Joel Fuhrman - Eat To Live

Eat to Live 19

held views. Many ferociously defend their unhealthy eating practices.

Others just claim, "I already eat a healthy diet," when they do not.

There is a general resistance to change. It would be much easier

if healthful eating practices and the scientific importance of nutri-

tional excellence were instilled in us as children. Unfortunately, chil-

dren are eating more poorly today than ever before.

Most Americans are not aware that the diet they feed their chil-

dren guarantees a high cancer probability down the road." They

don't even contemplate that eating fast-food meals may be just as

risky (or more so) than letting their children smoke cigarettes.^14

The 1 992 Bogalusa Heart Study confirmed the existence of fatty plaques

and streaks (the beginning of atherosclerosis) in most children and

teenagers!

You wouldn't let your children sit around the table smoking ci-

gars and drinking whiskey, because it is not socially acceptable, but

it is fine to let them consume cola, fries cooked in trans fat, and a

cheeseburger regularly. Many children consume doughnuts, cookies,

cupcakes, and candy on a daily basis. It is difficult for parents to under-

stand the insidious, slow destruction of their child's genetic potential

and the foundation for serious illness that is being built by the con-

sumption of these foods.

It would be unrealistic to feci optimistic about the health and

well-being of the next generation when there is an unprecedented

increase in the average weight of children in this country and record

levels of childhood obesity. Most ominous were the results reported

by the 1992 Bogalusa Heart Study, which studied autopsies per-

formed on children killed in accidental deaths. The study confirmed

the existence of fatty plaques and streaks (the beginning of athero-

sclerosis) in most children and teenagers!^15 These researchers con-

cluded: "These results emphasize the need for preventive cardiology

in early life." I guess "preventive cardiology" is a convoluted term

that means eating healthfully.

Another recent autopsy study appearing in the New England Jour-

nal of Medicine found that more than 85 percent of adults between

the ages of twenty-one and thirty-nine already have atherosclerotic

changes in their coronary arteries.^16 Fatty streaks and fibrous plaques

covered large areas of the coronary arteries. Everyone knows that

junk foods are not healthy, but few understand their consequences —