Be Healthy!

Click here for Delicious Vegetarian Recipes.

Nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, fresh air, rest, and trust in divine power--these are the basic building blocks of good health.

Did you know that members of my faith community, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, tend to live longer and have a higher quality of life, especially as they get older, in comparison with the general population?

Adventist Mortality Study: 1958-1966

23,000 California Adventists ages 25+. Conducted at the same time as the American Cancer Society study of non-Adventists. Comparisons were made for many causes of death between the two populations.

Key Results:

The risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) was significantly lower in vegetarian compared to non-vegetarian Adventists.
All-cause mortality showed a significant positive association with egg intake and a negative association with consumption of green salads.
Compared to other Californians, Adventists experienced lower rates of death for:
- all cancers (60% [of non-Adventist rates] for Adventist men, 75% for Adventist women);
- lung cancer (21%);
- colorectal cancer (62%);
- breast cancer (85%);
- CHD (66% for Adventist men, 98% for Adventist women)

Photo © Dick Duerksen

Adventist Health Study-1: 1974-1988

34,192 California Adventists ages 25+. Investigated factors relating to the incidence of disease and mainly compared the different health habits, especially differences in diet, of Adventists.

Key Results:

Vegetarians had a lower risk of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and death from all causes.
In men, the risk of fatal heart disease was significantly related to beef intake.
Regular nut and whole grain consumption were associated with a lower risk of CHD.
The risk of colon cancer was increased by 88% in non-vegetarian compared to vegetarian Adventists. Consumption of legumes (beans) had a protective effect against colon cancer.
On average, Adventist men live 7.3 years longer and Adventist women live 4.4 years longer than other Californians.
Men with a high consumption of tomatoes had a 40% lower risk of prostate cancer.

Why is the town I live in, Loma Linda, California, is one of the five blue zones on earth? According to Wikipedia, "a Blue Zone is a region of the world where people commonly live active lives past the age of 100 years. Scientists and demographers have classified these longevity hot-spots by having common healthy traits and life practices that result in higher-than-normal longevity."

Check out this website: http://www.bluezones.com/about

Adventist Health Study-2 ~ In Progress

The Key Findings to date of Adventist Health Study 2:

The Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) has yielded several important findings related to health outcomes among Seventh-day Adventists:

Vegetarian Diet and Heart Disease/Diabetes:

AHS-2 linked a vegetarian diet to a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Participants following a strictly plant-based diet had as much as a 78% lower prevalence of diabetes.

Specific Food Associations**:

High consumption of certain foods was associated with health benefits:

Brown rice, cooked green vegetables, dried fruit, and legumes** were linked to a lower risk of colon polyps (precursors to colon cancer).
These findings emphasize the importance of plant-based foods in disease prevention.

Quality of Life**:

Adventists reported better physical and mental quality of life than the U.S. norm.
The advantage for mental quality of life was more pronounced in older age groups.

The AHS-2 study continues to provide valuable insights into the impact of diet and lifestyle on health outcomes. 🌱.

This feature film Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.

http://www.forksoverknives.com