Earlier in the week, a friend called to tell me I missed the best Oprah show ever ... "Meg, they were talking about a plant-based diet." So I went to Oprah.com and read some excerpts from the show.
I really like this subject as I'm living proof that the way of eating they talked about on the show does indeed improve health, bowel health included. I suffered from ulcerative colitis and constipation for years before getting cancer. When I adopted a macrobiotic (plant-based diet) nine years ago, this cleared completely!
Just last week, I wrote about how I started getting really hungry when my I cut down on my usual consumption of vegetables (typically about 9 servings a day) when traveling. I'm never usually hungry between meals. But then it struck me that I was hungry because I wasn't getting as much fiber as usual ... vegetables (and their fiber) are filling! Thus my Feb. 28 post: The Power of Vegetable Fiber.
Here's an excerpt from Oprah.com about this episode with Dr. Mehmet Oz:
"Dr. Oz says the positive effects of getting enough fiber
will happen "almost immediately." The fiber can help move things
through your system — including toxins — very quickly. And that's not all.
"Bile, when it gets absorbed through the bowel, turns into cholesterol.
So when you take a lot of fiber in your diet, you suck the bile out of
you, and your cholesterol drops automatically. It also gets rid of
sugar, which helps the diabetics. And it's a great tool if you want to
lose weight because it makes you feel full."
Do you need to get more fiber in your diet? Most likely,
Dr. Oz says. The average American gets just seven grams of fiber a day.
But women need about 25 grams a day, and men need 35 grams a day.
"That's somewhere between seven and nine helpings of fruits and
vegetables," he says.
If you radically increase your intake of fiber, though,
you may feel gassy. "Your intestinal tract isn't ready for it," Dr. Oz
says. "The fiber in the bowel is permeated by all these bacteria, the
bacteria eat the fiber, and they make gas. That's their waste product.
So you've got to slowly build up when you add fiber to your diet. But
at the end of the day, you're going to have some gas. But it's a good
sign because you're digesting food that's good for you."
Dr. Oz is right, fiber does lower your cholesterol. The last time I had mine checked it was in the 150 range ... low for an American. At one time it was 203, but that was before I changed my diet to whole grains, vegetables, beans and sometimes fish. 
Increasing your vegetable fiber intake might make you gassy in the beginning, but as your digestion improves, so will the gas problem. Also chewing each mouthful 50 times helps, and if that seems
daunting, try 15 times. It makes a huge difference. You will secrete more digestive enzymes and the chewing also increases peristalsis (contractions of the intestines that move everything along).
I'm really excited that Oprah has Dr. Oz on her show because he's giving people valuable information that can really help them get well. He looks like he practices what he preaches, too. He's upbeat, vibrant and happy ... have you seen him do those pull-ups??
My hope for the future is that all doctors will give people this valuable information because people trust their doctors and look to them for answers. With The China Study out, there's more scientific evidence than ever about plant-based diets and good health. What more do we need? It really is horrible to be sick and most people really want to be well. There are many people looking for information to help them get and stay well. Thanks to Oprah and Dr. Oz, this information IS making it into the mainstream.
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Earlier in the week, a friend called to tell me I missed the best Oprah show ever ... "Meg, they were talking about a plant-based diet." So I went to Oprah.com and read some excerpts from the show.
I really like this subject as I'm living proof that the way of eating they talked about on the show does indeed improve health, bowel health included. I suffered from ulcerative colitis and constipation for years before getting cancer. When I adopted a macrobiotic (plant-based diet) nine years ago, this cleared completely!
Just last week, I wrote about how I started getting really hungry when my I cut down on my usual consumption of vegetables (typically about 9 servings a day) when traveling. I'm never usually hungry between meals. But then it struck me that I was hungry because I wasn't getting as much fiber as usual ... vegetables (and their fiber) are filling! Thus my Feb. 28 post: The Power of Vegetable Fiber.
Here's an excerpt from Oprah.com about this episode with Dr. Mehmet Oz:
Dr. Oz is right, fiber does lower your cholesterol. The last time I had mine checked it was in the 150 range ... low for an American. At one time it was 203, but that was before I changed my diet to whole grains, vegetables, beans and sometimes fish.
Increasing your vegetable fiber intake might make you gassy in the beginning, but as your digestion improves, so will the gas problem. Also chewing each mouthful 50 times helps, and if that seems daunting, try 15 times. It makes a huge difference. You will secrete more digestive enzymes and the chewing also increases peristalsis (contractions of the intestines that move everything along).
I'm really excited that Oprah has Dr. Oz on her show because he's giving people valuable information that can really help them get well. He looks like he practices what he preaches, too. He's upbeat, vibrant and happy ... have you seen him do those pull-ups??
My hope for the future is that all doctors will give people this valuable information because people trust their doctors and look to them for answers. With The China Study out, there's more scientific evidence than ever about plant-based diets and good health. What more do we need? It really is horrible to be sick and most people really want to be well. There are many people looking for information to help them get and stay well. Thanks to Oprah and Dr. Oz, this information IS making it into the mainstream.