Is being heavy in your genes?

Not so fast.

Obesity genes account for only 5 percent of all weight problems.

But what about the other 95 percent of weight problems?

And why are we seeing such an epidemic of obesity in America today? It is the single most important public health issue facing us.

If genes do not account for obesity, is our high-fat diet to blame?

Wrong again!

But fat contains 9 calories per gram, so shouldn’t eating more fat (and more calories) make you gain weight?

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, pioneering research by Harvard Medical School’s David Ludwig shows us the real reason that low-fat diets do not work -- and reveals the true cause of obesity for most Americans.

He correctly points out that careful review of all the studies on dietary fat and body fat -- such as those done by Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health -- have shown that dietary fat is not a major determinant of body fat.

Let me repeat that.

==> Dietary fat is not a major determinant of body fat.

Can you reverse prostate cancer and aging by changing your diet?

Well, yes!

These were among the findings from Dr. Dean Ornish and his colleagues, which he recounts in his groundbreaking new book, “The Spectrum.”

As I mentioned last week, 30 years ago, Dr. Ornish showed us that we can actually reverse heart disease by eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet, exercising, meditating, practicing yoga, and being part of a supportive group.

Now he shows us that even cancer and aging can be reversed using the same principles of healthy living and whole foods -- and he shows us WHY this can happen.

Thirty years ago, Dr. Dean Ornish came up with a radical but simple idea that threatened the very foundation of our whole conception of disease.

He believed that heart disease, cancer, and any chronic illness could actually be reversed with diet and lifestyle changes.

Medication and surgery can slow and treat disease. But Dr. Ornish’s lifestyle program could actually reverse and undo the damage.

This was medical heresy.

But he had the...

"There are no studies that prove the benefits of nutritional or integrative therapies..."

It's a refrain that I hear time and time again.

And I hear it from my colleagues.

But they couldn't be more wrong!

They just have not done their homework -- or perhaps they are reading the wrong medical journals.

One of my favorite medical journals is the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," which every month publishes more than 300 pages of research with NO ADVERTISING. 

This is very unlike my other medical journals -- such as the "Journal of the American Medical Association" or "The New England Journal of Medicine" -- which have pages and pages of color glossy drug ads.

So today, I thought I would take you on a journey through just one issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" to see just how much research is being done on how food and nutrients affect our health.