From Your Health Journal…..”A very interesting article I found recently in The Star Online written by Dr. Amir Farid Ishak simply called Plants Over Meats. I wanted to promote this article to my readers, and encourage you to visit The Star Online web site to bring them some traffic, but also to read this important article. Dr. Ishak starts off by stating how a nutrient-dense, wholefood, plant-based diet can save your life as well as suggesting readers to view the documentary film Forks over Knives. The main message of the documentary: that a healthy diet can help you avoid chronic diseases, medical treatments and surgeries. a whole-food, plant-based diet is able to control, reverse or prevent obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases. With obesity on the rise in many parts of the world, many experts point to the fact the people are eating too many animal rich products as well as many types of processed foods – along with lack of physical activity. The bottom line, many of us need to educate ourselves on healthy diet. Taking some extra steps like purchasing healthier choices at the supermarket, and then preparing them at home takes a little extra effort, but is better for our health. Like most things, if done on a regular basis, healthy eating becomes habitual. Learning how to incorporate whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient rich foods into our diet will benefit your body in countless ways. Thousands of nutrients are required for our cells to function, to maintain health, to prevent disease, to fight invaders, and to recover from diseases and injuries. Overall, this is an excellent article to read, and full of very important information that may help many of you. Please take the time to visit The Star Online (link provided below) to read the complete article.”

From the article…..

A nutrient-dense, wholefood, plant-based diet can save your life.

IF you are health-conscious, and you have not yet seen the documentary film Forks over Knives, then I highly recommend that you do so.

The film is being screened on the international screen of one of the cinema chains in Kuala Lumpur, and they have promoted it through frequent advertisements.

The title is meant to convey the message that a healthy diet can help you avoid chronic diseases, medical treatments and surgeries. Indeed, the film provides compelling evidence that a whole-food, plant-based diet is able to prevent, control or even reverse obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

In contrast, it is a well-established fact that much of the health problems afflicting affluent modern Western society is due to their diet, which is animal-based, replete with all sorts of processed foods.

The film follows the work of several US doctors, scientists and nutritional experts that prove the effectiveness of the whole-food, plant-based diet in preventing and reversing the chronic diseases.

It is a documentary film filled with facts and real-life testimonies of those who have benefited from following the recommendations, and will be enjoyed only by those who have interest in the subject.

Nutrient-dense, whole-food, plant-based diet

The diet promoted by the film is in line with what I recommend. It is based on whole or minimally processed plants, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, tubers, and legumes.

It excludes or minimises animal-based foods such as meat (including poultry and fish), dairy, and eggs, as well as refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.

However, I disagree with the exclusion of fish. There will always be controversy whether a vegetarian or even a vegan diet would even be better than a plant-based diet that allows some meat intake.

There are many promoters of vegetarianism for various reasons – religious, spiritual, health, eco-sustainability, etc – but I will restrict my discussion only to the health aspects.

It is a fact that vegetarians are generally healthier than meat eaters, as it is also a fact that meat consumption is linked to obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease, cancers and other diseases.

However, vegetarians are not totally free from the “meat-eaters diseases” mentioned above. So it is also important to look into what vegetarians actually eat.

To read the complete article…..Click here