healthy eating – watercress words by Dr Aletha

EAT PLANTS FEEL WHOLE

Harness the healing power of plants and transform your health

By George E. Guthrie, MD, MPD, CDE

Note: I received a complimentary digital advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This post does contain affiliate links. Thanks.

If you think a whole-food, plant-based diet is boring, bland, expensive, or difficult, you should read this book. George Guthrie, M.D. a Family Physician, also pursued extensive education in nutrition and lifestyle medicine.

Dr. Guthrie developed several lifestyle-change programs, including the Complete Health Improvement Project (CHIP), the Wellspring Diabetes Program, and AdventHealth’s CREATION Health program. He is active in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has served there as secretary-treasurer, president-elect, and president.

Food can be addicting…some of us eat because it makes us feel better.
Dr. George Guthrie

Dr. Guthrie focuses on the major non-infectious diseases-obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease-those that we see daily in family medicine. He explains how evidence shows that these are chiefly due to SAD-the Standard American Diet.

Many people struggle with the same issues: mindless snacking, overeating, or consuming whatever is most convenient. Refined foods are designed to stimulate the pleasure centers in our brain and bring us back for more.
Dr. Guthrie

He explains in thorough but easy to understand language the components of nutrition beginning with the major categories-fats, carbohydrates, and protein. Then he reviews the micronutrients, that is vitamins and minerals. He made a point that we can get all of these we need from food, with supplements only needed in isolated cases.

blue berries, strawbeerries, and orange slices-Nutrition Facts — Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

He offers multiple examples of patients from his practice who transformed their health with this whole-food plant-based approach. (Using care to change details to protect confidentiality.) They lost weight, lowered blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol with less or even no medication, and increased stamina.

This essential companion journal will help you track your journey to feeling whole.

The book concludes with a detailed outline for the whole-food, plant-based eating plan, which he emphasizes is not just another version of a vegan or vegetarian diet, which he says are not necessarily healthy. Dr. Guthrie recommends using the 18-day QuickStart Plan.

The book concludes with easy-to-follow recipes. I appreciated that the ingredients are ones that you are likely to already have at home, or available to buy at a regular food store, without the need to seek out a specialty store or buy online.

Even if you don’t have a chronic disease, this diet plan is worth considering as it can potentially prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Before I read this book, I considered my eating habits healthy, but I discovered changes I can easily make for improvement. I think you will too.

“PUBLISHER’S NOTE: This book is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional but as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of the author. You are advised and encouraged to consult with your healthcare professional in all matters relating to your health and the health of your family. “

This short e-cookbook is available to download free at Dr. Guthrie’s website

Plant-Powered Recipes to Help You Feel Whole

You may listen to Dr. Guthrie talk about plant based eating at this link to his library of podcasts-

Eat Plants Feel Whole

exploring the HEART of healthy eating

If this post or Dr. Guthrie’s book motivates you to make some eating changes, please comment, I’d love to know how you are exploring the heart of health.

Dr Aletha

Since my blog’s tag line is “exploring the HEART of health”, I couldn’t pass up the chance to read a book about exploring the heart.

State of the Heart by cardiologist Dr. Haider Warraich explores the history, science, and future of cardiac disease.

Most people recognize the seriousness of heart disease and want to know how to maintain heart health, it’s hard to believe that in ancient times people did not consider the heart a vital organ. The liver was revered as the driving force of the circulation responsible for maintaining life. Even now, the heart is sometimes thought of as just a pump, and not the complex organ that it is.

Dr. Warraich weaves the heart’s story with threads of medical history, explanations of basic cardiac anatomy and physiology, and stories about real patients he has treated for a variety of heart conditions.

The congestive heart failure patient who didn’t know he had heart failure
The woman who had a heart attack but whose coronary arteries were clear
The man who needed a heart transplant to stay alive but couldn’t afford the anti-rejection drugs
The man who couldn’t die until his mechanical heart (LVAD) was turned off

the heart and COVID-19

Dr. Warraich explains why coronavirus is especially threatening for people with heart disease.

“Of COVID-19 patients who develop serious heart complications, most don’t see this problem until late in the disease’s progression. However, some are turning up with extensive heart inflammation at the outset.”
Dr. Haider, The Washington Post

Dr. Haider reports that 59% of COVID-19 patients who died had heart damage vs. only 1% of survivors, reminding us that heart disease is still the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S.

“heart disease is not ready to give up that distinction any time soon. With the right precautions and with heightened vigilance, we can try to ensure that COVID-19 doesn’t help increase that toll.”

diagram of the human heart — Heart diseases affect any and sometimes multiple parts of the heart- the atria, ventricles, the valves, the aorta, the pulmonary artery and veins, the walls and the coronary arteries (not shown in this diagram. )

advances and stumbles in the medical treatment of heart disease.

Exploring -the HEART

Our brain controls the actions of the body’s other organs, but the heart supplies the power that keeps everything working smoothly, including the brain. Using the intricate “highway” system of arteries and veins, the heart pumps blood carrying oxygen, water, and nutrients to every cell in the body. Learn more in this post.

Exploring -when HEARTS break

understanding common heart conditions

Although we use the term HEART DISEASE , there are many diseases that involve the heart. HEART conditions affect people from birth to death. Find out more in this post.

Our modern lifestyles are particularly harsh on the heart-our diets, our lack of exercise, and the stress we expose ourselves to-
Dr. Warraich in State of the Heart

7 Keys to a Healthy Heart

Recognizing that you may have a heart problem can be the first step to getting effective treatment. That’s why in this post I share 7 keys to a healthy heart.

Expedition HEALTH exhibit at the Denver Science Museum

Health is a lifelong expedition

Thanks for joining me to explore the heart, heart disease, and this new book by Dr. Warraich. Find it at your local public library or consider purchasing at one of these affiliate links which help me fund this blog.