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(CNN) — By the time he reached the White House, Bill Clinton's appetite was legend. He loved hamburgers, steaks, chicken enchiladas, barbecue and french fries but wasn't too picky. At one campaign stop in New Hampshire, he reportedly bought a dozen doughnuts and was working his way through the box until an aide stopped him.

Former President Clinton now considers himself a vegan. He's dropped more than 20 pounds, and he says he's healthier than ever. His dramatic dietary transformation took almost two decades and came about only after a pair of heart procedures and some advice from a trusted doctor.

His dietary saga began in 1993, when first lady Hillary Clinton decided to inaugurate a new, healthier diet for her husband. In a meeting, she asked Dr. Dean Ornish to work with the White House chefs, who were accustomed to high fat, French cuisine.

What your cholesterol numbers really mean

"The president did like unhealthy foods, and we were able to put soy burgers in White House, for example, and get foods that were delicious and nutritious," said Ornish, director and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California. Other new menu items included such healthy fare as stir fry vegetables with tofu, and salmon with vegetables.

Ornish: Asking the right questions about health care

Even with the revamped White House menu, Clinton battled his weight throughout his two terms as president. At his annual physical in 1999, the White House physician noted the president had put on 18 pounds since a checkup two years earlier. The prescription: refocus on exercise and a low-calorie diet.

Clinton didn't know it, but weight was not his biggest health concern. The 42nd president has a family history of heart disease, and plaque was building up in the coronary arteries leading to his heart, undetected by White House doctors.

American Heart Association: Learn and live

In 2004, less than four years after leaving office, the 58-year-old Clinton felt what he described as a tightness in his chest as he returned home from New Orleans, where he was promoting his memoir, "My Life." Days later, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery to restore blood flow to his heart.

"I was lucky I did not die of a heart attack," Clinton told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. After the surgery, the former president cut down on his calories and lowered the cholesterol in his diet, but his heart troubles were not over.

Last year, the former president went to Haiti to support the relief efforts but he felt weak. When he returned home, he learned he needed another heart procedure: two stents to open one of the veins from his bypass surgery, which had become, in Clinton's words, "pretty bent and ugly."

Ornish recalls meeting with Clinton a few days after his angioplasty. "I shared with him that because of his genetics, moderate changes in diet and lifestyle weren't enough to keep his disease from progressing. However, our research showed that more intensive changes change actually reverse progression of heart disease in most people." … Read more

See The Last Heart Attack With Sanjay Gupta

First, on Friday the US Government (I know that can’t possible sound that exciting), is getting rid of the old food pyramid and taking a significant “step” towards Nutrient Rich eating, by addressing the obesity epidemic. This is significant, so it’s worth a blog post. Tomorrow, they are introducing “The Plate”. Read more here.

Second, if you want to discover what healthy eating really looks like and sounds like, on Saturday, you can tune into 3 Steps to Incredible Health with Joel Fuhrman M.D. This is going to be a real momentum builder in this country towards making the switch to nutrient rich healthy eating.

3 STEPS TO INCREDIBLE HEALTH! with Joel Fuhrman, MD is a sixty-minute PBS pledge program that directly addresses the crisis of obesity and chronic disease plaguing America.

Over 65% of Americans are overweight or obese – and that number is growing just like our waistlines!

Dr. Fuhrman will offer a healthy, effective, and scientifically proven plan for shedding weight quickly and reclaiming the vitality and good health we all deserve.
Support Public Television and Dr. Fuhrman.

Click here to see a clip of the upcoming PBS special.

By making a donation during Dr. Fuhrman’s pledge program on PBS, as a gift, you will receive an exclusive Dr. Fuhrman “Incredible Health” combo package – not available anywhere else!* if you are a current member.

Not yet a member of Dr. Fuhrman.com?
Click here.

Be sure to tune in and tell your friends.

By watching 3 STEPS TO INCREDIBLE HEALTH! with Joel Fuhrman, MD on PBS you are helping educate America with Dr Fuhrman’s message. Support your local PBS station by phoning in during an airing and making a pledge.

Be sure to check local listings!

Just this past June 2010 the USDA put out the following message:

“With two thirds of Americans overweight or living on prescription meds, the USDA calls on ALL Americans to eat a more Nutrient Rich Diet!”

The old Four Food Groups are still in play according the USDA, but they are certainly on their way to transitioning to nutrient rich. Remember, the US Gov’t will never promote the healthiest diet, and defy scientific evidence and common sense because it’s job is the economy, promoting the marketplace, not nutrition and there are always competing interests. So you have to keep this in mind.

This is a good video to listen in on; as you can see the switch to a more nutrient rich way of eating is on, and it’s a national movement!

By KIM CAROLLO, ABC News Medical Unit
June 2, 2011

The food pyramid that represented a healthy diet for almost 20 years now gives way to a food plate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today.

First lady Michelle Obama, Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack unveiled the new icon. It’s called MyPlate, and it has four colored sections representing fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. Next to the plate is a smaller circle representing dairy products.

“MyPlate is a truly simple, powerful visual cue to help people adopt healthy eating habits at meal times,” said Vilsack.

On MyPlate’s website, the USDA emphasizes several important nutrition messages: eat smaller portions, make at least half the plate fruits and vegetables and avoid sugary drinks.

Nutrition experts believe a plate is a good choice.

“It answers the simple question, ‘What should my plate look like at any given meal?’” said Baltimore nutritionist Monica Reinagel.

The original pyramid was released in 1992 and included the four food groups stacked in the shape of a pyramid with the number of recommended servings a person should eat from each group in a day. The widest part of the pyramid shows the foods that should make up most of the diet — breads, cereals and grains. Fats occupy the top of the pyramid. Read more…

When you learn the magnitude of influence that healthy eating is having on your life and learn The Nutrient Rich Way to Eat you will be awed by the impact that it has on your life!

What you want to pay attention to in this development is the trend.

Notice:

– Eat as many fruits and vegetables as you want.
– Less protein, “smallest portion”.
– Far less fat, salt, sugar etc…

The message they are getting across… “huge portion of fruits and vegetables” and “the protein should be the side dish!”

The switch is catching on.

“How do you get your protein?”

This is one of the most common questions I get.  We need to stop obsessing about protein and start looking at our consumption of  complex carbohydrates.  What people should  be worried about is cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. These diseases of affluence and poverty are prevalent but starving from lack of protein doesn’t happen much in the united states.  Humans need about 10 % of the calories we consume to be from protein.  Beans, nuts, seeds, lentils, and whole grains are packed with protein. So are all vegetables as a caloric percentage, though they don’t have enough calories to sustain most people as a principal source of sustenance. These protein sources contain plenty of fiber and complex carbohydrates, where meat contains none.

According to Dr. Dean Ornish, “high-protein foods, particularly excessive animal protein, dramatically increase the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, and many other illnesses. In the short run, they may also cause kidney problems, loss of calcium in the bones, and an unhealthy metabolic state called ketosis in many people.”

According the the Physician’s Committee Of Responsible Medicine, there are many health problems associated with too much protein intake.

Osteoporosis. High protein intake is known to encourage urinary calcium losses and has been shown to increase risk of fracture in research studies.^6,7 Plant-based diets, which provide adequate protein, can help protect against osteoporosis. Calcium-rich plant foods include leafy green vegetables, beans, and some nuts and seeds as well as fortified fruit juices, cereals, and non-dairy milks.

Cancer.Although fat is the dietary substance most often singled out for increasing one’s risk for cancer, animal protein also plays a role. Specifically, certain proteins present in meat, fish, and poultry, cooked at high temperatures, especially grilling and frying, have been found to produce compounds called heterocyclic amines. These substances have been linked to various cancers including those of the colon and breast.^8-10

Long-term high intake of meat, particularly red meat, is associated with significantly increased risk of colorectal cancer. The 1997 report of the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research, Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer, reported that, based on available evidence, diets high in red meat were considered probable contributors to colorectal cancer risk. In addition, high-protein diets are typically low in dietary fiber. Fiber appears to be protective against cancer.³ A diet rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is important in decreasing cancer risk,³ not to mention adding more healthful sources of protein in the diet.

Impaired Kidney Function. When people eat too much protein, it releases nitrogen into the blood or is digested and metabolized. This places a strain on the kidneys, which must expel the waste through the urine. High-protein diets are associated with reduced kidney function. Over time, individuals who consume very large amounts of protein, particularly animal protein, risk permanent loss of kidney function. Harvard researchers reported recently that high-protein diets were associated with a significant decline in kidney function, based on observations in 1,624 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study. The good news is that the damage was found only in those who already had reduced kidney function at the study’s outset. The bad news is that as many as one in four adults in the United States may already have reduced kidney function, suggesting that most people who have renal problems are unaware of that fact and do not realize that high-protein diets may put them at risk for further deterioration. The kidney-damaging effect was seen only with animal protein. Plant protein had no harmful effect.¹¹

The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that high animal protein intake is largely responsible for the high prevalence of kidney stones in the United States and other developed countries and recommends protein restriction for the prevention of recurrent kidney stones.¹²

Heart Disease. Typical high-protein diets are extremely high in dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. The effect of such diets on blood cholesterol levels is a matter of ongoing research. However, such diets pose additional risks to the heart, including increased risk for heart problems immediately following a meal. Evidence indicates that meals high in saturated fat adversely affect the compliance of arteries, increasing the risk of heart attacks.¹³ Adequate protein can be consumed through a variety of plant products that are cholesterol-free and contain only small amounts of fat.

Weight Loss Sabotage. Many individuals see almost immediate weight loss as a result of following a high-protein diet. In fact, the weight loss is not a result of consuming more protein, but by simply consuming fewer calories. Over the long run, consumption of this type of diet is not practical as it can result in the aforementioned health problems. As with any temporary diet, weight gain is often seen when previous eating habits are resumed. To achieve permanent weight loss while promoting optimal health, the best strategy involves lifestyle changes including a low-fat diet of grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables combined with regular physical activity.

The cancer connection is spelled out at length in a fantastic book by Cornell scientist T. Colin Campbell, called The China Study. Basically, there is overwhelming scientific evidence to implicate that animal protein consumption causes cancer.

Here are just some examples of healthy protein sources.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi