How Plant Based Eating will Save Your Life Salvatore J. Tirrito M.D.,F.A.C.C Pima Heart Associates The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.Thomas A. EdisonUS inventor ( )

The Business of Medicine Medicine in this country is big business, with $2.5 trillion dollars being spent on healthcare in 2010 (17.6% of GDP), with anticipated increases in health care costs to $4.5 trillion (19.3% of GDP) by 2019 (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, 2010). Total health expenditure per capita in the U.S. is $7,538, far higher than any other developed country. 75% of health dollars spent on individuals with one or more chronic disease--diseases which generally respond well to healthy modifications in lifestyle (OECD, 2011). How do we pay for it?

The Business of Medicine U.S. ranking 47th in life expectancy. 43rd in infant mortality. Has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world (CIA, 2008). So Why if we have all these great meds and procedures are people not getting healthier?

Why are we doing so bad? Because our focus is on the disease, not the person with the disease. We forget that being healthy is not just the absence of disease. We get so focused on a single tree that we forget about the whole forest out there. We forget the common thread that runs thorough all disease processes

Inflammation

Why do we have so much inflammation? The Food we Eat (Nutritional Stress) The Air we Breath and the Water we drink (Environmental Stress) The Chemicals we put in our bodies everyday (Chemical Stress) The lifestyles we lead (Psychological, Social, Economic Stress) Toxic Stress

Your Health Your Lifestyle: What you eat What you weigh How much exercise you do The Stress in your life

What You Eat This is the single most important component of inflammation and achieving optimal health. Nutritional Stress (Definition): the stress of inadequate nutrition of total nutrients. Nutritional Stress: The stress placed on our bodies and minds by the overconsumption of refined foods and the lack of natural, nutrient-rich unprocessed food.

What can you do?

Plant Based Eating

What You Eat Eat Plants not Animals Environmental Cost of the North American Diet During the 1990s, the average adult American gained 10 pounds. The CDC estimated that airlines had to burn an additional 350 million gallons of fuel from 1994 to It costs the airlines (and thus you) $275 million and dumped an additional 3.8 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This obesity trend is due to eating a diet that is high in animal products and refined foods and low in natural, plant based food.

What You Eat Eat Plants not Animals Environmental Cost of the North American Diet A plant based diet will significantly reduce on dependance on fossil fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to a 2006 Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN report: Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to todays environmental problems. Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions. The energy used in producing and distributing food accounts for roughly 60 percent of the total energy North Americans produce with the majority of that being fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) In North America, 14 times more land is used to grow food for animals being raised for meat than to grow food for humans and with every seven to nine pounds of food fed to a cow, only one pound is returned in meat

What You Eat Eat Plants not Animals Health and Economic Cost of the North American Diet Elevated health care costs are driving more people into poverty each year. A recent study published in The Washington Post revealed that, on average, American built automobiles cost $1500 more than comparably equipped Japanese or European cars: The reason: Americans are in worse physical health and must pay higher health insurance premiums. Productivity continues to decline due to more sick leave (A unhealthy employee is not a productive employee).

What Should You Eat and what not to eat No Animal Products Nothing Processed No Caffeine or similar stimulants No Alcohol Eat as close to nature as possible Remember Healthy is a relative term (examples: smoking, granola bars, turkey)