Feet, fork and fingers: clue to health, longevity, national medical expert says

COLLEGE STATION If a new medication came on the market to help one lose weight, increase exercise, stop smoking and prevent heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory illness and diabetes, people would flock to physicians for a prescription and buy stock in the company, one expert believes.

But thats not likely, according to Dr. David Katz, a physician and director of the Yale Prevention Research Center, who spoke at Texas A&M University today.

Yet, the knowledge already exists to prevent those ailments and few are taking advantage, Katz told about 200 people at the Produce for Health seminar conducted by Texas A&Ms Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center.

Its about lifestyle factors and a plant-based diet, Katz said. Weve seen it in repetitive scientific studies.

The Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center hosted Katz as part of the 20th anniversary of its collaborations among plant production scientists, medical researchers, farmers and food industry experts. The center was created in 1993 as researchers worldwide began to realize the connection between food consumption, food production and human health, according to Dr. Bhimu Patil, director.

Weve known for a long time the top five causes of premature death in humans heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory ailments and diabetes, Katz said. What changed in 1993 was a scientific study that encouraged researchers to realize that these are effects not causes. Thats when we began to look for the causes and found that virtually all premature deaths are attributable to diet, exercise and tobacco.

He calls them the feet, fork and fingers: failure to exercise, improper eating and smoking.

In a study that compared people who eat poorly, have out-of-control weight and smoke to people who eat well, have their weight in control and do not smoke, we learned that reversing any one of those would increase ones lifespan by 50 percent. Reversing all three would increase lifespan by 80 percent, Katz said.

The U.S. fight over health care, he added, was about money not health.

The whole thing (mandatory health care) is moot if we dont solve this problem with obesity and the projection about what it will do to our future, Katz said, pointing out that obesity in U.S. children may be linked to the recent 35 percent increase in strokes for children 5-14 years old.

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Feet, fork and fingers: clue to health, longevity, national medical expert says