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"The second group ate a customary western diet but ran an average of 48 miles a week. The third group consisted of sedentary people on the standard western diet. When the three groups were compared, the lowest levels of the very powerful cancer-promoting human growth hormone IGF-1 were found in the group of raw food eaters. Additionally, the raw eaters exhibited low levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein, blood insulin and cancer-promoting sex hormones. 47." - Susan E. Schenck, The Live Food Factor: The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet (Get the book.)

"The first step is to educate the public, teaching the truth about what we know about nutrition and the ravages of the traditional western diet. In my fantasies, for instance, I imagine a widespread use of the brachial artery tourniquet test (BART), which Dr. Robert Vogel used to such devastating effect to prove the vascular damage a single meal can cause. If public schools were forced to serve only meals that are BART-positive (i.e." - Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Get the book.)

"When people from these indigenous cultures hit the western diet, rates of Type-2 diabetes soar. Dr. Barnard's work emphasizes that a diet high in fat, especially cooked animal fat (saturated fat), will increase the rate of diabetes. Dr. Barnard's insight is certainly something I support as a live-food vegan: that the junk fats, trans-fatty acids, and cooked saturated animal fats tend to block and disorganize the cell membranes in a way that disrupts the insulin receptors in the cells." - Gabriel Cousens, There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program (Get the book.) "Juice Feasting also reverses another significant and common problem from our calorie-rich, nutrient-poor Western diet: nutrient deficiencies. CLEANSE Cleansing means weight reduction, but there are many components of weight, not just the fat around our mid-section." - Gabriel Cousens, There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program (Get the book.)

"Pretty much everyone in the group eats a western diet. This means that when researchers divide the subject population into groups (typically fifths) to study the impact of, say, a low-fat diet, the quintile eating the lowest-fat diet is not all that low—or so dramatically different from the quintile consuming the highest-fat diet. "Virtually this entire cohort of nurses is consuming a high-risk diet," according to Campbell. That might explain why the Nurses' Study has failed to detect significant benefits for many of the dietary interventions it's looked at." - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Get the book.) "These changes have given us the western diet that we take for granted: lots of processed foods and meat, lots of added fat and sugar, lots of everything—except vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. That such a diet makes people sick and fat we have known for a long time." - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Get the book.) "I'm speaking, of course, of the elephant in the room whenever we discuss diet and health: "the western diet." This is the subject of the second part of the book, in which I follow the story of the most radical change to the way humans eat since the discovery of agriculture." - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Get the book.)

"Western diet. In addition, differences in intestinal bacterial profiles were also found to vary by ethnicity (e.g., Asians, North Americans, and Europeans), implicating regional dietary habits [34]. Hence, from these observational studies, it appears that dietary patterns influence intestinal microflora communities. Intervention studies provide a more direct evidence of the ability of diet to modify intestinal microflora. We have recently conducted unpublished experiments where diet was strictly controlled and modified from basal, free-living diet." - Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey, Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (Get the book.) "Subsequent to the initial study, these same dietary patterns were identified and validated using data from a large cohort study even though the diet questionnaire was different [197]. The western diet is consistently associated with increased risk of colon cancer [198-201], although in one study it was associated only with colon cancer in women [200], and in others the risk was greater among people with a family history of colorectal cancer [198, 201]. The association of the Prudent diet, however, is less consistent." - Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey, Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (Get the book.) "Data to support beneficial effects of protein in the diet lower or higher than the typical western diet (approximately 15-20% of energy from protein) are lacking. The position of the American Diabetes Association recommends 10-20% of energy from protein, with the lower amount being recommended for patients with overt nephropathy [12]. In the liver, amino acids that are not required to replace body proteins, particularly nonessential amino acids, are deaminated [36]. The amino group is condensed with carbon dioxide to form urea, which is then carried to the kidneys and excreted in the urine." - Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey, Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (Get the book.) "Dairy products could be a marker of exposure to calcium, though this food group is also a major source of saturated or animal fat in the western diet. Two case-control studies [75, 114] and several cohort studies [77-79, 83, 84] reported statistically significant positive associations for this nutrient, especially with advanced or metastatic cancer. A meta-analysis of six prospective studies confirmed this finding [87]. Nevertheless, several other case-control [46, 60, 116, 145, 146] and cohort [52, 65, 68, 82, 85] studies did not show an effect of calcium on prostate cancer risk." - Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey, Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Disease (Get the book.)

"And that might well be a problem for people eating a western diet. As the basis of our diet has shifted from leaves to seeds, the ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s in our bodies has changed too. The same is true for most of our food animals, which industrial agriculture has taken off their accustomed diet of green plants and put on a richer diet of seeds. The result has been a marked decline in the amount of omega-3 s in modern meat, dairy products, and eggs, and an increase in the amount of omega-6s." - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Get the book.)

"But a standard western diet (high in fats, salt, and sugar and low in complex carbohydrates) also lacks essential vitamins and minerals needed during pregnancy and breast-feeding, which can compromise your baby's health.3 The appropriate diet is well balanced and varied and includes fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, beans, and fish, with a limit on refined sugars, processed foods, and saturated fats. Organically grown produce, meats, and poultry are preferable, or inorganic produce that has been carefully washed to remove agricultural chemicals." - Tori Hudson, N.D., Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness (Get the book.) "Observations in large Asian populations, whose diet includes soybeans as a basic food group, show a lower incidence of CVD than in populations who consume a traditional western diet.104 Much research has been done on soy and its relationship to blood pressure, cholesterol, and even some inflammatory biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. In general, the studies are varied, with some showing clear benefit and some not showing any. Perhaps the best evidence comes from a review of 38 scientific studies." - Tori Hudson, N.D., Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness (Get the book.)

"These factors, along with the popularity of fast-food restaurants and processed foods that contain vegetable oils, combined to drastically alter the balance between omega-6 and omega-3 in the western diet. Generally, no more than 10 percent of your calories should come from saturated and trans fat (and your goal should be to minimize the amount of trans fat in your diet as much as possible), and since people with diabetes are at high risk for or BENEFITS OF DIETARY FATS Essential fatty acids ?help promote healthy nerve function ?" - Steven V. Joyal, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Diabetes: An Innovative Program to Prevent, Treat, and Beat This Controllable Disease (Get the book.)

"Omega-6 fatty acids do have a place in healthy meals; it's just that in the typical western diet, we get so many more of them than we do omega-3s that we might be cutting ourselves off from the protective and powerful effects of omega-3s. While omega-3s partner with enzymes to reduce cancer-promoting compounds, omega-6s pair with an enzyme that promotes inflammation, encourages cells to multiply, and decreases cancer cell death. þSome studies have shown that omega-6s can cause small decreases in HDL cholesterol levels, compared with monounsaturated fats." - Elaine Magee, Food Synergy: Unleash Hundreds of Powerful Healing Food Combinations to Fight Disease and Live Well (Get the book.)

"The South Asian Indians and the Pima Indians have a genetic predisposition to NIDDM, but it didn't really manifest until they switched in the 1940s to a western diet. The epidemic of NIDDM in these groups seems to be directly related to the dramatic increase in total calories of refined carbohydrates, total fat, and in the unbalanced omega-6 versus omega-3 ratios. In summary, trans-fatty acids are indeed also a problem, as well as an increase in omega-6 versus omega-3 ratio of fatty acids." - Gabriel Cousens, There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program (Get the book.)

"A minimal amount of free radicals—those chemical substances' that are so harmful to the body and so prevalent in the typical western diet. • Many antioxidants, natural compounds that neutralize free radicals and supply generous amounts of natural fiber. (Fiber has two great benefits: it is essential to health, and also helps fill you up.) If you have heart disease—or if you never want to develop it— it is critical to grasp these absolute rules: The rules 1. Do not eat meat. 2. Do not eat chicken, even white meat. 3. Do not eat fish. 4. Do not eat any dairy products." - Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Get the book.) "Although they have been advising us for well over a decade that dairy products, oil, and animal fat are bad for us, and although it becomes clearer with every passing year that vascular disease, cancer, and other illnesses are the direct result of the toxic western diet, these organizations just cannot bring themselves to radically change nutritional recommendations." - Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Get the book.)

"Even for people who are not ill, eating a western diet high in carbohydrates, fats, and sugary foods causes the balance of microflora in the gut to change dramatically, creating an overgrowth of bad bacteria and yeast, says Mullin. This directly damages the intestinal wall. To understand how this happens, consider the carefully interconnected parts of the intestine. The human bowel is lined with millions of projections called villi that facilitate the efficient absorption of nutrients." - Donna Jackson Nakazawa, The Autoimmune Epidemic (Get the book.)

"Western diet, their birth rate doubled, but adults now die extremely prematurely from diabetes and heart disease.1819 THE REAL CAUSE OF VASCULAR DISEASE Now that you understand this concept, imagine you were the master genetic computer programmer. To activate killer genes, what programs would you write? Let's start with coronary artery disease, and vascular disease in general, which results from "calluses" accumulating in our blood vessels. Traditional thinking holds that the Western high-fat diet causes fat to stick to our arteries." - Dr. Steven R. Gundry, Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution: Turn Off the Genes That Are Killing You - And Your Waistline - And Drop the Weight for Good (Get the book.) "Did you know that hypertension simply doesn't exist in societies that don't eat the western diet or lots of refined grains? But in our culture, after we eat such foods for about twenty years, hypertension rears its ugly head. What happens if hypertension goes untreated? A blood vessel pops in your brain, causing a massive stroke, or your heart enlarges and thickens—meaning it can't pump blood effectively-or your kidneys don't get enough blood to filter out poisons." - Dr. Steven R. Gundry, Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution: Turn Off the Genes That Are Killing You - And Your Waistline - And Drop the Weight for Good (Get the book.) "When Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, and Aleuts are exposed to the western diet, they convert immediately. So do baboons, bears in Yellowstone Park, our dogs and cats, rats and monkeys, and other animals. By now, you understand that it's your genes, your programming, that make you want this stuff. But if it's so bad for you, why would your genes want you to eat it? Let me say it one more time: because it's good for them\ Your body grows faster and becomes stronger; females produce babies at a younger age and have more of them." - Dr. Steven R. Gundry, Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution: Turn Off the Genes That Are Killing You - And Your Waistline - And Drop the Weight for Good (Get the book.) "And, to a large extent, it's our western diet and lifestyle that are making us sick and ultimately killing us-although paradoxically, as you'll soon learn, they suit our genes just fine. Sadly, as a heart surgeon, I don't see many people like Michelle-at least initially. Many of my patients are severely ill and often prematurely aged. Most are also overweight." - Dr. Steven R. Gundry, Dr. Gundry's Diet Evolution: Turn Off the Genes That Are Killing You - And Your Waistline - And Drop the Weight for Good (Get the book.)

"Studies have consistently shown that rates of heart disease are higher in Western cultures, that heart disease rates go up in countries that adopt western diet and lifestyles, and that modifications of diet reduce heart disease. Some of the differences may not be attributable to diet per se but rather to how food is raised and the industrialization of American agriculture (e.g., the effects of corn-fed vs. pasture-fed animals)." - J. Douglas Bremner, Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health (Get the book.)

"Likewise, countries that adopt a western diet and become more industrialized, but don't have the same vaccination program as we have in the United States, tend to develop allergies and autoimmune disease at the same high rates of illness that we do. Moreover, she asserts, "The hygiene hypothesis cannot explain all the babies who are born today with allergies." - Donna Jackson Nakazawa, The Autoimmune Epidemic (Get the book.)

"Eating Locally and Healthfully The idea that the western diet has nothing to do with acne should have been given its walking papers years ago. Back in 1971, O. Schaeffer published a reporting that acne was completely absent in the Inuit (Eskimo) population when they were eating and living in their traditional manner, but as soon as they adopted the Western way of eating, acne showed up. Local physicians in Okinawa prior to World War 11 reported that "These people had no acne vulgaris." According to one published report, only 2.7 percent of almost 10,000 rural Brazilian school kids have acne." - Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why (Get the book.) "The take-away message is that the processed foods that are rampant in the western diet create a hormonal situation that is likely to seriously aggravate acne or even, in some cases, actually cause it. Pomegranate Juice for the Heart ... and More THE POMEGRANATE HAS always been associated with love and erotica. Just look at it—it's beautiful, purple, luscious, and sensual. In Turkey, brides throw the fruit to the ground and believe that the number of seeds that pop out predicts how many children they're going to have. The ancients connected the fruit with procreation and abundance." - Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why (Get the book.)

"Omega-3 consumption in the western diet has become so low that researchers can't find it in lab sample tissues. A study of men found higher concentrations of omega-3s in blood serum samples taken from healthy males, with lower concentrations taken from men with prostatitis. The lowest rates were found in men with prostate cancer. [Clinical Biochemistry 32: 405-09, 1999] Fish oil has about 30% omega-3 oil while flaxseed oil has about 60% omega-3 oil. So flax is the only oil that can correct the imbalance in omega-3 & 6 oils in the western diet." - Bill Sardi, You Don't Have to be Afraid of Cancer Anymore (Get the book.)

"Typically, the western diet contains an excess of protein—especially animal protein. The nutrition plan I recommend provides a variety of healthy plant proteins, somewhere between 50 and 70 grams every day. That is entirely adequate for a healthy lifestyle. Could a low cholesterol level be dangerous for my health? Some years ago, there were reports that low blood cholesterol levels might be associated with lung, liver, or colon cancer and that they might also contribute to accidental deaths and suicide." - Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Get the book.)

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