Control for Life - Findings
Excessive Protein Consumption
Excessive Protein Consumption and Cancer
A diet containing too much protein, especially animal protein, can lead to cancer, says Dr. A. Vogel in his widely recognized book, 'Swiss Nature Doctor.' Excessive protein intake leads to constant irritation of the cells, thus encouraging abnormal cell growth, adds Dr. Vogel. The publication, 'Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer' of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that high protein intake may increase the risk of cancer of the breast, colon, rectum, pancreas, prostate gland, and kidneys. Michio Kushi, in his book 'The Cancer Prevention Diet,' ascribes animal protein to the primary high-risk factors in the development of many types of cancer. The countries with high protein consumption have higher death rates from cancer, as this figure shows:
Although the scatter in this chart is quite large, the correlation between protein consumption and death rate is quite distinctive. The highest death rate is found in Hungary; Denmark, with its protein consumption of approximately 100 grams per day, is second. Other European countries with high protein consumption, including the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany, are shown in the upper left-hand corner of the graph, above the approximation line.
Although protein consumption is among the highest in the United States, Ireland, and Russia, the death rate from cancer is close to the approximation line. Although its protein consumption is the highest (127.9 grams per day), Iceland enjoys a lower than average death rate. Among the countries with low protein consumption, Thailand is way above the line because of air pollution in Bangkok and extremely spicy foods that irritate the digestive tract, which contribute to the development of lung and colon cancers. China is close to the line and Malaysia is below it. The group of Arab countries including Egypt, Syria, and Morocco enjoy the lowest death rate despite a medium protein consumption of about 80 grams per day-- perhaps because of fasting during the Ramadan month. In this discussion, I am not trying to claim that excessive protein causes cancer; rather, combined with other risk factors, it may promote the development of cancer. Research studies show that ill-absorbed protein, such as when protein enters the colon, may cause flatulence and, in extreme cases, colon cancer.
Excessive protein consumption leads to a host of degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, arthritis and strongly linked to increased death rate from cancer. My finding is in sync with Dr. Colin Campbell’s book, “The China Study”
and Dr. Neil Nedley’s book, “Proof Positive: How to Reliably Combat Disease and Achieve Optimal Health Through Nutrition and Lifestyle.”
Protein is a double edged sword. It leaves toxic residue such as uric acid. We need much less protein to stay healthy and fit than most nutrition authorities recommend.
Excessive Fat Consumption
A high-fat, low-fiber diet, the intake of excessive calories, and a sedentary lifestyle are linked to the high incidence of coronary heart disease in developed Western countries. Animal fats have a high content of cholesterol and free radicals, which impose a damaging effect on the blood and body cells. The over-consumption of food rich in animal fats loads the blood with fatty acids, which adhere to the walls of arteries. This speeds up the arterial thickening and formation of plaque deposits, which results in many disorders including high blood pressure, enlarged heart, and kidney trouble. The fatty plaques and streaks on the arterial walls may narrow or even close the artery, causing a heart attack or stroke.
Of the three main groups of fats in food--saturated, mono-unsaturated, and polyunsaturated--the saturated fats tend to increase the level of cholesterol in the blood. Saturated fats are found mostly in animal food products such as lard, butter, meat, whole milk, cream, and cheese, as well as in palm and coconut oil. It seems that in developed countries, high animal-fat consumption is related to higher death rates from ischemic heart disease, as this figure shows:
The data on death rates in twenty-three selected countries for 1987-1990 were obtained from the Gale Country & World Rankings Reporter; the data on fat consumption in these countries for 1990 was obtained from the U.S. FAO Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics, Vol. 7, 1994.
As shown in this chart, there is a distinct correlation between animal-fat
consumption and the death rate from ischemic heart disease, although the
scatter is rather large. The highest death rate is found in the Czech Republic,
although its fat consumption of 93.5 grams per day is moderate; other factors increase the death rate in that country. New Zealand is ranked second in death rate, with its animal-fat consumption of about 116.5 grams per day. Other
European countries with high death rates, such as Finland, Hungary, and Bulgaria, are above the approximation line.
Death Rate from Ischemic Heart Disease versus
Animal-Fat Consumption in 23 Developed Countries
In the United States and Canada, both animal-fat consumption and death rates are moderate. In Denmark, although protein consumption is among the highest, the death rate from ischemic heart disease is near the mean line.
Despite its high animal-fat consumption (115.6 grams per day), France enjoys a much lower than average death rate. This is called the “French paradox”-- the key is found in the habit of drinking red grape wine in that country. Mediterranean countries including Italy, Spain, and Portugal, which are known for a diet rich in olive oil, show low death rates together with moderate animal-fat consumption. The Japanese consume the lowest amount of animal fat (i.e., 37.3 grams per day) and enjoy the lowest death rate from ischemic heart disease among developed countries.
It would be incorrect to claim that excessive consumption of animal fat alone causes heart disease; however, combined with other risk factors, it may contribute to the development of heart disease. Many factors associated with lifestyle and diet are responsible for heart disease; excessive consumption of saturated fat is among them. Small amounts of saturated fats are not harmful to the heart--the problem starts when they are consumed in excess; that is, more than 30 percent of calories from fat or more than 67 grams of fat in a 2,000-calorie diet.
Because an excessive intake of protein may be detrimental for a person's health, the global question is whether food is the only source of protein for our bodies, or are there other sources? We will discuss this matter in the next chapter.
The basic guidelines for fluid intake are as follows:
• Start your day with a glass of freshly squeezed, organically grown fruit or vegetable juice. Use fruits and vegetables appropriate to your Blood-, Dosha-, and Yin-Yang types. Sprouts (e.g., alfalfa, garlic, bean) and grass (e.g., wheat, barley, cilantro, parsley) juices are the best. Have another glass or two of juice during the day. Let your juicer make your best medicine.
• Get the fluids for your system by eating plenty of fresh water-rich fruits and vegetables and juicing them in your mouth.
• Drink white, green, black, and herb tea made with distilled water or distilled water alone. Avoid milk, coffee, and alcoholic beverages.
• Regulate your fluid intake according to your sense of thirst, the color of your urine, and the condition of your skin.
Oxygen Intake Control (Breathing)
All living creatures need oxygen to maintain their health and sustain life itself. Oxygen is taken from the air through the process of respiration and delivered by blood to the cells.
It is used there in chemical reactions with food molecules for release of the energy that has been stored in their chemical bonds. Cells need this energy to carry out their basic functions, including synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins, reproduction, and division of the cells. Fish and aquatic animals use gills for respiration; insects use tracheae. Most air-breathing animals and humans use their lungs, where the oxygen (O2) taken from the air is passed into the bloodstream and the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced in the cells is released back into the air. Thus, respiration is the fundamental process of life and the reason we need to breathe.
This chapter contains information on the true role of O2 and CO2 for our system that is virtually unknown in this country. You will be amazed to learn that oxygen is not that good for you as you were taught. Please read the book to discover the truth about these two gases, about Buteyko breathing method that can cure such diseases as asthma and hypertension, right breathing pattern, and breathing exercises.
Calorie intake and longevity
Extensive research and experiments on animals for about sixty years have shown that a scientifically proven method of life extension is calorie restriction, which we have been discussing in this book. It is not proven on humans yet, because the maximum life span of humans is approximately 120 years and more time is needed. The next question is: What is the optimum calorie intake that promotes longevity? The answer is found in the relationship between daily calorie intake and life span.
Actually, this graph is a scale showing the full range of calorie intake and its relation to duration of life. Four groups of dots on this plot represent different categories of people, as follows:
• Dots with daily intake less than 750 kcal represent non-eating people.
• Dots with a life span of 100 years and more represent individual
centenarians and groups of centenarians from Japan (total number of 495 in
1973) and Italy (seventeen men and fifty-three women). The data on calorie
intake of centenarians was either obtained from published sources or
estimated by the author.
Relationship between Daily Calorie Intake and the Life Span of Humans
• Square dots that represent nations are subdivided into two sets: one set of three dots represents the oldest old in the world’s three “valleys of longevity”--Vilcabamba in Ecuador, Hunza in Pakistan, and Abkhasia in Georgia (located between the former two). The average calorie intake among the elderly in Vilcabamba is 1,200 kcal (from the survey of Dr. Guillermo Vela of Quito); in Abkhasia, it is 1,800 kcal (from the survey of Vladimir Kyucharyants); and in Hunza, it is 1,923 kcal (from the survey of Pakistani nutritionist Dr. Magsood Ali). The life span of long-living people in these three regions is reduced to ninety because of the possibility of age exaggeration. The other set of four dots represents the countries with either the world’s longest life span (Japan in the world, Iceland in Europe) or highest calorie intake (Ireland). These data reflect average calorie intake per capita and average overall life expectancy in 1994-1995 in these countries. Although the United States consumed somewhat fewer calories than Ireland five years ago, recent data indicate that the United States--consuming an average 3,699 kcal per capita--became the leading country among the top ten world calorie consumers, followed by Portugal (3,667 kcal), Greece (3,649 kcal), Belgium and Luxembourg (3,619 kcal), Ireland (3,565 kcal), Austria (3,536 kcal), Turkey(3,525 kcal), France (3,518 kcal), Italy (3,507 kcal), and Cyprus (3,429 kcal). Ireland is now ranked fifth in this list.
• One dot at the extreme right represents the sumo wrestlers of Japan. As shown on this plot, the daily calorie intake of individual centenarians and groups ranges from 940 kcal (women in Japan) to about 1,600 kcal (men in Italy). The plot peaks at about 1,400 kcal, where both centenarians and long-living people from “longevity valleys” meet each other. Fewer calories in the cases of non-eating people do not promote longevity, and non-eating women lived just forty-four to sixty-eight years. The overeating sumo wrestlers, who consume about 5,500 kcal a day, live sixty-odd years, which is about seventeen years less than average Japanese men.
The plot also shows that the Japanese centenarians and the nation as a whole consume fewer calories than the people in European countries with high life-expectancy rates. The Japanese are smaller in body size than Europeans and Americans, and need fewer calories. The world’s highest calorie intake puts Ireland closer to sumo wrestlers, with a life expectancy rate of 3.5 years less than that of Japan. Furthermore, Japanese and American centenarians consume only one third of the average calorie amount per capita in those countries.
Black square dots on the plot represent calories consumed per day by ‘typical’ American males and females, depending on their age, who live in temperate climates. The upper white dots correspond to an average life span of seventy-seven to seventy-nine years. These data were taken from the book, “The Human Body,” published by Running Press Gem.
Black dots reflect calories consumed by individual or groups of centenarians surveyed and people from ‘longevity valleys.’ The average age of long-living people from these valleys, including Hunza, Vilcabamba, and Abkhasia, is assumed to be ninety years; scientists began to doubt their supreme longevity because all three were found having cases of age exaggeration.
Data on calories consumed by individual centenarians as George Burns and the Japanese twins Kin-san and Gin-san were obtained by my own calculations based on their diets. We also can see from the graph that a lifelong intake of about 1,400 to 1,600 kcal for both men and women is the key that opens the gate to the longevity garden. It is recommended in the United States that 2,000 kcal for women and 2,670 kcal for men between the ages of twenty-three and fifty are too high and seem to lessen the chances for living more than an average life span. If a person wants to reach a very ripe old age, it is worth taking control of calorie intake and limiting consumption to the longevity champion's level.
The Wall Street Journal in 2002, June 3 published the article The Surprising Rise of a Radical Diet: ‘Calorie Restriction,’ which states that for humans 1,500 calories is the daily amount of calories that promotes longevity. Researches such as Dr. Roy Walford, Richard Weindruch, Carolyn Spaulding and others studied caloric restriction approach to longevity for many decades on different groups of animals starting from fruit flies to mice to monkeys. They found that it works for every group of animals. There was even trial for three years on humans, on volunteers. My book was published in 2001, earlier than that article, so we came to the same conclusion.
Practice a calorie restriction. The less you eat, the longer you live. Food is a double edge sword – it gives us life and takes it away. Don’t worry about your life long food intake - living longer, you will eat more in a long run.