If you’ve ever seen Forks Over Knives (and if you
haven’t please stop reading, go watch it, then return here to continue reading)
you might remember about how during the Second World War, areas that faced near
famine rationing experienced significantly lower mortality from heart disease.
This is true. As this graph from Forks Over Knives
demonstrates, that in Sweden (and other areas) where meat and cheese was
rationed, or taken from the civilians and sent to the men at the front,
mortality from typical western diseases decreased.
However I recently learned a spin off of that
story, that I found absolutely fascinating and wanted to share.
A California cardiologist, Lester Morrison had
also heard about these statistics and in the first year following the war, he
decided to see if a diet mimicking the war-time rationing diets could also help
some of his patients.
While the study he concocted was largely ignored
during his lifetime, and even today is largely disregarded for various
methodical flaws, it still had interesting results, and a large impact on one person who used the results to spawn a movement.
Morrison took 100 post-infraction (ie: sick patients)
and divided them into two groups. The first group had no intervention and
continued living and eating as they had been. The other group he placed on a
low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. He followed these 100 patients for 3 years and
then again at the 8th year.
When he first published his piece, those in the
diet group had lost, on average 25lbs and also lowered their serum cholesterol.
On top of this, the mortality rate in the intervention group was 44% compared to 76%
of the non-intervention group. Those in the intervention group also reported a
sense of optimism, an increased exercise and work capacity and decreased angina
symptoms. In a 1960 follow up, all of the non-intervention patients (that is
those who continued living their normal lives) had died. However, 38 out of 50
of those on his low fat, low cholesterol diet were still alive.
As I mentioned above, these results were largely discounted
for various reasons, however, Nathan Pritikin, a business man, took
the lessons to heart and to their extreme, further cutting out the small
amounts of animal products Morrison’s diet allowed. Using such a diet, Pritikin restored his health and
his vigor. Shortly before hand, at the age of 42, Pritikin was diagnosed with heart disease and high
cholesterol, and at the age of 44 received a further diagnoses of leukaemia. Eating a high-fiber
diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, within a shorttime, Pritikin
dropped his total cholesterol by more than 100 points, and the angina he was suffering from completely vanished. Further, his cancer went into remission, and remained in remission for the next 27 years
before finally returning.
Pritikin is often called the grandfather of the plant-based
movement. Despite not having a medical degree, his books became best sellers,
and he helped found the Pritikin Centers for Longevity where he and his team
published over 100 peer reviewed scientific papers, and was even invited to
give talks about nutrition and diseases at some of the countries most prestigious
hospitals, including Mount Sinai in New York.
Pritikin
eventually took his own life rather than suffering through the treatment for
cancer, but upon his death, he did something remarkable, something that no
other health "guru" has done since requested an autopsy of his health
be published. What they found was even more remarkable. His heart was free of
any plaque, and the results were published in the New England Journal of
Medicine. At the time, the LA Times wrote of the
publication, “While there were small traces of fatty tissue both in the heart
muscle and in the coronary arteries, all four of the major arteries examined
were totally free of any restriction--a condition virtually unheard of for a
69-year-old man living in a Western country.”
While I openly admit that these are just two
anecdotal examples, they represent some of the earliest examinations of diet
and disease. Today, the impact of these two men are still being felt, as even John McDougall, M.D. author of the Starch Solution credits Pritikin as one of his earliest role models. Today we have far more complex and scientifically-rigours studies, but even some fifty years ago, the lessons were clear. Eat plants,
not animals for overall health.
***
Gluten and Oil Free Cornbread
This gluten and oil-free cornbread is fantastic
and a perfect companion to my Quick
Three Bean Chili. This recipe is the result of M and I becoming frustrated
trying to find a recipe that suited all of our needs. Give it a try and let us
know what you think.
1 cup brown rice flour (available for purchase or
make your own*)
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
1 cup favorite plant based milk
2 flax eggs – 2 tablespoons of ground flax soaked
in 4 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ripe banana
6 medjool dates – pitted (soak the
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
There are two different ways to mix all the
ingredients. The traditional way, of course, is to place the dry ingredients
into a large bowl, mix well. Because this recipe is sweetened with whole
fruits, you’ll need to either blend or process the dates and the banana into
the milk. It will be thick, but you want it to be thinner than pancake mix, it should pour out of your blender without too much assistance. Now
that you’ve prepared your milk, combine the wet ingredients and mixed
with the dry ingredients until completely combined.
As a little tip, we prefer to simply the mixing process by
adding the dry ingredients slowly into the high powered blender or food
processor after blending the fruit into the milk. Blend until all ingredients are completely smooth
and well combined.
Let the batter stand for five minutes
While you are preparing your batter, pre-heat the
oven to 350. Now pour the batter into a greased pan or pan lined with parchment
paper and place it into the oven.
Cook for 22-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove
and let cool. Then enjoy in any number of ways with any number of dishes.
*Brown rice flour can be purchased but is also easy to make but simply
tossing 1 cup of uncooked brown rice into a blender or food process and processing
until the rice is a fine powder.
Hubbard, J. “Nathan Pritikin’s Heart,” (1985) New England Journal of Medicine 313 (1)
52.
Morrison,
“Reduction of Mortality Rate in Coronary Atherosclerosis by a low
Cholesterol-low Fat Diet.” (1951) Am.
Heart J. 42: 538-545.
Parachini, “Autopsy of Pritikin May Renew Debate,”
Los Angeles Times July 4, 1985.
As always the information presented in this blog is for educational purposes only. It should not be considered as specific medical, nutritional, lifestyle, or other health-related advice.
