life...and what it takes

hi guys-

sorry to be slow slow this week, but i have been copy editing the manuscript for my new book that will be out in december and between reading and re-testing recipes, it has been quite a trip...but i am almost through it and hope you like this one as much as i do.

i wanted to talk to you about accountability and charity today, if that's okay by you. i have led an interesting life and through hardship and illness, i was given a second chance years and years ago. i have tried to use that chance to my best abilities; each day is a new adventure of trying to do my best work.

each and every one of us owes it to humanity to give back to the world for all that we have been given. all who have succeeded through hard work and sweat or by inheritance have an obligation to do for those who have not done so well...or who suffer. i choose to give back by sharing what i have learned, through experience and study, about food and its impact on our health and wellness.

i make a lot of appearances to help organizations raise money for their causes...from cancer organizations like Gilda's Club to Meals on Wheels to churches trying to keep their soup kitchen open for the homeless in the neighborhood to our own Green City Youth Council to working with doctors and hospitals to educate people about the link between what they choose to eat and their health.

so many medical professionals, through experience and research, have come to the same conclusion as hippocrates...that food should be our medicine and medicine our food. marketing has saturated our brains with the message to eat more and more and that it be less and less natural. the ads show models and athletes sucking down food that would kill them if they really ate it...or at least make them as obese and unhealthy as the rest of the world. but we believe it because it's what we are told. alternative approaches to health are weird, right? offered by a bunch of old hippies turned snake oil salesmen, right? after all, if food could cure cancer, wouldn't everyone know about it? don't ask me. i only know what i know and do what i do based on what i know to be true. doctors like dr. neal barnard, dr. t. colin campbell, dr, dean ornish, dr. sanjay gupta and dr. mehmet oz are just a few of the medical geniuses leading the charge...making nutrition an essential part of healing, so we will see what the future reveals.

with the work i do in the world, i see so much heartbreak. sick kids, sick adults, sick families, sick communities...all trying to get well and get that second chance. by putting my money where my mouth is...giving of my time and resources and teaching them about healthy eating and natural approaches to health, my message is simple. strengthening immune function can help in the fight to return to health. there is not a sane person in this world who would say that my message is demeaning to those who are ill or in any way damaging to people's health. whatever choice you make in treating your illness is yours...but eating a healthy diet can only support you through it, keeping you stronger and giving you a leg up on that second chance.

we are all accountable for our lives and our actions and one day our lives will be judged on their merit. i work each and every day to do no harm, to fall into bed each and every night and be able to say that i gave back, that i did my best in my work, that i learned something new and that i did not judge another human being who crossed my path...not for their choices or their style of life.

i work to give people information that they can use (or not use...) to make their lives a bit healthier, to make their bodies a bit stronger and to leave lighter footprint behind. i make no excuses for what i have been through or what i have done in my life. i can only pray that my own life will be judged for the good i may have done.

enjoy your week...and find some way to give back for all your blessings...and if that fails, simply do something nice for someone...it will change your world.