Quotes About Prevention

In a remarkable study published recently, hundreds of children were followed for a period of twenty-four years, from junior high school to adulthood. Researchers found that low fiber intake early on was associated with stiffening of the arteries leading up to the brain—a key risk factor for stroke.

The two most prominent dietary risks for death and disability in the world may be not eating enough fruit and eating too much salt. Nearly five million people appear to die every year as a result of not eating enough fruit,16 while eating too much salt may kill up to four million.

a metaphor for modern medicine. A doctor a day may keep the apples away.

appear to help turn BRCA protection back on, removing the methyl straitjacket the tumor tried to place on it.144 The dose breast cancer researchers used to achieve this result in vitro was pretty hefty, though—the equivalent to eating about a cup of soybeans. Soy may also help women with variations of other breast cancer susceptibility genes known as MDM2 and CYP1B1.

Asian populations also eat more mushrooms.149 As noted in the box on red wine here, white mushrooms have also been shown to block the estrogen synthase enzyme, at least in a petri dish. So researchers decided to investigate if there was a link between mushroom intake and breast cancer. They compared the mushroom consumption of one thousand breast cancer patients to one thousand healthy subjects of similar age, weight, and smoking and exercise status.

The women whose mushroom consumption averaged just about one-half a mushroom or more per day had 64 percent lower odds of breast cancer compared with women who didn't eat mushrooms at all. Eating mushrooms and sipping at least half a tea bag's worth of green tea each day was associated with nearly 90 percent lower breast cancer odds.150

Of all the nuts studied in PREDIMED, the researchers found the greatest benefits associated with walnuts, particularly for preventing cancer deaths.15 People who ate more than three servings of walnuts per week appeared to cut their risk of dying from cancer in half.

Of all the nuts studied in PREDIMED, the researchers found the greatest benefits associated with walnuts, particularly for preventing cancer deaths.15 People who ate more than three servings of walnuts per week appeared to cut their risk of dying from cancer in half. A review of the scientific literature concluded that "the far-reaching positive effects of a plant-based diet that includes walnuts may be the most critical message for the public."16

Heart attacks are considered 96 percent avoidable in women who eat a wholesome diet and engage in other healthy lifestyle behaviors.113 The number-one killer of women need almost never happen.

not smoking, not being obese, getting half an hour of exercise a day, and eating healthier—defined as consuming more fruits, veggies, and whole grains and less meat. Those four factors alone were found to account for 78 percent of chronic disease risk.

Most deaths in the United States are preventable, and they are related to what we eat. 4

When it comes to the next pandemic, the question is never if, but when—and how bad?

Every year, Americans lose more than five million years of life from cancers that may have been prevented.1 Only a small percentage of all human cancers are attributable to purely genetic factors. The rest involve external factors, particularly our diet.2

In general, the dividing line between health-promoting and disease-promoting foods may be less plant- versus animal-sourced foods and more whole plant foods versus most everything else.

as effectively as first-line statin drugs, but without the risks.39 In fact, the "side effects" of healthy eating tend to be good—less cancer and diabetes risk and protection of the liver and brain, as we'll explore throughout the rest of this book.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The optimal LDL cholesterol level is probably 50 or 70 mg/dL,

What's more, not only may eating healthier to prevent cancer help to prevent heart disease but eating to prevent heart disease may also help to prevent cancer. One of the reasons? Cholesterol may play a role in the development and progression of breast cancer.75 Cancer appears to feed on cholesterol.

7 sencillos», o 7 factores que pueden promover una vida más saludable: no fumar, evitar el sobrepeso, ser «muy activo» (definido como el equivalente de caminar al menos veintidós minutos al día), seguir una dieta saludable (por ejemplo, abundantes frutas y verduras), tener un nivel de colesterol por debajo de la media, una tensión arterial normal y unos niveles de glucosa en sangre normales.[27

thousand older women over a period of a dozen years and found that those who ate the most antioxidant-rich foods had the lowest stroke risk.42 Similar findings were reported in a younger cohort of men and women in Italy.43 As with lung disease,44 antioxidant supplements don't appear to help.45 Mother Nature's powers cannot be stuffed into a pill. Knowing this, scientists set out to find the most

Whatever genes we may have inherited from our parents, what we eat can affect how those genes affect our health. The power is mainly in our hands and on our plates.

That one unifying diet found to best prevent and treat many of these chronic diseases is a whole-food, plant-based diet, defined as an eating pattern that encourages the consumption of unrefined plant foods and discourages meats, dairy products, eggs, and processed foods.

Toss a tablespoon of ground flax into a blender with some frozen berries, unsweetened soy milk, and half a ripe banana or mango or a few dates for sweetness, and you have a delicious drink containing both classes of protective phytoestrogens—lignans in flax and isoflavones in soy. (See chapter 11.) Blend in some cocoa powder for a chocolate milkshake that could help improve your chances of both preventing and surviving breast and prostate cancers.

Medical science has proven time and again that when the resources are provided, great progress in the treatment, cure, and prevention of disease can occur.