Monday, January 31, 2011

WOW, an easier to understand article about calcium and how animal protein causes it to leave our bones!

http://www.vegsource.com/pahy/acidbase-balance---how-do-your-favorite-foods-stack-up.html

Your Government Is Making You Sick!

http://www.vegparadise.com/news95.html

Q&A With T. Colin Campbell PdD, Author Of The China Study

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/nutrition-advice-from-the-china-study/
VERY important book to read if  you like to read.. it's really amazing!

WHAT DO I EAT?

 A comment was left about what to eat and that the link didn't work...  I found it did go to the McDougall site, and  all the information is there that anyone would need to start this plan, BUT I will list the link here for the free program and getting started to make it easier than wading through a whole website...

The main idea of eating for health is leaving out ANY AND ALL ANIMAL PROTEIN and any added oils.. we get all the oil we need from our foods, corn,  olives, etc...

Leaving out animal protein, meat, cheese, milk, eggs, butter, et c... alone will increase improve your health dramatically... but starches are an imporant part of our daily intake since we are STARCH eaters to begin with..and if you want to lose weight,  you should leave out what Dr. M calls "rich" foods, any sort of milks, breads, or fats such as peanut butter, nuts, avocados  etc.. he has agreat book out  called Maximum Weight Loss, I highly recommend it, but not necessary to buy anything to eat this way..

http://www.drmcdougall.com/store_mwl.html

you can also find his books for less on half.com and such...

ok here is the link ;

http://www.drmcdougall.com/free.html

A SUNNY new day...

 EAch day I awake, I am continually amazed that I jump out of my  slumber having no aches, pains or  fatigue...

 I   take my blood sugar ( 113 today, I ate some bread and sweet red wine with my spaghetti last night, white bread is high on the glycemic index) then  prepare  dad's and my oatmeal... take it in to him, and take his blood sugar as well.

 Then I start my day, answering emails,  planning my day of creativity... and greeting my animal  family

today there is  SUNSHINE IN PA!  so I will plan to go outside in the sunshine, did you know SUNSHINE IS NECESSARY  for insulin to be more effective?

   
May 2005

Vol. 4, No. 5


Sunny Days, Keeping Those Clouds Away…
Have you ever wondered how something as natural and omnipresent as sunlight could hurt you?  Over eons of evolution (or by Divine creation, if you choose) people have been exposed to the sun’s radiation – you would think by now we would have adapted so as to live in harmony with this enveloping environment.  Yet, expert doctors warn us to avoid almost any exposure to these potentially damaging rays – the sun’s radiation is known to suppress our immune system, give us cancer, and cause us premature aging. 
However, there is a dilemma: we need this form of radiant energy for good health – in fact, without it our bodies become diseased with severe bone deformities (rickets).  Most recently, research has shown that without the sun’s life-giving energy we are at thirty times greater risk of death from cancer. 
Everyone feels better when the sun comes out.  In addition to the cosmetic effects of tanning – making people more satisfied with their appearance – sunlight causes people to feel more active, energetic, balanced, strengthened, and less nervous.1  Many people can identify with the low-sunlight, winter depression symptoms of fatigue, lowered motivation, sleepiness, increased appetite, weight gain, irritability, and decreased sociability.2  Nicely summarized, sunshine is health and happiness.

Sunshine Is a Potent, But Non-profitable Remedy
For centuries, doctors and natural healers relied on medical treatment by sunlight, calledHeliotherapy, to help heal many common ailments.  Scientific research shows sunshine to be an effective treatment for rickets, osteomalacia, osteoporosis, acne, eczema, psoriasis, neonatal jaundice, and depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder).7-8  Most recently, solar energy has been found to prolong the life of people with our most common forms of cancer.6-7  All considered, when was the last time you heard of a doctor recommending an hour of afternoon sunning for a patient’s troubles?  And which pharmaceutical company sells sunshine?
  

Health and Healing from the Sun’s Energy3-7
A few known benefits of sunshine:
Lowers cholesterol
Lowers blood pressure
Promotes thyroid stimulation
Regulates the immune system
Stimulates insulin production
Improves heart muscle contractility


Currently prescribed for the treatment of:
Rickets
Osteomalacia
Osteoporosis
Acne
Eczema
Psoriasis
Neonatal jaundice
Depression


Has a role in the prevention of:
Osteoporosis
Heart Disease
Type-1 diabetes
Multiple Sclerosis
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Crohn’s disease
Cancers of the:

Prostate
Breast
Colon
Lung
Ovary
Bladder
Uterus
Esophagus
Stomach
Pancreas
Kidney
Multiple myeloma
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

Explanations for the benefits of the sun’s energy have focused almost exclusively on vitamin D.  The truth is the therapeutic effects from the sunlight are much broader than the simple synthesis of this important substance.  For example, the connection between sunlight and our well being is through the increased production of the feel-good brain chemical, serotonin.8   Motion of the sun, perceived through our eyes, from sunrise to sunset, sets our biological clock and determines our circadian rhythms.  Much is yet to be unraveled about the mysteries and miracles of sunshine.  However, for this moment let’s focus on vitamin D.
The “Vitamin D” Connection
The main function of vitamin D is to maintain the body’s calcium concentrations at a precise level.  This is accomplished by increasing the absorption of calcium from the intestines and the interaction with other hormones (like parathyroid hormone).   Almost all tissues and cells in the body have receptors for this hormone, and therefore are affected by its presence.
More than 90% of the vitamin D requirement of people is met by internal synthesis with the aid of sunlight, not from the diet.4 Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D.  Examples are: fatty marine fish (salmon, cod liver oil, mackerel, and  sardines); and a few foods are fortified with vitamin D, like cow’s milk sold in the United States, as well as some orange juices, cereals, and breads – the vitamin is added during manufacturing.  Vitamin supplements (pills) are also common sources of this active substance. 
In children, vitamin D deficiency will cause a disease characterized by the severe bone deformity called rickets.  In adults, osteomalacia (a weakening of the bones) may develop – along with muscle weakness, and aching bones and muscles.  A role for vitamin D in cancer prevention has recently become a topic of much discussion.  Since 1941 researchers have reported that common cancers, like breast, prostate, and colon, are less common where people get more intense sunlight, nearer the equator.7
Consumption of cow’s milk is believed to increase the risk of aggressive and advanced cancer, especially prostate cancer, by interfering with vitamin D activity.7  More specifically, the much-raved-about calcium in milk suppresses circulating levels of this hormone, encouraging cancer growth.  Anticancer effects of vitamin D are: regulation of cell growth, helping older cells die when they are supposed to (apoptosis), inhibiting the formation of new blood vessels that feed cancers, stopping the spread of cancer (metastasis), and helping to prevent out-of-control cellular proliferation – a hallmark of cancer.   The benefits are not just limited to prevention – there is good evidence that sunlight exposure can benefit those who have already been diagnosed with cancer.7
“Vitamin D” Is Not Really a Vitamin
 “Vitamin D” is a misnomer.  Vitamins, by definition, are not synthesized by our body, but are small organic substances which must be acquired through our foods.  Because we easily synthesize this biologically active substance, it is by definition a hormone – created by the action of sunlight on plant-derived sterols circulating through the exposed layers of our skin.  Thus, it is commonly referred to as the “sunshine vitamin,” but more correctly it should be called the “sunshine hormone.”   This hormone only becomes a “vitamin” under the unnatural living conditions of severe sunlight deprivation.  In this case, the only available source may be diet.  
The amount of this hormone needed by our bodies is very small.  The exposure of skin sufficient to cause a slight pinkness produces vitamin D levels equivalent to 20,000 IU (as supplied by pills).  This is 100 times greater than the RDA for adults under 50 years old, and 20 times greater than the highest recommendations for daily oral supplements.3   Vitamin D toxicity is never caused by excess sunlight exposure.  Sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or greater can reduce vitamin D production by 95%.4
Because vitamin D is fat soluble, it is effectively stored in the body’s own fatty tissues where it serves as a “sunshine battery” –for later use during the darker days of winter.  With obese people, this hormone is “sucked” so successfully into the body fat that much of it becomes essentially unavailable for future use – this is proposed as one reason obese people have more risk of cancer.  
Unquestionable Harms from Overexposure 
Sunlight is a form of powerful radiation, so it should not surprise you that there is a potential for harm.  This ultraviolet light suppresses our cancer fighting immune system and causes the formation of free radicals which damage our cells, including their genetic materials (DNA). Repeated, severe injuries to the skin’s elastic structures cause it to wrinkle, an unsightly sign of aging.  Years of overexposure can lead to precancerous, actinic keratosis, and then actual cancers – basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.  Ultraviolet light is one of only 60 agents designated by the World Health Organization as a human carcinogen.6  More than 1 million cases of skin cancer annually are attributed to sun exposure. 6  This represents 55% of all cancers in the USA. Fortunately, these forms of skin cancer are rarely fatal. 
This dark side counters our love of the sun and all the scientific evidence that substantiates its benefits – so what went wrong?
Unnatural Living Causes the Sunshine Paradox
Three changes in our natural condition now place us in harm’s way:
The First Man-made Change: Migration
I (John McDougall) am of Scotch-Irish decent and my skin is fair with a very low level of pigmentation (melanin) which allows the sun’s vital radiation to easily penetrate its outer layers. Because of this efficiency, I can make all the vitamin D I need from as little as five minutes of exposure to my face, hands and arms (6% to 10% of my body) at noon, two to three times a week, while living at a latitude similar to Detroit’s. 
My sun exposure changed drastically in my early twenties when I migrated from Michigan (42 N latitude) to Hawaii (21 N latitude).  As a result, I became a “white boy” living in an environment fitted for much darker-skinned people.  I sunned my body on the beach, sailed on my boat, windsurfed, and hiked without a hat for 15 years, often at high noon in the summer months.  The result was sun damage to my skin that I live with to this day.  I also ate a high-fat, low-plant food diet during my early years in Hawaii.

Darker-skinned people – Africans, Middle-Easterners, and some Asians, for example – can develop just the opposite problem by migration.  Living for eons in lands of intense sunshine, their skins became heavily pigmented (lots of melanin) to block out the sun’s powerful radiation.  Over the last 400 years, millions of these people have relocated to lands of limited sunshine, like cloudy London or to an office building in New York City.  Dark skin requires as much as 10 to 50 times the solar energy to make the same amount of vitamin D as does fair skin.7  The consequence is too often vitamin D deficiency, which may be one reason that blacks living in the USA have so much more internal cancer than whites have.  Deficiency in their children also causes rickets.   It is estimated that over 50% of African-Americans in the USA are at risk of vitamin D deficiency, compared to only 5% of whites.4,7
The Second Man-made Change: Nutrition
Animal experiments reported as early as 1939 provided the first clues about the influence of our diet on the risk of skin damage from sunlight.9  Researchers discovered a diet high in fat increased the numbers of ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced skin cancers in mice. In the 1980s, studies showed that switching from a high-fat to a low-fat diet immediately after the ultraviolet light exposure reversed the cancer-promoting effects of the high-fat diet.9 These findings suggested that changing a person’s diet, even after exposure to UV light, might prevent future skin cancers, and possibly reverse the effects of the sun’s damage.
This may surprise you, but even more than animal (saturated) fat, polyunsaturated oils derived from vegetables (like corn and safflower oils) are found to be the strongest promoters of skin cancers in people and experimental animals, of any foodstuffs that we eat.10  This danger only applies to free oils, like those found in a bottle.  Please understand that when the oil is still in its natural state, as part of the components of the fruit or vegetable, it is perfectly safe, and as you know, health-promoting.
The most serious warning about the sun comes from the fear of developing the very deadly skin cancer, melanoma.  This fear is unfounded.  Research clearly shows that sun exposure has little to do with the cause of this kind of cancer – in fact, there is good evidence that sunshine can help prevent this vicious cancer, and can even slow its growth – doubling a patient’s chances of surviving.11,12  Melanoma is believed to be due to a diet high in fat, especially vegetable oils, and low in fruit and vegetables.13
Even if you have skin damage, it is not too late to change your eating habits.  An experiment published in 1994 in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that people with actinic keratosis (precancerous, dry, scaly, rough-textured patches) were able to reduce the chances of development of new actinic (sun damage) lesions, 3 to 6-fold, by switching from a high fat (38% of calories) to a relatively low-fat (21% of calories) diet – this diet was also more plentiful in plant foods.14  Furthermore, during the last 8 months of the study the incidence of skin cancers was 10 times less in the low-fat group than the high fat dieters.15  (The McDougall Diet is 7% to 10% fat and made of only plant foods.)  
The Third Man-made Change: Atmosphere
The intensity of the sun’s radiation delivered to our skin is increasing because of industrial damage to our atmosphere.  Of the types of radiation emitted by the sun, ultraviolet radiation is believed to be almost entirely responsible for the deleterious effects sunlight can have on our systems.  The amount of ultraviolet radiation that actually reaches the earth’s surface depends on elevation, latitude, altitude, and weather conditions, and on the amount of ozone, water vapor, oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, the ozone layer is becoming chemically depleted because of the presence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the stratosphere. CFCs are used in air conditioners, and as cleaning and spraying agents in the chemical industry. In 1985, it was reported that there is a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica and there is additional evidence that ozone is being lost at nearly all latitudes outside of the tropics. 
Action for You to Take 
My observations of the world affirm for me that Nature makes few (if any) mistakes and all forms of life are supported by natural surroundings, which exist in delicate balances.  Unfortunately, the equilibrium has been upset and in some ways sunshine has been turned from a friend to a potential foe.  Your first response must be to take every step to put things back into balance by making adjustments to receive the proper amount of sun you need based on your skin pigmentation.  This may mean at one extreme hours of exposure for dark-skinned people living in low-light conditions, and at the other extreme great efforts to minimize exposure in fair skinned people living near the equator.
Because of the recent worsening atmospheric conditions, especially if you are fair skinned, you may need to wear protective clothing, avoid sun exposure during peak hours of radiation, and use sunscreens.  Use of protective agents is a must for areas of skin that have already been damaged – commonly, your face, neck, shoulders, and hands.  However, you can still choose to increase sun exposure to undamaged areas of skin such as your legs, abdomen and back in order to obtain the health benefits of this radiant energy.  The safest way to benefit from the healing powers of sunlight may be to build your exposure slowly throughout the year and to avoid burning from impulsive intense exposures.
Regardless of skin tone, occupation, present geographic location, or current health, a change to a low-fat, plant-based diet (the McDougall Diet) is always recommended for better skin – the benefits are almost limitless and there are no added costs or adverse effects from this simple step.  This kind of eating is so powerful that it actually provides some of the same biochemical benefits as sunlight without any of the risks.5
I do not recommend vitamin D supplements, except in those extremely rare cases (such as confinement to a nursing home or exile to the Arctic) where you cannot get the most reliable and beneficial source of vitamin D – sunshine.
The components of life that provide radiant health for you are:  clean air, water, and food, adequate rest, moderate exercise and sunshine.   These are cost-free and side-effect-free.  But also profit-free, so don’t expect much outside encouragement for their liberal use. 

Effective, Scar-free Treatment for Sun-Damaged Skin
If you develop actinic keratosis, basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas, there is a simple, highly effective, low-cost treatment.  The cosmetic results are excellent; rarely leaving scars, such as would be expected following surgery.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/may/aldera.gif
Aldara (imiquimod) 5% cream is by prescription only, but it is self-administered.  Results are exceptionally effective – even the cancers disappear.  Cream is applied every day or every other day until an eruption occurs (like poison oak).  The eruption heals, leaving normal skin in most cases.  Only sun-damaged cells are affected by this treatment.  See prescribing information for details.
 
References:
1)  Gambichler T, Bader A, Vojvodic M, Bechara FG, Sauermann K, Altmeyer P, Hoffmann K.  Impact of UVA exposure on psychological parameters and circulating serotonin and melatonin.
BMC Dermatol
. 2002 Apr 12;2(1):6.
2)  Magnusson A.  Seasonal affective disorder: an overview.  Chronobiol Int. 2003 Mar;20(2):189-207.
3) Holick MF.  Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):362-71.
4) Holick MF.  Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease.  Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6 Suppl):1678S-88S.
5)  McCarty MF.  A moderately low phosphate intake may provide health benefits analogous to those conferred by UV light - a further advantage of vegan diets. Med Hypotheses. 2003 Nov-Dec;61(5-6):543-60.
6)  Egan KM, Sosman JA, Blot WJ.  Sunlight and reduced risk of cancer: is the real story vitamin D?J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005 Feb 2;97(3):161-3.
7)  Giovannucci E.  The epidemiology of vitamin D and cancer incidence and mortality: A review (United States).  Cancer Causes Control. 2005 Mar;16(2):83-95.
8)  Hoekstra R.  Effect of light therapy on biopterin, neopterin and tryptophan in patients with seasonal affective disorder.  Psychiatry Res. 2003 Aug 30;120(1):37-42.
9)  Black HS.  Influence of dietary factors on actinically-induced skin cancer.  Mutat Res. 1998 Nov 9;422(1):185-90.
10)  Harris RB, Foote JA, Hakim IA, Bronson DL, Alberts DS.  Fatty acid composition of red blood cell membranes and risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev.2005 Apr;14(4):906-12.
11)  Berwick M, Armstrong BK, Ben-Porat L, Fine J, Kricker A, Eberle C, Barnhill R. Sun exposure and mortality from melanoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005 Feb 2;97(3):195-9.
12)  Christophers AJ.  Melanoma is not caused by sunlight.  Mutat Res. 1998 Nov 9;422(1):113-7.
13)  Millen AE, Tucker MA, Hartge P, Halpern A, Elder DE, Guerry D 4th, Holly EA, Sagebiel RW, Potischman N. Diet and melanoma in a case-control study.  Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2004 Jun;13(6):1042-51.
14)  Black HS, Herd JA, Goldberg LH, Wolf JE Jr, Thornby JI, Rosen T, Bruce S, Tschen JA, Foreyt JP, Scott LW, et al.  Effect of a low-fat diet on the incidence of actinic keratosis.  N Engl J Med. 1994 May 5;330(18):1272-5.
15)  Black HS.  Influence of dietary factors on actinically-induced skin cancer. Mutat Res. 1998 Nov 9;422(1):185-90.
16)  Burns CA, Brown MD. Imiquimod for the treatment of skin cancer.
Dermatol Clin. 2005 Jan;23(1):151-64, vii.
 
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http://www.nealhendrickson.com/images/McDougall/legalstatementrightsreserved.gif2005 John McDougall All Rights Reserved

Sunday, January 30, 2011

OH AND one more beef, no pun intended...

 I love how some people tell me they are vegan... then they proceed to tell  me what they eat;  vegetables, sardines,oil, cheese, yogurt.. WHAT? those are vegan?   I think NOT... just because you don't down a good prime rib? nah... I   guess I can't figure out really what vegan means so here is what I found in wikipedia...for what that is worth;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism

 well that's not me... I don't eat  animals now because they are so bad for you  and we are STARCH EATERS not meat eaters, and to keep away from eating them  I picture  those big baby browns looking up at me, I guess I never did like eating animals, and  if I was eating one and thinking about it, it made me  sick....

I do love leather and fur...I still wear those so do my dolls...so maybe I  am NOT VEGAN.. but just a starcher.. LOL..

I AM A STARCHER... yep that' s me..

WHAT??????????? you don' t like veggies? would you prefer no legs, how about some cancer? or how about a heart attack...? YOUR CHOICE...

It is really all up to you what you  put in your mouth, and how you live your life... I  wasn't the least bit concerned when the PA told me " you are diabetic now, you must watch your diet very carefully and stay away from starches" ...  I thought OMGosh, disorganized and would never remember to "watch my diet" me?   no way, I know a better way that I know works, and here I am today, having it work for me and  for my lifestyle.... and I   can't wait to share this success with my doc and his PA,  I am hoping they might want to incorporate  this into their  practice...it really does work...

 There are billions, ok TRILLIONS ( want to keep up with today's  popular words)  of reasons people have for not taking care of these  precious commodities that we were given to live in, for our short time here on earth...but really, how hard is it to give up the crap that clogs the arteries and veins and causes all these life threatening diseases? Would you jump  into a car  that you knew was  going to go over a cliff?  well maybe you would, and in that case, heck here 's another donut....   really... why eat that garbage, when all the scientific information  speaks against it and shows you what will happen to you if you continue?

Yeah I know it's easy for me to say since I  jumped out of that , out of control car...  I just want to express to you  how wonderful it is to feel the way I feel... If this were just lower fasting blood sugar numbers, well I wouldn't  have stuck with this too long I am sure.... but it is so much more than that... just take the TWO WEEK challenge and see for yourself?

GUARANTEE? that you won't suffer any of the dreaded diseases we fear...NOPE! but at least your body  has a chance against them if you put the necessary fuel in it...

BREAT CANCER~something that touches each one of us in one way or another

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_breastcancer.html

 prayers and thoughts out to those of you who have already confronted this monster..

CHOLESTEROL AND TRIGLYCERIDES~yep we all have em, but are they running/ruining your life?

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_cholesterol.html

lots of interesting and enlightening information...

GOT aches and pains? ARTHRITIS~need a pill free cure?

sounds unbelievable but it isn't!

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_arthritis.html

I can speak from experience when I say, this eating plan makes arthritis a vague memory or nightmare I would say... just give it a try, truly... or you can ask my dad... he really knows from personal experience...

Saturday, January 29, 2011

JANUARY 29TH, 2011~where I am right now...

Hello again...

Here I am again just two months from the beginning of the rest of my life...as of today I have lost  approximately;

26+lbs ( my scale broke so I am all off kilter)  ok so down 3 pants sizes? does  that count?
no more blurry eyes
no headaches ever
no aches and pains ever ~ok I slept funny on my shoulder, it is achy today
no thirst
no hunger
no cravings for anything
face spots are disappearing, along with those little rough nasty spots
no leg cramps
no foot cramps
love to cook
ENERGY beyond belief
no lazy feelings.. always up and adam and ready to go
brain is  sharp and memory is back
inspiration is raging in my art work
able to focus 90% better than ever...
undeniably healthier than I have been in 11 yrs...
no more stomach pains or problems with bowels
 BLOOD SUGARS always  under 110 fasting...
OH YEAH  no more HEARTBURN, ever, I had  started taking  pepcid,  on a regular basis haven't taken any since day 1...
so so many things...            

so I CHALLENGE YOU... to eat this way for TWO WEEKS.. then post in the comment how you feel...
here is the link; http://www.drmcdougall.com/index.html

each person must find what works for them, anything goes except any animal protein ( milk, eggs, cheese, butter, cottage c heese, yogurt, meats of any kind) and no added oils.. veggies and nuts have more than enough oil for vitamin absorbtion...

anyway.. let me know how it goes..I will continue to post things that matter to me, that I  wish for you to know...

GOOD LUCK.. robin

NOVEMBER 29, 2010~the first day of the rest of my healthy life

 Good day to you...for those of you who will stop by and  take a peek at what I may have allowed my brain to extrude onto this page...


My  family doctor wanted me to have a cholesterol test. I procrastinated as long as I could as I never had  trouble with cholesterol before...so why the test? He is a good guy, he  seems to truly care, so I gave in...


Fasted, arrived at the doc's office the next morning,  it was only a finger stick, so I knew I probably wouldn't die...I didn't...but I also knew what else was on the horizon...deep down, deep down inside and with my medical training, I was only fooling myself... but it was time...


 Blood Sugar 130, A1c 6.4 (diabetic test)...cholesterol 188... not bad as far as  medicine goes, but the BS(blood sugar) well  deep down inside my denying  gut I knew I was FINALLY diabetic!  I  worked hard to get here, and it took me all of 53 yrs! It was  sorta fun, but then again that wasn't my only problem...


 The PA (physician's assistant)came in to chat with me,  talking to me about not having to go on medication YET, but staying away from starch. I knew better,  see I knew because 15yrs ago, I found a health plan ( well my mom did), a plant based diet plan. See, my mom was in the navy, she had a best friend, Mrs. McDougall, well Mrs. McDougall's son, he became an MD and was very unhappy treating people's symptoms,  so he decided to try to make them better instead.  He ended up discovering the importance of diet for health...the rest is history...that was 35+yrs ago for him...


Yes 15yrs ago, or so, I wanted to lose weight, I never believed in fad  diets, as I had tried many of them over the years and they never worked...so was this another one of those? Well how could it be, it was free, free to use and eat the posted recipes,  I mean you could spend money on this if you wanted to, books, cook books, lecture CD's...so it didn't seem the guy was really out for  the notoriety or to get rich, he seemed  sincere about what he  discovered and believed in.  So thanks Mom for introducing us to this fabulous discovery...it lasted  4yrs for me that first time... I lost 50lbs and felt just wonderful...then another long story for another day, my life changed and I fell off the starch  wagon with a crash!


Mom told me you will see how life is at 50, really, it's  pretty much done...well I found that she was right! By 50, I was having those female problems that caused chronic anemia and HUGE bulky pads blah,and heck my bladder,was pretty much shot...so now what? Sit in that chair, make pretty dolls and stay as close to a bathroom as  you can...don't go anywhere, they might not have a bathroom close by, besides, it was  way too much work to get cleaned up and ready to go anywhere, much too exhausting...blah... so life was torturous...man how much longer to I have to stay alive? it  takes way to long to get through this life...that stinks  since I had just remarried, poor guy, did he know what he  was getting himself into?


Then I had THE SURGERY ( I was 51) yes total hyster, and a bladder lift... WOW,  that changed my life back to at least where I was at say 44, feeling pretty danged good...so with my new attitude, and new found  youth (nope didn't need the bathroom to be my best friend anymore) I proceeded to grow my doll business and so many  happy things began to happen. I quit my RN job, never did like being a nurse, blah...and just created art! I finally 'FIT' into my life.. wow, so this is what life really is? how amazing...  there IS a GOD!!  I already believed that though... 


So no more nursing,  which means no more having to get ready for work, or actually get out of a chair to move etc...I could just sit and sew and paint all day long... life is good... too  good...


I often forgot to eat breakfast as I was  too  busy creating...I would  walk back and forth from the kitchen coming out each time with no food...but I wasn't all that hungry... I was also in instant menopause since I had my surgery (April 2009)... I was told the weight would come on...so I expected that..  and it did.. I have no idea really how much came on, I wasn't a fan of the scale...but my stretch pants can't tell a lie...i always wore stretchies, heck  you don't have  to buy a new wardrobe with those, you can go up and down  20-40 lbs and never have to buy new clothes!  


I noticed maybe 6 months ago, I was just so fatigued all the time, so achy when I got up in the morning before my 4 ibuprofens, and still with a happy attitude it was sort of getting to me...leg and foot cramps, blurry vision several times a week... and those dark spots on  my face, well mom had em, so i was destined...( was having a derm work on them for me), stomach aches frequently ( I believe diverticulitis, and  or colitis~yep I am a nurse) inconsistent bowel habits,headaches,then extreme thirst which I blamed on the dry atmosphere   in our home from our wood stove... a bit of vertigo, and lack of balance at times...always a foggy brain, just couldn't  remember  ANYTHING... then i began to think, man what if I  have early alzheimers? nurse's are their own worst enemies...I was a  mess again it seemed, a mess with a positive attitude...I felt like a lazy butt...but I wanted to have energy... just wasn't there.. "it was all blamed on menopause" ... I only had maybe  6-8 hot flashes,   that was it,  then nothing more  since  july 09.. I felt fortunate...


The PA told me " ok so you are diabetic" I was happy, I said something to the effect of .. no way, cool.. ok then, I know what to do... she was skeptical and a but perturbed with my response, I could tell... but as I said, I knew what to do...


I began my McDougall health plan that day at lunch...here is the link,http://www.drmcdougall.com/index.html

 I will be posting this quite a bit as I  share my health story with you, in the hopes that you too can fix your health just by diet alone...as always I don't recommend doing anything without first asking your doc, only problem may be is that he may encourage you to  stick with that american diet, as he has no knowledge of diet and true health, he is used to treating symptoms, so you may have to  talk him into it...  


OH AND... maybe 30yrs ago, my father came down with acute rheumatoid arthritis...my mom being an avid reader found a cookbook, called The Arthritic's Cook Book...
  she put my dad on that diet, and  in just two weeks as I remember, my father was off all steroids and up walking around again, turned out he was allergic to red meat...he is now a vegan at 86 and in great  health...yes diet is amazing, it is amazing to watch miracles happen with my family...