FOODS FOR LIFE GUIDEBOOK Common Sense Guide to Whole Foods Table of Contents Introduction Concepts Beans Soy Foods Whole Grains Environment Foreword Fluoride Order Overview Recipes Reduce Heart Disease Replacing White Sugar Resources Reading Lists Shopping List Sprouts Sample Chapter Table of Contents Tips for Health Books Index

Eat Lower on the Food Chain Since we are a global family, each food choice we make has an impact on our eco-system. Here are some facts to ponder in re-thinking your food choices. In the general population, eating more animal proteins has been accompanied by an increase in heart disease and cancer deaths. Reducing your consumption of meats, eggs, dairy products, fish, and chicken can reduce your risk of disease by over fifty percent! Sixty percent of cancers are caused by diet according to the American Cancer Society. In 1927, forty percent of the protein in the US diet was grains, breads, and cereals. In 1995, 17% of the protein in the US diet were grains, breads, and cereals, 15% were legumes, fruits, and vegetables, and 68% were animal products. Meat is not necessary to ensure a supply of complete proteins in a varied diet. The average American child’s diet contains unnecessary amounts of protein, exceeding the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) established by the National Research Council. One out of every three children born in 1994 is likely to have a serious heart attack or stroke before the age of 60. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which includes members Benjamin Spock, Henry Heimlich, Dean Ornish, Andrew Weil, Andrew Nicholson, and Neal Barnard, drafted a guideline with vegetarian foods in a "recommended" category, while meats and dairy products are "optional" - not recommended for daily consumption. Diabetes has increased six-fold in the last 40 years, from 1.6 million people in 1958 to 10 million diagnosed cases in 1997. Another 6 million people are estimated to have diabetes but have not been diagnosed. Eliminating processed and refined foods provides the body with high quality fuel for health. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Ideally, eat more organic produce. Diet and lifestyle can reverse heart disease changes. Health care costs would be dramatically reduced if Americans ate better. Eating vegetarian saves money. Eat to Protect the Environment Our food choices have an impact on the environment as well as our health. Pulitzer-winning author, John Robbins, started a grass roots organization called Earth Save that has grown to hundreds of chapters across the country. Chew on these statistics from Earth Save when you lift your fork: Livestock production uses more than 50% of all water in the U.S. The quantity of water used in the production of the average cow is sufficient to float a destroyer. It takes 25 gallons of water usage to grow one pound of wheat. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to grow one pound of meat. Livestock in the U.S. consume enough grain and soybeans to feed over five times the entire human population. Somewhere in the world, a child dies of starvation every two seconds. That’s 40,000 children per day or 60,000,000 people per year. The grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by only 10% could feed Sixty million people. Eighty five percent of topsoil erosion is directly associated with the raising of livestock.