These recommendations are a sampling of the scientific work that has been and continues to be done demonstrating how our diet and lifestyle choices impact our health and wellness.

 

Dr Andrew Weil and Dr Dean Ornish have led the revolution within and the evolution of healthcare for decades. Both have written a number of remarkable books. Books that have laid out how we can take control of our health as well as a path for the migration of sickcare to healthcare.Dr Ornish's Lifestyle Medicine program has been shown by peer reviewed randomized trials to prevent and often reverse the progression of heart disease.

 

Dr Terry Wahls is a leading researcher in how diet and lifestyle affect inflammation in the context of autoimmune disorders. She shares in her teachings and writing her health and wellness journey and the stunning positive results she experienced using food as medicine. She also demonstrates clearly in her research and studies, that diet and lifestyle can be used to impact inflammation and immune system dysregulation. Both of which are base components of chronic illness. Her work is foundational and ongoing. Her book, "The Wahls Protocol" provides a deep dive on food as medicine.

 

Dr T Colin Campbell and Dr Caldwell Esselstyn provide an introduction to their groundbreaking work in both their books and their documentary "Forks Over Knives". They have been working for decades to bring the benefits of a plant based diet to the public. Dr Esselstyn's program for cardiovascular disease prevention and reversal can be found at the Clevelend Clinic.

 

Dr Matt Walker is a sleep scientist, author and professor who has several presentations available on TED Talks. He discusses sleep and how it is a base ingredient for our health and wellness. I would start with Sleep is Your Superpower. It is brilliant.

 

If you want to learn about the microbiome and why it is so important, take a look at the Sonnenburg's book, "The Good Gut", by Erica and Justin Sonnenburg, PhDs. This book is a super introduction to the science of the gut, what the microbiome is, what it does, and how to keep it healthy. They provide an overview of how folks can begin to support a healthy microbiome in the gut with their food choices.

 

To discuss healthy food it helps to understand what it is not: processed and ultra processed food.

The book, "Ultra Processed People" by Chris Van Tulleken is eye opening and informational. There are also a lot of great documentaries that one can stream: "Food, Inc.", "Food Choices", "In Defense of Food", "Fed Up", "Forks Over Knives", "Sugar Coated", "Hungry For Change".

 

While sugar is a calorie source, it does not contain any other nutrients. One champion educator on this topic has been Dr Robert Lustig. He has many presentations and writings available to review. If you need motivation to help you stop consuming sugar, I recommend watching, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, which is available on his website.

 

Healthy food comes from healthy farming and ranching practices. Growing and raising and choosing to consume healthy food is part of how we recover - not only our own health - but the health of our environment. Organic farming practices yield healthier food. So does regenerative farming; what this is and its power are shown in "Kiss the Ground" and "Common Ground". Both of these documentaries will be available for the public to stream April 22.

Both documentaries are also available to students, teachers or school administrators to stream for free.

 

Information can be found at kissthegroundmovie.com and at commongroundfilm.org.

 

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