Before we jump into the basics of the whole food plant-based way of eating and some wonderful recipes. We must take a deeper look into why we need to switch to a whole food plant-based diet. It is truly a question of our quality of life and years later leading to a dignified and death, and it starts with the Standard American Diet, which is truly SAD as its acronym implies.
Overview of Health and Diet in America
In hospitals, I have seen the result of people eating the typical American or western diet—loaded with meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, and processed food that is packed with protein, sugar, salt, fat, and many added cancer-causing chemicals. I’ve witnessed patients undergo cardiac catheterizations for balloon angioplasties. This procedure entails inflating a balloon inside a vessel to increase blood flow and open up the fatty lining.
Also included in this may be “roto-rooter”, where a surgical tool is spun inside vessels to dissolve plaque. Cardiac procedures like these are a high risk as one of the complications is that parts of a clot can break off and lodge in the brain, heart, or lungs, causing a stroke, heart attack, and even death. So, while that big juicy cheeseburger may look good to you now by making your mouth and mind happy, what you should really be thinking about is how it may seriously harm your entire body later.
The Sad Consequences of the Standard American Diet
Since so many Americans eat the SAD way, we have some of the world’s worst health. Countless studies and statistics support this belief. Our country pays more per person than any other industrialized country for healthcare. In spite of this—as patients, undergoing heart surgery and other procedures, and paying out exorbitant cardiac medication costs exemplify—are sicker.
Currently, our health with regard to obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and many other maladies continues to worsen. This puts us at great risk especially when deadly viral diseases sweep through. Look at the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic with the increased morbidity rate among COVID-19 patients with pre-existing conditions. Most of the diseases that plague Americans are interrelated chronic inflammatory diseases that evolve into comorbidities or a collective group of diseases that include conditions such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, asthma, and more.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the biggest health crisis and number one killer in the United States affecting a large portion of the US population is heart disease—the same disease that has afflicted my family members, who ate plenty of vegetables and fruit from our gardens but unwittingly continued to eat animal products, which contributed to their conditions.
This silent killer that has plagued them currently slays about 647,000 Americans each year. More than 40 percent of Americans are obese—a contributing factor of heart disease, and more than 50 percent of them are taking prescription drugs, one of which is a statin drug for lowering cholesterol, and one of the most prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs in the world.
What are The Side Effect of Statins or Cholesterol Lowering Meds?
Statin medications have several side effects, especially with long-term use. Myalgia or muscle pain is the most common adverse effect and rhabdomyolysis, potentially resulting in kidney failure, sepsis, and death, is the most serious adverse effect. Other common risk factors include memory loss, confusion, sleeplessness, joint pain, hypothyroidism, multiple drug interactions, alcohol abuse, liver function complications, and the potential for the development of diabetes and cancer.
You can see why many people choose natural remedies instead of statin medication for lowering cholesterol levels. Other common medications that frequently become a permanent part of one’s life after a heart attack, arrhythmia development, or a catheter stent placement are blood thinners. As a result, they can prevent atherosclerotic fatty vessel disease, clotting, and help maintain stents. A blood thinner requires regular tests, monitoring, and adjustments to prevent reclogging, and comes with dangers like bleeding and stroke.
Cancer, the second leading cause of death in America, kills about 600,000 Americans per year. The total cost of cancer care continues to rise and is approximately 174 billion dollars annually.
More than 88 million Americans have Diabetes or Prediabetes
Diabetes, another American health crisis, is consistently on the rise. In 2018, the American Diabetes Association reported that more than 34 million Americans had the disease. Almost forty percent of fatalities in our country may be directly related to it but have gone unreported or undiagnosed. Over 88 million Americans were prediabetic in 2015, and more than 210,000 under the age of twenty had diabetes. In 2017, the total cost of diagnosed diabetes was over 327 billion dollars. Our healthcare system is already overwhelmed and projections show a worsening trend and strain on our healthcare system.
Public awareness is now spreading that plant-based diets can reduce or eliminate many of these diseases. We are beginning to understand that our overall health is a direct result of what we put into our mouths. It’s time for more of us to take this leap and adopt a whole food plant-based lifestyle.