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Forewords
Healthy Eating for Life to Prevent and Treat Cancer Cancer has leapt from being a fairly rare disease just a few decades ago to what is now a condition of everyday life. Far too many of us find ourselves in doctors' offices, having frank and frightening discussions about what this diagnosis means, either for ourselves or our loved ones, and desperately trying to sort through difficult treatment choices. However, that dismal scenario is rapidly transforming into a far more optimistic one, as we take powerful new strategies into our hands that can prevent cancer or alter its course once it has been diagnosed. These new approaches come from researchers who have carefully studied people with cancer and those seemingly protected from it. They have examined individuals who, despite the diagnosis, have lived far longer than expected or even had complete remissions. In teasing apart their diets, meticulously going through what they ate and what they avoided, clues have emerged that have then been put to the test in confirmatory studies. While this line of research is still ongoing, we have already learned enough so that, if people everywhere took full advantage of it, most cancers would never occur. Surprising as that may sound, one research study after another has confirmed that genes are not the cause of most cancers. Rather, our eating habits, aided and abetted by our smoking and drinking habits, are far and away the strongest determinants of whether cancer will loom in our future. Changing your diet makes an enormous difference. Whatever your age or current state of health, it is time to take advantage of this fact. Perhaps the most important discoveries are for people who have already been diagnosed with cancer. Researchers have found that healthy diets not only make cancer much less likely to begin; good nutrition can help a person already diagnosed with cancer to beat the disease. Let me ask you not to keep what you read here a secret. Please share this vital information with your loved ones. Even better, try the recipes that put the science of nutrition into practice. They will do more than prevent cancer. They are also designed to cut cholesterol, help you slim down or stay that way, and introduce you to a world of healthy eating. I wish you the best of success and the very best of health.
Healthy Eating for Life for Children The writing of this book was motivated by the observation that many parents are unclear about how to nourish their children at different stages of development. Well-intentioned parents, like you, want to do the very best for the long-term health and well-being of their children. They need help knowing where to begin. Our hope is that by assembling an expert panel of doctors and nutritionists and providing well-researched, easy-to-read information on healthy eating during childhood, we can help you promote excellent health for your children throughout their lives. Inside these pages you will find information organized into three sections: proper eating guidelines for all the stages of childhood, nutrition-related topics of special concern to parents, and easy recipes and menus for translating these principles into practice. Chapters 1 and 2 offer a simple, new, healthier perspective on nutrition essentials. In chapters 3 through 8, you'll find a straightforward guide to healthy eating from conception to voting age. Nourishing your child is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The foods you eat during pregnancy affect not only your child's development, but also health later in life. And the tastes your baby learns in early childhood will have a big influence on which foods he or she pulls from the refrigerator as a teenager or picks from a menu in adulthood. The food habits and attitudes your older children acquire will follow them into maturity. Children who learn to enjoy healthy foods have a tremendous asset. The nourishment you give your children now provides the raw materials they will use to grow. The right foods can help them stay slim and healthy, strengthen their immunity, reduce the risk of health problems later in life, and even boost their learning ability. It's easier than you might imagine. Healthy cooking and eating will soon be second nature for both you and your family. Chapters 9 through 14 cover special topics in nutrition for children. In chapter 9, you'll learn about how food can affect common health problems. Unfortunately, many children get off on the wrong foot. If you could look into the arteries of children as young as three or four, a surprising number have the early signs of artery changes that can lead to heart attacks later in life. Many children in Western countries have signs of heart disease by the time they reach their teens. Childhood is also the time when diet appears to have its greatest effect on later cancer risk and is often when weight problems begin. Unhealthy diets can even alter the age at which puberty begins and can aggravate asthma, allergies, and other chronic childhood ailments. Chapter 10 has the latest on how your child's eating habits affect learning ability. If you thought, for example, that sugar affects your child, well, you may be right. But there is much more to it, and we'll fill you in on what researchers know today about feeding the brain. Young children in sports are different from adult athletes. They not only need good nutrition to maximize performance but also need it to continue to grow appropriately. If you are raising an athletic child, you'll want to pay special attention to chapter 11. It is not easy to keep children on the right track. Parents face many challenges, from school lunch programs that do not always serve what you would like your children to have to fast-food restaurants waiting for them on their way home to endless television commercials pushing snacks and sodas. All these things affect our kids. All too often, the result is overweight, a distorted body image, or even serious eating disorders. These are covered in chapters 12 to 14. At the end, you'll find a treasury of menus and delicious recipes based on the healthy guidelines outlined in this book. Developed by nutrition expert, chef, and writer Jennifer Raymond and later kid-tested and approved, these tasty recipes will be sure both to please and nourish your child. As you read this book and apply its concepts, keep in mind that many factors influence your child's food choices, from individual tastes to self-concept, beliefs about food, and health concerns. Then add to the mix the food attitudes learned from family and friends, the customs associated with specific events, and the need for food on the go—from vending machines and fast-food spots. The net result is that children sometimes make food choices we wish they hadn't. You can't possibly control all of these factors. What you can do is prepare your children for navigating this minefield. That means offering them healthy choices in early life and helping them learn to make good decisions. Perhaps most importantly, you can set a good example with the healthy food choices you make yourself. With the chance to enjoy healthful foods right from the start, your children will carry an important advantage throughout life. They are lucky to have you as a parent. Your desire to provide healthy meals will translate into a gift that lasts a lifetime. I wish you the best of health.
Healthy Eating for Life to Prevent and Treat Diabetes Many people with diabetes—and their doctors—think of the condition as a one-way street. Once it has been diagnosed, we begin a never-ending series of blood-sugar tests, medication adjustments, and gradually worsening symptoms. But, happily, that has begun to change. In a research study at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, in cooperation with doctors at Georgetown University, a group of people with Type 2 diabetes, the kind that typically begins in adulthood, tested a new diabetic diet. They found that their blood sugars got better and better and their need for medication quickly fell. And many others have found that, as the improvements continue, the disease sometimes simply disappears. Of course, this does not often happen with the old-fashioned diets still used by most practitioners. But, if you or a loved one has diabetes, you will want to put this wonderful program to work today. We also have better means than ever for managing Type 1 diabetes, the kind that starts in children and young adults, and even some surprising clues as to its causes that could help us prevent it in the first place. In this book, you will find the keys to a healthy, vibrant life. The latest and very best nutritional guidelines have been carefully drafted by diabetes experts and are presented with delicious recipes that put them to use. I wish you the best of health.
Healthy Eating for Life for Women As you open this book, you are opening a door to the very best of health, longevity, and fitness. Much of what you are about to read will be surprising, but you will never look back. Up until now, to battle headaches, arthritis, or menstrual cramps, many women have needed fistfuls of over-the-counter remedies. Menopause has meant taking hormones for the rest of your life. Preventing cancer has meant yearly mammograms and precious little else. These approaches are certainly useful, but they are also expensive, riddled with side effects, and, far too often, simply inadequate. Fortunately, we can now add new and much more effective approaches. Through a simple change in your diet, headaches can become a thing of the past. Menopausal symptoms may never even start. And we can gain new power over the most common and problematic forms of cancer. Everything from improving fertility to erasing the signs of aging to managing osteoporosis, arthritis, and urinary tract infections, has been subjected to new methods of research and can now be dealt with more easily than ever. The answer, more often than not, lies in nourishing your body in new and healthy ways. A few years ago at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, working in cooperation with Georgetown University, we began a research study using diet changes to help women with PMS and menstrual pains. Some of our research volunteers had been nearly disabled by pain for a day or two every single month, and they were understandably anxious for anything that might help. Many gained remarkable relief (as you'll read in chapter 3). But, to me, one of the most striking events in this project occurred when one of the new research volunteers arrived at our offices. She wanted to let the team know that if this study had been simply testing another new drug, she would never have volunteered. She—like millions of other women—was tired of treating every medical symptom with pills. She wanted a healthier and more natural way to deal with these problems. For a great many conditions, we have found them. In this volume, we will take a little time to understand how our bodies work and how common health problems arise. Then, we will look in detail at how diet and lifestyle adjustments can help. When you are ready to jump in, you will find menus and recipes that put these principles to work. They are easy and delicious, and, in fact, are the most pleasurable prescription you will ever fill. But their proof comes in how you feel. I wish you the best of success and the very best of health. |
