10 Reasons to Just Do It! An Homage to Jack LaLanne

“Exercise is king, nutrition is queen, put them together and you have a kingdom!” Jack LaLanne 1914 – 2011

Jack LaLanne passed away yesterday at the ripened old age of 96. In honor of his infinite ability to inspire, I want to share 10 reasons why exercise is indeed so critical to optimal health. I actually would reverse Jack's quote and define nutrition as the king and fitness as the queen. Regardless, you cannot achieve and maintain your superior kingdom without a combination of consistently moving and properly fueling your body. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Exercise stimulates your immune system. Muscle contractions are to your lymphatic system what the heart is to your circulatory system. The lymphatic system cleans up the mess like inflammatory cells from throughout the body. It then traps bacteria, viruses, fungus, and other mischief-makers to put the immune system to work. Finally, any leftover fluid is dumped back into the bloodstream to be excreted via the kidneys. Think of your lymphatic system as your body's housekeeper.

2. Working out strengthens your heart and blood vessels. Encouraging circulation by stimulating your heart to work hard for a prolonged period of time improves blood flow, decreases inflammation, and keeps your heart muscle fit.

3. Regular exercise is excellent for your mind. Depression, anxiety, stress, and panic disorders have all been found to improve with exercise. Endorphins (feel-good hormones and natural painkillers) are released from physical stress, soothing your mind, and improving your mood. It enables you to deal with stress more effectively.

4. Sleep is deeper and more efficient with regular exercise. Proper rest is critical for stress management, immune function, mental clarity, and physical well-being.

5. Weight management is easier with a consistent fitness program. As lean body mass increases, metabolism improves, and you require more calories just to maintain those muscles. Become a calorie-burning machine by sticking to a fitness plan.

6. Exercise improves insulin sensitivity. Great news for diabetics, pre-diabetics, and those who want to prevent diabetes (hopefully everyone). Type 2 diabetes is the result of insulin resistance...where the cells become unable to absorb glucose, thereby leading to hyperglycemia.

7. Inflammation is suppressed thanks to increased circulation brought about by exercising.

8. Your risk for most chronic disease-including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes-is significantly reduced by sustaining a regular fitness regimen.

9. The number one most effective factor in preventing and stopping the progression of osteoporosis is...yep, you guessed it...EXERCISE! Resistance movements against your own body weight or other resource (like weights, machines, and tubing) improve bone mass. Bone and muscle both react to physical stress (resistance) by growing thicker and stronger. Move your body and build bone tissue. Remember that bone tissue is dynamic. It is constantly breaking down and repairing in a constant state of flux. So, provide it with stress to encourage proper bone mineralization.

10. Exercise helps make you a better lover. People who work out have an increased libido, have a decreased risk for erectile dysfunction, and have more stamina to bring sexy back to bed!

No matter what your fitness level is or what chronic conditions you may have, regular exercise will improve your life on so many levels. It is not an optional activity...it is a must-do. Commit to a program if you haven't already and watch the miracles in your life materialize!

10 Reasons to Ditch Dairy

1. Dairy destroys your bones.  Countries around the world that drink the most dairy have the MOST osteoporosis and hip fractures. As dairy and calcium consumption increases, so do your risk factors for osteoporosis and bone fractures. The high levels of sodium and animal protein places your body in metabolic acidosis (when your blood becomes acidic). To compensate for that, your body pulls minerals out of the bone-thanks to their great alkalizing effects-and they are excreted in your urine. To recap: the more dairy you eat or drink, the more bone you lose.

2. There are excellent plant-sources of calcium that do not cause metabolic acidosis; rather, they are alkalizing and support bone health. Broccoli, kale, other leafy green veggies, sesame seeds, tahini, calcium-set tofu, and fortified plant milks/juices all have adequate amounts of calcium to meet daily requirements.

3. The number one most important factor in bone health is exercise. To increase and maintain bone density, stress needs to be applied to your bones regularly. Add resistance training, and exercises such as walking, jogging in order to increase mass, and prevent osteoporosis. This factor far outweighs any nutritional component.

4. Casein-the primary protein in milk-causes physiological addiction. Have you ever noticed that the more cheese you eat, the more of it you crave? Casomorphines are formed in your brain when you eat or drink dairy. These are opiate-like substances that produce euphoria, making you physically need more dairy. The only way to break this addictive cycle, is to cut it out entirely. 

5. Casein is a potent carcinogen. Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author or The China Study,  found casein to be a powerful cancer promoter after decades of laboratory research. He was able to turn cancer on and off simply by increasing the amount of raw casein fed.

6. Dairy provides high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol, which are known to cause atherosclerosis. This leads to heart disease.

7. Vitamin D plays an important role in bone health too. No matter how much calcium you are consuming, you need vitamin D to help absorb it. Plus. 70-97% of the population is insufficient or deficient in their vitamin D levels. Ask your doctor for a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test and if your level is below 35-50 ng/mL, add a daily dose of sunlight (a few minutes at peak hours with no sunscreen). If this doesn't improve your D levels, you need to supplement.

8. We are the only species that drinks the lactation excretions of another species AND the only species who continues to drink milk after being weaned.

9.  Besides being inherently unhealthy and disease-promoting, dairy comes packed with pesticides, antibiotics, hormones (even organic), steroids, heavy metals, and other toxins fed to the cows to improve milk production.

10. Seventy percent of the world's population is lactose-intolerant. The fact that more people than not react with painful gastrointestinal symptoms upon consumption of dairy demonstrates the fact that the human body is not intended to consume it. Doctors and dietitians are now pushing the use of lactase enzymes and other symptom-relieving medications in order to ensure "adequate" intake of dairy products. Yet, if we have to force our bodies to accept something it doesn't want, shouldn't that be a sign that something is wrong?

The Tipping Point

Have we reached the tipping point in the grassroots effort of conveying the medical miracles of plant-based nutrition to the world? I spent two and a half days with Dr. T. Colin Campbell (here I am with him and his beautiful and inspiring wife, Karen), my Guru whom I lovingly and with conviction have named "The Father of Modern Nutrition". He is, indeed, a pioneer who is changing the landscape of health as we have known it for the past century and taking it in a one hundred and eighty degree turn back to Hippocrates original wisdom. "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food" was the dictum he proposed during his lifetime(460-377 B.C.). And yet we have strayed eons from this brilliant thesis in the past millennium. From food to pills and potions...from a holistic perspective to a specified point of reference, focusing on a specific vitamin or hormone responsible for a whole health issue. When will it be that physicians and researchers conclude that our body is infinitely wiser than we give it credit for?

An article came out in the paper today regarding the most popular and utilized osteoporosis medication, Fosamax. It implicated the drug in causing fractures after long-term use even though its specific indication is for (potential) osteoporotic patients. Last week, the National Institutes of Health (the largest biomedical research organization) released a report of their concern for Americans' misunderstanding of lactose intolerance. They pretty much stated that we must do anything it takes to get the dairy into our bodies, ignoring any discomfort, illness or dis-ease it may cause in order to prevent osteoporosis. Ironically, studies clearly state that the countries around the world who consume the most dairy have the highest incidence of bone fractures! Further, we are more obese as a nation than ever before in history. This newest generation is hypothesized to be the first to live a shorter lifespan than its parents. Rates of type 2 diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and heart disease are above and beyond the rates corresponding to historical potential. And the age of onset of these diseases is younger than ever before. The statistics are frightening.

And yet, the supplement and pharmaceutical industries are thriving. Restaurants serve larger and more deadly portions of fat, sugar and salt at rates that will scare you back to dead. They have huge panels of scientific experts dedicated to figure out which perfect combinations of fat, sugar and salt will have you coming back for more as much as possible. We have to face it...money talks and we are walking to our graves painstakingly yet surely.

On an optimistic note, however, The Veggie Grill is a restaurant that is only about three years old and has already served nearly one million plant-based meals. This picture is of me with Kevin Boylan, the co-owner of The Veggie Grill. He and his business partner, T.K. Pillan, read The China Study in one weekend and went 100% plant-based immediately following its completion. It was then that they knew what type of restaurant they needed to open.



The trailer for a film that is not even in distribution yet, entitled Forks Over Knives, has had almost 21,000 views on You-Tube posted less than a month ago. Here I am with Dr. Campbell, his lovely wife, Karen and Brian Wendel, Executive Producer of Forks Over Knives, after we screened the film yesterday. This film is the documentary that has the potential to change the landscape of medicine as we now know it, thanks to the brilliant pioneering work of Dr. Campbell and his colleague, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, whom are highlighted in the film.

Ultimately, if we take a step back and observe the changes that are inarguable and omnipresent, it is undeniable that we are reaching a significant fork in the road. Our health is at the nadir of potential. We have no choice but to choose differently. My Father always told me that the definition of "crazy" is someone who keeps beating their head against the wall and expecting a different result. As Dr. Campbell brilliantly pointed out yesterday...we have finally "reached the tipping point"...people are starting to notice and it is a very exciting time!