins, lowering their chances of developing this disease.

Infections

We live and breathe alongside thousands of potentially harmful bacteria. If we stopped to think about it, we would be scared to take a breath. Not only do we have pollutants outside in the streets, from traffic, factories, etc., but also in our very own homes: cleaning products, fabrics, protective chemicals on carpets, floors, sofas, etc. So how do we keep safe? You need to keep your immunity strong. It’s that simple. You need to boost the effectiveness of your fabulous infection‐fighting white blood cells named intraepithelial lymphocytes which are the first line of defence against incoming pathogens. You need a rainbow diet, making sure you add blueberries as they have been proven to almost double your natural killer cells which are vital members of your immune system’s first response team against viruses and cancer cells.

Suicide and Depression

According to the World Health Organization over one million people commit suicide each year. That is about one death every 40 seconds or 3000 per day. For each individual that takes his or her own life, an estimated 20 more attempt to do so. Depression is the leading cause of suicide, and of course if you or anyone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, you should seek professional help as soon as possible. But lifestyle choices and the foods that you consume can have a massive impact on how you feel mentally. Adding an abundance of greens to your diet can be helpful due to their high chlorophyll content. Chlorophyll is the green molecule in plant cells that absorb sunlight during photosynthesis. It not only provides the plant with energy, but can boost human energy too. It helps restore the antioxidant content of the blood stream and prevents the digestive system from absorbing toxins, which can help in cases of depression. Often when I have tested clients that are depressed, they have a great deal of toxins in the blood, making them feel awful. Once you use foods to help remove and restore the person’s mood it can start to lift.

Saffron, the spice, is found to be amazingly effective at treating depression. It’s high in carotenoids and B vitamins that help increase levels of serotonin and other chemicals in the brain that are associated with depression. It is thought that saffron extract is as effective as an anti‐depressant medication in treating people with major depression. Curcumin is also thought to help. The pigment that gives turmeric its yellow‐orange colour is well known for its powerful antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory properties. As there is a connection between inflammation and depression this is a great remedy to reduce symptoms.

There is one thing that I didn’t know whether to mention or not, purely because the last thing I want to do is cause any offence or disrespect people in the medical profession. As I said earlier, I have doctor friends and doctors in my family, so I have a great deal of love and gratitude for the profession. However, the reason I have chosen to include this information is because I think we all have the right to be informed, so we can make potentially life‐changing decisions as and when we need to. There is a reason why it is so important for us to take care of ourselves, and why I say repeatedly that prevention is far better than cure. According to Dr Michael Greger, getting a routine chest CT scan is estimated to inflict the same cancer risk as smoking 700 cigarettes. Or that maybe one person in every 270 may develop cancer after a single CT angiogram. How about medication for high cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood thinning drugs? Apparently, the chance of even high‐risk patients benefiting from them is typically less than 5% over a period of five years. The question is this: are we overestimating the power of pills and procedures to ward off death and disability?

Did you know that the third leading cause of mortality in the US, responsible for more than 225,000 deaths annually, is medical blunders? It’s shocking to hear this for the first time, and it gives me absolutely no pleasure to share this information, but due to infections in hospitals, unnecessary surgery, receiving the wrong medication, or adverse side effects from the right medication, the facts and figures are alarming. A very good friend of mine experienced first‐hand how things can change in a second. His sister went into hospital for a routine operation on her knee when she was 14 years old. He was 15. His sister never returned home, dying from complications due to the operation. He has never recovered from this traumatic event. These things happen, and I know that all hospitals across the world are working harder than ever to reduce medical errors and contain infections. They are fighting an almost impossible war and the nurses, doctors, and just about everyone else that works in the health establishment are devoted and incredible.

But we must look into the true issues. We are still failing to address the root cause of many diseases. Our hospitals are brilliant at fixing broken bones and curing infections, but what about preventative medicine? Preventing, reversing, stabilizing, detecting warning signs, nutritional changes … these are all things we should be striving towards. That’s why we should take control of our own bodies and take full responsibility for our own health, and I hope I can help you to see how you can do this.