June 14, 2010 – Dinner with a Doc, “Health Lessons from Haiti” by Ted Hoehn, MD

“Health truly matters.  A healthy mind, body and soul is a key element in achieving a satisfying and productive life.

“Achieving health does not come by chance, nor is it mostly genetic.  Our bodies, and the mind’s they enable, are well designed machines.  Machines that can be trained, strengthened, and developed, or they can be ignored, injured, and abused.

“Nutrition, exercise, rest, relaxation, spirituality, intellectual exploration, work, creative expression, generosity, mission, responsibility, and constructive habit all combine to create a life worth living.” – Ted Hoehn, MD (“Haine”)

For more information: http://drted.md/HealthMatters/HealthMatters.html

April 19, 2010 – Dr. Diana Fleming, co-author of “The Full Plate Diet”

Diana Fleming, Ph.D., was co-founder and co-manager of Country Life Vegetarian Restaurants in New York City and London, and a cooking consultant for Harvard University and Wellesley College. She earned her Ph.D. in nutrition at Tufts University in Boston. All four of her thesis papers were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Diana co-authored The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle Cookbook (Penguin, New York 2008) where her knowledge and expertise were valuable in developing tasty, high-fiber, plant-based recipes that helped readers achieve significant diabetes relief and weight loss.

She joined the staff at the Lifestyle Center of America in 2002, serving as Director of Nutritional Services since 2003. Too often nutrition professionals don’t know how to take the theory of nutrition from research to the plate. Not so with Diana. She has a passion for nutrition, translating into her personal love for cooking, baking and eating.

Article from FullPlateDiet.org: http://www.fullplatediet.org/authors/

December 7, 2009 – “The Gift of Health” Survivor Stories

November 2, 2009 – Macrobiotic teachers and chefs David and Cynthia Briscoe – Healthy Holidays

Cynthia Briscoe is one of America’s most respected macrobiotic cooking instructors. Her cooking is as delicious as it gets. She co-founded and co-directed The Macrobiotic Center of Kansas City during the 1980’s. Cynthia was the co-owner and head chef of The Amber Waves Café, an award-winning macrobiotic restaurant in Kansas City, and one of the most successful and longest-running macrobiotic restaurants in North America.
From 1981-1991 she supervised macrobiotic cooking education in the central states, and from 1991-1998 she was a main cooking instructor, kitchen supervisor and kitchen apprentice trainer at the Vega Study Center in California in association with Cornellia Aihara. She has been the kitchen coordinator for macrobiotic camps and retreats, including the popular Harvest Moon Retreats and Tall Oaks Camps in the midwest.

In 1999 she was the guest cooking instructor at the macrobiotic retreat on Hvar Island, Croatia. In recent years Cynthia has served as a cooking instructor at the Kushi Institute’s annual Summer Conference and the French Meadows Summer Camp. In 2004 she was invited to appear on ABC News to demonstrate macrobiotic cooking.

Her cooking instruction is admired for its clarity, patience and gentleness. Cynthia is also highly regarded for her insights into motherhood, advice on macrobiotic pregnancy and delivery, and her earthy and considerate approach to women’s health in general. She is blessed with a natural gift for journeywork healing rooted in her Native American ancestry. An accomplished artist, Cynthia has illustrated books for Avery Publishing Group, Japan Publications, and Contemporary Books, including books by the late Aveline Kushi and other macrobiotic authors. Cindy is currently working on several cookbooks and video home study courses. She is the mother of five active and kind-hearted children, ages 11-24, who care about others, animals, the earth, and looking at the stars at night.

Article from MacroAmerica.com: http://www.macroamerica.com/wordpress/about/cynthia-briscoe/

October 5, 2009 – Dinner with a Doc, “Put Your Colon to Work for You” by Milton Mills, MD

Whether internist Milton Mills is practicing at Fairfax Hospital in Virginia or at free clinics in Washington, D.C., his prescription for patients is likely to include some dietary advice: go vegetarian.

“Medical research shows conclusively that a plant-based diet reduces chronic disease risk, so that’s something I absolutely encourage my patients to move toward,” says Dr. Mills, a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine, who became interested in the connection between diet and health when he went vegetarian as a teenager. “I find that when people are ill, they are very open to adopting practices that will improve their health.”

Dr. Mills doesn’t limit his message to his patients. He takes it to audiences around the country as well, speaking at hospitals, churches, and community centers. Sometimes he brings patients he’s helped—like Katheryn Vess, who suffered from heart disease and poorly controlled diabetes before changing her diet. “I was taking insulin twice a day and couldn’t walk half a block because my arteries were so clogged. Then I met Dr. Mills and he taught me how to eat,” Vess says. Now Vess is off insulin, no longer takes blood pressure medicine, and can walk a mile. “Her diabetes is, for all intents and purposes, cured,” Dr. Mills says.

Often active in PCRM campaigns, Dr. Mills is the lead plaintiff in PCRM’s class action lawsuit that asks for warning labels on milk. In the future, Dr. Mills hopes to delve into a new area of interest where little research has been done but the anecdotal evidence looks promising: diet and immunity. When Dr. Mills works with HIV and AIDS patients at clinics, he’s noticed that those who go vegetarian seem to improve, with increased energy and higher T-cell counts. “Medical literature supports a plant-based diet as being better for overall immune system function,” Dr. Mills says. “So its effect on patients with HIV is something I’d very much like to examine in the future.”

To view his presentation, see his YouTube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFROlwe-m3Y

Article from PCRM.org: http://www.pcrm.org/magazine/gm06winter/mills.html

Meet the Bowmans

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Chuck Bowman’s

Then in the summer of 2009, Chuck experienced an almost fatal heart attack. His time of recovery gave him an opportunity to re-think his purpose for living and now believes he was saved to serve others through healthy food preparation. He hopes his passion for cooking will influence others to make positive lifestyle changes. Chuck wants people to learn how to live well, and he loves to prove that plant-based meals can be delicious, as well as nutritious.

discovery of his true life passion came later in life. His journey has been varied, starting in the jungles of Vietnam as a combat medic, followed by time as a missionary with his wife, Charlie, but it was his stint in training international dental lab students that he discovered his love of teaching. He added cooking to the mix when his wife became to ill to cook. He later enrolled in a culinary arts school and pursued his newfound dream of becoming a teaching chef in 2005.