Get healthy with Gus the Gorilla

Listen sweetie, you want to talk about weak and feeble then I’m the wrong guy, okay. I’m Gus, I’m vegan and pretty hot I’d say. If I was someone else I’d been swooning over me. Hilarious, isn’t it? Yes, I know you’re human but you’re nearly 99 per cent the same as me – except I’m six times stronger! Sorry, couldn’t resist that, hun. So what will you miss out on by dumping meat and dairy? Cancer and heart disease and obesity and strokes and diabetes and, and, and - there’s so many. You stand a lower chance of getting any of them – much lower in some cases. And you’re likely to live a lot longer. So get to it, Babe – choose your Fruity Fundays and get started. You never know, you might finish up as gorgeous as me. Then again…!

Can’t believe being veggie is so much healthier? Doubting Thomas? Gorgeous I’m telling you if you want to live life to the max, this is the way to go! You’ll have more energy, more pizzazz than a pizza. I’m gonna let you share my secret of being beautiful – what to eat each day and why it works.

First guys, how healthy are you humans?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has devised a new system to rank the health of 25 leading countries. It isn’t just about life expectancy but how many years an average person can expect to live in full health. ‘Full health’ is the key phrase and it reveals some shock surprises.

Where do you think the US, the wealthiest country on Earth, rates in the 25? Well, Japan comes top, Australia second and France third. The UK comes in a miserable 14th whilst the US has the ignominy of coming last! People may be living longer in the US but only thanks to advances in medical treatment and drug therapies – pills, potions and procedures! They are not growing old gracefully.

What’s up doc?

The UK population is getting older and many are suffering from debilitating conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis. All age groups are increasingly suffering from heart disease, diabetes, obesity, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and the other ‘diseases of affluence.’

Even more alarming is the growing number of children with serious health problems, particularly childhood obesity, which has reached epidemic proportions. The effects of obesity itself are bad enough but it also acts as gateway to other diseases - high blood pressure and raised cholesterol levels, asthma, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions. Then there are the potential psychological and social problems from discrimination and bullying.

What's the cause?

Poor diet and lack of physical exercise are responsible. Meat, dairy products and processed foods containing high levels of saturated animal fat, animal protein, salt, sugar, cholesterol, hormones and growth factors that are squarely in the frame.

What’s the cure?

The solution is simple - get on your feet and go vegan! Veggies have lower blood pressure and a whopping 25 to 50 per cent lower risk of dying from heart disease! Vegan diets contain zero cholesterol and much less saturated fat than the typical meat eater’s nosh. Vegans also consume more of the good stuff such as nuts, soluble fibre (from oats and barley), soya proteins and plant sterols. All this means that vegans have much lower levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol (American Dietetic Association, British Medical Association). The research is crystal clear, vegans weigh less, suffer less from diabetes, obesity, arthritis, constipation, kidney and gallstones and certain cancers including breast, prostate and colon cancer.

People who eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, pulses – all types of peas, beans and lentils, and wholegrains (oats, wholemeal bread, wholegrain spaghetti, brown rice etc) but little animal fat and animal protein cut their risk of many illnesses and diseases including some of the most common cancers. That’s why the American Cancer Society and even the UK government recommends that everyone should have at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, eat whole grains instead of processed grains such as white flour, and cut down on red and processed meats.

What’s a vegetarian?

Vegetarians don’t eat red or white meats, fish or other water creatures such as prawns and lobsters. No slaughter by-products such as gelatine (made from horns, hooves, bones and ligaments), lard or cochineal, obtained from crushed insects. They may or may not eat dairy products, free range eggs and honey.

What’s a vegan?

A vegan is a person who tends to be healthier than either dairy or meat eaters - and that’s because they eat no animal products at all - no dairy, honey or cochineal. This means no damaging animal protein, animal fats or cholesterol pass their lips.

This terrific table helps you decide what to eat to keep you fit, healthy and lively!

Pus in milk

And did you know? This is horrific! I’ve discovered a great deal about the dairy industry recently but the most shocking fact is that up to 400 million pus cells are permitted in every litre of milk in the UK.

It’s because the cows are so diseased that they frequently produce pus from their udders in huge quantities.

Cows’ milk contains growth hormones that are linked to cancer, particularly breast and prostate cancers, the saturated fat and cholesterol are linked to heart disease and strokes and the ridiculously high quantities of oestrogen also pose serious health threats.

Eat well

Far from going short, vegans are more likely to eat a much wider range of healthier foods that are high in vegetable protein, fibre, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and good fats. These are the nutrients that fight disease and are found in fruit and vegetables, pulses (peas, beans, lentils, peanuts and soya products), whole grains (including brown rice, oatmeal, whole wheat, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, corn meal and whole rye), nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and vegetable oils, including flax seed, hemp seed and virgin olive oil.

The American Dietetic Association (one of the most well respected health organisation in the world) have no doubts that this is the way to go:

“Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence” and that “...appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases”.

Not only is a vegan diet healthy, it is so healthy that it protects you against several killer diseases!